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: S5W-06963

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many houses for social rent in each local authority area are under construction, broken down by the expected year of completion.

The following table is based on management information extracted from the Scottish Government Affordable Housing Supply Programme, and presents the number of social rented units under construction on site as at 30 September 2016, in line with the time period of data presented in the most recent quarterly official statistics release on affordable housing approvals, starts and completions:

Number of units for social rent on site

Estimated year of completion

Local Authority	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	Total
Aberdeenshire	20	79	0	0	99
Angus	21	51	0	0	72
Argyll & Bute	22	47	0	0	69
City of Aberdeen	0	226	0	0	226
City of Dundee	70	54	33	0	157
City of Edinburgh	67	330	105	23	525
City of Glasgow	309	990	46	0	1345
Clackmannanshire	48	0	0	0	48
Dumfries and Galloway	53	16	0	0	69
East Ayrshire	0	45	0	0	45
East Dunbartonshire	10	20	0	0	30
East Lothian	0	108	0	0	108
Falkirk	18	0	0	0	18
Fife	409	313	22	0	744
Highland	53	122	0	0	175
Inverclyde	45	41	0	0	86
Midlothian	12	69	0	0	81
Moray	0	67	0	0	67
North Ayrshire	0	105	0	0	105
North Lanarkshire	0	308	0	0	308
Orkney	17	20	0	0	37
Perth and Kinross	0	99	0	0	99
Renfrewshire	0	144	0	0	144
Shetland	12	21	0	0	33
South Ayrshire	29	0	0	0	29
South Lanarkshire	58	170	0	0	228
Stirling	0	8	0	0	8
The Scottish Borders	0	24	0	0	24
West Dunbartonshire	52	30	0	0	82
West Lothian	35	292	230	0	557
Western Isles	8	16	0	0	24
TOTAL	1368	3815	436	23	5642

As well as new build homes under construction, there are also 234 units forming rehab and conversion projects currently underway.

The next official statistics release, covering the period to end December 2016, will be published on 14 March 2017.

Question reference: S5W-06855

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made toward meeting the target set in Scotland's Economic Strategy to (a) reduce youth unemployment by 40% by 2021, (b) increase the percentage of employers recruiting young people directly from education to 35% by 2018 and (c) reduce to 60% the percentage of Modern Apprenticeship frameworks where the gender balance is 75:25 or worse by 2021.

The second Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) annual progress report found at: Developing the Young Workforce Scotland's Youth Employment Strategy 2nd Annual Report 2015/2016, covers academic year 2015-16, and was published on 14 December 2016.

The report highlights significant progress made to date, including progress on the eleven Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the DYW programme. The latest published data for the indicators highlighted in the question are highlighted as follows:

Question	Baseline	Current Figure
(a)	52,000 (Jan- Mar 2014)	42,000 (Jan- Mar 2016)
(b)	32% (2014)	32% (2014) – more relevant data for this target will be available in 2017
(c)	73% (2013-14)	74% (2015-16)

Question reference: S5W-06601

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it last raised the issue of seafarer pay rates on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge freight route with (a) the UK Government and (b) DFDS.

The Scottish Government has not raised the issue of seafarer pay rates on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge freight route with the UK Government or DFDS.

Scottish Ministers wrote to UK Ministers on 4 November 2016 asking the UK Government to investigate the wider issue of employment protection for seafarers, including the applicability of National Minimum Wage legislation in the maritime sector, specifically regarding seafarers working exclusively in UK waters.

Question reference: S5W-06602

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, when it last raised the issue of enforcement of the national minimum wage for seafarers working on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge freight route with (a) the UK Government and (b) DFDS.

Question reference: S5W-06607

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many international freight passengers moved through Rosyth Port in each year since 2009-10.

Question reference: S5W-06604

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the (a) capacity and (b) environmental improvements on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge freight route made by (i) Forth Ports and (ii) DFDS since August 2015, and how much was invested in each improvement.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government as Rosyth to Zeebrugge is a commercial freight ferry route operated by DFDS.

Improvements to the port facility or vessel to increase the capacity and improve the environmental performance have been made by the port authority Forth Ports or ferry operator DFDS.

We understand this included improvements to the port infrastructure to allow double stacked containers to be loaded onto the vessel, as well as the installation of scrubber technology on the Finlandia Seaways to comply with Sulphur Emissions Control Area restrictions.

Question reference: S5W-06603

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what grants it has paid to (a) DFDS and (b) Forth Ports since January 2015 in order to maintain the Rosyth to Zeebrugge freight route.

The Scottish Government paid 200,000 in January 2015 to DFDS, in support of the company’s operation of the Rosyth to Zeebrugge freight ferry service. The Scottish Government has not provided Forth Ports with funding for the route since January 2015.

The Scottish Government is committed to securing the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service on an environmentally and economically sustainable basis in the interests of the freight industry and businesses in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-06606

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many roll-on, roll-off freight units were (a) imported and (b) exported on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge route in each year since 2009-10.

Question reference: S5W-06605

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether freight capacity of the Finlandia Seaways, operated by DFDS between Rosyth and Zeebrugge, has increased since August 2015, and what discussions it has had with (a) DFDS and (b) Forth Ports regarding future increases in freight capacity on the route.

Question reference: S5W-02337

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much Land and Buildings Transaction Tax was paid by (a) registered social landlords, (b) local authorities and (c) the Scottish Ministers since April 2015.