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-20692

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of its pension funds regarding investment in payday loan companies.

The main Principal Civil Service Pension Schemes of which, most Scottish Government employees are members, are unfunded. There are no investments as you would find in a normal pension scheme.

The only exception to this is the partnership stakeholder pension which is a funded scheme currently provided by either Scottish Widows or Standard Life, however, the Scottish Government has no influence over which providers are used to run the stakeholder pensions or where funds are invested.

Question reference: S4W-20696

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether Portfolio Recovery Associates UK employs any Debt Arrangement Scheme-approved money advisers.

Question reference: S4W-20693

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the total personal debt in Scotland; what percentage of that debt is attributed to payday lenders, and whether this represents a rising trend on previous years.

Consumer credit is reserved to the UK Government and so the Scottish Government does not gather any statistical information in this area. However, The Office of National Statistics (ONS) is the UK's national statistical institute and publishes statistical information for Scotland in relation to household debt.

The most recent figures published in the ONS report ‘Wealth In Great Britain - The Burden of Household Debt in Great Britain’, reports that the average Scottish debt levels for 2008-10 was £6100. The third wave of this report is due to be published in May 2014. We do not hold any figures on the percentage of that debt attributed to payday loans, however, we do draw upon data and analysis provided by advice agencies and debt charities to inform and develop our policies.

In November 2013, StepChange Debt Charity published ‘Scotland in the Red’ which showed that the average debt of a StepChange client fell in the first six months of 2013, from £14,149 in 2012 to £13,939 in June 2013. The report found that over 10% of their client’s debt was owed to payday loan companies and almost 20% of StepChange clients had at least one payday loan in June 2013, a tenfold increase since 2010.

The Scottish Government takes the issue of debt very seriously and has used the powers currently available to us to address these issues.

Question reference: S4W-20690

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Consumer Finance Association and what matters were discussed.

The Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism met with representatives from the Consumer Finance Association (CFA) on 15 November 2013 as part of a series of roundtable meetings with stakeholders to discuss issues associated with pay day loans.

This was the third pay day loan stakeholder roundtable meeting. Other stakeholders present included Citizens Advice Scotland; StepChange Debt Charity; Money Advice Scotland; COSLA; the Association of British Credit Unions Limited and two representatives from pay day loan companies.

The matters discussed included an update on the actions taken by CFA members and other pay day loan companies to address the issues highlighted by the Office for Fair Trading Compliance Review, published in March 2013. The proposed Financial Conduct Authority regulatory framework which was being consulted on at the time was also discussed. The advice agencies reported on issues and trends highlighted through surveys and analysis of their clients in relation to the impact of pay day loans on their clients, both in terms of levels of debt and the practices of lenders.

Russell Hamblin-Boone, chief executive of the CFA also attended the Tackling Pay Day Loan and Gambling summit on 23 April 2014.

Question reference: S4W-20689

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people on debt arrangement schemes owe money to Portfolio Recovery Associates UK and what the total amount is.

Question reference: S4W-20695

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many Debt Arrangement Scheme-approved money advisers there are in the (a) public and (b) private sector.

We do not hold information on the total number of individual money advisers who meet the criteria to become a Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) approved money adviser.

Currently, 92 organisations are approved to act in the capacity of non-fee charging DAS approved money advisers and 32 organisations are approved to act in capacity of continuing money advisers (fee charging) DAS approved money advisers.

Question reference: S4W-20697

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what companies and organisations the Accountant in Bankruptcy has contracted to administer bankruptcy services on its behalf since 2011.

On 1 April 2009, following a public procurement exercise, Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) appointed six providers to administer personal insolvency cases on her behalf.

The six firms were:

KPMG

Wylie and Bisset LLP

Armstrong Watson

MMG Archbold (formerly Miller McIntyre and Gellatly)

Hastings & Co

Invocas

The Insolvency Services Framework was introduced for a three year period with the option to extend for a further 12 month period. The AiB utilised the extension option resulting in the expiry of the contract on 31 March 2013.

On 1 April 2013, following a further procurement exercise, AiB appointed three providers for the supply of insolvency services for a period of two years with a further two optional one year extensions. The current providers are:

Wylie and Bisset LLP

Insolvency Support Services (ISS)

KPMG

Question reference: S4W-20650

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 29 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of the childcare workforce will produce recommendations and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S4W-20653

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 29 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what editorial control ministers will exert on the report produced by the review of the childcare workforce.

Question reference: S4F-02053

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 April 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2014

To ask the First Minister, following the publication of the Mortonhall Investigation, how the Scottish Government plans to support parents and families affected.