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-28693

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 10 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4T-01189 by Aileen Campbell on 24 November 2015 (Official Report, c. 3), what steps it took to advise the Parliament of the decision to dissolve the Getting It Right for Every Child Programme Board.

Question reference: S4W-28694

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding it has given to universities in each of the last five years toward funding projects that are being carried out at CERN.

Question reference: S4W-28692

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 9 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4T-01189 by Aileen Campbell on 24 November 2015 (Official Report, c. 3), how much was spent in developing and operating the Getting It Right for Every Child Programme Board.

Question reference: S4W-28691

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 9 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4T-01189 by Aileen Campbell on 24 November 2015 (Official Report, c. 3), what impact dissolving the Getting It Right for Every Child Programme Board will have on its named persons policy under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Question reference: S4W-28690

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 9 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4T-01189 by Aileen Campbell on 24 November 2015 (Official Report, c. 3), what advice led to the decision to dissolve the Getting It Right for Every Child Programme Board.

With the passage of the Act in February 2014, the members of the board (including Police Scotland, National Parent Forum Scotland, local authorities, the NHS, Care Inspectorate and COSLA) agreed that the board should be dissolved in September 2014. The focus of activity was on the Getting It Right for Every Child National Implementation Support Group (NISG), which sat under the programme board and provided support for implementation and operational issues. The NISG has acted as the highest oversight group for implementation.

Question reference: S4W-28493

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 30 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of the invasive stoat population in Orkney has been on (a) birds of prey, (b) seabirds, (c) waders and (d) other species native to the islands; what analysis it has carried out to determine what the main pathway has been for the stoats to enter; what measures it is taking to prevent their spread, and what (i) funding and (ii) other support it is providing to help with their removal.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has advised the Scottish Government that it is not possible to determine exactly how stoats first arrived in Orkney and that no significant impacts of invasive stoats on native wildlife in Orkney have been documented as yet. Any impacts, however, are unlikely to be detected until some time after the stoat population has become established.

In June 2015, SNH published the output from research into the risks that the stoat population in Orkney poses to native wildlife. This research concluded it was likely that:

Stoats will reduce the population of Orkney vole to lower than average densities;

This would have a major detrimental effect on hen harriers and short-eared owls, which prey on the voles; and

Stoats will also predate ground-nesting waders.

The Scottish Government allocates a budget annually to SNH, which it is responsible for managing to fulfil its statutory functions and to support the Scottish Government’s commitments with respect to protecting and improving the natural environment. This includes advice and strategies aimed at addressing non-native species, in their role as lead agency on the issue. To date, SNH has spent £60,960 on removing stoats from Orkney. This includes support and training for volunteers who are carrying out trapping and monitoring. Should stoats reach the non-connected islands, which are currently stoat-free, they will be removed rapidly.

Question reference: S4T-01189

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 23 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has abolished the Getting it Right for Every Child Programme Board.

Question reference: S4W-28269

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what average length of time a graduate takes to repay their student loan.

Repayment of student loans owed by Scottish domiciled students is managed on behalf of the Scottish Government by the Student Loans Company (SLC).

Repayment of Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) loans, offered to students from September 1998, are predicated upon students meeting an earning threshold. Repayment schedules and amounts are variable depending on each student's individual circumstances. Neither the Scottish Government nor the SLC hold information on the average time taken by graduates to repay their ICR student loan.

‘Mortgage style’ student loans, offered to students prior to September 1998 and sold to Erudio Student Loans Limited in November 2013 were repayable over a fixed period regardless of the amount owed. Therefore, there is no average repayment period for these loans.

Question reference: S4W-28268

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is to it of money loaned by the Student Loans Company.

Costs to the Scottish Government include those associated with supporting the student loan system to operate in Scotland, and those relating to the award of loans to individual students.

Taking 2015-16 as an example, £302.1 million was set aside in the Scottish Government budget to cover costs linked to provision of the student loans system overall.

In 2015-16, the cost of net student loan advances to individuals was
£468.3 million. The budget to support this, and the budget to support the student loans system overall can only be spent to support the system or advance individual awards.

Question reference: S4W-28270

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many deferral applications the Student Loans Company has received in each year of its operation, and what percentage this represents of all students due to make repayments.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) holds details of the number of deferral applications received from academic year 2006-07 onwards. The amount of deferral applications received per academic year was:

2006-07 426,554

2007-08 329,620

2008-09 311,731

2009-10 277,305

2010-11 261,638

2011-12 252,248

2012-13 252,180

2013-14 214,267

2014-15 91,861

2015- to date 76,873

The ability to defer repayment is only available to individuals with ‘mortgage style’ student loans. As these were sold to Erudio Student Loans Limited in November 2013, the SLC reports that it is unable to provide the Scottish Government with details of what percentage of students due to make payments applied for deferral.