- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 13 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution and (b) Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work has had with potential investors about infrastructure projects; (i) when and (ii) where these meetings were held, and who was present.
Answer
Ministers meet and engage with potential investors on a regular basis to discuss a broad range of opportunities. It would be inappropriate to provide more detail as these meetings are private, often discussing commercially sensitive matters.
Details of Ministerial meetings/events can be found on the Scottish Government website:
https://beta.gov.scot/publications/?term=Ministerial&publicationTypes=transparency_data
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 13 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution and (b) Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work has had with inward investors; (i) when and (ii) where these meetings were held, and who was present.
Answer
Ministers meet and engage with potential investors on a regular basis to discuss a broad range of opportunities. It would be inappropriate to provide more detail as these meetings are private, often discussing commercially sensitive matters.
Details of Ministerial meetings/events can be found on the Scottish Government website:
https://beta.gov.scot/publications/?term=Ministerial&publicationTypes=transparency_data
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 13 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government whether, in light of Brexit, it will review (a) its trade and investment strategy and (b) Scotland’s Economic Strategy, given that both were published before Brexit.
Answer
I refer to my comments on these points in evidence to the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee on 29 November 2016.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 13 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken towards its aim of securing equal representation for women on listed private sector boards by 2020.
Answer
On 25 June 2015 the First Minister launched the Partnership for Change 50/50 by 2020 campaign, inviting private sector companies, voluntary sector organisations and public bodies to sign up to a voluntary commitment to work towards 50/50 gender balance on their boards by 2020. At the time of writing, the Partnership for Change has 191 signatories, including 36 private sector companies. Improving gender diversity on boards and in the workforce is also one of the nine components of the Scottish Business Pledge.
In the New Year the First Minister will open a Business Pledge conference for the private sector in Scotland. Business speakers will focus on the business benefits of diverse boards and delegates will have an opportunity to attend practical workshops designed to offer advice and support on improving board diversity.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 8 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what the annual outturn has been for its Opportunities for All initiative, and how many people have received support from it each year.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-02564 on 28 September 2016. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 8 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the withdrawal of Scottish Enterprise from its satellite office in Paisley; whether it was consulted in advance about this decision, and whether Scottish Enterprise plans other office closures.
Answer
SE has a specific remit to support economic growth across Scotland and part of that requires that they periodically review their property portfolio to ensure that this continues support their operations.
While the current SE office will close in 2017 that does not mean that SE’s presence in Paisley will end. SE is consulting with staff and is investigating the full range of options available to it to maintain presence in Paisley. Arrangements will be put in place before its current Paisley office closes ensuring continuity of delivery of services without effect or detriment.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 7 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) companies in Scotland are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code (PPC) and (b) signatories there have been in each year since the PPC was introduced.
Answer
The Prompt Payment Code is administered by the Chartered Institute of Credit Management on behalf of the UK Government. The voluntary Code covers businesses throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK. The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested, but Code signatories and details of the Code standards can be found here: http://www.promptpaymentcode.org.uk/
The Scottish Parliament approved a legislative consent motion earlier this year
(9 February 2016) to extend the provisions of the UK-wide Small Business Commissioner to businesses in Scotland. The Commissioner will aim to offer small businesses access to a simpler and more cost-effective route to redress the challenges of contractual late payment. We continue to work with the UK government to develop the Small Business Commissioner’s function and ensure it meets the needs of businesses in Scotland.
In addition, the Scottish Government encourages individual companies to change their approach and practices – through, for example, the Scottish Business Pledge which remains focused on boosting business success, growth and productivity and is an important part of the Scottish Government’s approach to working with business to make Scotland a more productive and fairer country.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of businesses that have been bankrupted as a result of the late payment of invoices in each year since 2011.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Accountant in Bankruptcy has a statutory function to maintain a Register of Insolvencies that contains particulars of those subject to personal insolvency proceedings and business associations subject to receivership and winding up procedures in Scotland. Information concerning the particular reason for a business insolvency is not collected or recorded. Corporate insolvency procedures in relation to Administration and Company Voluntary Arrangement are reserved to UK Government and information regarding Scottish companies subject to these procedures is recorded on Companies House web-site. While I recognise the value in having greater insight into the reasons underlying and insolvency, and sympathise with the member's interests in driving out bad practice, it is unfortunately not currently possible to extract the reasons for insolvency from the information available on the Companies House web-site to inform our understanding of the impact of late payments.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 December 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of late payments of bills on businesses.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of a range of survey evidence on the issue of late payment. For example, the Small Business Survey Scotland (SBS) 2015 did not quantify the impact of late payment in financial terms, but found that late payment seemed to be less of an issue for medium-sized businesses (47 per cent reported ‘no problem’), while micro businesses seemed to experience the greatest problems (although 33 per cent reported ‘no problem’). The survey also found that late payment was in the median of top ten obstacles to business success.
The Scottish Government takes the issue of late payment very seriously. It is being actively tackled through legislation, policy and practice. The current legislation aims to create an environment where paying on time is the norm in the business community. Paying (undisputed) invoices on time not only benefits all suppliers, but is ethical and fair.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2016
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2016
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the recent growth forecast by the EY Scottish ITEM Club.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2016
