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: S4F-00913

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 October 2012

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address poverty.

Question reference: S4W-08626

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the Deputy First Minister has met the UK Government concerning the Scottish Government's cities strategy and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S4O-01369

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what importance it places on quality career guidance for young people.

Question reference: S4W-09323

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government which part of its organisation is responsible for the protocol surrounding visits and events involving the First Minister and who heads this.

Question reference: S4W-09975

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 10 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is given to the (a) police and (b) Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service regarding making public material gathered as part of a criminal investigation.

Question reference: S4W-09634

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what responsibility it will take for setting the level of the living wage in future.

This government fully supports the principles of the living wage campaign and is committed to ensuring that all staff covered by its public sector pay policy is paid at least the Scottish Living Wage (currently set at £7.20 per hour, which is equivalent to an annual salary of £14,094) for the duration of this Parliament. The Living Wage is set by the Scottish Living Wage Campaign and is based on independent academic analysis.

Question reference: S4W-09328

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 28 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what powers there are to take action against the illegal charging of additional fees by landlords and letting agents.

The Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 currently makes it an offence to charge or receive any premium or require the making of any loan, in addition to rent and a refundable deposit (not exceeding two months’ rent), as a condition of the grant, renewal or continuance of a protected tenancy (section 27 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 applies this provision to assured tenancies).

Where criminal proceedings are brought, the court may order the amount of the premium to be repaid (s.82(4)) in addition to a fine. This route is dependent on a prosecution being brought. It is also possible for such sums to be recovered through an action in the civil courts; this is likely to be a small claims action (if the value of the claim is £3,000 or less). We are aware of some tenants who have already successfully claimed back fees through civil proceedings, using current provisions within the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984.

Section 32 of the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011 will clarify the law on premiums by amending the definition of the 1984 Act to make clear that a premium also includes “any service or administration fee or charge”. Section 32 will not change the procedure for recovering such sums. Please refer to my written response to your parliamentary question S4W-09327, answered on 28 September 2012, where I provide you with further information on the implementation of section 32 of the 2011 act.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-09327

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 28 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the legal status is of additional fees charged by landlords and letting agencies.

Section 82 of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 currently makes it an offence to charge or receive any premium or require the making of any loan, in addition to rent, as a condition of the grant, renewal or continuance of a tenancy (section 27 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 applies this provision to assured tenancies).

The intention of this legislation is to prevent the making of any charge apart from rent and a refundable deposit (not exceeding two months’ rent), however confusion appears to exist about what this means in practice.

Therefore, following a recent consultation, the Scottish Government intends to commence section 32 of the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011 from 30 November 2012, to clarify the law on premiums. Section 32 amends the definition in the 1984 act to make clear that a premium also includes ‘any service or administration fee or charge’.

Section 32 of the 2011 Act also inserts a new section into the 1984 Act, giving Scottish ministers the power to provide, in secondary legislation, for sums which may be charged in connection with the grant, renewal or continuance of a tenancy.

Draft secondary legislation will shortly be laid before the Scottish Parliament to clarify that a payment under the UK Government Green Deal plan, attached to a privately rented property, is permissible. No other form of payment will be prescribed as a permissible premium.

Question reference: S4W-06472

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a list of everyone who has (a) been invited to and (b) received hospitality at Bute House since 2007.

<>Information regarding people receiving hospitality at events hosted by Scottish Government Ministers at Bute House is proactively published on the Scottish Government website, detailing the date, host, location and guest list. This is currently published every three months and can be accessed at the following link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/Events-Engagements/hospitality.

Other information is not recorded, which is entirely consistent with the practice of previous administrations, both before and since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

Question reference: S4W-09322

Asked by: Drew Smith, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 27 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that local authorities should record reports they receive regarding nuisance from gulls.

It is a matter for individual local authorities in Scotland to decide whether it is necessary to record nuisance incidents involving gulls, according to their particular circumstances.

There are no Scottish Government requirements for local authorities to record these reports.

However, innovative approaches to the control of problems caused by gulls in urban areas have been explored throughout Scotland. In particular, the report Dumfries Gull Report - Use of Falcons to Displace Nesting Gulls from an Urban Area has been finalised and published on the Scottish Government's website. It is hoped that local authorities across Scotland will be able to help reduce this problem in Scotland by adopting the report's recommendations.