Chamber and committees

Modern apprenticeship places (MA) are not allocated by sector, although sectoral demand is taken into account during the contracting process carried out by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) each year. As MAs are demand led, in-year changes are made to contract allocations to meet the needs of employers. This being the case, SDS will be able to retrospectively provide a final breakdown of MA places by sector after 31 March 2012.

In 2010-11, there were 2,434 apprenticeship starts in construction and related sectors, and 1,780 in the first two quarters of this year (1 April to 30 September).

The Scottish Government, through Skills Development Scotland, supports all apprentices following approved modern apprenticeship frameworks. In 2010-11 there were 2,434 apprenticeship starts supported in construction and related sectors.

In 2009, we introduced Adopt an Apprentice, which provides a £2,000 financial incentive to encourage employers to recruit a redundant apprentice. The majority of the apprentices who have secured alternative employment are within construction and related sectors.

We have also introduced incentives aimed directly at supporting Scottish Businesses. The Employer Recruitment Incentive offers SMEs a £1,000 incentive to offer an apprenticeship to individuals aged 16 to 19 who have experienced barriers to work in the past. In addition to this, Small Business Employment Support assists companies with less than 50 employees increase recruitment by providing an extra £1,000 subsidy to support the particular challenges in meeting the cost of recruiting additional staff.

The proportion of the UK national debt assigned to Scotland under independence would be subject to negotiation as part of a revised constitutional settlement.

The Scottish Government believes any apportionment of the UK national debt should take into consideration the historic balance of expenditures and revenues in Scotland relative to the UK as a whole. For example, recent analysis by the Scotland Office estimated Scotland’s fiscal position between 1980-81 and 2009-10 including an illustrative geographical share of North Sea revenue. The results suggest that, over this period, Scotland’s cumulative deficit would have been almost a third smaller than if it was assigned a per capita share of the UK’s deficit.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04284 on 6 December 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government is considering how it will apply Barnett consequentials available in financial year 2011-12, alongside the strategic consideration it is giving the outcomes of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. Further information will be provided to Parliament in due course.

A number of prospective operators, including CalMac, were approached to determine the level of their potential interest in these, and other services, when the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services are re-tendered. Work on the tendering of these ferry services will begin in spring 2012.

We will start work on the tendering of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) contract in spring 2012. It is a matter for individual ferry operators whether they would want to take part in the procurement process. However, as the incumbent operator, I would anticipate that CalMac Ferries Ltd would want to have the opportunity to continue to operate these services. The outcome of the tender process will be known in spring 2013.

It was for individual landlords to strike the best balance between rent levels and meeting the housing needs of their local communities when bidding to the 2011 Innovation and Investment Fund (IIF). The Scottish Government did not therefore carry out separate affordability tests to determine if rents could be met by tenants. However, our published procedures for the IIF included a benchmark rent for social rented properties which was in line with our previous grant appraisal processes. If rents exceeded this benchmark by 5% we expected registered social landlords to explain why and to confirm that the project was still affordable to tenants.

We said in our Strategy and Action Plan Homes Fit for the 21st Century that we would make a decisive change in the way we support new developments, using government funding to maximise the possible leverage from other sources.

We also made clear in the strategy that it is up to individual landlords to strike the best balance between rent levels and meeting the housing needs of their local communities, but that rents should not be increased without regard for the importance of affordability for tenants. We wrote to all registered social landlords in March 2011 regarding the operation of the 2011 Innovation and Investment Fund. This letter confirmed that rent levels for social rented housing should be set with the aim of being affordable to people on lower incomes without reliance on housing benefit/local housing allowance. We also noted that the maximum mid-market rent level would generally be 85% of local housing allowance levels at the 30th percentile for the relevant broad rental market area.

It is up to individual landlords to strike the best balance between rent levels and meeting the housing needs of their local communities, but rents should not be increased without regard for the importance of affordability for tenants. The Scottish Government will not assist tenants in meeting rent increases that arise as a consequence of the grant applications that have been submitted by registered social landlords to the Scottish Government for funding.