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-25335

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much Falkirk Council will receive from the remaining funds in the Attainment Scotland Fund in 2015-16 and whether this will include any additional funding from the initial £20 million allocation.

The Attainment Scotland Fund will invest £100 million over four years to tackle the attainment gap and reduce inequalities in education outcomes, including £20 million during 2015-16. The fund is targeted at schools in local authorities with the biggest concentration of primary age children from households in deprived areas. Analysis of statistics around primary school pupils whose homes are located in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation deciles 1 and 2 (the bottom 20%) indicate that the highest concentrations are in Glasgow, Dundee, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire and Clackmannanshire.

The Scottish Government recognises that deprivation exists in other places in Scotland. During the coming year, we will continue to work with other local authority areas such as Falkirk which are geographically diverse and socially mixed and where there are pockets of severe deprivation, to dig deeper into addressing the local need.

The Scottish Attainment Fund supplements our existing national support for raising attainment which has been enhanced by a new commitment to ensuring an attainment advisor will be available in every local authority. Schools in Falkirk have also benefited from the Access to Education Fund, which was established to help reduce to barriers experienced by pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Question reference: S4W-24239

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 12 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it takes into account the number of young people not in education, employment or training in a local authority area when allocating funding from the Youth Employment Scotland Fund.

Question reference: S4W-24103

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 29 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the employment rate for women was between October 2013 and September 2014, broken down by level of qualification.

The Annual Population Survey provides the preferred measure for detailed labour market information for subsets of the population in Scotland.

The following table provides the employment rates for women by level of qualification between October 2013 and September 2014.

Female Employment Rates (16-64 year olds) by Level of Qualification

Level of Qualification	Female Employment Rate
SVQ Level 5+	83.8%
SVQ Level 4	76.1%
SVQ Level 2-3	63.8%
Below SVQ Level 2	42.3%
Other	62.7%
All	68.7%

Source: Annual Population Survey, October 2013 to September 2014, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. SVQ Level 5+ is degree level qualification or above.

2. SVQ Level 4 is Higher National Certificate/Higher National Diploma level qualification or equivalent.

3. SVQ Level 2-3 is Higher, A-level or Credit Standard Grade level qualification or equivalent.

4. Below SVQ Level 2 is General Standard Grade level qualifications or lower.

5. Other includes foreign qualifications and work/professional related qualifications such as finance and banking qualifications. Other will also include qualifications which are not able to be assigned to an appropriate SVQ level.

Question reference: S4O-03975

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on preventing youth homelessness.

Question reference: S4W-24002

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 27 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much financial assistance it provided to each grant-aided special school in each of the last three years.

The Scottish Government has provided the following financial assistance (in the form of a grant) to each of the grant-aided special schools in each of the last three years:

2014-15

School	Revenue Grant	Capital Grant
Capability Scotland: Corseford	£1,207,237	£23,000
Capability Scotland: Stanmore	£1,712,419	£32,600
Donaldson’s	£1,927,741	£36,600
East Park	£1,284,423	£24,400
Harmeny	£1,087,673	£20,600
Royal Blind	£2,573,924	£48,800
Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments (Craighalbert)	£740,264	£14,000

2013-14

School	Revenue Grant	Capital Grant
Capability Scotland: Corseford	£1,207,237	£23,000
Capability Scotland: Stanmore	£1,712,419	£32,600
Donaldson’s	£1,927,741	£36,600
East Park	£1,284,423	£24,400
Harmeny	£1,087,673	£20,600
Royal Blind	£2,573,924	£48,800
Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments (Craighalbert)	£740,264	£14,000

2012-13

School	Revenue Grant	Capital Grant
Capability Scotland: Corseford	£1,206,317	£23,000
Capability Scotland: Stanmore	£1,711,115	£32,600
Donaldson’s	£1,926,277	£36,600
East Park	£1,283,447	£24,400
Harmeny	£1,086,849	£20,600
Royal Blind	£2,571,972	£48,800
Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments (Craighalbert)	£739,704	£14,000

Question reference: S4W-23623

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 December 2014

Question reference: S4W-23277

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland in each of the last three years.

The Scottish Government has provided no funding to Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland over the last three years.

Scottish Government funding for the arts is routed through Creative Scotland, Scotland’s public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland.

Creative Scotland has provided the following funding to Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland over the last three years:

Financial Year	Creative Scotland Award to Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland
2011-12	£9,600
2012-13	£138,750
2013-14	£148,250
2014-15	£158,768

Question reference: S4W-23103

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 27 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what advice and guidance it provides to (a) Scottish Natural Heritage, (b) Marine Scotland and (c) local authorities regarding the obligations set out in the the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended in Scotland), particularly in relation to the protection of bat species.

Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) sets out national planning policies reflecting Scottish Ministers' priorities for operation of the planning system and for the development and use of land including the natural environment. More specifically, SPP supports the requirements of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (the Habitats Regulations) with particular regard to Natura 2000 sites and European Protected Species (which includes all bat species). SPP is available via the following web link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/06/5823

Scottish Natural Heritage publishes a suite of guidance (some of which was developed in conjunction with the Scottish Government) on the requirements of the Habitats Regulations, which is available via the following web links:

http://www.snh.gov.uk/planning-and-development/environmental-assessment/habitat-regulations-appraisal/

http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/species-licensing/

Marine Scotland is a directorate of the Scottish Government and as such is not the recipient of advice or guidance from the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S4O-03762

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to combat bullying in schools.

Question reference: S4O-03724

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reform the private rented sector.