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-08668

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many independent solo artists Creative Scotland has supported in the last 12 months.

Question reference: S4W-08752

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, in producing guidelines on work experience, whether it will consider defining (a) work experience, (b) internship, (c) work and (d) when an employee should be paid.

Question reference: S4W-08669

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how Creative Scotland defines (a) new and (b) established artists for the purposes of grant funding.

Question reference: S4W-08667

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what support Creative Scotland can provide to new and emerging artists.

Question reference: S4W-08589

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the Minister for Local Government and Planning has had with local authority leaders to discuss the living wage since May 2012.

Local authorities are self-governing bodies and set the terms and conditions under which staff are employed. I have had a number of meetings with local authorities since May, which have provided an opportunity to discuss a range of issues including the living wage. I welcome the fact that more and more councils are paying the living wage, with the majority of councils now either paying the living wage or committed to introducing it during 2012-13.

Question reference: S4W-08590

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the Minister for Local Government and Planning has had with private sector employers to promote the merits of a living wage since his appointment; on what dates, and who attended each meeting.

I have had no meetings with private sector employers specifically or solely on the living wage. However, the Scottish Government supports the payment of the living wage and encourages all employers within the public, private and third sectors in Scotland to do likewise, although this is a matter for employers.

Ministers have announced their intention to introduce a Sustainable Procurement Bill during the life of the current Parliament, and we will shortly hold a public consultation on the proposed policy content of the bill. We intend to use the consultation on the forthcoming bill as an opportunity to also consult private sector employers and other stakeholders on promotion of the living wage through public procurement activity.

Question reference: S4W-08599

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 3 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government (a) whether cyberbullying was discussed and (b) what actions were agreed at its recent conference on so-called virtual violence.

The Virtual Violence CPD Event on 12 June 2012 was organised by the Violence Reduction Unit and looked at a broad range of topics within e-safety, including cyberbullying. The event aimed to raise awareness about e-safety and highlighted the role of professionals and the preventative steps that can be undertaken to reduce the risk of e-crime. As this was a CPD event, no distinct actions were agreed.

Question reference: S4W-08748

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how it will spend the £25 million from the European Structural Fund that has been allocated to youth unemployment.

Question reference: S4W-08731

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether all European Social Fund money for tackling youth unemployment will be allocated through community planning partnerships.

Question reference: S4W-08767

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £25 million for youth employment from European structural funding has been allocated and to which projects.

No decision on the mechanism for the distribution of funding has yet been taken. All key stakeholders including Community Planning Partnerships are involved in on going discussions concerning what activities should be funded, and how best they can be delivered.

Scottish Government officials are currently undertaking a scoping study to provide details of any gaps in service and to highlight those projects which are working well. This will enable the Scottish Government to strengthen the case with the European Commission for a strong focus on business support to encourage growth and provide small business with the confidence to expand through employability.

We will continue to work closely with the European Commission to discuss proposals and we expect the Programme Monitoring Committee in October, to agree the necessary changes to the Operational Programmes and to launch a call for projects very soon after that.