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: S3W-12402

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 8 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many security firms have had licences refused by the Security Industry Authority since its inception.

Question reference: S3W-12412

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 8 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to ensure that the delivery of the Social Enterprise Strategy for Scotland will fully encompass the role of registered social landlords.

Better Business: A strategy and action plan for social enterprise in Scotland was a one year action plan (April 2007 to March 2008) and included actions on the role of registered social landlords.

The forthcoming Enterprising Third Sector Action Plan 2008-11 will build on the success of that previous plan and will recognise the role of registered social landlords in developing and supporting social enterprise. The action plan will include a commitment to work with other funders, including the Government''s Wider Role Fund for registered social landlords.

Question reference: S3W-12405

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 8 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11440 by Stewart Maxwell on 15 April 2008, how its statement that “allocation of housing association grant only is not separately recorded” can be reconciled with the answer to question S3W-3354 by Stewart Maxwell on 29 August 2007 that “records of Housing Association Grant paid to registered social landlords, broken down by local authority area, are available back to 1996-97”.

The response to S3W-11440 correctly stated that allocation of housing association grant by local authority area is not separately recorded. The grant allocation at the beginning of each financial year is a single figure which includes provision for all relevant elements of the affordable housing investment programme. In addition to housing association grant, this includes grant mechanisms such as rural home ownership grant, rural empty property grants, grants for the physical and social environment and special needs capital grants.

However, records are kept on actual spend of Housing Association Grant and the response to S3W-3354 provided this. These figures were provided alongside an indication of Communities Scotland approved Development Programme for 2007-08. The approved development programme figures included proposed spend on housing association grant, grants for the physical and social environment, Glasgow Housing Association grants and community ownership programme grants. These are classed as approved development programme allocations but are different grant mechanisms to housing association grant.

Question reference: S3W-12403

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 8 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many security firms have had licences refused by the Security Industry Authority as a result of the criminal connections of the owners of the firms.

Question reference: S3W-12413

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide guidance on the “power of well-being” and how it can be used to assist community-based social enterprises.

The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 - Guidance on the Power to Advance Well-Being was published in April 2004. The guidance is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 32429) or can be accessed at:

www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/localgov/pawbg-00.asp.

Section 20(1) of the act gives a local authority the power to do anything that it considers is likely to promote or improve the well-being of its area and persons within that area, or either of those. It is for the local authority to decide whether any particular action would be likely to promote or improve the well-being of its area and/or persons in it.

The Enterprising Third Sector plan will ensure that training and advice is given to local authority purchasers, this will include specific advice on areas that could be supported under the power of wellbeing including public social partnerships and community benefit clauses which could benefit social enterprises.

Question reference: S3W-11921

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 May 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was allocated to the Get Ready to Work scheme in 2007-08.

This information is not held centrally as it is the operational responsibility of Skills Development Scotland, previously the enterprise networks, to decide the individual funding allocation for skills programmes. However, we do receive an end year update on the total funding allocated to the Get Ready for Work programme and have attached it below for your convenience:

Year	Annual Budget (£)
2007-08	24,605,479

Question reference: S3W-11913

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 30 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many householders applied to join the Mortgage to Rent scheme in 2006-07.

Question reference: S3W-12225

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 28 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11202 by Stewart Maxwell on 15 April 2008, how the savings of over £1 million per annum in staffing costs from the abolition of Communities Scotland will be secured.

Question reference: S3W-11922

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was allocated to the Get Ready to Work scheme in 2008-09.

It is the operational responsibility of Skills Development Scotland to decide the funding allocation for individual skills programmes in 2008-09.

Skills Development Scotland will have a budget of £176 million for 2008-09. An initial breakdown of this budget was provided in section 7 of the Skills Development Scotland Operating Plan 2008-09 which was published on Monday 21 April. The Operating Plan can be accessed via the link below:

http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/downloads/OperatingPlan2008-09.pdf.

Question reference: S3W-11439

Asked by: Johann Lamont, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 23 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have committed to build social rented houses since May 2007, broken down by the numbers to which they have committed.