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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: S4W-29309

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy has had with the Scottish Local Government Partnership about the 2016-17 budget.

Question reference: S4W-29308

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in meeting the target of ensuring that ministerial public appointments are more diverse and reflective of the population, as set out in its Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report 2015.

The following table sets out the comparison between the figures for the year to December 2014 compared to the figures for the year to January 2013:

Regulated appointments

Year to 31 Jan 2013 %

Year to 31 Dec 2014 %

	Applicants	Appointed	Applicants	Appointed
Women	30.5	39.2	38.2	45.8
Disabled people	14.1	12.4	10.4	7.5
Minority ethnic people**	4.9	6.2	4.7	*
Age under 50	21.2	22.7	29.8	24.9
LGB	2.6	6.2	4.0	*
Christian	50	not known	49.9	50.8
Non-Christian	3.9	not known	3.5	*

*Values for less than five have been supressed to decrease the risk of disclosure of information about individuals.

**'Minority ethnic' covers the non-white broad ethnic groups: African, Caribbean or Black; Asian, Asian Scottish and Asian British; mixed or multiple ethnic group; other ethnic group.

The ‘Delivering Diversity’ section (pp. 35-41) of the 2014-15 Annual Report of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland sets out further analysis of the figures and a commentary on progress. It is available here: http://www.ethicalstandards.org.uk/publications/publication/770/cespls-annual-report-201415

Figures for the 12 month period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 are currently being collated and analysed; a progress report will be available by the end of February 2016 on the Appointed for Scotland website: www.appointed-for-scotland.org

Question reference: S4W-29339

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the expected revenue loss is from proposals to halve and then abolish air passenger duty, broken down by year.

The Scottish Government plans to use the devolution of powers over air passenger duty (APD) to Scotland to put in place new arrangements which will help to boost Scotland's international connectivity and economic competitiveness. To support these objectives, we will reduce the burden of APD in Scotland by 50%. The reduction will begin when a Scottish replacement tax is introduced in April 2018 and will be delivered in full by the end of the next Scottish Parliament. We will abolish the tax entirely when resources allow. The costs associated with this policy will be subject to decisions yet to be taken on how a Scottish replacement tax is designed and structured, how the 50% reduction is implemented, the impact of recent and future changes to UK APD, and future growth in passenger numbers.

The Scottish Government plans to publish a policy consultation paper seeking views on how a Scottish replacement tax should be designed and structured to best support our strategic objectives, building on the work of the stakeholder forum which we established in August 2015.

Question reference: S4F-03190

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 January 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 January 2016

To ask the First Minister, in light of the fall in oil prices, when the Scottish Government will publish an updated Oil and Gas Bulletin focusing on the impact on jobs.

Question reference: S4W-28857

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will (a) reach and (b) announce its decision on whether its borrowing plans for 2016-17 will be financed through (i) the National Loans Fund, (ii) bank loans on commercial terms, (iii) issuing bonds or (iv) other means.

The Scottish Government expects to take decisions about future borrowing routes in the course of 2016-17, and on the basis that we would plan only to draw down borrowing late in the financial year. It is anticipated that final arrangements will be confirmed with HM Treasury in early 2017 and Parliament will be updated around that time.

The Scottish Government will evaluate the options available to it for borrowing and will in due course take a responsible decision on which method or methods to use based on the prevailing economic conditions.

Question reference: S4W-28791

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Healthier Scotland Engagement Fund has been spent, broken down by (a) organisation and (b) event.

Question reference: S4W-28790

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) email, (b) website and (c) written responses have been received by the Healthier Scotland National Conversation.

Question reference: S4W-28792

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the remit is of the Healthier Scotland National Conversation and who is responsible for its delivery.

The national conversation on creating a healthier Scotland was launched on 4 August 2015, to allow the people of Scotland to have their say on what a healthier Scotland should be like in the next 10 to 15 years, and on the steps that could be taken to make the necessary changes. The conversation is prompting people to consider what matters to them when they think support is needed to live healthier lives; what areas of health and social care matter most; and where our focus should be for the future of health and social care services.

More details of the national conversation, including a facilitation pack of relevant background material and details of forthcoming events, is available at the dedicated website http://healthier.scot/.

A demand-led £26,000 has been made available to the Voluntary Action Fund to provide grants to smaller organisations and community groups. This will encourage people who would not normally participate in an engagement exercise of this nature to contribute to the national conversation.

Between the launch of the national conversation in August 2015 and the end of November 2015 around £86,000 has been spent on direct staff costs (permanent and temporary). Those staff will remain in post until the national conversation has concluded and I therefore expect a similar level of expenditure between now and March 2016.

I will produce a report on the findings from the conversation in March 2016. This will inform the future direction of travel for health and social care from which a forward action plan can be developed.

Question reference: S4W-28788

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on (a) staff and (b) other costs for the Healthier Scotland National Conversation, and what future expenditure is expected.

Question reference: S4W-28789

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people attended each Healthier Scotland National Conversation event, excluding facilitators and civil servants.