Scottish Parliament

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Economy

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow ) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made

of the potential impact on households in Scotland of the proposals in

theDomestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill, including

theplan to remove the right of interested parties to appeal to the

Competition and Markets Authority, and whether it has made or plans to make

representations to the UK Government regarding this.

S5W-14626

Paul Wheelhouse:

I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Health and Social Care

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Governmenthow many NHS clinicalstaff have taken early retirement in each year since 2010-11, and what analysis it has carried out oftheir reasons for doing so, broken down by NHS board.

S5W-14907

Shona Robison:

I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Health and Social Care

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government how many GPs have taken early retirement in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

S5W-14906

Shona Robison:

I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Economy

Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to reported concerns that a higher global oil price may lead to a resurgence in oil and gas production in the United States, and what impact this may have on recovery in the North Sea.

S5W-14635

Paul Wheelhouse:The Scottish Government monitors domestic and international energy research and reports and considers the potential implications for Scottish energy sectors and policies.

In their February Oil Market Report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlighted that strong growth in oil production in non-OPEC countries, particularly tight oil production in the United States, is likely to grow faster than demand, and therefore market fundamentals look less supportive of prices. However, the IEA also highlighted the extraordinarily rapid fall in OECD oil stocks over 2017 and raised their estimates of oil demand growth in 2018 due to the positive global economic picture. The IEA report makes clear that the components of the oil market balance are dynamic and can change rapidly, and as a result prices could be maintained at recent levels even as production from the United States rises.

The North Sea oil and gas sector has faced a number of challenging years, but there is increasing evidence that the worst of the downturn is over and that there is growing confidence in the sector. The industry has worked hard to improve efficiencies and reduce costs and put itself on a more sustainable footing in the face of potentially changing oil prices.

The Scottish Government will continue to support the sector and its workforce as much as it can within its devolved powers, while continuing to call upon the UK Government to provide the support it requires at this critical time in its recovery, particularly while exploration activity remains near record lows.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Economy

Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to forecasts from Opec, which reportedly statethat global demand for oil will rise more rapidly than expected in 2018, and what impact this may have on Scotland’s oil and gas exports.

S5W-14636

Paul Wheelhouse:The Scottish Government monitors domestic and international energy research and reports and considers the potential implications for Scottish energy sectors and policies.

OPEC’s February Oil Market Report highlighted that the OPEC Reference Basket of crude oil prices increased for the fifth straight month in January to their highest monthly average since November 2014. On the back of a strengthening world economy, OPEC also increased their estimates of the growth in global oil demand to 1.59 million barrels per day, while also revising up their estimates of the growth in world oil supply.

The Scottish Government published an experimental statistics development paper on the 22 February 2018 which contains provisional estimates for exports of oil and gas from Scottish waters for 2015 and 2016. It shows that at a time of increasing production, the value of exports has decreased in recent years due to the lower oil and gas prices experienced since 2014. Changes to the oil price as a result of market fundamentals, such as global oil demand and supply, would therefore feed through to changes in the value of offshore exports.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Education, Communities and Justice

Maurice Corry (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many places have been made available ineach college inthe West Scotland parliamentaryregion in each year since 2005, broken down by local authority area.

S5W-14661

Shirley-Anne Somerville:The number of places available at colleges in Scotland is most accurately described using Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) numbers. All West College Scotland campuses are found within this region, as well as some campuses within Ayrshire College and New College Lanarkshire.

FTEs (Full-time equivalents) at West College Scotland by Local Authority of residence

Local Authority / 2005-06 / 2006-07 / 2007-08 / 2008-09 / 2009-10 / 2010-11 / 2011-12 / 2012-13 / 2013-14 / 2014-15 / 2015-16 / 2016-17
Renfrewshire / 2,992 / 2,926 / 2,978 / 3,010 / 3,121 / 3,154 / 3,047 / 2,784 / 2,709 / 3,026 / 3,008 / 2,975
Inverclyde / 2,521 / 2,329 / 2,273 / 2,416 / 2,328 / 2,340 / 2,129 / 2,108 / 2,233 / 2,195 / 2,068 / 1,946
Glasgow / 1,732 / 1,734 / 1,657 / 1,724 / 1,781 / 1,935 / 2,040 / 1,851 / 1,856 / 1,923 / 1,971 / 1,880
West Dunbartonshire / 1,332 / 1,475 / 1,494 / 1,479 / 1,510 / 1,564 / 1,513 / 1,324 / 1,384 / 1,622 / 1,509 / 1,563
Argyll and Bute / 760 / 730 / 673 / 673 / 707 / 655 / 691 / 569 / 585 / 521 / 536 / 491
North Ayrshire / 738 / 612 / 672 / 587 / 536 / 578 / 574 / 494 / 471 / 461 / 447 / 462
East Renfrewshire / 399 / 388 / 378 / 371 / 341 / 369 / 332 / 343 / 349 / 335 / 384 / 381
East Dunbartonshire / 204 / 234 / 222 / 213 / 238 / 236 / 236 / 192 / 191 / 245 / 237 / 233
South Lanarkshire / 187 / 173 / 190 / 149 / 151 / 161 / 159 / 167 / 194 / 226 / 218 / 201
North Lanarkshire / 164 / 126 / 140 / 115 / 109 / 134 / 138 / 178 / 213 / 219 / 226 / 222
East Ayrshire / 83 / 87 / 72 / 64 / 68 / 85 / 94 / 78 / 83 / 107 / 109 / 93
Edinburgh / 47 / 29 / 26 / 23 / 39 / 31 / 30 / 47 / 63 / 88 / 77 / 91
South Ayrshire / 63 / 59 / 76 / 68 / 76 / 74 / 70 / 61 / 72 / 77 / 71 / 80
Dumfries & Galloway / 26 / 36 / 52 / 47 / 57 / 43 / 47 / 54 / 93 / 52 / 67 / 48
Fife / 20 / 14 / 21 / 26 / 33 / 43 / 52 / 57 / 101 / 51 / 84 / 65
Highlands / 31 / 45 / 52 / 42 / 75 / 58 / 67 / 60 / 78 / 51 / 55 / 51
Falkirk / 30 / 29 / 32 / 31 / 30 / 33 / 32 / 28 / 62 / 46 / 53 / 52
Stirling / 23 / 36 / 41 / 43 / 47 / 41 / 46 / 43 / 51 / 36 / 62 / 59
Other / 229 / 162 / 258 / 264 / 344 / 343 / 273 / 257 / 364 / 228 / 291 / 403
Total / 11,579 / 11,223 / 11,309 / 11,345 / 11,591 / 11,875 / 11,571 / 10,697 / 11,151 / 11,510 / 11,474 / 11,297

Source: Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

FTE includes SFC and ESF (European Social Fund) funded places

LA is based on students postcode prior to study.

Other includes rest of Scotland, UK and international students

FTEs (Full-time equivalents) at Ayrshire College by Local Authority of residence

Local Authority / 2005-06 / 2006-07 / 2007-08 / 2008-09 / 2009-10 / 2010-11 / 2011-12 / 2012-13 / 2013-14 / 2014-15 / 2015-16 / 2016-17
East Ayrshire / 2,607 / 2,743 / 2,669 / 2,791 / 2,904 / 2,896 / 2,866 / 2,902 / 3,110 / 3,252 / 3,146 / 3,114
North Ayrshire / 3,293 / 3,219 / 3,059 / 3,274 / 3,362 / 3,471 / 3,278 / 3,122 / 3,154 / 3,227 / 3,001 / 2,965
South Ayrshire / 2,342 / 2,339 / 2,278 / 2,278 / 2,192 / 2,139 / 2,091 / 2,011 / 2,217 / 2,327 / 2,290 / 2,277
Dumfries & Galloway / 57 / 79 / 64 / 71 / 72 / 94 / 111 / 121 / 130 / 114 / 100 / 134
Renfrewshire / 88 / 137 / 117 / 124 / 141 / 129 / 159 / 167 / 152 / 99 / 68 / 68
Glasgow / 46 / 85 / 118 / 87 / 53 / 55 / 48 / 74 / 78 / 53 / 63 / 69
Inverclyde / 124 / 118 / 128 / 102 / 92 / 130 / 152 / 150 / 124 / 32 / 13 / 8
South Lanarkshire / 23 / 64 / 55 / 31 / 29 / 23 / 20 / 20 / 21 / 20 / 27 / 26
East Renfrewshire / 16 / 33 / 25 / 17 / 16 / 35 / 39 / 22 / 17 / 16 / 27 / 27
Other / 93 / 620 / 524 / 218 / 178 / 165 / 127 / 125 / 99 / 55 / 55 / 65
Total / 8,689 / 9,438 / 9,037 / 8,992 / 9,039 / 9,136 / 8,893 / 8,714 / 9,101 / 9,195 / 8,790 / 8,752

Source: Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

FTE includes SFC and ESF (European Social Fund) funded places

LA is based on students postcode prior to study.

Other includes rest of Scotland, UK and international students

FTEs (Full-time equivalents) at New College Lanarkshire by Local Authority of residence

Local authority / 2005-06 / 2006-07 / 2007-08 / 2008-09 / 2009-10 / 2010-11 / 2011-12 / 2012-13 / 2013-14 / 2014-15 / 2015-16 / 2016-17
North Lanarkshire / 4,488 / 4,861 / 5,226 / 5,271 / 5,340 / 5,503 / 5,503 / 5,266 / 5,656 / 5,781 / 5,937 / 5,931
South Lanarkshire / 1,677 / 1,931 / 1,987 / 1,924 / 2,013 / 1,979 / 1,836 / 1,874 / 2,050 / 1,954 / 1,883 / 1,937
Glasgow / 309 / 422 / 501 / 457 / 414 / 472 / 500 / 533 / 563 / 583 / 581 / 565
East Dunbartonshire / 265 / 298 / 367 / 341 / 339 / 304 / 310 / 325 / 289 / 309 / 291 / 244
Falkirk / 72 / 96 / 101 / 119 / 167 / 151 / 184 / 185 / 244 / 260 / 281 / 271
West Lothian / 35 / 39 / 45 / 36 / 44 / 46 / 65 / 80 / 81 / 105 / 89 / 94
Stirling / 18 / 16 / 21 / 23 / 31 / 25 / 28 / 32 / 38 / 37 / 39 / 51
Edinburgh / 13 / 10 / 25 / 13 / 10 / 8 / 11 / 24 / 32 / 36 / 41 / 29
East Renfrewshire / 34 / 16 / 24 / 24 / 19 / 17 / 11 / 29 / 26 / 35 / 25 / 17
Other / 259 / 280 / 317 / 232 / 219 / 170 / 157 / 236 / 280 / 255 / 238 / 241
Total / 7,171 / 7,969 / 8,613 / 8,439 / 8,596 / 8,675 / 8,604 / 8,584 / 9,257 / 9,354 / 9,403 / 9,379

Source: Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

FTE includes SFC and ESF (European Social Fund) funded places

LA is based on students postcode prior to study.

Other includes rest of Scotland, UK and international students

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Constitution and External Affairs

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence (a) ministers and (b) officials have had with (i) Smartmatic, (ii) Scytle and (iii) any other suppliers of electronic or online voting systems.

S5W-14686

Joe FitzPatrick:The Scottish Government's Digital Strategy includes a commitment to explore and trial the potential of electronic voting solutions. This follows on from the successful electronic counting of votes in Scotland's local government elections, most recently those held in May 2017.

In addition, our current consultation on Electoral Reform - which is open until
29 March 2018 - invites responses on a range of issues including seeking views on electronic machine voting and online voting.

In the context of this work, to inform our understanding of the electronic voting landscape, in recent months Elections Team officials have had engagement with a wide range of informed stakeholders. Among these stakeholders were several commercial suppliers of electronic voting machines and online voting technology, including Smartmatic and Scytl. This engagement has included both meetings and correspondence with Elections Team officials but not with Scottish Ministers.

I gave the opening address at an event organised jointly by the Scottish Government and Edinburgh University School of Informatics, 'Scotland's Democratic Future: Exploring Electronic Voting'. In addition to electoral practitioners, academics and others, this event was attended by the following e-voting suppliers: UK Engage; Smartmatic; Scytl; Idox; Modern Democracy; and CGI. Details at:

It should be noted that, in early 2015, during the procurement exercise to contract a supplier to deliver the e-counting of the 2017 local government elections, there was some engagement with both Scytl and Smartmatic, though this did not include any discussion of electronic voting solutions. Neither of these suppliers submitted a bid for the e-counting contract.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Constitution and External Affairs

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government what meetings (a) ministers and (b) officials have had with (i) Smartmatic, (ii) Scytle and (iii) any other suppliers of electronic or online voting systems; who attended each meeting, and what was discussed.

S5W-14687

Joe FitzPatrick:I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14686 on
13 March 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Transport Scotland

Ivan McKee (Glasgow Provan) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00950 by Humza Yousaf on 27 February 2018 (Official Report, c. 7), what communication it has had with Hitachiregarding what ministers considerthe importance to the railway network isof delivering the class 385 trains.

S5W-14925

Humza Yousaf:

I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018 (Holding Reply Issued 5 March 2018)

Index Heading: Transport Scotland

Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10828 by Humza Yousaf on 14 September 2017, how many incidents of stop-skipping have occurred on the ScotRail network since20 August 2017, and what percentage of trains this represents, broken down by station affected.

S5W-14724

Humza Yousaf:Between 20 August 2017 and 3 February 2018 (rail periods 6-11 inclusive), there were 3,684 separate incidences of skip-stopping reported to Transport Scotland. This is 1.06 percent of the total numbers of services planned to be run over this period (348,132 in total). A table providing a detailed listing by station is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 59572).

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Scottish Exchequer

Alex Neil (Airdrie and Shotts) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Scottish Parliament has the legislative competence to introduce a so-called wealth tax similar to thatproposed by the Scottish Labour Party.

S5W-14677

Derek Mackay:It is not possible for the Scottish Parliament to introduce a new tax unilaterally. Under the powers conferred by the Scotland Act 2012, the Scottish Government could make a case to introduce such a tax but would need the agreement of the UK Government to do so. The process for obtaining such agreement would involve lengthy negotiation and the collation of substantial evidence, including in respect of the macro-economic impact of any proposed tax.

The Scottish Labour Party have provided few details on their proposal for a wealth tax and how it would work. Based on the very limited information that has been given, there would clearly be significant challenges, which they have so far failed to address, in terms of identification of taxpayers, assessment of wealth, administration of the new tax and enforcement and compliance. It would not be possible to make a case to the UK Government without clarity on these issues.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018 (Holding Reply Issued 8 March 2018)

Index Heading: Constitution and External Affairs

Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Governmentwhether it will providean update on itsdiscussions with the UK and Welsh governments regarding the EU withdrawal bill, following the recentmeeting of the joint ministerial committee,JMC-EN.

S5W-14824

Michael Russell:There was a further meeting of the JMC(EN) on 8 March. At that meeting the UK Government did not bring forward any new proposal acceptable to the Scottish and Welsh Governments. Their proposals would still allow the UK Government to decide unilaterally to take control of devolved powers without the agreement of the devolved legislatures.

The Scottish and Welsh Governments have made a further proposal that would protect devolution by ensuring the devolution settlement cannot be changed without the consent of the devolved legislatures. The governments proposed that, if agreement could be reached on areas where UK-wide legislative frameworks may be required after Brexit, and if it is agreed that consent to the an order affecting devolved competence would be required from the devolved legislatures in each case, then the governments would take steps to reassure the UK Government that consent would not be withheld unreasonably.

With regard to the list of areas for potential frameworks, the UK Government produced for the meeting a new list, which had not been shared or discussed with the Scottish or Welsh Governments. This list has not been agreed by the Scottish Government, but in the interests of transparency, we did not object to it being published. The UK Government has now published their list:

We continue to want an agreed solution and to be able to recommend consent to the Scottish Parliament. Hence we made fresh proposals at the JMC(EN). If agreement is not possible, there remains the option of the Continuity Bill, which received overwhelming backing across the Scottish Parliament on 7 March.

In line with normal practice, I will be writing to the Parliament on the JMC(EN) meeting shortly.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Education, Communities and Justice

Bill Bowman (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14651 by Derek Mackay on 27 February 2018, what analysis was conducted to determine the current level of its council tax cap as being optimum to balance protecting household incomes with raising additional revenue.

S5W-14953

Derek Mackay:In line with our manifesto commitment we have set a 3% cap on locally determined increases in the council tax. This provides councils with the flexibility to raise up to an additional £77 million of revenue this year, while ensuring band D properties have a maximum annual increase of less than £37.50.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Constitution and External Affairs

Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Lord Advocate on 28 February 2018 (Official Report, c.19), whether it considers that any precedent has been set by its decision to pursue an EU continuity bill without a competency certificate from the Presiding Officer.

S5W-14970

Michael Russell:The UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill has followed the processes set out in the Scotland Act 1998, as explained by the Presiding Officer in his statement on legislative competence on the Bill and the statement of the Lord Advocate on 28 February 2018.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Constitution and External Affairs

Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it would proceed with a bill for a second independence referendum without it receiving a competency certificate from the Presiding Officer.

S5W-14971

Derek Mackay:The 2013 Scottish Independence Referendum Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament and received a certificate of competence from the Presiding Officer.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Constitution and External Affairs

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will urgently publish the reported 25 areas of disagreement between the Scottish Government and UK Government in relation to the EU withdrawal bill.

S5W-15015

Michael Russell:I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14824 on
13 March 2017. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at .

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

13 March 2018

Index Heading: Health and Social Care

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on NHS staffof the revalidation requirements that they must meetto demonstrate that they continue to be fit to practice, including the impact of this on retention, broken down by specialism.

S5W-14908

Shona Robison:Requirements for revalidation vary between the nine regulatory bodies; however, the introduction of formal revalidation processes has been relatively recently introduced by the General Medical Council (GMC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and General Dental Council (GDC). NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland undertakes a formal annual report in relation Medical Designated Bodies appraisal and revalidation completion rates and these are formally published. The NMC introduced revalidation in March 2016 with a three year rolling programme to ensure that all registered nurses and midwives on the NMC register have complied with the first tranche of revalidation. The Scottish Government is currently working together with the NMC, Department of Health and Social Security and the other devolved administrations to ensure that formal, independent evaluation of the progress of revalidation and its impact is monitored and measured.