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-21764

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 15 July 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20193 by Michael Russell on 1 April 2014, what (a) maximum and (b) minimum amount would be required for tuition fee costs supported by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland for 3,300 students, assuming that all were eligible for tuition fee support.

On 24 January 2014 the Scottish Funding Council announced funding for around 3,300 additional places. Should all these places be filled on a full-time basis and assuming that all these students were eligible for tuition fee support and that they all apply to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland for tuition fee support the cost would be a maximum of £6 million. The minimum amount would be nil based on the assumption that none of these students apply for tuition fee support.

Question reference: S4W-21766

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 15 July 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20193 by Michael Russell on 1 April 2014, whether it expects the Scottish Funding Council's announcement on 24 January 2014 of 3,300 more places to lead to a similar rise in the total number of students receiving tuition fee support from the Student Award Agency for Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-21765

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 15 July 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20193 by Michael Russell on 1 April 2014, what the cost would be to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for Young Students' Bursary and Independent Students' Bursary for 3,300 students if the students (a) followed the same pattern of distribution by income as the existing SAAS-supported undergraduate population and (b) were all assessed as eligible for the maximum bursary, assuming the same proportions for young and independent students as applied in 2013-14.

Question reference: S4W-21767

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 15 July 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20193 by Michael Russell on 1 April 2014, whether the 3,300 additional funded student places announced by the Scottish Funding Council on 24 January 2014 are expected to result in an additional number of eligible students being recruited to Scottish universities or are to provide funded places for existing levels of recruitment that were previously unfunded.

Question reference: S4W-21887

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 3 July 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the 6.3% fall in the Level 4 budget figure for education maintenance allowance (EMA) between 2013-14 and 2014-15 reflects the expected reduction in actual spending between the two years or an expectation that actual spending in 2013-14 would be closer to the reported actual spend of £27.8 million in 2012-13 than the £31.6 million budgeted for 2013-14.

The Scottish Government does not expect to reduce actual spending for education maintenance allowance (EMA) in 2014-15. The reduced budget position reflects our anticipated spend for 2014-15 which we consider will be in line with spending from previous years, £27.8 million in 2012-13 and £27.6 million in 2011-12.

EMA is an entitlement in Scotland and the Scottish Government will ensure every individual who is eligible for EMA support receives it. Unlike in England where the EMA programme has been abolished, Scottish Ministers are committed to the EMA programme and value its contribution to helping young people overcome financial barriers to access learning.

Question reference: S4W-21888

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 3 July 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further detail regarding the "changing demographics in Scotland" affecting spending on education maintenance allowance that are referred to in the "explanation of significant changes from previous year" provided in the Level 4 spreadsheet for the 2014-15 budget.

Education maintenance allowance (EMA) is an entitlement in Scotland which means that any person who meets the eligibility criteria will receive EMA support.

The explanation in the Level 4 spreadsheet for the 2014-15 budget relates to the revised budget position for EMA rather than actual spend.

This revision reflects the projected decline in the number of secondary school pupils in Scotland.

The projections are available through the following web link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/PupilProjectionsDataset/PupilProjections2010

Question reference: S4O-03346

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports victims of rape in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Question reference: S4O-03253

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which expressed concern at the under-representation of women and girls in so-called STEM apprenticeships in Scotland.

This Government notes the concerns and recommendations from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Achieving a more balanced workforce across STEM employment is a challenge for the wider labour market and is not specific to the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) programme, but one that this Government is committed to improving.

We launched CareerWISE Scotland, with £250,000 funding, to encourage young women to consider careers in STEM subjects, including as MAs. CareerWISE has established a programme of paid student placement and will see STEM sector champions meeting girls at primary school age.

We also agreed with the aspirations of the interim report from the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce which included recommendations for increasing the number of STEM MAs. An important stage of the second half of this work is a focus on equality issues and we look forward to receiving these in the final report due in June 2014.

Question reference: S4O-03222

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the educational attainment gap between children from different social backgrounds.

Question reference: S4W-20687

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings (a) ministers and (b) officials have had with representatives of Portfolio Recovery Associates UK since 2011; who was present at each meeting, and what was discussed.

Portfolio Recovery Associates,Inc acquired the Kilmarnock based business of MacKenzie Hall Ltd in January 2012, accordingly no meetings took place in 2011.

Scottish Development International (SDI) met with PRA UK on 6 November 2012 at the company’s offices in Kilmarnock. In attendance at that meeting were Peter Fee, PRA UK - Financial Controller; and officials from SDI.

The meeting was a discussion about the acquisition of MacKenzie Hall Ltd by the Portfolio Group, what the group’s plans were for the Kilmarnock office and how Scottish Enterprise could potentially use Regional Selective Assistance to support significant job creation in Kilmarnock.

Ongoing written communication between PRA UK and Scottish Enterprise/Scottish Development International, has taken place to support the account managed relationship and to facilitate the development of funding to secure employment in Kilmarnock.

On 7 April 2014 the First Minister met with Steve Frederickson, Chairman, President and CEO and Donald Redmond ,Vice President, Government Relations (PRA) along with Lena Wilson, CEO Scottish Enterprise, Nathan Elia, Senior Vice President, SDI Americas and Mike McArthur, Vice President, SDI East Region to discuss PRA’s creation of 400 jobs in Kilmarnock, as announced by the First Minister as part of this year’s Scotland Week.