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: S4W-12661

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when Skills Development Scotland’s employer services team was (a) set up and (b) available to engage with businesses.

Question reference: S4W-12660

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the remit of Skills Development Scotland’s employer services team is and whether it operates via a hotline or visits businesses.

Question reference: S4W-12394

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many people between (a) 16 and 19 and (b) 20 and 24 undertook opportunities created by the youth employment budget in 2011-12.

There was no specific “youth employment budget” in 2011-12. However, please see the following table which details the participants for programmes relating to youth employment broken down by age where possible:

Programme	16-19	20-24	total
Modern Apprenticeships¹	13,216	3,583	16,799
Adopt an apprentice²	189	159	348
Community Jobs Scotland³	493	1,121	1,614
Adopt an Intern⁴	N/A	N/A	50
Get Ready for Work	10,315	0	10,315

Notes:

1. 9,628 Modern Apprentices were aged 25 and above – total for 2011-12: 26,427

2. 27 apprentices supported through Adopt an Apprentice were 25 and above – total for 2011-12: 375

3. Community Jobs Scotland supported 229 individuals aged 25 and above – total for 2011-12: 1843

4. Management information does not detail an age breakdown for this programme.

Question reference: S4W-12699

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 13 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to allow pedestrian or cycling access on the Forth Replacement Crossing and, if so, how it will compare with current provision.

Question reference: S4W-12662

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the six local authorities that received £9 million in 2012 to tackle youth unemployment will each produce a report on the success of its programmes when completed in September 2013.

The Scottish Government has agreed with each local authority that a report on progress against target will be provided on a bi monthly basis. This will capture both qualitative and quantitative monitoring information to help assess the impact of this additional funding for young people.

The Scottish Government is monitoring progress against each local authority’s agreed outcomes and will produce a summary report detailing the impact across all six areas after the programme completion in September 2013.

Question reference: S4W-12663

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what dialogue it has had with each of the six local authorities that received £9 million in 2012 to tackle youth unemployment regarding the success of their programmes.

Question reference: S4W-12507

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 11 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its plan to deliver world-class digital connectivity.

The Scottish Government will outline the options for delivering world-class digital connectivity shortly. Our intention is to stimulate debate and test our ideas through widespread discussion and engagement throughout the early part of this year. This engagement is vital in order to refine our vision of a world class, digitally connected country and ensure that the benefits of this connectivity can be shared across the country. The planned dialogue will involve leading academic, business and public sector stakeholders and make full use of digital technology in capturing ideas and shaping our long term thinking.

Question reference: S4W-12523

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have used individual learning accounts to undertake beginners IT courses since 2007, broken down by (a) gender, (b) age, (c) level of educational attainment and (d) amount of financial support.

Question reference: S4W-12400

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what officials the Minister for Youth Employment met on her recent visit to Brussels and what was discussed.

Since 2008, the Scottish Government has adopted the practice of regularly publishing details of Ministers’ engagements on the Scottish Government website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People/14944/Events-Engagements/MinisterialEngagements

Details of meetings held from 5 September 2012 to 30 November 2012 should be published in February 2013.

At the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting, which I attended on behalf of the UK, I spoke about the importance of engaging young people in decisions that affect their lives. I highlighted the support provided by the Scottish and UK Governments to youth organisations to enable structured dialogue with young people to take place.

In meetings with representatives from the European Commission, discussions focused on the forthcoming youth employment package (subsequently announced on 5 December) which includes a recommendation that Member States introduce a Youth Guarantee for young people within four months of leaving education or becoming unemployed.

In meetings with representatives from the Austrian, Dutch, Finnish and German governments, I described the Scottish Government’s youth employment strategy, sought information on the measures they were taking to tackle youth unemployment, how their vocational education systems contributed to this and how Austria and Finland were implementing Youth Guarantees to unemployed young people.

Question reference: S4W-12450

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the remit is of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.

Building on the platforms of Curriculum for Excellence, careers services modernisation, Post-16 education reform and Scotland’s successful Modern Apprenticeship programme, the remit of the Commission is to develop proposals designed to enhance Scotland’s vocational and further education system as it relates to young people; enable young people to make the best transition from the broad general education under Curriculum for Excellence into the system; and encourage greater employer commitment to youth employment and the development and delivery of the vocational and further education system.