Wednesday 15 June 2016

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Communities

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce new arrangements to replace the Sure Start Maternity Grant.

Holding answer issued: 9 June 2016 (S5W-00226)

Jeane Freeman: We are still considering our plans for the operation of the new Maternity and Early Years Allowance, including questions such as eligibility criteria and timescales for introduction. We want to implement the new benefit, which will replace the Sure Start Maternity Grant, as soon as practically possible. We have been consulting stakeholders including users, potential users and interested groups and will continue to do so over the summer to gather views to inform decisions and the required legislation. We will also be taking forward the next steps in the delivery process, which will involve financial, legal and practical considerations.

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government at what payment level it will set its replacement for the Sure Start Maternity Grant.

Holding answer issued: 9 June 2016 (S5W-00228)

Jeane Freeman: Our intention is to create a Maternity and Early Years Allowance. For those eligible, a maternity payment will be made for the first child of £600. Maternity payments for second and subsequent children will be £300. Payments of £250 will be introduced for all children when they start nursery and again when they start school.

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, in deciding to replace the Sure Start Maternity Grant, what assessment it made of the adequacy of the grant for assisting with the costs of a child.

Holding answer issued: 9 June 2016 (S5W-00229)

Jeane Freeman: For the purposes of developing the Maternity and Early Years Allowance, Scottish Government officials have carried out an assessment of the cost of essential items for a new born child and shared these with stakeholders. We consider that these items could be bought with the £600 maternity payment that the Maternity and Early Years Allowance will make for first children. Officials have also sought opinions from users and potential users about their perception of the level of the current Sure Start Maternity Grant. Support with the overall or basic costs of having a child will continue to be met through a combination of benefits, many of which remain reserved and which make regular payments in addition to those planned by the Scottish Government on receipt of additional powers.

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to change the eligibility criteria in its replacement for the Sure Start Maternity Grant in the current parliamentary session.

Holding answer issued: 9 June 2016 (S5W-00231)

Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00226 on 15 June 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

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of applicants expected in respect of its replacement for the Sure Start Maternity Grant in each of the next four years; what information it has on how many applications were made in Scotland for the grant in each of the last five years, and what the estimated annual cost of these payments was.

Holding answer issued: 9 June 2016 (S5W-00232)

Jeane Freeman: Estimates of the number of applicants expected for the Maternity and Early Years Allowance will depend on decisions yet to be taken about the rollout of this benefit and the eligibility criteria that will be used.

For the purposes of policy development, we have estimated that, if current Sure Start Maternity Grant take-up rates and eligibility criteria were maintained, around 40,000 awards would be made each year. If full take-up were achieved and all eligible families received a grant we estimate that somewhere in the region of 85,000 awards would be made each year.

These figures are estimates of the total numbers of awards that would be made in a year and so combine payments on birth, upon a child starting nursery and upon a child starting primary school.

Source: Scottish Government analysis based on Department for Work and Pensions figures.

Information on the number of applications and the annual cost of these payments is held by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the basic cost of having a child.

Holding answer issued: 9 June 2016 (S5W-00233)

Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00229 on 15 June 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

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the level of the Sure Start Maternity Grant would be had it been uprated in line with the (a) retail and (b) consumer price index since 2002.

Holding answer issued: 9 June 2016 (S5W-00234)

Jeane Freeman: The department for work and pensions is responsible for the Sure Start Maternity Grant.

However Scottish Government analysis shows that the £500 Sure Start Maternity Grant payment had been uprated in line with the (a) retail and (b) consumer price index since 2002 it is estimated that it would be around (a) £740 and (b) £680 in 2016-17.

Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on planning applications to build on designated greenbelt.

(S5W-00517)

Kevin Stewart: Scottish Government policy on green belts is set out in Scottish Planning Policy in paragraphs 50-52 and 82. Specifically, paragraph 52 states that local development plans should describe the types and scales of development which would be appropriate in a green belt, and that these may include; development associated with agriculture; woodland and forestry; horticulture; recreational uses that are compatible with an agricultural or natural setting; essential infrastructure; development meeting a national requirement or established need (if no other suitable site is available); and intensification of established uses subject to the new development being of a suitable scale and form. All planning decisions should be made in line with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Enterprise and Environment

Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the originally estimated 2016 Basic Payment Scheme spend had been paid as at 31 May 2016, broken down by Rural Payments and Inspections Division area office.

Holding answer issued: 15 June 2016 (S5W-00346)

Fergus Ewing: The estimated 2015 expenditure for Basic Payment Scheme (including greening measures) is approximately £334.5 million.

To date, Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID) have issued instalment payments of £216 million or around 65% of the planned expenditure. The breakdown of payments by RPID area office is shown in the following table:

Area Office Value

Ayr £26,207,726.10

Benbecula £1,042,667.15

Dumfries £23,008,480.37

Elgin £4,622,488.87

Galashiels £31,264,559.10

Golspie £1,439,323.92

Hamilton £9,557,224.05

Inverness £17,290,209.08

Inverurie £40,259,584.49

Kirkwall £5,704,218.78

Lerwick £3,255,914.07

Oban £6,938,155.11

Perth £37,948,173.71

Portree £1,240,934.69

Stornoway £580,934.92

Thurso £5,592,618.51

TOTALS £215,953,212.92

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on meeting its Scotland Performs' productivity purpose target for Scotland to rank in the top quartile against its key OECD trading partners by 2017.

(S5W-00363)

Keith Brown: Scotland Performs monitors and reports on progress against the Scottish Government's purpose targets and national indicators.

Data on Scotland's productivity performance is currently available for years up to and including 2014. Data on progress towards the productivity purpose target up to 2014 is published at the following address: http://www.gov.scot/About/Performance/scotPerforms/purposetargets/productivity

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what work the Oil and Gas Taskforce has carried out to secure jobs and apprenticeships in the oil industry.

Holding answer issued: 15 June 2016 (S5W-00369)

Jamie Hepburn: In 2015, the First Minister set up the Energy Jobs Taskforce, which has already helped to support more than 2,500 individuals and 100 employers through the current downturn, and will continue to support the industry to improve collaboration, co-operation and innovation. A fourth Patnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) event, providing employment support, will take place at Robert Gordon University on 22 June 2016. An enhanced adopt an apprentice scheme was also launched by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) on 16 February 2015. SDS has helped secure re-employment and provides support for modern apprentices made redundant in the oil and gas sector through this scheme.

The taskforce has, at the request of its industry members, taken a longer-term look at the structural challenges of the industry. This has led to a number of initiatives that will lay the foundations for improvements across a wide range of action areas to support supply chain best practice, increase standardisation, enhance leadership, encourage more collaborative behaviours among different parts of the industry and drive cost efficiencies. This has led to a number of initiatives including:

A ground breaking cross-sector shared principles and values event, attended by more than 70 industry leaders in Aberdeen took place last May 2015. A follow up event took place in May 2016, where 74 senior oil and gas leaders met to drive forward behavioural changes and improve ways of working to maximise opportunities for Scotland’s oil and gas sector. The event aimed to challenge existing behaviours and break down the barriers to change; ensuring companies are equipped to deal

with issues affecting them in the short term, but also helping to protect skills and talent to maximise future growth opportunities.

Launch of tactics to mitigate risk or impact of redundancy guidance on 20 May 2016 which provides a hierarchy of options before employers resort to downsizing workforce has been published, including - making savings elsewhere, sabbaticals, reduced hours, job sharing, job loans. This has been issued to companies via the Oil and Gas UK HR Forum, SDS, Scottish Enterprise and the Energy Jobs Taskforce network.

Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise are providing practical assistance to the supply chain and have ran six resilience in oil and gas events welcoming 217 delegates from 144 companies to hear from experts on strategy, operations, finance and market resilience.

Elevator Fresh Starts Business Start Up Support Programme has provided support for 37 new businesses in the north east originating from initial contact at PACE events, which includes intensive support from experienced mentors

A sales leadership event was held in Aberdeen on 26 Feb 2016, attracting 53 delegates – with the

objective of equipping business leaders with responsibility for sales to take a strategic overview of their sales process to locate and win profitable business.

The second cohort of nine business leaders has recently completed a new executive masterclass development programme, to develop strategic leadership skills, bringing the number to 18 in total over the two cohorts since July 2015.

Introduction of a fully funded adapted Scottish manufacturing advisory service (SMAS) manufacturing review open to all oil and gas businesses, to increase the chances of survival and build operational resilience. In addition SMAS is leading a number of learning journeys for example the Siemens factory in UK and a visit to Germany – these included eight companies from the oil and gas sector. Best practice visits have also taken place to Optos and Scotvalves with a total of six oil and gas supply chain companies involved in these.

Scottish Enterprise has allocated £10 million of funding to support oil and gas companies at enhanced levels for innovation and research and development, offering support at up to 70% dependent on the size of the business to further de-risk innovative projects. This also includes an ‘innovation professional for hire’ programme to help businesses enhance their innovation capability.

Additionally resilience review support which was announced in February 2016, has established a pool of around 35 industry specialists to support companies.

Peter Chapman (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government when the IT system for Basic Payment Scheme entitlement transfers will be fully functional.

Holding answer issued: 15 June 2016 (S5W-00390)

Fergus Ewing: The IT functionality for the recording of entitlement transfers will be available in the autumn. There is, however, no reason for farmers and crofters to delay informing the entitlement transfer unit in Stornoway of their transfer arrangements.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what the remit is of the review of Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council that was announced by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016 (Official Report, c. 19); when it will commence; what the timetable is for each stage; which stakeholders will be invited to participate, and when (a) it will be completed and (b) the findings will be published.

(S5W-00430)

Keith Brown: I have today, on 15 June, published the terms of reference for the review and copies are available in the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (bib number 58005). The review and recommendations will focus on achieving three main aims: achieving the government’s ambitions as set out in Scotland’s Economic Strategy and National Performance Framework; ensuring our economic and skills interventions are shaped by users’ needs; and ensuring that delivery continuously reflects best practice.

The review will begin within the next week. I will invite ministerial group members by the end of this week, with a view to meeting by the end of June 2016. We will then issue a call for evidence and invite a wide range of stakeholders to engage in the most appropriate manner such that the review can be published by the end of the summer.

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote cycling events such as cyclosportives; what impact this has on (a) tourism and (b) the economy of (i) Scotland, (ii) Moray and (iii) the Highlands and Islands, and what funding it provides.

(S5W-00462)

Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00463 on 10 June 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

Since 2003, VisitScotland’s EventScotland team has invested £2.6 million to support 55 cycling events across Scotland. 23 of these events have taken place in the Highland region, attracting £1.2 million of this support. It is estimated the total net additional spend generated by all of these events at a Scotland level is £26 million. At a local authority level, this total is estimated to be £38 million. For the Highlands specifically, the net additional spend from the 23 supported events in the region is estimated to be £22.5 million. Recent examples of supported events include ‘Etape Loch Ness’ in Inverness in April 2016 and the ‘Mountain Bike World Cup’ in Fort William in June 2016. In addition, Highland and Islands Enterprise has contributed towards infrastructure costs to allow for the development of the cycling tourism sector and events, which also includes the Nevis Range for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

VisitScotland also undertakes significant activity to promote cycling in Scotland and to assist the tourism industry harness the economic benefits of the sport. Their consumer website showcases a wide range of cycle routes and cycling events and VisitScotland also delivers the Cyclists Welcome Scheme, which accredits businesses who cater for cyclists and visitors with an interest in outdoor activities and the environment. To date there are 1077 total Cyclists Welcome Scheme members across Scotland.

Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29255 by Aileen McLeod on 26 January 2016, what steps it (a) has taken, (b) is taking and (c) plans to take to ensure improved implementation of the EU birds and habitats directives in Scotland.

(S5W-00467)

Roseanna Cunningham: The European Commission's ‘fitness check’ of the EU birds and habitats directives has yet to conclude. Following this, the Scottish Government will consider what, if any, improvements to implementation should be made for Scotland.

John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government what (a) recent assessment it has made and (b) future assessment it plans of potential risks to the marine wildlife in the Moray Firth.

(S5W-00482)

Roseanna Cunningham: The scope of this request is very broad and untargeted, and to answer the question as it stands would incur a disproportionate cost, as this would involve, amongst other things: Input from several government agencies, Significant resource to collect all assessments done across the Moray Firth of any sort, as there is no specificity to the question.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government who the members are of the Scottish Investment Bank; what its remit is; how many loans it has issued and to whom; how much risk capital it has raised, and how many equity schemes have been set up, broken down by year.

(S5W-00548)

Keith Brown: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I will arrange for the Chief Executive to write to you with the information requested.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government by what date the Scottish Business Development Bank will be established.

(S5W-00549)

Keith Brown: There are no immediate plans to establish a Scottish Business Development Bank.

I refer to the response to S4W-30114 on 26 February 2016 by John Swinney, then Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth.

Our approach, given the UK Government accounting arrangements within which we are required to work, is to enhance the remit of the Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) and for Scottish Enterprise to offer a wider range of business investment approaches, addressing some of the marketplace gaps to improve the supply of funding.

The additional activity could include providing support to a broader number and range of businesses, offering and enabling loans, and potentially guarantees, alongside equity products and providing an enhanced financial readiness service.

£21.5 million of financial transactions funding has been allocated to Scottish Enterprise in 2016-17 to help in developing the SIB to meet its new objectives.

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

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether the board of the Scottish Investment Bank is separate from that of Scottish Enterprise.

(S5W-00569)

Keith Brown: The Scottish Investment Bank is a division within Scottish Enterprise and does not have a separate board.

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government to what extent it supports the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and how it supports the global effort to tackle the illegal trade in antiquities.

(S5W-00600)

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is proud to support the UNESCO Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property (the Paris convention). Membership of United Nations organisations such as UNESCO and controls on imports and exports are reserved to the United Kingdom Government which ratified the Paris convention in 2002.

The UK Government is proposing to ratify the Hague convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Protocols of 1954 and 1999, in the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts Bill) which will require a legislative consent motion to be passed by the Scottish Parliament.

Scotland has hosted the trafficking culture programme at the Scottish crime and justice centre at the University of Glasgow that produces evidence-based research into the contemporary global trade in looted cultural objects.

John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00290 by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 June 2016, by what date the ban will be introduced.

(S5W-00605)

Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is currently investigating all avenues for the best mechanism for introducing legislation proposing a ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses on ethical grounds. The Scottish Parliament will be informed, in due course, how the ban will be introduced.

Bruce Crawford (Stirling) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29246 by Fergus Ewing on 27 January 2016, in light of the information not being provided by the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding whether it will provide a breakdown of the (a) methods and (b) categories used by Scottish Enterprise to record data with regard to the businesses that it provides grant support to.

(S5W-00618)

Keith Brown: This remains an operational issue for Scottish Enterprise. I understand that Jim Reid, Senior Director of International Stakeholder Communications and Networks from Scottish Enterprise has now been in touch with Mr Crawford.

Finance

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4F-03322 by Nicola Sturgeon on 23 March 2016 (Official Report, c. 52), if the Scottish Parliament did not agree to raise the threshold for higher rate income tax to the same level as that of the rest of the UK, what impact this would have on the payments that the UK Government would provide to Scotland under the fiscal framework.

(S5W-00398)

Derek Mackay: Under new income tax powers set out in the Scotland Act 2016, all Scottish non-savings and non-dividend income tax will accrue to the Scottish Government from the tax year 2017-18 onwards. The Scottish Government set out its proposal for the use of these powers on 22 March 2016, including an estimate of the increased revenue expected as a result of increasing the threshold for the higher rate of income tax in Scotland at a lower rate than in the rest of the UK from 2017-18 to 2021-22. The estimate provided included behavioural effects.

It is not expected that increasing the threshold for the higher rate of income tax in Scotland at a lower rate than in the rest of the UK will have any effect on the payments that the UK Government would provide to Scotland under the fiscal framework provisions covering ‘no detriment due to policy spill over effects’ described in paragraphs 44 to 53 of the agreement.

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government since 16 March 2016 regarding the implementation of the fiscal framework.

(S5W-00399)

Derek Mackay: Officials from the Scottish and UK Governments have had a number of discussions since 16 March 2016 on implementing the fiscal framework. It is expected that ministers will meet in due course to agree a plan for undertaking the remaining work.

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what impact the increase in the personal allowance in 2017-18 will have on its income tax receipts, and whether a payment will be made under the no detriment rule of the fiscal framework to compensate for this.

(S5W-00400)

Derek Mackay: An increase in the tax free personal allowance for income tax as announced by the UK Government in respect of 2017-18 will result in reduced income tax receipts for the Scottish Government. There will be a corresponding reduction in income tax receipts for the rest of the UK. This will result in a reduction in the block grant adjustment applied to the Scottish budget. The net

effect of the change in tax receipts and in the block grant adjustment is expected to be zero or close to zero.

Any consideration of policy spill over effects as set out in paragraphs 44 to 53 of the fiscal framework agreement will be undertaken on a case by case basis. Paragraph 52 requires that any decision or transfer relating to a spill over effect must be jointly agreed by the Scottish and UK Governments.

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what procedure is in place to request a payment under the no detriment rule of the fiscal framework to compensate for the loss of income tax receipts following an increase in the personal allowance.

(S5W-00401)

Derek Mackay: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00400 on 15 June 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

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government when it will make calculations to assess whether any adjustments are required to the block grant under the fiscal framework.

(S5W-00402)

Derek Mackay: The process for adjusting the Scottish block grant in respect of the newly devolved taxes and other powers will take place on an annual cycle. Separate adjustments will be calculated in respect of each tax and other relevant power. The fiscal framework and accompanying technical annex sets out how calculations will be carried out.

Paragraphs 44 to 53 of the fiscal framework agreement set out arrangements for further adjusting the block grant in respect of policy spillover effects. As explained in the answer to question S5W-00400 on 15 June 2016, consideration of these effects will be undertaken on a case by case basis, and any decision or transfer relating to a spillover effect must be jointly agreed by the Scottish and UK Governments.

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

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what compensation would be received under the fiscal framework if the Scottish Parliament did not follow increases in the threshold for the higher rate of income tax that had been set for the rest of the UK.

(S5W-00403)

Derek Mackay: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00398 on 15 June 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

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government how much additional income tax will be paid by taxpayers in Scotland in each of the next five years under its proposals set out in Scottish Income Tax from 2017/18, and how this compares with how much would be collected if the (a) current and (b) assumed UK rates, bands and thresholds for this period were to be used.

(S5W-00404)

Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government set out its proposals for the use of new Scottish income tax powers on 22 March 2016. The accompanying policy document provided estimates of the likely financial impacts on individual taxpayers of the proposal, and of expected additional revenues.

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government how the business rates in Elgin city centre compare with the national average and other comparable cities and towns.

(S5W-00581)

Derek Mackay: This information is not held, however the rateable value of all properties is published online at saa.gov.uk and the Scottish assessors use the same valuation methodologies when valuing properties across Scotland. In addition, the same poundage rate and national relief schemes apply in Elgin.

Health and Social Care

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how much it will invest in the current parliamentary session to support survivors of historic and recent child abuse.

(S5W-00384)

Maureen Watt: Scotland is one of the few countries in the world that provides dedicated funding for survivors of abuse.

A consortium bid had been successful in securing the tender to administer the new national survivor support fund for people who were abused while in care as children with a total budget of £13.5 million over the next five years. I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-30625 on 14 March 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

Since 2007, £1.5 million has been invested in the In Care Survivors Service Scotland (ICSSS). Open secret, the survivor organisation that administers ICSSS has been awarded a total of £100,000 in grant funding for the period between 1 April 2016 and 30 September 2016 to ensure the continuing provision of support for the in care survivors that currently access ICSSS services, while the new survivor support fund is in development. The support fund will become fully operational in the autumn.

Since 2007, £9 million has been invested in third and voluntary sector organisations providing a wide range of local services that support all survivors of abuse across Scotland. In December 2015 20 organisations that provide services for all survivors received grant funding of £1 million in total under the survivor innovation and development fund. We plan to at least match this funding in the current financial year.

In September 2015, the Scottish Government announced that an additional £1.85 million would be invested in providing support for victims of sex crimes across Scotland, including survivors, through the services provided by rape crisis Scotland. The 14 rape crisis centres in Scotland will each receive £40,000 in 2016 and 2017. The additional funding will also be used to support the development of new local services in Orkney and Shetland and to expand the local service in West Lothian.

In addition, while not targeted at survivors specifically, in December 2015 the Scottish Government announced that 116 third and voluntary sector organisations supporting children, families and adult learning have been awarded £12 million from the children, young people and families early intervention and adult learning and empowering communities fund. This will benefit thousands of children, families and communities across Scotland, including survivors and a number of the organisations that provide support for them.

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide older survivors of historic abuse with urgent financial and practical support.

(S5W-00386)

Maureen Watt: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00384 on 15 June 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.

To adequately respond to the individual and often unique needs of survivors, the survivor support fund will contain a discretionary element. This will not provide compensation or redress payments to survivors, but will provide real flexibility in the provision of a range of ad hoc needs that cannot be readily met by or commissioned from existing statutory or non-statutory services.

All in care survivors that meet the criteria to access the survivor support fund, including older survivors, will also be eligible to apply for need-based and outcome-focused support from the discretionary element of the support fund, which will become fully operational in the autumn.

The Scottish Government will continue to explore all possible means of further support for survivors of all ages, including older survivors.

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider making payments to the older survivors of historic child abuse prior to or following the completion of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

(S5W-00387)

Maureen Watt: I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-00384 and S5W-00386 on 15 June 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.

The Scottish Government will carefully consider the report and any recommendations made by the Chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry following its completion.

Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when it will release the funding for the three research PhDs in (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) motor neurone disease that was referred to in the 2016 SNP manifesto; how much money will be made available for this work; how much of it will be new money, and from what budget line it will be drawn.

(S5W-00421)

Shona Robison: Discussions to identify key areas of research need in these conditions are planned to help ensure these studentships have the maximum impact. These discussions will shape the research calls and inform funding requirements.

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the underrecognition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among children.

(S5W-00504)

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government expects NHS boards to provide safe, effective care and services which support and respond to the needs of the individual. This includes the recognition and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in line with evidence-based practice.

The Scottish Government has worked with NHS Education for Scotland to produce the psychological therapies Matrix - a guide to planning and delivering evidence-based psychological therapies within NHS boards in Scotland. The ‘Matrix’ dedicates a section to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in each year since 2011-12, broken down by NHS board.

(S5W-00505)

Maureen Watt: This information is not held centrally. This is because most diagnoses will be made in community and outpatient settings and information services division do not hold the relevant information from those settings.

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children in each NHS board have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, broken down by gender.

(S5W-00506)

Maureen Watt: This information is not held centrally. This is because most diagnoses will be made in community and outpatient settings and information services division do not hold the relevant information from those settings.

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is for (a) assessment, (b) treatment and (c) psychological treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in each NHS board.

(S5W-00510)

Maureen Watt: This information is not held centrally. Information services division publish data on waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services and psychological therapies however this is not broken down by diagnosis.

Ben Macpherson (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to support people with body-focussed repetitive behaviours.

(S5W-00572)

Maureen Watt: The government expects NHS boards to respond to the clinical needs of their population and of presenting individuals. To assist in providing effective, evidence-based treatments, the Scottish Government provides funding to NHS Education for Scotland to host the ‘Matrix’, an evidence-based guide for NHS boards on effective psychological treatments for a range of mental health issues, including repetitive behaviours. If there is an absence of strong evidence for the treatment of particular neurological conditions, the ‘Matrix’ advises that clinical judgment should be used if considering interventions which have been shown to be effective for similar problems in other adult populations. Where judged as clinically appropriate, medication may also be prescribed in the treatment of body-focused repetitive behaviours.

Monica Lennon (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what specialist health provision it provides for pregnant and new mothers in Central Scotland who experience mental ill health.

(S5W-00597)

Maureen Watt: NHS boards in Central Scotland are responsible for working with their partners to plan and provide specialist health care for pregnant and new mothers who experience mental ill health according to individually assessed needs and in line with published clinical guidance.

Pregnant and new mothers will benefit from referral, where appropriate, to the regional specialist perinatal inpatient mother and baby units in NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as work to improve access to psychological therapies across Scotland. We’re investing additional £150 million for mental health over five years and as part of that package we announced in January 2016 that £4.8 million will be awarded to Healthcare Improvement Scotland to establish a mental health access improvement support team.

The improvement programme will work in collaboration with NHS boards to deliver sustained improvements in access to child and adolescent mental health services and access to psychological therapies services.

Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Scottish Conservatives and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the provision of mindfulness therapy as a treatment for mental health problems.

(S5W-00667)

Maureen Watt: The concept of mindfulness is widely promoted in a variety of mental health settings as a therapeutic tool in enhancing mental health and wellbeing.

To assist in providing effective, evidence-based treatments, the Scottish Government provides funding to NHS Education for Scotland to host the ‘Matrix’, an evidence-based guide for NHS boards

on effective psychological treatments for a range of mental health issues. The ‘Matrix’ suggests that mindfulness may be considered as a treatment option for people with mental health problems. NHS Education for Scotland also support training in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Scottish Conservatives and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made or plans on the effectiveness of mindfulness therapy as a treatment for mental health problems.

(S5W-00668)

Maureen Watt: To assist in providing effective, evidence-based treatments, the Scottish Government provides funding to NHS Education for Scotland to host the ‘Matrix’, an evidence-based guide for NHS boards on effective psychological treatments for a range of mental health issues.

The ‘Matrix’ suggests that mindfulness may be considered as a treatment option for people with mental health problems. NHS Education for Scotland also support training in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

Learning and Justice

Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more young women to take up STEM subjects.

(S5O-00046)

John Swinney: As the First Minister said last week, encouraging girls, and indeed, all young people to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects is vital for their future and vital for the future of the country. The numbers of entries by girls to the main science higher qualifications, including computing, are up by 10% since 2007. There are very encouraging signs of greater participation by women in STEM subjects at college and university.

We are supporting projects to tackle gender stereotyping in STEM education at school and supporting equality projects across Scottish colleges and universities. The new chief scientific adviser, Professor Sheila Rowan will work to inspire more young people, including young women and girls, to study STEM and progress to a STEM career.

There are many examples of excellent STEM opportunities being offered by Scotland’s colleges. This includes the City of Glasgow College’s Women into Engineering course which offers single-sex classes in the first year of the course and which is seeing encouraging early signs of success.

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its education directorate’s role is in addressing the number of 16 to 19-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training.

(S5O-00047)

Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government is determined to do everything it can, working with our national and local partners, to ensure that all young people get the best possible educational opportunities.

Our education directorates are focused on delivering key education policies, including curriculum for excellence; Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy: Developing the Young Workforce; the National Improvement Framework; Opportunities for All; and Raising Attainment - all focused on improving outcomes for our young people.

Ivan McKee (Glasgow Provan) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that spending on education is targeted at areas where the attainment gap is greatest.

(S5O-00048)

John Swinney: We will allocate £750 million during the course of this Parliament through the Attainment Scotland Fund to tackle the attainment gap, targeting resources at those children, schools and communities most in need. The Scottish Government, through the Attainment Scotland Fund,

already provides funding to those primary schools and authorities identified as having the highest concentrations of Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 1 and 2. I announced last week that we would extend our area based approach to two more local authorities so that there are now nine challenge authorities, and extend the scope of the challenge to secondary schools. Children are affected by poverty related disadvantage all over Scotland, therefore as part of the £750 million package, we will allocate an additional £100 million that will be raised each year as a result of our council tax reforms to schools, on the basis of the number of eligible children that meet the criteria for free school meals.

Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in boosting the delivery of STEM subjects.

(S5O-00049)

John Swinney: We are making good progress in boosting the delivery of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. This financial year we are investing £1.5 million in practical support for teachers for science, technology, and maths through the Scottish Schools Science Research Centre and the National Numeracy and Mathematics Hub. Education Scotland provide a strong package of support for teaching and learning across all STEM subjects.

The Scottish Funding Council has prioritised STEM across the college sector. Numbers of full time equivalent engineering, science and maths students in college are rising as are the numbers of entrants to first degree courses in STEM subjects at Scottish universities.

There is lots of good practice right across the country. For example, North East Scotland College currently run an S2 Skills competition (sponsored by Shell UK and Score Group) with partner secondary schools in the Aberdeenshire area which aims to encourage young people at school into engineering.

Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it provides for children with additional support needs.

(S5O-00050)

Mark McDonald: The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 was put in place to ensure that all children and young people with additional support needs receive the support they require to achieve their potential.

The Act places strict duties on local authorities to meet the additional support needs for all children for whose school education they are responsible, and to tailor provision according to their individual needs.

The Supporting Children’s Learning Code of Practice explains these duties, providing guidance on the Act's provisions as well as on the supporting framework of secondary legislation.

Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether its Resilience Division has a position on the distribution of stable iodine tablets to all households within 30km of nuclear facilities without waiting for an incident or accident to occur and, if so, what position.

(S5W-00301)

John Swinney: There are currently no plans to alter the existing arrangements for the distribution of stable iodine tablets to households close to a nuclear facility.

In Scotland as part of the planning for, and response to, a potential incident at a nuclear power station, supplies of stable iodine tablets are routinely distributed to households within a designated emergency planning zone around the power station.

The office for nuclear regulation are responsible across the UK for setting the area where the local authority is required to provide an adequate off-site emergency plan, and ensure that it is reviewed and tested at regular intervals. Part of this planning process includes the distribution of stable iodine tablets to households within this zone.

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when updated unit assessments for SQA mathematics qualifications are due to be introduced in schools and what discussions it have had with teaching staff about the implementation timescale.

(S5W-00381)

John Swinney: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). I have asked the Chief Executive of SQA to write to you.

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the SQA regarding the 60% pass mark and the structure and content of the units in mathematics qualifications.

(S5W-00382)

John Swinney: The responsibility for developing national qualifications, within current design principles, lies with Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

SQA advised the Scottish Government of its changes to mathematics qualifications, including the 60% pass threshold for unit assessments, in bilateral discussion.

These proposals were also shared with the Assessment and National Qualifications Working Group.

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what (a) it and (b) the SQA is doing to ensure that there are no mistakes in future mathematics exam papers and what steps are being taken to improve marking instructions and guidance in consultation with markers.

(S5W-00383)

John Swinney: The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is responsible for the setting and marking of exam papers. It has robust processes in place to ensure that papers and marking instructions are accurate and set to the correct standard.

Each year, SQA considers in detail the experience of the exam diet across all qualifications, and introduces any modifications considered necessary. The SQA board, appointed by Scottish Ministers, receives regular updates on all aspects of the diet.

In 2015, the former Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning wrote to the Chair of SQA to seek additional assurances on SQA processes, and subsequently met with the Chief Executive of SQA to review progress.

Scottish Government officials regularly meet with SQA to discuss progress throughout the year on a range of SQA activities.

Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reform the law with regard to defamation.

(S5W-00416)

Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Law Commission is currently reviewing defamation law and will make recommendations to the Scottish Government on the need for reform and the content of any proposed legislation. The Scottish Government awaits the outcome of the Scottish Law Commission’s review and will consider fully the terms of any report produced on this issue.

The Scottish Law Commission’s consultation on defamation law is open until the 17 June 2016.

Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00142 by John Swinney on 2 June 2016, whether an earlier date was initially identified for the release of the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy and announced 12 months in advance and, if so, what action it took to ensure that the subsequent change

in the publication date was drawn to public attention in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

(S5W-00500)

John Swinney: An earlier date was not identified for the release of the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy

Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00142 by John Swinney on 2 June 2016, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding (a) the reason for the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy being published more than one month later than in previous years and (b) what stakeholders were consulted.

(S5W-00501)

John Swinney: Timing of publication reflected the need to ensure full analysis of the data was possible with the resources available, as is usual. Stakeholders are not consulted in the setting of publication dates.

Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00142 by John Swinney on 2 June 2016, on what date the responsible statistician advised ministers that the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy would be published more than one month later than in previous years, and whether the statistician was employed by it at the time of the decision.

(S5W-00502)

John Swinney: Each month ministers are notified of statistical report publication dates pertaining to the next two months. Ministers were advised of the SSLN 2015 publication date on 23 March 2016.

Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00142 by John Swinney on 2 June 2016, which (a) ministers, (b) officials and (c) stakeholders had pre-release access to the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy, and on what date this access was provided.

(S5W-00503)

John Swinney: In addition to professional and production staff the following post holders were given pre-release access:

First Minister Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills Special Advisers, Private Office Head of the First Minister’s Policy and Delivery Unit Strategic Policy Adviser, First Minister's Policy and Delivery Unit C1, B3, B3, B2 Communications Smarter Permanent Secretary Director General Learning and Justice Director of Learning Deputy Director Curriculum, Qualifications and Gaelic Head of Curriculum Unit C1, C1, B3, B2 Curriculum Unit C2, Curriculum, Qualifications and Gaelic Division Deputy Director Strategy and Performance Head of Strategy and Performance Unit C1, B3 Strategy and Performance Unit Head of Raising Attainment Unit C1, B3 Raising Attainment Unit Deputy Director People and Infrastructure Head of People and Leadership Unit

C1, People and Leadership Unit Head of Empowering Schools Unit C1, Empowering Schools Unit Chief Executive Education Scotland Strategic Director, Education Scotland Assistant Director, Education Scotland Assistant Director, Education Scotland Senior Education Officer, Education Scotland Senior Education Officer, Education Scotland Head of Communications, Education Scotland Communications and Media Manager, Education Scotland Head of Assessment Development and Delivery, SQA Assessment Manager, SQA Communications, SQA

In line with the, ministers and officials can have pre-release access to final form statistics five

working days in advance. This date was 20 May 2016 (to account for two public holidays i.e. non-working days).

Ross Thomson (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will hold an inquiry into the 2016 National 5 examination in computing science in light of complaints regarding wording and content.

(S5W-00535)

John Swinney: The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is responsible for the setting and marking of exam papers.

Dr Janet Brown, Chief Executive of the SQA, has assured ministers that the 2016 National 5 computing science exam was set to the correct standard and was in line with the course assessment specification.

However, SQA has also confirmed that there were several typographical errors in the paper and I have written to Dr Brown seeking further assurance that all necessary safeguards will be put in place to prevent this happening in future.

Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the SQA regarding what checks are put in place to ensure that all exam papers are correctly compiled and moderated.

(S5W-00567)

John Swinney: The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is responsible for the setting and marking of exam papers. It has robust processes in place to ensure that papers and marking instructions are accurate and set to the correct standard.

Each year, SQA considers in detail the experience of the exam diet across all qualifications, and introduces any modifications considered necessary. The SQA board, appointed by Scottish Ministers, receives regular updates on all aspects of the diet.

In 2015, the former Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning wrote to the Chair of SQA to seek additional assurances on SQA processes, and subsequently met with the Chief Executive of SQA to review progress. I will also be meeting Dr Janet Brown, the Chief Executive of SQA, on a monthly basis.

Scottish Government officials regularly meet with SQA to discuss progress throughout the year on a range of SQA activities.

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been a recent change to the rights of grandparents seeking access to their grandchildren and whether a review is planned.

(S5W-00578)

Annabelle Ewing: There have been no changes made to the rights of grandparents. However, the Scottish Government is planning to review the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. The 1995 Act makes provision on parental responsibilities and rights, on contact orders and on related areas.

As well as the planned review of the 1995 Act, the Scottish Government is already carrying out work to refresh the non-statutory Parenting Agreement for Scotland, which includes the charter for grandchildren: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/112493/0027333.pdf. The charter highlights the important role that grandparents and the wider family can play in raising children.

Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what effect the reported reduction in college places has had on the rate of adult illiteracy.

(S5W-00621)

John Swinney: The Scottish Government has delivered on our commitment to maintain 116,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) places - colleges exceeded it in 2014-15, delivering 119,078 funded FTEs. Additionally, the number of full-time students over 25 at colleges has increased by 26% since 2006-07.

The last ‘Scottish Survey of Adult Literacies’ was conducted in 2009. However, other available evidence suggests that progress in tackling adult basic skills levels is being made. The latest skills profile data (2015), collected by the Scottish Government as part of labour market trend data, shows a downward trend in the proportion of adults aged 16 to 64 with low or no qualifications. The figure has fallen from 16.3% in the 2007 baseline year to 11.1% in 2015.

Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government how many adults are unable to read and write.

(S5W-00622)

John Swinney: The last ‘Scottish Survey of Adult Literacies’ was conducted in 2009. It can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/07/22091814/0. However, other available evidence suggests that progress in tackling adult basic skills levels is being made. The latest skills profile data (2015), collected by the Scottish Government as part of labour market trend data, shows a downward trend in the proportion of adults aged 16 to 64 with low or no qualifications. The figure has fallen from 16.3% in the 2007 baseline year to 11.1% in 2015.

Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to local authorities to address adult illiteracy.

(S5W-00623)

John Swinney: Each local authority is responsible for what it spends on adult learning including adult literacy, based on its evaluation of local needs. The Scottish Government funds local authorities through the block grant. Under the Concordat, the Scottish Government establishes the overall direction and desired outcomes for policies but does not manage local service delivery.

The Scottish Government continues to raise awareness of adult literacy and numeracy through The Big Plus, which is managed by Skills Development Scotland and supported by Education Scotland. Education Scotland further supports adult literacy through Inspection and development activity. Our strategy ‘Adult Learning in Scotland (ALIS 2020), a Statement of Ambition’ recognises the key and distinctive role that adult learning, including adult literacy, plays in helping to develop the person, the family, communities and society.

The Scottish Government has awarded grant funding of £1,000,000 to national partners within the third sector through the adult learning and empowering communities fund. A proportion of this funding will be used to provide local adult literacy support and improved outcomes for adult literacy learners.

Transport Scotland

Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the impact of the M8 upgrade on the greenbelt.

(S5W-00518)

Keith Brown: A number of environmental impact assessments were undertaken as part of the development of the M8 M73 M74 motorway improvements project. The findings of these assessments are described in environmental statements which were published as part of the statutory processes undertaken in developing the project.

These can be accessed on the Transport Scotland website using the following links: http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/m8m73m74/m8-baillieston-newhouse-environmental-statement http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/m8m73m74/network-upgrades http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/m8m73m74/m74-junction-5-raith-environmental-statement

Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish its environmental impact assessment of the M8 upgrade.

(S5W-00519)

Keith Brown: Three environmental statements that report the findings of the environmental impact assessments undertaken as part of the statutory processes necessary for developing the M8 M73 M74 motorway improvements projects have been published by the Scottish Government.

These can be accessed on the Transport Scotland website using the following links: http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/m8m73m74/m8-baillieston-newhouse-environmental-statement (Published March 2006) http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/m8m73m74/network-upgrades (Published March 2008) http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/m8m73m74/m74-junction-5-raith-environmental-statement (Published March 2007)

Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a list of the contractors and sub-contractors working on the M8 upgrade.

(S5W-00520)

Keith Brown: The contract for the M8 M73 M74 motorway improvements project, including works to upgrade the M8, was awarded to Scottish Roads Partnership (SRP), a consortium employing a construction joint venture of Ferrovial Agroman and Lagan, on 20 February 2014. SRP is the consortium responsible for designing, financing and constructing the new roads as well as operating and maintaining them for 30 years.

The M8 M73 M74 motorway improvements project is currently supporting over 1,000 jobs, with the construction joint venture employing a large number of specialist subcontractors as part of their works. A list of these subcontractors is found in the following table:

SRP also employ Amey to undertake the operation and maintenance of the roads included within the scope of the project.

Subcontractors employed on M8 M73 M74 motorway improvements

Item Trade Name of Subcontractor

1 Designers Main Contract Amey OW Limited

2 Designers Checkers Roughan and O'Donovan Consulting Engineers

3.1 Road Safety Auditor Traffic Management and Safety Limited

4.1 Traffic Management Contractor Early Works Coneworx Ltd

4.2 Traffic Management Contractor Early Works Class One Traffic Management Ltd

4.3 Traffic Management Contractor Main Works Lagan Operation and Maintenance Limited

4.4 Traffic Management Contractor Main Works Class One Traffic Management Ltd

5 Additional Ground Investigation Causeway Geotech Ltd

6 Additional Mines Investigation Hydracrat Limited

7.1 Testing Eurotestconsult UK Limited

7.2 Noise and Vibration Monitoring Eurotestconsult UK Limited

7.3 Environmental Sampling Derwentside Environmnetal Testing Service (

DETS )

8 Condition Survey of Adjacent Roads Pavement Management Services Limited

Item Trade Name of Subcontractor

9 Photography Whitehouse Studios Limited

10 Site Clearance and Tree Felling Drew Graham Contracting Ltd

11 Pre-earthworks drainage Excav8 Limited

12.1 Demolition and removal of street furniture

etc. Excav8 Limited

12.2 Hydro-demolition Core Cut Ltd

12.3 Gantry Demolition GCM Services Limited

12.4 Major Bridge Demolitions George Beattie and Sons Limited

13.1 Steel Bridges Severfield Limited

13.2 Steel Road Bridges Tecade S.A.

13.3 Footbridges Thompsons Project Management Ltd

13.4 Fabrication of S202 and S203 Footbridges Miller Fabrications Ltd

14 Capping of Mines Forkers Ltd

15 Earthworks Excav8 Limited

16.1 Drainage and Service Ducts FBM Contracts Ltd

16.2 Drainage and Service Ducts Gallagher Groundworks Ltd

16.3 Drainage and Service Ducts P and H Plant Hire Ltd

16.4 Drainage and Service Ducts Gill Excavations UK Limited

16.5 Drainage and Service Ducts Campbell Contracts Limited

17.1 Structures (in-situ concrete works) Mc Nally Bros (Monaghan) Limited

17.2 Structures (in-situ concrete works) Construgomes Engenharia S.A.

17.3 Structures (in-situ concrete works) Cinterex UK Limited

17.4 Structures (in-situ concrete works) Sosia UK

17.5 Structures Silane Impregnation Chemcem Ltd

17.6 Precast Panels at Raith Interchange Creagh Concrete

17.7 Mechanical Expansion Joints Ekspan Limited

17.8 Membrane Cover at Raith Waterseal Limited

18 Structures launch Mammoet

19.1 Waterproofing Volker Laser Ltd

19.2 Waterproofing Stirling Lloyd Construction Limited

19.3 Waterproofing for Raith Interchange Waterseal Limited

20.1 Fencing Allison Enterprises Limited

20.2 Fencing Mulligan Fencing Contracting Limited

21.1 Pavement Lagan Asphalt (UK) Ltd

21.2 High Friction Surfacing Trustseal Limited

22.1 Kerbing Cappers Contracts Ltd

22.2 Kerbing

GGK Contracts (Scotland) Ltd

23.1 Brick Paviours GGK Contracts (Scotland) Ltd

23.2 Brick Paviours Cappers Contracts Ltd

24.1 Safety Barriers Saferoad VRS Ltd

24.2 Safety Barriers Highway Barrier Solutions Limited

24.3 Safety Barriers Lagan O and M Limited

25 Crash Cushions Saferoad VRS Ltd

26.1 Permanent and Temporary Roadmarkings Markon Ltd

26.3 Permanent and Temporary Roadmarkings Central Traffic Management Limited

26.4 Permanent and Temporary Roadmarkings Tim Doody Contracting Limited

27.1 Signage BEAR Scotland Limited

27.2 Signage Signature Limited

28.1 Public Lighting Altitude Services Limited

28.2 Public Lighting Paul Braham and Sons Limited

29.1 Piling Bauer Technologies Ltd

29.2 Piling Van Elle Limited

29.3 Piling to S105 abutments and wingwalls Keller Limited

Item Trade Name of Subcontractor

29.4 Secant Wall iling Cementation Skanska Limited

29.5 S121 Permanent Steel Sheet Piling McGrattan Piling and Supplies Ltd

29.6 Pile Trimming and Sawcutting S105 Holemasters Scotland Ltd

29.7 Sheet Piling S125 LB Foundations Limited

29.8 Steel Piling S102 McGrattan Piling and Supplies Ltd

29.9 Pile Trimming at S105 Pile Breaking Systems Ltd

29.10 Steel Piling S204 SPI Appleton Limited

29.11 Deheading Piles at Raith George Beattie and Sons Limited

30.1 Taascar Vysionics ITS Ltd

30.2 Journey Time Installation Vysionics ITS Ltd

31 Raith Dewatering WJ Groundwater Limited

32 Raith Anchors Albion Drilling Limited

33.1 Temporary Safety Barrier Highway Care Limited

33.2 Temporary Safety Barrier Asset International Limited

33.3 Temporary Safety Barrier Mabey Hire Limited

33.4 Temporary Safety Barrier (H4a) Delta Bloc Limited

34 Wireless Network for ITS Cubic Transportation Systems Limited

35 Soil Nailing Albion Drilling Limited

36 Overhead Gantries Ferrovial Servicios

37 Slipform Barrier Extrudakerb Maltby Engineering Ltd

38.1 Directional Drilling PBU (UK) Limited

38.2 Directional Drilling AK Trenchless Ltd

39 Bridge Parapets Saferoad VRS Ltd

40 Pedestrian Guardrail Hugh Logan Engineering Limited

41 Masonry Walling Architectural Conservation Limited

42 Pumping Station at Raith Interchange Lagan Water Limited

43 Landscaping William Houston Landscaping

44 ITS Pegasus Power and Communications Ltd

Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when the Forth replacement crossing will be completed.

(S5W-00529)

Keith Brown: The Contractor, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors’, has now advised us that they are unable to achieve the planned early opening date of December 2016. I provided a full statement to Parliament on this matter on 8 June 2016.

Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government on what dates adverse weather conditions have affected construction on the Forth replacement crossing.

(S5W-00624)

Keith Brown: Adverse weather affects construction activities in different ways ranging from the need to alter a method of work to completely cancelling a piece of work. Consequently, it is not possible to list every date where adverse weather conditions have affected the construction on the Forth Replacement Crossing. However, the contractor estimates that approximately 20% of the project programme has been impacted.

Referring to my statement on 8 June 2016, the dates on which adverse weather conditions affecting construction during April and May 2016 are the dates on which wind gusts exceeded the threshold to allow critical path activities to take place. These are as follows:

April reporting period: 26 and 27 March (2 days) 28 March (0.5 days) 4, 6, 11, 12, 17, 18, 24, 25 and 29 (9 days)

1, 5 and 26 April (3 x 0.5 days) April Report Total = 13 days May reporting period: 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 20 (9 days) 5, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 (6 x 0.5 days) May report total = 12 days

The contractor’s reporting period cuts off on the last Friday of the month and so for the April

reporting period the 13 days lost were in the period 26 March to 29 April and the 12 days in May were lost in the period 30 April to 27 May 2016.

The following questions received holding answers:

S5W-00309 S5W-00310 S5W-00311 S5W-00312 S5W-00320 S5W-00356 S5W-00357 S5W-00358 S5W-00359 S5W-00360 S5W-00362 S5W-00366 S5W-00368 S5W-00369 S5W-00370 S5W-00390