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-11720

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-11504 by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 December 2012, to what organisations that provide advice services on welfare and benefits it provides funding; how much funding it is providing in 2012-13, and from which budget line.

The Scottish Government is doing what it can within our current powers to tackle poverty and inequality and have sought to maximise household incomes and put plans in place to mitigate the impact of welfare reform. Within my portfolio there are a range of interventions which both directly and indirectly provide advice on financial issues such as welfare and benefits. For example we are providing up to £450,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support in 2012-13 for their benefits advice service and up to £375,000 to the Child Poverty Action Group in 2012-13 to provide training to front line agencies to allow them to provide advice to low income households on a variety of financial and benefits related issues.

The Access to Justice project in the Making Justice Work programme is directed at better co-ordination and prioritisation of advice funding, seeking to develop a more efficient and cost effective approach to public sector funding of advice services. The project is currently mapping the range of information and advice services that receive public sector funding and why, covering advice on areas of law such as housing, welfare benefits, debt and consumer issues. I would be happy to provide details to the member once this review has been completed.

Question reference: S4F-01079

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 December 2012

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Question reference: S4W-11688

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 17 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its definition is of the phrase "the post-Christie agenda", used in its document, Single Outcome Agreements, Guide to Community Planning Partnerships.

The “post-Christie agenda” means planning and delivering public services in line with the approach set out in the Scottish Government’s response to the Report of the Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services that was led by the late Dr Campbell Christie. That response was published on 21 September 2011 and can be found at

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/21104740/0. In that context, and as agreed by the National Community Planning Group, the Guidance on Single Outcome Agreements asks community planning partnerships to show how their approach to the delivery of improved outcomes aligns with the four pillars of public service reform: prevention, local integration and partnership, investment in people and performance improvement.

Question reference: S4W-11681

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by John Swinney on 27 November 2012 (Official Report, c. 13912), whether it will publish a table of the average per capita provisional funding allocations for each local authority and what percentage this represents of the average per capita for Scotland (a) using the latest population figures and (b) amended to assume that no council receives more than 115% in line with Mr Swinney's statement of 8 December 2011 (Official Report, c. 4537)

Additional funding of £25 million to deliver on the Scottish Government’s commitment to introduce a 85% per capita funding floor was included in the local authority allocations in each year covering the 2012-15 settlement period following Spending Review 2011. That funding remains in the provisional settlement allocations which I confirmed to Parliament on 27 November 2012 and is separately identifiable in Annex B of Local Government Finance Circular 5/2012.

In line with established practice agreed with COSLA, three year settlements, including the floors, are not reopened during the period of the Spending Review except for additions or reductions in funding.

Following the transfer of police and fire funding from 2013-14 it is not possible to provide a comparable table of the per capita funding allocations for the implementation of the 85% funding floor.

Question reference: S4W-11687

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the increase in business rates income outlined in the 2013-14 draft budget will come from local authorities that exceed their business rates incentivisation scheme targets and whether the retention by local authorities of their share is reflected in table 12.01 of the draft budget document.

The non domestic rates income (NDRI) shown in the 2013-14 draft budget is our best estimate of what will be collected in 2013-14 taking into account the normal inflationary increase associated with matching the English poundage, business growth, the differing impact of appeals in each year, prior year adjustments and income from the public health supplement and the reform of empty property rates relief.

Any income as a result of local authorities exceeding their business rates incentivisation scheme targets will be over and above the NDRI in the draft budget and will not be known until the final non domestic rate income returns for that year are received.

Question reference: S4W-11679

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by John Swinney on 27 November 2012 (Official Report, c. 13912), what categories of resources will be added to local authority revenues in addition to the provisional funding allocations.

Question reference: S4W-11683

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by John Swinney on 8 December 2011 (Official Report, c. 4537), what progress has been made on implementing the business rates incentivisation scheme; what the latest estimate is of the impact of the scheme, and which local authorities it expects will exceed their targets for the scheme in 2012-13.

Question reference: S4W-11642

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a draft Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill for consultation before the end of 2012 and, if not, when it will publish it.

Question reference: S4F-01053

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2012

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Question reference: S4W-11504

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it (a) gives and (b) plans to give to support welfare benefit advice services.

We want a welfare system that reflects Scotland’s values and ensures fair and decent support for all. But the UK Government’s reforms are being introduced against a backdrop of cuts to benefits and these changes will potentially take significant amounts of money out of the pockets of individuals and away from communities in Scotland

Mitigating the full impact of the reforms will not be possible; there are consequences outwith our powers. We will however continue to do all we can across the whole Scottish Government to support those in the most need. We currently provide funding to a number of organisations that provide advice services on welfare and benefits. Final decisions on the 2013-14 budgets will be taken once the parliamentary scrutiny process has concluded.