- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to owners of former social housing units who face compulsory cosmetic upgrades to their buildings.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2019
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 19 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the administration costs would be of (a) reducing and (b) abolishing the single occupancy household discount on the water and sewerage portion of council tax bills.
Answer
I refer the member to question S5W-21944 on 7 March 2019 which explained there are no plans to amend the discount at this time. Any future changes would incur minimal administrative costs. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many households in each local authority area (a) qualify for and (b) receive the single occupancy household discount on the water and sewerage portion of their council tax bill.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19939 on 28 November 2018 . All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle abuse of older people.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2019
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the timeline is for the ban on municipal waste going to landfill.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2019
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for residents of sheltered housing complexes who experience sustained abuse by other residents.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2019
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 February 2019
To ask the Scottish Government on what date the First Minister informed the Permanent Secretary that she was aware of (a) allegations against and (b) the existence of a Scottish Government investigation into her predecessor, and whether a minute of this was taken.
Answer
The First Minister set out her position on this matter in a statement to Parliament on 8 January 2019, and in responses to questions at First Minister’s Questions on 10 and 17 January 2019.
This information is available from the Official Report at;
http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=11871&i=107364
http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=11875&i=107399
http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=11889&i=107507
As set out in S5W-21344 on 31 January 2019, the Scottish Government does not wish to undertake any activity which may unintentionally prejudice live criminal proceedings, adversely impact the rights of anyone involved in the proceedings or affect the formal criminal process which is now under way. As a result, it would not be appropriate to add to these responses at this time.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported recent success in some local authorities with developing a legal method of providing private and third sector childcare providers with capital funding for the expansion of funded childcare to 1,140 hours, whether it planned for such a method following the expansion policy announcement, and, if not, for what reason it did not.
Answer
The Scottish Government wrote to local authorities in March 2017 to set out the 2017-18 funding allocations for the expansion to 1140 hours. This included £30 million of capital funding to local authorities in 2017-18 to invest in infrastructure developments which will expand capacity in the provision of ELC. The letter highlighted that:
This funding is to be applied to the following purposes, with an expectation that local authorities will prioritise investment in ELC services by reference to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation:
- initiatives that have the potential to realise additional capacity for 1140 hours through making best use of the existing public sector estate such as the extension, remodelling or refurbishment of existing ELC settings or other public assets to enable extended opening hours and / or additional capacity;
- initiatives that support the development of ELC settings which seek to embrace the Curriculum for Excellence’s emphasis on a broader learning experience through active learning and learning outdoors; and
- providing capital grants to delivery partners, including third sector and private providers, in furtherance of these purposes.
We also wrote to local authorities on 14 November 2018 to confirm that local authorities are permitted to use capital funding provided for the expansion of early learning and childcare entitlement to 1140 hours to support to funded providers in the private and third sectors where a need to create additional capacity has been identified in local expansion plans. However, this is subject to any legal and financial restrictions on their ability to use capital funding to create assets owned outside the public sector.
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the legal and successful method being used by some local authorities for allocating capital funding to private and third sector childcare providers for the expansion of funded childcare to 1,140 hours is able to be used by all local authorities.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21013 on 31 January 2019. It is for individual local authorities to take decisions on the details of specific capital funding schemes.
However, we know that through the ELC Partnership Forum and other engagement with the sector that local authorities are sharing information on how they have established capital grant schemes. We continue to encourage this, including through Partnership Forum meetings.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .
- Asked by: Alison Harris, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 31 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government which measures outlined in the recent delivery support plan for the expansion of funded childcare are new.
Answer
The Delivery Support Plan for Early Learning and Childcare Providers sets out a number of new measures including:
- Providing Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland with additional resource to support providers to meet the quality aspects of the National Standard.
- Working with COSLA to enable providers in the private and third sectors to post job opportunities for free on My Jobs Scotland in the period up to 2020.
- Hosting a Partnership Summit in early summer to bring together providers and local authorities to showcase good practice partnership working.
- Working with delivery partners to identify further opportunities to incentivise more older workers to take-up training opportunities in ELC.
- Providing targeted advice and support to providers to help them to implement Fair Work practices and to deliver the real Living Wage commitment; and
- Working with providers and local authorities to develop a national information resource that all settings and local authorities can share with parents locally.
As set out in the Delivery Support Plan these actions build on the range of support that is already available to early learning and childcare providers. This includes the removal of the burden of non-domestic rates through the 100% rate relief for premises wholly or mainly used as day nurseries introduced in April 2018; and continued increases in the number of ELC Modern Apprenticeships by 10% each year to 2020.
In addition our multi-year funding agreement with COSLA includes funding for the payment of sustainable rates to providers – as a result the hourly rates paid to providers across the country will increase significantly over the period to 2020.
That Plan is a live document which we intend to update as we develop new support measures, and to allow us to reflect any further opportunities or challenges that emerge in the transition to 2020.
