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: S5W-03784

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its analysis that showed that 46% of parents who do not use the childcare they are entitled to cite a lack of availability, how it will increase the provision of childcare in large urban areas.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing high quality, flexible early learning and childcare that meets the needs of children and their families. That is why we have increased the amount of funded early learning and childcare to 600 hours a year for all 3 and 4 year olds, and extended this to over a quarter of all 2 year olds, through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. The Act has also placed flexibility on a statutory footing for the first time, and has placed a duty on local authorities to consult with local groups of parents every 2 years on patterns of hours that will best suit their needs. It is therefore through this consultation process that any specific needs, such as availability in large urban areas, will be identified and addressed.

More broadly, provision has increased nationally through additional hours. The Care Inspectorate’s overview of initial expansion, published in March 2016, indicated that “Local authorities have generally succeeded in making available 600 hours for all eligible children” and, “The clear progress being made by local authorities to measure and meet parental demand for early learning and childcare is welcome, and there is a need to embed effective and widespread methods for consulting parents”. We will continue to work with local authorities to increase and accelerate choice and access to early learning and childcare.

Question reference: S5W-03810

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, since it received its living wage accreditation, what information is has regarding any of its non-departmental public bodies paying their staff less than the living wage.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5O-00180 on 22 September 2016 which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

As detailed in the response to S5O-00180, public sector pay policy expects employers covered by the policy to pay their staff a Living Wage. Accreditation requires all directly employed staff and contracted staff to be paid the Living Wage (or for employers to at least demonstrate that they are moving towards applying the Living Wage across all contracts). Public Sector Pay Policy does not directly apply to contracted staff.

In line with the requirements for Living Wage Accreditation, the pay policy expects public bodies who take on a Modern Apprentice in a specific role to pay the Living Wage where they can afford to do so and as a minimum to pay the adult National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage rate rather than the Youth Development or Apprentice rates.

Question reference: S5W-03863

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in its publication, Delivering Excellence and Equity in Scottish Education: A Delivery Plan for Scotland, when data will be available through the national improvement framework to identify the attainment gap at P1, P4, P7 and S3 at school and local authority level; how the gap will be measured, and when the measures will be updated.

The Scottish Government made clear in the Delivery Plan that new data would become available through the National Improvement Framework in October. This data has now been received, is being analysed and will be published in December. The criteria for measuring the attainment gap will be set out in the National Improvement Plan that will also be published in December. Engagement with key stakeholders will take place to discuss plans to reduce the gap, together with any possible milestones towards delivery, and will be available by the middle of next year.

Question reference: S5W-03806

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that (a) the Scottish Qualifications Authority and (b) other non-departmental public bodies pay their staff at least the living wage.

Question reference: S5W-03782

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many two-year-old children entitled to funded early learning and childcare in 2015 (a) were looked after, (b) were in kinship care or had a guardian, (c) had a parent on qualifying benefits or (d) were in need, vulnerable or under local priorities, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S5W-03783

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many and what percentage of three- and four-year-olds are registered for more than one early learning or childcare setting, and how this figure is calculated.

Question reference: S5O-00305

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to extend access to high-speed fibre broadband across the country.

Question reference: S5W-03861

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what Scottish Water's budget has been in each of the last five years.

Scottish Water’s budget, as confirmed in Spring Budget Revisions, has been as follows:

2011-12	Operating	Capital	Total
	£m	£m	£m
Voted Loans	£0.0	£85.1	£85.1
Interest on Voted Loans	-£92.7	£0.0	-£92.7
	-£92.7	£85.1	-£7.6
2012-13	Operating	Capital	Total
	£m	£m	£m
Hydro-Nation	£1.0	£0.0	£1.0
Voted Loans	£0.0	£142.1	£142.1
Interest on Voted Loans	-£88.3	£0.0	-£88.3
	-£87.3	£142.1	£54.8
2013-14	Operating	Capital	Total
	£m	£m	£m
Hydro-Nation	£1.5	£0.0	£1.5
Voted Loans	£0.0	£56.8	£56.8
Interest on Voted Loans	-£91.7	£0.0	-£91.7
	-£90.2	£56.8	-£33.4
2014-15	Operating	Capital	Total
	£m	£m	£m
Hydro-Nation	£2.8	£0.0	£2.8
Voted Loans	£0.0	£106.6	£106.6
Interest on Voted Loans	-£98.0	£0.0	-£98.0
	-£95.2	£106.6	£11.4
2015-16	Operating	Capital	Total
	£m	£m	£m
Hydro-Nation	£0.8	£0.0	£0.8
Exemption Scheme	£2.0	£0.0	£2.0
Voted Loans	£0.0	£132.5	£132.5
Interest on Voted Loans	-£99.9	£0.0	-£99.9
	-£97.1	£132.5	£35.4

Further details on budgets may be found on the Scottish Government’s website at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Finance/18127/Documents

Question reference: S5W-03862

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what Scottish Water's capital reserves have been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5W-03859

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reclassification of its funding of capital, what the impact will be of the reduction of planned loans to Scottish Water over the next five years, and which infrastructure projects might be affected by this.

There has been no reclassification of Scottish Water’s funding. Loans made by the Scottish Government to Scottish Water and Interest repaid by Scottish Water to the Scottish Government score in the capital and resource budgets respectively. The Scottish Government is committed to lending up to £760million in the regulatory period 2015-21 in support of the £3.5 billion programme of improvements to water and sewerage services.