Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-19074

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many funding applications for transport infrastructure projects have been (a) received and (b) granted by the Scottish Futures Trust in each year since its inception and what the value was of each.

The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) work to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure investment in Scotland by working collaboratively with public bodies and industry, leading to better value for money and ultimately improved public services.

The bulk of SFT budget is to cover their running costs, around 3/4 of which, is staff costs. They do not generally allocate funding for transport infrastructure or other projects. However, since the spending review 2011, an asset management fund of £1 million per annum (capital) has been established, which is administered by SFT. This contributes to significant savings across the Scottish Government arising from improvements in asset management.

Question reference: S4O-02821

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale will be for the introduction of areas of natural constraint to replace less favoured areas.

Question reference: S4W-19077

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what planning protections there are for ports and maritime infrastructure.

While there are no specific protections within the marine or terrestrial planning systems, local planning authorities set out policies in their development plans that guide development to appropriate places.

The Draft National Marine Plan for Scotland contains a policy to ensure maintenance, repair and development of port and harbour facilities are supported in marine planning and decision making with regards to other plan sectors. These include renewables, fishing, marine tourism and recreational activities. The draft plan was consulted on in 2013 and responses are currently being considered.

Question reference: S4W-19076

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the Scottish Futures Trust regarding the funding of maritime infrastructure projects and how many such projects have received funding from the trust since its inception.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with the Scottish Futures Trust to discuss areas of mutual interest.

The aim of the Scottish Futures Trust is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure investment in Scotland by working collaboratively with public bodies and industry, leading to better value for money and ultimately improved public services. It has not funded any maritime infrastructure projects.

Question reference: S4W-19075

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Futures Trust staff have been seconded from the private sector in each year since its inception and from which companies.

The number of secondments to the Scottish Futures Trust since its inception, broken down by private sector company, is provided in the following table:

Company	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Brodies LLP					1
Burness LLP		1		1
Caledonian Economics Ltd			1
Dundas & Wilson CS LLP			1
Ernst & Young	1
Gleeds Management Services		1
Grant Thornton UK LLP			1		1
Keppie Design	1
LeighFisher (trading name of Jacobs Consultancy Ltd)	1		1
MacRoberts LLP	1
McGrigors LLP	1	1
Ove Arup & Partners Scotland Ltd					1
PWC	1
Quayle Munro Project Finance LLP					1
Ryden LLP					1
Shepherd & Wedderburn	1
Skanska Scotland			1
TOTAL	7	3	5	1	5

Source: Information provided by the Scottish Futures Trust

Question reference: S4O-02790

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to enhance the role of community councils.

Question reference: S4O-02685

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 5 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can offer to universal credit claimants who do not have access to the internet at home.

Universal credit is part of the UK Government’s package of welfare reforms and it is therefore the responsibility of the UK Government to ensure the right support is in place for people claiming the new benefit.

However, the Scottish Government is committed to doing what it can to help mitigate the impact of the welfare reforms and increasing digital participation, for example, we already fund a number of pilot projects including in Aberdeenshire and Glasgow, to help people claim their benefits online.

We have also raised with the Department for Work and Pensions on a number of occasions the importance of ensuring that there are appropriately resourced alternative methods for claiming and maintaining a universal credit claim.

Question reference: S4W-18397

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote Skills Development Scotland's maritime ratings apprenticeship framework among (a) employers and (b) colleges.

Skills Development Scotland administers the public funding contribution for all MA frameworks; it does not however own the framework. It is the responsibility of the Sector Skills Council or equivalent, in this case, the Maritime Skills Alliance, to consult with employers during the development of the framework, and to promote the framework to employers and training providers, including colleges, following approval.

The next step is for training providers to seek approval from the relevant awarding body to deliver the core qualification. It is a commercial decision for training providers and colleges to decide what qualifications and frameworks they want to deliver.

Question reference: S4W-18395

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many further education colleges offer maritime (a) ratings and (b) officer apprenticeship courses.

Once approved by SQA Accreditation to deliver the core qualification, Orkney and Shetland Colleges will be the only colleges to deliver the approved Scottish Modern Apprenticeship pathway for Seafarer/Tug Rating (Deck) within the Maritime Occupations Framework. More colleges may seek approval to deliver the qualification and the MA Framework in the future. Indeed, a meeting is being facilitated in December by the Maritime Skills Alliance and SQA attended by all five of the Scottish Maritime colleges, Banff and Buchan, City of Glasgow, Lews Castle, Orkney and Shetland to discuss the existing and planned MA frameworks and qualifications, to try to agree a shared plan to market frameworks and explore collaboration between the colleges.

There are however other Maritime-related courses available at colleges which are not part of an MA Framework. Nautical education and training is specialised and limited to a small group of experienced providers in Scotland who are also members of the International Association of Maritime Institutions (IAMI). The college providers of Maritime/ Nautical related training in Scotland at present are:

North East Scotland College: http://www.banff-buchan.ac.uk/courses/listing/engineering/S26/Nautical

City of Glasgow College: http://www.cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk/courses/nautical-studies.

Lews Castle College UHI: http://www.lews.uhi.ac.uk/courses/course-a-z-and-filter?search=Search+by+keyword...&area=mari&level=+&mode=+&submit=submit.

Mallaig Marine Training Centre (West Highland College UHI): http://www.whc.uhi.ac.uk/courses/certificate-maritime-skills.

North Atlantic Fisheries College (Shetland UHI) : http://www.nafc.ac.uk/ssns.aspx

Orkney College UHI http://www.orkney.uhi.ac.uk/studying-at-oc/departments/maritime-studies.

Question reference: S4W-18399

Asked by: Jean Urquhart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government which sector skills councils (a) are responsible for or (b) have worked on the modern apprenticeship frameworks for the maritime industry.