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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-16375

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its equity stake in Burntisland Fabrications, whether it has secured or is seeking representation on the company’s board.

As I disclosed to the Scottish Parliament on 18 April 2018, the Scottish Government has extended the loan facility made available to BiFab, to enable completion of contracts associated with the Beatrice offshore wind farm. Debt under the loan will be converted to a minority equity stake in the company. The extent of the shareholding will be determined by the extent to which the loan facility is drawn down in completing the BOWL contracts. The shareholding will not exceed 38%. The details of the loan facility, including repayment and conversion rates, are commercially confidential. The Scottish Government does not have representation on the BiFab board. The Scottish Government is actively managing its shareholding through a close working relationship with the company.

The Scottish Government did take independent advice on the transaction, including in relation to State Aid. The loan facility has been provided on a commercial basis.

Question reference: S5W-16423

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are employed by the Scottish Police Authority.

Question reference: S5W-16422

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are employed by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC).

Question reference: S5W-16421

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants there are in the Police Division of its Justice Directorate.

Question reference: S5O-02117

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium suggesting that town centre vacancy rates have reached a seven-year high.

Question reference: S5W-16398

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Scottish Enterprise should treat women’s enterprise as a growth sector in the Scottish economy.

Question reference: S5W-16400

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent developing growth in women’s enterprise in 2017-18.

Through Scotland CAN DO, we have expressed the ambition to be a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation: a CAN DO place for business. Projects being taken forward with our partners range from promoting entrepreneurial mindset in schools to supporting businesses of scale.

The Scottish Government recognizes the immense potential associated with growth in women’s enterprise, and in 2017-18 committed £400,000 to its development. This figure was twice that committed in 2016-17.

Question reference: S5W-16296

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any potential store closures and associated job losses arising from the proposed merger of Asda and Sainsbury’s.

Question reference: S5W-16295

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it (a) had before and (b) has had since the announcement of the merger proposal with (i) Asda and (ii) Sainsbury’s.

The Scottish Government was made aware of proposals to merge Asda and Sainsbury’s on 30 April 2018 in correspondence from both retailers. My officials have been in regular contact with representatives from both organisations since and I also held a call with representatives of Asda on 1 May it was made clear that the proposed merger will result in no store closures in Scotland.

We were also informed that Asda intends to keep its two distribution centres at Falkirk and Grangemouth open, and there are no indications of job losses. We will continue to engage with both supermarkets to ensure that those promises are followed through, that Scottish consumers benefit and that Scottish suppliers benefit and do not lose out.

Question reference: S5W-16297

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any potential distribution centre closures and associated job losses arising from the proposed merger of Asda and Sainsbury’s.