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: S4O-05581

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action the Cabinet Secretary for Justice will take to allow survivors of child abuse in care prior to 1964 to seek compensation.

Question reference: S4W-29402

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it made of the commercial viability of cultivating EU-approved GM crops before invoking an opt-out.

The Scottish Government's use of the EU's GM cultivation opt out is not a new policy but part of its long-held position to maintain a precautionary approach to GM. The GM maize varieties, which the Scottish Government has opted out of growing, are more suited to warmer climes. All but one are resistant to insect pests, such as the European corn borer, which are not a problem in Scotland. Maize is not currently grown commercially for seed in Scotland. Small amounts are grown in the far south west of the country, where it is milder, but only for animal fodder.

Question reference: S4W-29400

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason no business and regulatory impact assessment was carried out prior to deciding to opt out of EU consents to cultivate GM crops.

Question reference: S4W-29549

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities (a) have and (b) have not received their full allocation of money from the Attainment Scotland Fund.

Funding from the Attainment Scotland Fund is being provided to local authorities by means of specific grants. For the seven challenge authorities, grant is paid quarterly in arrears on receipt of appropriate grant claims. The grant claims for the final quarter of financial year 2015-16 are due in March 2016 and therefore none of the seven challenge authorities have yet claimed their full allocation of money from the Attainment Scotland Fund this year.

Funding for the 14 authorities with one or more schools in the Attainment Scotland Fund Schools Programme was confirmed last month, with grant claims expected before the end of the financial year and so again none of these authorities have yet claimed their allocation from the fund.

Question reference: S4O-05540

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the target is for access to superfast broadband in East Lothian by 2018 and whether it expects to achieve it.

Question reference: S4W-29049

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the difference in the funding for extra places in the student support and tuition fee payments budgets for 2015-16 and 2016-17 means that extra student places originally budgeted for have been reduced.

The draft budget for student support and tuition fee payments in 2016-17 have been set at exactly the same level as the original draft budget for 2015-16, before the Autumn Budget Revision was published on 5 November 2015.

The level of budget to cover provision of student support and tuition fee payments associated with extra places depends on the number of such places funded by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). The SFC has yet to announce how its budgets for academic year 2016-17 will be allocated.

Question reference: S4W-29048

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the 2015-16 Autumn Budget Revision proposed a budget of £328.9 million for student support and tuition fee payments and the Draft Budget 2016-17 proposed £301.6 million.

The draft budget for student support and tuition fee payments for 2016-17 has been set at exactly the same level as the original draft budget for 2015-16, before the Autumn Budget Revision was published on 5 November 2015.

The ABR transfers to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) involved the movement of resource from the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Government directorates. It is common for SAAS to receive additional resources in-year to support a number of its programmes.

Question reference: S4W-29050

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to use in-year transfers to bring the student support and tuition fee payments budget for 2016-17 back to £328.9 million and, if so, where it will transfer the money from.

In-year transfers are commonly used to provide additional budgetary provision in areas of priority and it is expected that 2016-17 will be no different. The exact level of in-year transfer is unknown at this current time as the final level of transfer is dependent upon a number of factors.

It is common that the Student Awards Agency Scotland receives in-year transfers from the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government to support a number of its programmes.

Question reference: S4O-05183

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported shortage of 11,000 professionals with digital skills, particularly in relation to computer coding training.

Question reference: S4W-28815

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to charities supporting victims of historical child sex abuse that are concerned that the Survivor Support Fund arrangements may require them to share their clients' details with the NHS and other organisations and therefore may not apply.

When offering grants to voluntary sector and third sector organisations, including charities that provide services for victims of historic childhood sex abuse, the Scottish Government does not have legal powers to apply conditions to the effect that grant recipients may share their clients’ personal details with the NHS and other organisations.

The Data Protection Act 1998 strictly controls how personal information is processed and shared and everyone that has responsibility for using personal data must adhere to the data protection principles set out in the Act. The Scottish Government must also comply with the terms of this legislation.