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: S4O-02635

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it considers the use of so-called zero-hours contracts contributes to its strategy for sustainable economic growth.

Question reference: S4W-18141

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 20 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many articulating students (a) pay and (b) are exempt from council tax.

Question reference: S4W-18082

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 18 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support for childcare is available only to student nurses.

Question reference: S4W-18120

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 15 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that community councils should have access to crime statistics broken down by beat area.

Question reference: S4W-17979

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many accounts it follows on Twitter; for what purpose, and what its engagement policy is.

Question reference: S4W-17975

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether its directorates are instructed to establish Twitter accounts and build followers and, if so, by whom and for what purpose.

Question reference: S4W-17798

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 8 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what information it or the Student Awards Agency for Scotland provided to or for full-time students in receipt of a bursary in 2012-13 and expected to continue to receive support in 2013-14, that makes reference to reductions in bursaries available in 2013-14.

The Scottish Government announced the 2013-14 support package for higher education students on 22 August 2012.

In addition to its usual information work with colleges, universities and student bodies, the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) contacted all continuing students during the week beginning 27 August 2012 with details of the new support package.

A further e-mail reminding continuing students was sent in week beginning 25 February 2013.

Question reference: S4W-17799

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 8 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it made prior to the publication of the 2013-14 draft budget of the impact of changes in student support in 2013-14 on the level of debt that will apply to students from lower-income households.

Based on the support arrangements that apply in 2013-14, students from Scotland from the lowest income households who are eligible for a total maintenance package of £7250 will accrue a maximum annual debt of £5,500.

This policy was considered in the context of debt figures published annually by the Student Loan Company, the latest version of which shows that average student loan debt for Scottish students is £6,850 compared to £18,740 in England and £14,910 in Wales.

Question reference: S4W-17797

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 8 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of student support arrangements in other parts of the UK to support the claim that Scotland has the best package of student support in the UK.

The information is available from each of the administrations who give wide publicity to the offer so that students know what support is available to them.

For session 2013-14, Scottish students from the lowest income households will receive a total maintenance package of £7250 (rising to £7500 in 2014-15). This compares to £6,052, £6573 and £5338 for students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively who are living at home, and £7,177, £7,736 and £6,428 for students who are living away from home.

Of course in addition to the maintenance support described above, all Scottish students receive a benefit in the form of free tuition.

Accordingly when this is taken into account, the NUS has rightly described the package of support on offer as “the best in the UK”.

Question reference: S4W-17974

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out or plans to carry out an assessment of public attitudes to its (a) policies and (b) ministers using social media.