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-05705

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Marco Biagi on 23 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to citizens advice bureaux.

The Scottish Government recognises the role advice services play across Scottish society, in particular, to support the most vulnerable in our communities. That is why the Scottish Government is providing funding of over £2.6 million this year to support a wide range of projects delivered by citizens advice bureaux and Citizens Advice Scotland in areas such as welfare, health care and financial management.

Question reference: S4O-05520

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what skills and other training it provides to people in Ayrshire who have been made redundant.

Question reference: S4O-05477

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to local authority education services.

Question reference: S4W-28237

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in Glasgow Prestwick Airport since November 2013 and when it expects the airport to move into profit.

Question reference: S4W-28233

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) recruitment and (b) other consultants Glasgow Prestwick Airport (i) is hiring and (ii) has hired since November 2013 and at what cost.

Since November 2013 Glasgow Prestwick Airport has hired three consultants at a cost of £205,150 in support of the bid to locate the UK spaceport at Prestwick. It should be noted that £150,000 of this cost was met by South Ayrshire Council.

The airport has also engaged the services of an executive search agency to assist with the selection and recruitment of a new senior management team at a cost of £90,000.

They have hired 12 other consultants to support various business needs.

Excluding the financial support provided by South Ayrshire Council, the total cost of all consultancy work since 2013 is £362,163.

Question reference: S4W-28236

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made since November 2013 in securing additional routes for Glasgow Prestwick Airport.

The management team continues to pursue route development opportunities for passenger services. Although no new routes have been added since November 2013 some existing passenger services have seen frequencies increased. For example, Ryanair recently announced it will be providing 25 additional flights to Pisa in summer 2016. However, the future success of Glasgow Prestwick Airport is not solely predicated on scheduled passenger services. The airport’s management team are taking forward all potential business opportunities including developing freight, maintenance, repair and overhaul, fixed base operations, property and a proposal for locating the UK spaceport at Prestwick.

Question reference: S4W-28235

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff Glasgow Prestwick Airport employs; how many are (a) on zero-hour contracts and (b) paid less than the living wage and how this compares with November 2013.

Since the new board was put in place, substantial progress has been made in moving all the employees onto the living wage. Currently 41 employees are paid at below the living wage and by April 2016 all the employees of Glasgow Prestwick Airport will be paid at the living wage. While eight employees are on variable hours contracts, none are on zero-hour contracts. Glasgow Prestwick Airport currently employs 298 members of staff compared to 325 in November 2013.

Question reference: S4O-04683

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in appointing attainment officers in each local authority area.

Question reference: S4W-27329

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 September 2015

To ask Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the economy of North Ayrshire of the closure of Longannet power station given its commercial relationship with the Hunterston coal terminal and whether it has considered repurposing the terminal to protect jobs.

An economic development plan will be developed by the Longannet Taskforce, which was set up by the Scottish Government to support the workers, businesses and communities impacted by Scottish Power’s decision to close Longannet. One of the plan’s strands will focus on identifying how best to mitigate the effects on the supply chain of which Hunterston coal terminal is a key part.

Because of the specific impact at Hunterston, Scottish Enterprise, which is taking forward the supply chain work, has organised an on-site meeting at Hunterston. The meeting will help to gather detailed information on the economic impact of Longannet’s closure and will inform the ongoing engagement between senior Scottish Enterprise officials and Peel Ports Group to discuss what support might be available to help Peel Ports prepare for the closure of Longannet.

Question reference: S4W-27330

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what preparations it has made to reduce the impact of the closure of Longannet power station.

Since Scottish Power announced on 23 March 2015 the likelihood that Longannet would close in March 2016, the Scottish Government has been working closely with Fife Council and other public agencies to consider the impact of closure and secure the best possible outcome for those affected. As part of that process I co-chaired two meetings of relevant organisations with Councillor David Ross, Leader of Fife Council, on 20 May and 25 June.

When the decision to close Longannet was announced on 18 August 2015, the Scottish Government established a Longannet Taskforce to support the workers, businesses and communities impacted by Scottish Power’s decision. The taskforce, which I co-chair with Councillor Ross met for the first time on 24 August 2015 and brought together key partners to co-ordinate the development of a joint, multi-agency plan to mitigate the economic impacts of Longannet’s closure. The taskforce will develop an economic recovery plan to:

Help ensure individuals employed at the site are supported, maximising each individual’s opportunity to secure alternative employment;

Support the communities impacted by the closure;

Mitigate the effects on the supply chain;

Produce a masterplan for the long term future of the site, maximising the employment potential of the site; and

Consider the economic infrastructure of the local area, to identify how to create sustainable employment in the longer term.

The next meeting of the Longannet Taskforce is scheduled for 29 September 2015.