- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2015
-
Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 3 March 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on holding an independent review of the planning system from a community perspective.
Answer
Scotland's planning system has undergone the most significant modernisation in over 60 years. The overall aim was delivery of a planning service that is efficient, inclusive, fit for purpose and sustainable. The Scottish Government has no current plans to undertake a further review.
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 20 February 2015
-
Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 2 March 2015
To ask the Scottish Government how many school libraries have closed in each of the last three years as a result of reductions in local government funding.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
The responsibility for the provision of education rests with individual local authorities including the provision of school libraries. The specific level of education spending by local authorities including that relating to library provision is a matter for democratically elected local decision makers.
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 20 February 2015
-
Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 2 March 2015
To ask the Scottish Government how many school librarians have lost their jobs in each of the last three years as a result of reductions in local government funding.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
The responsibility for the provision of education rests with individual local authorities including all matters relating to the employment of staff. The specific level of education spending by local authorities, including that relating to the employment of librarians, is a matter for democratically elected local decision makers.
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 20 February 2015
-
Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 2 March 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what the collective budget for school libraries has been in each of the last three years.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
The specific level of education spending by local authorities including that relating to library services, is a matter for democratically elected local decision makers.
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2015
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 2 March 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has carried out to assess the impact of the six-month moratorium on diligence under the Debt Arrangement Scheme.
Answer
Our analysis shows that the majority of debtors who intimate their intention to apply for the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) go on to have an approved debt payment programme under the scheme. The Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act), which comes into force on 1 April 2015, introduces the six week moratorium period for all statutory debt solutions in Scotland with this length supported by the majority of stakeholders during the consultation. The Act will also allow this six week period to be extended, in prescribed circumstances, to allow for any application received and in progress to be approved or rejected. Since the six week moratorium was introduced in DAS at the end of June 2007, almost 21,000 debtors have been saved from the additional stress of further diligence.
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2015
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on establishing a statutory right to a "breathing space" for all debtors.
Answer
The Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act) comes into force on 1 April 2015 and introduces a moratorium on diligence for persons considering access to any Scottish statutory debt solution. These include the Debt Arrangement Scheme, Protected Trust Deeds and bankruptcy. The Act provides for a moratorium period of six weeks. During the moratorium period, creditors are prevented from commencing any new diligence action.
The policy intent behind the introduction of the moratorium period is to allow debtors a breathing space, during which they can explore the most appropriate solution for their specific circumstances, without the fear of new diligence action being taken against them.
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2015
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 25 February 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland plans to review its operational method known as kettling.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 25 February 2015
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2015
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will respond to the Insult to Injury campaign and ensure that war pensioners are treated fairly.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2015
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2015
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that Police Scotland's use of the operational method, kettling, to control some football supporters in Glasgow on 16 March 2013 was appropriate and necessary, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-23889 on 21 January 2015. 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
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2015
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 January 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding the use of the operational method, kettling, and whether it considers this an appropriate way to maintain public order.
Answer
Ministers meet with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority regularly to discuss a range of issues, although there have been no specific discussions with Police Scotland the regarding the use of tactical options in public order situations.
The deployment of police officers and the decision around the use of tactical options for crowd management is a matter for Police Scotland. Any decision to utilise containment as a tactical option is one made by the police tactical commander and is fundamentally subject to a variety of legal tests derived from stated cases. Scottish Ministers expect that any use of this approach to policing is proportionate to the situation making the measure necessary and is enforced for no longer than is reasonably necessary.
The Scottish Police Authority has a statutory responsibility for holding the Chief Constable to account for the policing of Scotland.