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-12411

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 14 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-11406 by Jamie Hepburn on 3 October 2017, how many of the care-experienced young people being recruited by Our Hearing-Our Voice for the children’s hearing system will be in (a) full- and (b) part-time permanent positions.

'Our Hearings Our Voice' is aimed at recruiting around 30 young people who have had, or continue to have, experience of the children's hearings system. These positions will not be permanent employment opportunities. They will be appointments which will provide opportunities for the young people to develop a range of skills and experience, and to support the children's hearings system to better serve young people in the future.

Question reference: S5W-12261

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the City of Edinburgh Council's draft budget proposal to close the Edinburgh Music School and, in light of the potential educational and cultural impact of any closure, what action ministers can take or plan.

Question reference: S5W-11299

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recent police raids on the Kurdish Community Centre in Edinburgh.

This is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I understand that Police Scotland held a public meeting on 5 September to discuss community concerns in relation to police searches of the Kurdish Community Centre and homes in Edinburgh. The meeting was well attended and it was agreed that Police Scotland would hold regular engagement sessions at the community centre to continue to foster a positive and supportive relationship with the Kurdish community.

Question reference: S5W-12352

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allow the community interest buyout by London Road Church in Edinburgh to be registered under the terms of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, and when it expects to announce its decision.

Question reference: S5W-12426

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the decision on whether to allow the community interest buyout by London Road Church in Edinburgh to go ahead has been delayed.

Question reference: S5W-12264

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the proposed closure of the Museum on the Mound in Edinburgh, and whether it has met, or plans to meet, Lloyds Banking Group to discuss this.

Question reference: S5W-12263

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what funding and support it provides to initiatives that deliver financial education to young people.

The Scottish Government is funding and supporting financial education for young people in a range of ways and is committed to doing so as part of its drive to ensure a fairer Scotland that educates and supports our young people to be responsible citizens, effective contributors and confident individuals.

The Scottish Government provided £142,000 in 2016-17, and is providing a further £132,000 in 2017-18, to Credit Unions to develop and run Junior Savers Schemes across Scotland. These schemes support financial education and encourage a savings ethos in children at an early age.

Financial education and capability initiatives at local level are funded through our Aspiring Communities Fund and our People and Communities Fund. An example of the activity supported by the Aspiring Communities Fund is a project in Auchenback and Dunterlie that provides financial education as part of a holistic package of support to young people from workless families. Our People and Communities Fund focuses on the delivery of a wide range of projects and services that promote a holistic community-led approach to social inclusion and tackling poverty in our most disadvantaged communities, including financial education for young people. Examples of this are the FARE project, Connecting Wellpark, which is offering budgeting advice for the whole community (including young people) and Paths for Employment, a local work experience programme which provides a range of services including help with IT skills, literacy and numeracy classes, assistance with benefits advice and practical help with financial and debt management.

Within our Curriculum for Excellence, financial education is a core aspect of learning and Education Scotland offers a range of activities and teaching resources aimed at stimulating classroom discussion about ‘real life’ issues such as debt and money management. Resources include Money Talks which uses a bank statement as a hook to help develop financial capability and On the Money which comprises a collection of short stories for primary pupils designed to influence and change attitudes and behaviours from an early age. Financial education is a feature of numeracy and enterprise and employability education. Schools have partnerships with a range of financial organisations providing support and guidance to classrooms such as the RBS MoneySense programme, HMRC sessions on money, work and taxation and a range of other excellent initiatives.

Money Week is a themed week where classrooms work on issues related to money. An example of the sort of activity that takes place in Money Week is the involvement of young people working with parents, employees of banks and credit unions or setting up a "fair trade" tuck shop. The initiative started in primary schools but has been adapted by a number of secondary schools across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-12260

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it had with care-experienced young people before allocating resources to its rough sleeping and homelessness action fund.

The Scottish Government has regular engagement with young people who have experienced homelessness, including young people who have experience of care, and funds a national service user involvement co-ordinator to ensure the views of those that have experienced homelessness inform our approach.

I have had a series of meetings with young people following the Rock Trust’s youth homelessness conference in May 2017, including engagement about the provision of housing options services by local authorities to young people who they have looked after.

The involvement of young people that have experienced homelessness, including those with experience of care, will be an important part of the work of the short term Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group, which will also make recommendations on the use of the Ending Homelessness Together Fund.

As well as the Action Group, we will continue to work with local authorities and other partners through the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group in the longer term, and this Group will wish to give consideration to what actions will be required as a result of the outcome of the current Independent Care Review.

Question reference: S5W-12262

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 7 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how its action fund to tackle rough sleeping and homelessness will specifically address the needs of care-experienced young people.

The ‘Ending Homelessness Together’ Fund of £50 million over five years has been created to support prevention initiatives and pilot solutions to drive faster change from 2018-19.

The short term Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group is making recommendations on immediate actions and longer term solutions, which will include how best to use the resources made available in the new fund.

In making these recommendations, they are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that all those vulnerable to homelessness are provided with the support they need.

Question reference: S5O-01435

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, in light of recent reports regarding sexual harassment, how it intends to influence the gender composition of the Corporate Body and Parliamentary Bureau.