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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-09545

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 13 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on IT projects in each year since 2007, broken down by the percentage of spend that went to Scottish companies.

Question reference: S5W-09524

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much tax revenue it expects will be generated by the large business rates supplement in 2017-18, and how many commercial premises will be affected in the (a) East Ayrshire, (b) South Ayrshire and (c) South Lanarkshire local authority area.

It is estimated that the 2017-18 non-domestic rates income in respect of the large business supplement and the associated number of premises are, respectively by local authority area, £1.1 million and 277 premises for East Ayrshire, £1.8 million and 386 premises for South Ayrshire, and £15.1 million and 1,046 premises for South Lanarkshire. South Lanarkshire Council collects non-domestic rates at a national level in respect of certain electricity utilities under the statutory ‘designated assessor’ arrangements, which accounts for the majority of this £15.1 million estimate.

Question reference: S5W-09215

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of women attending an antenatal appointment in each of the last three years who had a recorded BMI were obese.

Question reference: S5W-09216

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of women attending an antenatal appointment in each of the last three years who had a recorded smoking status were smokers.

Question reference: S5O-01017

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 24 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when businesses will be able to access the Scottish Growth Scheme that it announced in September 2016.

Question reference: S5W-08923

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for making all outstanding payments to farmers; what action it is taking to address the reported concerns in the sector regarding problems in IT functionality impacting on the processing of these, and how it will ensure that a robust system will be put in place for future payments.

Question reference: S5O-00925

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to ensure that all pupils can participate in extra-curricular activities irrespective of background or personal circumstances.

Question reference: S5O-00909

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to the proposed Ayrshire growth deal.

Question reference: S5W-08467

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of school food nutrition will examine how much food is locally-sourced and other ways of reducing the carbon footprint of transporting the produce.

The current school food regulations contain a set of nutrient standards designed to ensure that a school lunch provides a third of a pupils daily recommended nutrient intake and a set of food and drink standards which apply to all other parts of the day (breakfast clubs, after school clubs, tuckshops) and includes, for example, limitations on sugar content. The review will look at potentially revising these minimum standards to move them closer to the revised Scottish Dietary Goals.

The legislation applies to nutritional content of school food and drink. It does not apply to issues like local sourcing and carbon footprint reduction. However, the ‘Better Eating, Better Learning – a new context for school food’, guidance is designed to support schools and local authorities as they drive further improvements to school food provision and food education and it includes a section dedicated to ‘Sustainability through Food’ which does offer advice on issues like local sourcing and consideration of carbon footprint.

Significant progress has been made in recent years with almost half of our public sector food and drink contracts now awarded to Scottish businesses. Whilst sourcing ingredients for school meals is a procurement matter for local authorities and caterers, the Scottish Government recognises that school food expenditure has a powerful contribution to make in maintaining a secure and resilient supply chain of healthy food in Scotland. In support of this we have produced a range of support and guidance for SMEs and Public Bodies on food procurement, and the emphasis on sustainable procurement is a path that many public bodies have taken up well.

Question reference: S5W-08120

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-04419 by Shona Robison on 15 November 2016, what progress it has made setting up a feasibility study into extending free personal and nursing care to people under the age of 65 with a diagnosis of dementia (Frank's Law), and what the reasons are for any delay with this.

The feasibility study, which is being conducted by Scottish Government officials, working with analysts and economists to produce a reliable estimate of the costs involved in extending free personal care to all adults, is underway and will be completed in summer 2017 as planned.

The feasibility study will also look at:

The interaction with the wider policy environment, including the relationship with social security;
Financial benefits and constraints;
The administration costs of charging for social care; and
Will seek to clarify or enhance data provided by Councils through the Local Financial Returns.