Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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: S4O-02766

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 8 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its education priorities will be in 2014.

Question reference: S4O-02721

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the purpose was of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs's recent visit to Denmark and Sweden.

Question reference: S4W-18585

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the economic impact of the claim in the report by Lawrence Tomlinson that RBS put "good and viable businesses" into default to improve its balance sheet.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) provided Sir Andrew Large’s Independent Review team with evidence assembled by Lawrence Tomlinson, Entrepreneur in Residence at BIS, in relation to alleged maltreatment of businesses by RBS’s Global Restructuring Group. This matter was out-with the remit of the Large review, and the validity of the accusations made in the dossier were not investigated by Sir Andrew Large who recommended a separate investigation into the claims of alleged maltreatment.

Wherever there is evidence of any irregularities, the Scottish Government expect these to be fully investigated by the competent authorities, including the potential wider economic impact. The report has now been referred to the Financial Conduct Authority to review the allegations.

Question reference: S4O-02679

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with opposition parties about currency options in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4F-01720

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2013

To ask the First Minster what the Scottish Government's position is on the recent comments by the Secretary of State for Scotland regarding the future of the Barnett formula once the economy has "stabilised".

Question reference: S4O-02644

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to boost vocational education and training in North Ayrshire.

Question reference: S4F-01711

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2013

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the fiscal sustainability of an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-02576

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Ten is using the latest laser technology to examine data from the Eastern Qing Tombs in China.

Question reference: S4W-17474

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 8 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what average number of weeks was taken to determine major planning applications in each local authority in the last year for which information is available.

For those cases submitted post August 2009 the average time taken to determine a major application in Scotland was 36.3 weeks (1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013). The overall decision time for all major applications including legacy cases was 61.1 weeks. Information on the average timescales taken to determine major planning applications by local authority are available at the following link:

The 2012-13 annual figures were published on 18 July 2013.

The 2013-14 Quarter 1 figures were published on 2 October 2013 and are available at the following link: .

Question reference: S4W-17493

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it is having with the UK Government regarding Barnett consequentials arising from the HS2 project and when it expects such discussions to be concluded.

We believe that decisions about Scotland should be taken by the people who care most about Scotland: those who live and work here. It is only with full decision-making powers that the Scottish Parliament will be able to access all of Scotland’s resources to deliver a more prosperous and fairer Scotland.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government will continue to work with HM Treasury to ensure that Scotland continues to receive the full Barnett Consequentials from decisions taken in Westminster.

In the case of HS2, the Scottish Government has had no discussions with the UK Government regarding Barnett.

It is our view that the proposed high speed network should be extended ‘further and faster’ than the current plans. This will capture the benefits of a wider network returning greater economic benefits for all. As you identified in S4W-16767 on 13 September 2013, all UK taxpayers will contribute to this scheme. That is why we are concentrating current efforts on working with the UK Government to establish a joint study on options for high speed rail northwards to Scotland.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: