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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.

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Question reference: S5W-09702

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 27 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the economic inactivity rate is reportedly higher than that for the rest of the UK.

Data from the ONS’ Labour Force Survey for the most recent quarter (February to April 2017) was published on 14 June 2017. This shows that the economic inactivity rate in Scotland during this period was 22.7 per cent. The economic inactivity rate for the UK over the same period was 21.5 per cent.

The most recent data available on reason for inactivity from the ONS’ Labour Force Survey, covering January to March 2017, indicates that less than a third (30.0 per cent) of those aged 16-64 who were economically inactive were sick or disabled, whilst over a quarter (27.4 per cent) were students. This differs from the UK where the highest group for economically inactive were students (27.5%) with just less than a quarter of economically inactive people in the UK being sick or disabled (24.1%).

Over the year to January to March 2017, in Scotland, the largest increases in inactivity were seen in the proportion of people citing that they were a student (increased by 2.3 percentage points, up 22,000) and citing they were retired (increased by 2.1 percentage points, up 18,000). Those citing they were inactive due to being sick or disabled increased by 0.1 percentage points, up 5,000.

Question reference: S5W-09703

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 26 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the chief economist publishing analysis of the impact of Brexit on the economic outlook, whether similar analysis has been produced examining the impact of independence and, if so, whether it will publish this.

The Scottish Government believes the people of Scotland should be given the choice between Brexit - and the risk we know that this poses to our economy - and becoming an independent country and having the opportunity to pursue policies designed to grow the economy and invest in public services.

The Scottish Government will set out analysis of the implications of independence in advance of the vote to allow the Scottish people to make an informed decision about the future of their nation.

Question reference: S5W-09707

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will bring forward a retail strategy working in collaboration with the sector.

Question reference: S5T-00595

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what checks have been undertaken on residential tower blocks and new public buildings, including schools, in light of the recent tragic event at Grenfell Tower.

Question reference: S5W-09567

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 15 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign direct investment projects in Scotland are research-related.

The Ernst & Young (EY) Attractiveness Surveys provide estimates of the number of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects and associated planned jobs in Scotland and in the rest of the UK.

The following table provides the total number of projects as reported in the EY Attractiveness Surveys for 2014 to 2016. It also includes the number of projects in 2016 that are research related.

FDI Projects and Employment, 2014 to 2016

2014

2015

2016

Projects

Employment

Projects

Employment

Projects

Employment

Scotland

3,532

119

5,385

122

(*21 of which were in Research & Development)

2,868

887

31,344

1065

42,336

1144

44,700

Source: EY Attractiveness Surveys, latest survey results for Scotland available at: http://www.ey.com/uk/en/issues/business-environment/ey-uk-attractiveness-survey-2017-Scotland

The fall in the number of jobs created in the latest year from the EY report reflects a shift from larger projects to smaller projects as well as a wider mix of projects. The largest project in Scotland in 2016 secured 440 jobs whereas in the UK the largest project secured 3,000 jobs. In each year there are projects for which no employment information is available so the employment numbers in the table do not include jobs arising from those projects. The nature of the projects and the relative change in proportions of projects to those which are not typically labour intensive can explain, in part, the reduction in the planned jobs estimates in Scotland in 2016.

In terms of the stock of jobs in foreign owned businesses in Scotland, rather than the EY estimates of FDI project related planned jobs, data are available from the Businesses in Scotland 2016 publication that shows the total number of jobs in foreign owned enterprises in Scotland is currently estimated at 316,870, with foreign owned enterprise employment growing each year over the last six years. These data are published at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/Corporate/table3sic07

Question reference: S5W-09568

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 15 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign direct investment projects there have been in Scotland in each year since 2014-15, and what information it has on how this compares with the UK as a whole.

Question reference: S5W-09570

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 15 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the number of jobs created by foreign direct investment has fallen in 2016-17 compared with 2015-16 and 2014-15.

Question reference: S5W-09569

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 15 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs have been created through foreign direct investment in Scotland in each year since 2014-15, and what information it has on how this compares with the UK as a whole.

Question reference: S5W-09481

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 12 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish separate mortality statistics for the Royal Alexandria and Vale of Leven hospitals.

Question reference: S5W-09480

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 12 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that the Royal Alexandria and Vale of Leven hospitals have recorded higher than average mortality statistics over the last four years.

Shona Robison: Across Scotland, HSMR have dropped by 8.4% over a 32 month period. The Scottish Patient Safety Programme is helping us significantly reduce hospital mortality and reduce avoidable harm at every stage of care.

Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMR) data is closely monitored by the Scottish Government and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to see whether any NHS Board is giving particular cause for concern.

HIS initiates a dialogue with an NHS board if one of its hospitals is identified as having a significantly high HSMR i.e. it being more than three standard deviations above the Scottish average or significantly increasing (calculated using run chart rules). These engagements are designed to ensure that the HSMR data can be interpreted meaningfully, drawing on local knowledge – while also ensuring that the data is taken seriously and acted upon as appropriate, with support and advice being provided for the NHS board.

HIS has opened such a dialogue with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHS GGC), about a high HSMR for the Royal Alexandria Hospital/Vale of Leven Hospital (combined), on three occasions (November 2010, October 2014, and July 2016). As part of these interactions, NHS GGC has reported on the actions it has carried out to understand and respond to this HSMR data, including how this has helped inform on-going work designed to improve the quality of clinical care. HIS reviewed these actions plans and, following further engagement with NHS GGC, concluded that NHS GGC has taken a positive and appropriate approach.

HSMR monitors expected mortality over time and does not work comparing one quarter with another. The latest published data for Vale of Leven/RAH Hospitals indicated that there has been a rise in the hospital HSMR from the previous quarter only and does not represent a 9% increase in mortality, this is a misunderstanding of HSMR statistics. The trends for these two hospital is a 4.5% reduction since January 2014.

HIS will continue to monitor the HSMR data for the Royal Alexandria Hospital/Vale of Leven Hospital, and consider this with national partner organisations alongside other sources of data/intelligence. In the event that this combined intelligence raises significant concerns about the quality of care, then HIS will follow up.