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-03009

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 29 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) full-time and (b) retained firefighters there have been in each of the last five years, also broken down by local authority area.

This information is contained within the following statistical publications:

Fire and Rescue Service Fire Safety and Organisational Statistics, Scotland, which is available on the Scottish Government website at: www.gov.scot; and,

Fire Safety and Organisational Statistics, Scotland, which are available on the website of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service at: www.firescotland.gov.uk

Firefighter numbers by local authority area have only been collected since 2013-14.

Question reference: S5W-02247

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 29 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Transition Training Fund have been (a) received, (b) approved and (c) rejected in each month since February 2016, also broken down by the grounds for rejection.

The latest figures from the Transition Training Fund show that more than 500 people have had applications approved from the fund, with more than 650 applications currently being processed. This number I expected to increase substantially.

The numbers of applications to the Transition Training Fund that have been a) received, b) approved and c) rejected in each month since February 2016 are detailed in the following tables:

a) applications received broken down by month

Applications received	Count of customers
Mar	5
Apr	22
May	268
Jun	341
Jul	465
Aug	388
Total	1489

Source: SDS

b) applications approved broken down by month

Applications approved	Count of customers
Apr	17
May	52
Jun	121
Jul	149
Aug	182
Total	521

Source SDS

c) applications rejected broken down by month and grounds for non-approval

Grounds for non-approval

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

total

Applicant Disengaged

Applicant Withdrew

124

Ineligible (evidence insufficient)

Total

163

308

Source: SDS

Notes:

1 - Definitions of case criteria

Applicant disengaged

- Disengaged: An applicant has initially responded to an advisor, submitted limited or full details of training. This applicant subsequently disengages and cannot be contacted after three follow up attempts over a 30 working day period. Each follow-up is to include at least three attempted contacts via telephone.

- Applicants can re-apply to the fund if they disengage

Applicant Withdrew:

- An applicant informs an advisor they wish to withdraw their application.

Ineligible

- An applicant cannot provide evidence of meeting entry criteria to the fund.

The current entry criteria are:

You must be resident in Scotland

You have been made redundant or currently at risk of redundancy from the Oil and Gas Sector or its' supply chain

You have worked in the Oil and Gas sector or the supply chain as an employee or contractor

You must be able to show that the training will help you get a new job

You must be actively seeking employment

Applicants can always re-apply following a non-approved application decision.

Question reference: S5W-02929

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last received an update on the progress of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project from Transport Scotland and whether it will publish this.

Question reference: S5W-02927

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects an increase in the cost of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project and, if so, (a) how much will this be and (b) what the reasons are.

Question reference: S5W-02928

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects any delays to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project and, if so, what the reasons are.

Construction work is continuing across the site of the longest road construction project currently underway in the UK which, over the next 30 years, is expected to generate an additional £6 billion to the north-east economy and create around 14,000 new jobs. As with any major infrastructure project of this scale and complexity, the successful delivery is dependent on a significant number of factors including weather and ground conditions. The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and Balmedie to Tipperty section remains scheduled to open to traffic in winter 2017 and spring 2017 respectively.

Question reference: S5O-00190

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the progress of its education governance review.

Question reference: S5W-02246

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what changes have been made to the application criteria for the Transition Training Fund since February 2016.

The downturn in the oil and gas sector presents a unique set of challenges given the diverse skills and company base that have been affected. The Transition Training Fund has been designed to be a flexible and dynamic response to these challenges as they emerge.

This was clearly demonstrated by the previous Energy Minister, announcing in the parliamentary chamber on 10 March 2016, a change to the Transition Training Fund criteria, clearly stating that funding was no longer dependent on individuals securing a job outcome.

Question reference: S5W-02138

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 12 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the newly refurbished Scottish Fire and Rescue Service control room in Dundee to be fully operational.

Question reference: S5W-02135

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 12 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is financing the cost of the refurbishment of the Dundee control room.

Question reference: S5W-02136

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 12 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost of the refurbishment of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) control room in Dundee was (a) at the time the decision was made to move to three control rooms in January 2014 and (b) at the time the refurbishment of the Dundee control room was approved by the SFRS in August 2015.