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-22674

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much money it has allocated to tackling child sexual exploitation in each of the last five years, and what priority it gives the issue.

Child sexual exploitation is an abhorrent crime and can have a devastating impact on its victims and their families. We have implemented a range of work with our partners to ensure we remain vigilant to abuse and are able to offer support to survivors.

This includes the establishment of a ministerial working group and the development of a national action plan, which includes looking at the recent recommendations from the Public Petitions Committee. This is in addition to the welcome initiative of Police Scotland in establishing a new national taskforce to address the serious issue of child abuse which includes child sexual exploitation. The National Child Abuse Investigation Unit will lead and co-ordinate complex inquiries.

It is not possible to draw out figures for total spending on this issue as it sits within a range of agencies including not least the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and social work departments across Scotland. I can assure the Chamber, however, that this issue is a real priority for this government and we will soon seek to update Parliament on further steps we plan to take in this area.

Question reference: S4W-22675

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities regarding the recovery of historic (a) community charge and (b) council tax arrears and whether they have indicated that they will pursue these.

The Scottish Government is engaged in ongoing discussions with representatives of COSLA and local authorities on the implementation of the commitment to end recovery of Community Charge debts. Further detail on the legislation which will fulfil this commitment will be made available in due course.

Local authorities will continue to be able to use current information to assess council tax liability, as part of their administration and collection of the council tax.

Question reference: S4W-22677

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make resources available to people facing demands for historic (a) community charge and (b) council tax arrears.

The Scottish Government believes the electoral registers should not be used to collect debts from the defunct community charge – something which is even more important given the unprecedentedly high levels of democratic engagement seen recently.

The Scottish Government therefore intends to bring forward legislation which will mean local authorities no longer have the ability to collect community charge debts. Local authorities will be compensated in line with current collection rates in respect of outstanding amounts of community charge which would have been collected.

Local authorities will continue to be able to use current information to assess council tax liability, as part of their administration and collection of the council tax.

It is for each local authority to determine the most appropriate means for recovery of council tax debts, though ministers would expect that they would decide how to pursue their debts in a way which is sympathetic to the needs and circumstances of the debtor.

Question reference: S4W-22678

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much it gave to each valuation joint board to ensure that the procedures for the voter registration process in the run-up to the referendum were followed correctly.

The costs of electoral registration in Scotland are normally met through local authority budgets.

For the purposes of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the Scottish Government agreed to reimburse electoral registration officers for any additional costs associated with extending the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds. These additional costs include the printing and distribution of young voter registration forms and the costs of the necessary adaptations to electoral management software to facilitate the addition of the register of young voters.

When the referendum legislation was introduced to Parliament last year, the Scottish Government estimated the total cost associated with implementing the provisions of the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Act to be £434,000. The final amount to be paid to each valuation board will not be known until the consideration of any further claims from electoral registration officers is completed in early 2015.

Question reference: S4O-03629

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what progress local authorities have made in settling equal pay claims.

Question reference: S4W-22439

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for support through its emergency food aid grant fund have been (a) made and (b) approved.

Question reference: S4W-22440

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to allocate further support through its emergency food aid grant fund.

Question reference: S4W-22438

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 September 2014

To ask the Scottish Government which foodbanks in the Central Scotland region have received support from its emergency food aid grant fund, broken down by (a) amount received and (b) criteria that were met.

The following projects are located in the Central Scotland region and have been allocated the funding indicated:

Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership	£33,539
Calderbank Parish Church	£10,000
Falkirk Foodbank	£10,000

All applications for funding were assessed against five criteria:

Extent to which the project will help respond to immediate demands for emergency food aid and help address the underlying causes of food poverty.

Demonstrating a partnership approach.

Building more sustainable local solutions to food poverty.

Adopting an assets-based approach.

Taking a robust approach to project costs.

Question reference: S4F-02270

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 August 2014

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the final report by the Commission on Strengthening Local Democracy.

Question reference: S4W-21762

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 25 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the application of the National Standards for Community Engagement.

The National Standards for Community Engagement launched in 2005, are a practical tool to help improve the experience of all participants involved in community engagement. They help towards achieving the highest quality of process and results.

The standards are not compulsory, but they are good practice and have been widely adopted in community planning partnerships and in other areas of government.

There is no process in place to monitor their use. However, the standards have been recommended by Audit Scotland as good practice and a positive evaluation of their use was published by the Scottish Government in 2008. The report Evaluation of the Impact of the National Standards for Community Engagement is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/231923/0063366.pdf.