Questions and answers

Question reference: S4O-03275

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle low pay.

Question reference: S4O-03224

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 14 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support places on courses at FE colleges.

We have committed to a funding floor of £522 million this year, rising to £526 million in 2015-16. This very substantial funding supports our key commitment to maintain the number of full-time equivalent student places at college.

Earlier this year, we announced an extra 3,500 places over the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years, funded by a combination of European Social Fund and existing Scottish Funding Council FE resource funds.

Question reference: S4O-03201

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that all staff working on government contracts are paid at least the living wage.

Question reference: S4W-20462

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is accredited as a living wage employer.

The Scottish Government is leading by example by ensuring all staff covered by our public sector pay policy, including the Scottish Government, are paid the Scottish living wage.

The Scottish Government is currently funding the Poverty Alliance to promote the Living Wage Foundation’s Employer Accreditation Scheme to increase the number of employers paying the living wage across all sectors in Scotland. A meeting has been arranged between the Scottish Government, the Poverty Alliance and the Living Wage Foundation in May 2014 to discuss the Scottish Government’s accreditation.

Question reference: S4W-20197

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many contracts have been put out to tender in each year since 2010-11 by each of its (a) directorates and (b) non-departmental public bodies and who the successful bidder was, also broken down by the (i) purpose, (ii) value, (iii) duration and (iv) number of people employed by the contract.

Question reference: S4W-20079

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 24 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is no mention of Scottish Water in the white paper on independence.

Question reference: S4O-03073

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes the living wage.

Question reference: S4W-19732

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of comments made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Shadow Chancellor on 13 February 2014, what currency an independent Scotland would pursue in the absence of a formal currency union with the rest of the UK.

The Fiscal Commission Working Group considered in detail proposals for monetary and financial stability in their first report on a macroeconomic framework published in February 2013. Chapter 7 and 8 set out options, followed by their detailed recommendations for a formal monetary union in chapter 9.

A summary of the Scottish Government’s proposals on currency, fiscal rules and financial regulation can be found on pages 109 to 117 of Scotland’s Future published on 26 November 2013.

As a formal and well-designed currency union is in the overwhelming interests of both Scotland and the UK, the Scottish Government is confident that this will be agreed in the event of a ‘yes’ vote.

Question reference: S4W-19733

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-19242 by John Swinney on 28 January 2014, in light of comments made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Shadow Chancellor on 13 February 2014, what advice its white paper on independence gives to non-departmental public bodies regarding the impact of an independent Scotland on their operations in terms of (a) currency and (b) EU membership.

<>For information about the proposals of the Scottish Government in these areas I would refer Mr Kelly to the following relevant sections in the publication ‘Scotland’s Future’ which can be found at: http://82.113.138.107/00439021.pdf

(a) Currency, Chapter 3, particularly pages 109 to 117

A summary of the Scottish Government’s proposals on currency, fiscal rules and financial regulation can be found on pages 109 to 117 of ‘Scotland’s Future’.

More detailed proposals are contained in the Fiscal Commission Working Group’s first report on a macroeconomic framework published in February 2013. Chapters 7 and 8 set out options, followed by detailed recommendations for a formal monetary union in chapter 9. The report can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/02/3017/downloads

(b) EU membership, Chapter 6, particularly pages 216 to 224

A summary of the Scottish Government’s proposals on EU membership can be found on pages 216 to 224 of ‘Scotland’s Future’.

There is also information about EU membership in the publication ‘Scotland in the European Union’ which can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0043/00439166.pdf

Question reference: S4W-19735

Asked by: James Kelly, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of comments made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Shadow Chancellor on 13 February 2014, how the Scottish financial services sector would be affected by Scotland separating from the UK in the absence of a formal currency union.

The Fiscal Commission Working Group considered in detail proposals for monetary and financial stability in their first report on a macroeconomic framework published in February 2013. Chapter 7 and 8 set out options, followed by their detailed recommendations for a formal monetary union in chapter 9.

A summary of the Scottish Government’s proposals on currency, fiscal rules and financial regulation can be found on pages 109 to 117 of Scotland’s Future published on 26 November 2013. In addition questions 77 to 82 (pages 401-2) discuss financial products and services, whilst questions 91 to 93 (pages 404-5) discuss financial regulation.

As a formal and well-designed currency union is in the overwhelming interests of both Scotland and the UK, the Scottish Government is confident that this will be agreed in the event of a ‘yes’ vote.

Chamber and committees