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-04202

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce a credit union development fund.

Question reference: S4W-04197

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many credit unions there are and how many members they have.

Question reference: S4W-04205

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had since May 2011 with (a) academics, (b) COSLA, (c) individual local authorities and (d) other bodies regarding the role of credit unions.

Question reference: S4W-04207

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) financial education and (b) literacy initiatives it has established since May 2007; which of these have been developed jointly with other external bodies, and which have been used by (i) primary schools, (ii) secondary schools, (iii) further education colleges and (iv) universities.

On (a) financial education, the following tables set out the range of events and resources supported by Education Scotland (previously Learning Teaching Scotland), highlighting where these have been delivered in partnership where appropriate. Education Scotland has also organised a series of half-day financial education workshops for education practitioners.

On (b) literacy, the Literacy Action Plan was launched in October 2010 to raise standards of literacy for all from the early years to adulthood. Its implementation is overseen by the Standing Literacy Commission. The plan builds on existing good practice and ensures that literacy has a central and continuing focus in education and related government policies. Some of the many actions included in working towards this goal are the Adult Literacies in Scotland Strategic Guidance, the Scottish Government’s Play Talk Read campaign, and work that is funded through Education Scotland and Creative Scotland, including Write at Home and the Knowledge of Language website.

Table 1: School Financial Education Initiatives

Resource	Date Established	Partner(s)	Education Sector(s)
On the Money	2007	Scottish Book Trust and Standard Life	Primary
Talk Money, Talk Solutions	2007	Clydesdale Bank	Primary
Small Change	2009	Clydesdale Bank and TAG Theatre Company/Citizens Theatre	Secondary
Tackling Debt	2009	Stirling Park, Caley Youth Centre, Commotion Youth Theatre, and Livewire Theatre Company	Secondary
Financial Education: Developing skills for learning life and work	2010	Strategic Review Group	All sectors
Maintaining Momentum	2010	Strategic Review Group	All sectors
Money Talks	2007-11	Wide range of partners	All sectors
Cheers for Credit Unions	2011	Glasgow City Council, Renfrewshire Council, Glasgow Credit Union, and Renfrewshire Wide Credit Union	Primary and secondary
Guide for Teachers and Managers	2011	Glasgow City Council	Primary and secondary
Scottish Financial Education Forum	2011	Wide range of partners	All sectors

Table 2: Further Education and Adult Education Financial Education Initiatives

Resource	Date Established	Partner(s)	Education Sector
Financial Learning Online (FLO) Scotland	2011		Financial capability practitioners
Building Resilience Conference	2011	Money Advice Service and Standard Life	Open to all
Skint!	2011	Scottish Book Trust	Secondary schools and further education

Question reference: S4W-04203

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with credit unions since May 2011 regarding their (a) role and (b) concerns and the assistance that it gives them, including help on finding appropriate premises.

Question reference: S4W-04210

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any legal impediments to it providing financial assistance to credit unions.

Question reference: S4W-04198

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support it has given to credit unions in each year since 2007, also broken down by the amount awarded to each union.

The Scottish Credit Union Assistance Fund provided small grants of up to £10,000 to 29 credit unions during the years 2006-07 and 2007-08. In addition, £800,000 was provided over the same period to the Service of General Economic Interest (SGEI) Fund. This allowed new or existing credit unions to carry out additional financial inclusion activities.

Between 2008 and 2010 the Scottish Government invested £12 million in the Third Sector Enterprise Fund. This included £250,000 specifically for credit unions. A total of 186 awards were made, which included 32 credit unions.

Organisation	Award	Local Authority Area
Grampian Credit Union	£66,704	Aberdeen
North East Credit Union	£60,000	Aberdeen
Cumnock and Doon Valley Credit Union	£70,300	East Ayrshire
Capital Credit Union	£69,000	Edinburgh
Craigmillar Credit Union	£25,000	Edinburgh
First University Credit Union	£25,000	Edinburgh
SCVO Credit Union	£19,308	Edinburgh
Kingdom Credit Union	£7,500	Fife
North East Fife Credit Union	£2,560	Fife
Baillieston Credit Union	£3,105	Glasgow
Drumchapel Credit Union	£20,100	Glasgow
Glasgow South Credit Union	£24,700	Glasgow
Glasgow West Credit Union	£18,990	Glasgow
Greater Govan Credit Union	£73,245	Glasgow
Greater Govan Credit Union	£100,000	Glasgow
Parkhead Credit Union	£25,000	Glasgow
Penilee Credit Union	£13,644	Glasgow
Pollok Credit Union	£53,675	Glasgow
Ruchill Credit Union	£8,899	Glasgow
Scottish Police Credit Union	£12,525	Glasgow
Scottish Transport Credit Union	£95,200	Glasgow
1^st Alliance (Ayrshire) Credit Union	£49,025	North Ayrshire
Cumbernauld South Credit Union	£10,000	North Lanarkshire
Renfrewshire-wide Credit Union	£6,000	Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire-wide Credit Union	£57,000	Renfrewshire
Blantyre Credit Union	£68,500	South Lanarkshire
East Kilbride Credit Union	£20,650	South Lanarkshire
ML9 Credit Union	£22,000	South Lanarkshire
Scotcentral Credit Union	£79,803	Stirling
Dumbarton Credit Union	£10,000	West Dunbartonshire
Livingston Credit Union	£32,029	West Lothian
Western Isles Credit Union	£64,650	Western Isles

Two of Scotland’s largest credit unions, have recently received a £1,000,000 investment from the Scottish Investment Fund. This will enable greater co-operation between the two credit unions, through their newly created Credit Union Shared Services Co-operative. The investment, awarded to Scotwest Credit Union in the West of Scotland and Capital Credit Union based on the East coast, will facilitate the introduction of a new operating and account management system.

Question reference: S4W-04220

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will deliver the SNP manifesto commitment to "look to bring together the various existing funding streams to create a simpler, more easily accessible Town Centre Regeneration Fund”.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01547 on 3 August 2011. The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution made by Scotland's town centres towards the achievement of its purpose of increasing sustainable economic growth. The primary responsibility and lead role in local regeneration and economic development lies with local authorities.

We are currently considering options for how best to use available resources to continue support for town centre regeneration as part of the wider Regeneration Strategy, which will be published shortly.

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.

Question reference: S4W-04211

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to work with credit unions in developing its anti-poverty strategy and in tackling financial and social exclusion.

Question reference: S4W-04221

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 1 December 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it will provide to deliver its manifesto commitment to “look to bring together the various existing funding streams to create a simpler, more easily accessible Town Centre Regeneration Fund".