Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-09545

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 13 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on IT projects in each year since 2007, broken down by the percentage of spend that went to Scottish companies.

Question reference: S5W-09548

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 13 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the details are of its food procurement policy for the central Excel contract, and what steps it takes to ensure that produce is imported from countries that have legislation governing food production similar to that in Scotland.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act) requires public sector procurement to take account of economic, social and environmental considerations. The Act also requires that public bodies include, in published procurement strategies, statements on how procurements relating to food take account of health and wellbeing and animal welfare.

Individual public bodies are responsible for their own procurement activity. Public sector food contracts will generally require compliance with all relevant UK legislation; assurance standards; evidence of food safety and traceability, and that food meets the nutritional requirements of local authorities.

Question reference: S5W-09524

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much tax revenue it expects will be generated by the large business rates supplement in 2017-18, and how many commercial premises will be affected in the (a) East Ayrshire, (b) South Ayrshire and (c) South Lanarkshire local authority area.

It is estimated that the 2017-18 non-domestic rates income in respect of the large business supplement and the associated number of premises are, respectively by local authority area, £1.1 million and 277 premises for East Ayrshire, £1.8 million and 386 premises for South Ayrshire, and £15.1 million and 1,046 premises for South Lanarkshire. South Lanarkshire Council collects non-domestic rates at a national level in respect of certain electricity utilities under the statutory ‘designated assessor’ arrangements, which accounts for the majority of this £15.1 million estimate.

Question reference: S5W-09215

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of women attending an antenatal appointment in each of the last three years who had a recorded BMI were obese.

Question reference: S5W-09216

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of women attending an antenatal appointment in each of the last three years who had a recorded smoking status were smokers.

Question reference: S5O-01017

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 24 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when businesses will be able to access the Scottish Growth Scheme that it announced in September 2016.

Question reference: S5W-08923

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for making all outstanding payments to farmers; what action it is taking to address the reported concerns in the sector regarding problems in IT functionality impacting on the processing of these, and how it will ensure that a robust system will be put in place for future payments.

Question reference: S5O-00925

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to ensure that all pupils can participate in extra-curricular activities irrespective of background or personal circumstances.

Question reference: S5O-00909

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to the proposed Ayrshire growth deal.

Question reference: S5W-08467

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of school food nutrition will examine how much food is locally-sourced and other ways of reducing the carbon footprint of transporting the produce.

The current school food regulations contain a set of nutrient standards designed to ensure that a school lunch provides a third of a pupils daily recommended nutrient intake and a set of food and drink standards which apply to all other parts of the day (breakfast clubs, after school clubs, tuckshops) and includes, for example, limitations on sugar content. The review will look at potentially revising these minimum standards to move them closer to the revised Scottish Dietary Goals.

The legislation applies to nutritional content of school food and drink. It does not apply to issues like local sourcing and carbon footprint reduction. However, the ‘Better Eating, Better Learning – a new context for school food’, guidance is designed to support schools and local authorities as they drive further improvements to school food provision and food education and it includes a section dedicated to ‘Sustainability through Food’ which does offer advice on issues like local sourcing and consideration of carbon footprint.

Significant progress has been made in recent years with almost half of our public sector food and drink contracts now awarded to Scottish businesses. Whilst sourcing ingredients for school meals is a procurement matter for local authorities and caterers, the Scottish Government recognises that school food expenditure has a powerful contribution to make in maintaining a secure and resilient supply chain of healthy food in Scotland. In support of this we have produced a range of support and guidance for SMEs and Public Bodies on food procurement, and the emphasis on sustainable procurement is a path that many public bodies have taken up well.

Tell us your views

Seòmar agus comataidhean