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-13249

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether its consultation on how the Independent Living Fund will operate when the fund is devolved in 2015 will consider whether it should add to the fund to enable it to be opened up to new claimants.

Question reference: S4W-13247

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase payments from the Independent Living Fund in line with inflation when the fund is devolved in 2015.

Question reference: S4O-01880

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has done of the reasons for the reported rise in economic inactivity in Scotland compared with the rest of the UK.

We have just seen the third set of monthly unemployment figures in a row to show a fall in unemployment in Scotland. The figures also show the largest annual fall in youth unemployment since 2006.

The very recent increases in economic inactivity in Scotland have been mainly amongst women, however, over the past five years the economic inactivity rate in Scotland has been lower than in the UK for 53 out of a total of 60 monthly releases of labour market statistics.

The Government recognises we must remain focussed on this issue, too many people are still looking for work, and the Scottish Government is taking action to address this by maintaining the most competitive business environment anywhere in the UK and investing in our infrastructure.

Question reference: S4W-13161

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the assertion that the Vienna convention on successor states has a population de minimis that would exclude Shetland from the rights to the oil in the waters surrounding Shetland.

Question reference: S4W-12648

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it will allocate any Barnett consequentials arising from the StartUp Loans scheme announced in the 2012 Autumn Statement.

I am able to confirm that the Scottish Government received consequentials from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in relation to the “StartUp Loans” scheme as part of the funding that flowed to the Scottish Government as part of the Autumn Statement.

You will be aware that consequentials accrue to the Scottish Government as a whole and Scottish Ministers decide how they are deployed to the benefit of the nation.

The Scottish Government initiatives were launched prior to the announcement of the UK scheme and was co-developed with and supported by our partners in the public, private and third sectors

Question reference: S4W-13163

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 4 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to secure investment from the Pension Infrastructure Platform (PIP) for infrastructure projects in Scotland and, if so, how much it expects to secure; for what projects; how much each project will receive, and what contact it has had with (a) HM Treasury or (b) the PIP.

The Pension Infrastructure Platform (PIP) will be a UK-wide investment platform for infrastructure, but it is not yet ready to invest. Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) has met the chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, which is leading the PIP initiative, to discuss development of that investment platform and its potential interest in the £2.5 billion Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) programme. SFT has also met individual pension funds to discuss potential investment across the NPD programme. Both Scottish Government officials and SFT liaise regularly with officials from Infrastructure UK in HM Treasury.

Question reference: S4O-01838

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in terms of headcount, how many college places for learners aged 25 and over have been lost in the last three years.

Question reference: S4W-12349

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 7 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether awards have been made under the second round of the Housebuilding Infrastructure Loan Fund and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S4W-12348

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 7 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will offer companies support under the Housebuilding Infrastructure Loan Fund by the end of April 2013.

Question reference: S4W-11889

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Deputy First Minister on 13 December 2012 (Official Report, c.14759), whether it is its intention to negotiate an opt-out from the European single currency in the event of Scotland separating from the rest of the United Kingdom.

Scottish Government policy is to retain Sterling and not join the Euro. For any country to adopt the Euro it would be required to meet certain criteria, including being a member of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) for two years. Participation in the ERM is entirely voluntary and countries which do not join the ERM cannot join the Euro.

Following a ‘yes’ vote in 2014, a process of negotiation will take place with the UK government on the transfer of powers to an independent Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government has made clear that it expects Scotland’s transition from membership of the EU as part of the UK to membership as an independent member state to be negotiated from a position within the EU. This has long been made clear by the Scottish Government in Choosing Scotland’s Future in 2007, in Your Scotland, Your Voice in 2009 and in Your Scotland, Your Referendum in 2012.

Under paragraph 30 of the Edinburgh Agreement the UK Government and the Scottish Government have committed to continue to work together constructively in the light of the outcome of the Referendum, whatever it is, in the best interests of the people of Scotland and of the rest of the United Kingdom.