Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-09856

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) Berlin and (b) Brussels hub will be operational.

Question reference: S5O-01180

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it last organised a nationwide street count of rough sleepers.

Information on whether someone has slept rough within the past three months is collected by local authorities when a homeless application is made.

The Scottish Government has been working with third sector organisations such as Glasgow Homelessness Network and partners to gather more robust data on those who are rough sleeping. This is so that we can ensure we are improving our responses to those who may have more complex needs but are not approaching or engaging with statutory services.

Question reference: S5W-09859

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of its (a) past and (b) present trade envoys.

Question reference: S5W-09365

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the terms and conditions of employment in Network Rail’s contract with MITIE for cleaning and facility management of (a) Glasgow Central and (b) Edinburgh Waverley railway station, and whether this contract is compliant with its Fair Work Framework 2016.

Question reference: S5W-09364

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its estimate is of the (a) annual and (b) total value of Network Rail’s contract with MITIE for cleaning and facility management of (i) Glasgow Central and (ii) Edinburgh Waverley railway station.

Network Rail is responsible for managing the delivery of its business, including the deployment of its staff, their terms and conditions and how it contracts for services, and this MITIE contract was procured by Network Rail HQ in Milton Keynes as part of a larger contract. As a UK Government body in receipt of public funding in Scotland, we have a clear expectation that Network Rail will comply with all appropriate statutory policies, guidance and legislation in line with public sector best practice.

I am meeting the RMT to discuss this issue.

Question reference: S5W-09366

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an estimate of the number of (a) fixed-term, (b) zero-hours, (c) guaranteed minimum hours and (d) permanent contracts for staff employed by MITIE on the contract with Network Rail for cleaning and facility management of (i) Glasgow Central and (ii) Edinburgh Waverley railway station.

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.

Tell us your views

Chamber and committees