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-24583

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the most frequent assistance provided through Fair Start Scotland is.

Question reference: S5W-24588

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in addition to the 9,789 people referred between April and September 2018, and the 4,978 who started the programme in that period, how many people have (a) been referred to First Start Scotland and (b) started the programme since then, broken down by local authority.

Statistics on Fair Start Scotland (FSS) and the other devolved employability services are published quarterly by Scottish Government. The latest release was on 29 May 2019, presenting statistics up to end March 2019 i.e. covering the first year of FSS. This included data on referrals and starts, by Local Authority area. The publication can be found on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-devolved-employment-services-statistical-summary-2/

The next release is due to be published on 28 August 2019, and will present statistics to end June 2019.

Question reference: S5W-24587

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the underspend or overspend was of the £96 million allocated to Fair Start Scotland in the period March 2018 to March 2019, broken down by local authority.

The Scottish Government is investing up to £96m over the totality of the Fair Start Scotland service. Spend on Fair Start Scotland is determined by Fair Start Scotland Providers’ performance in moving participants towards and into work. Financial expenditure data relating to Fair Start Scotland is broken down by individual Lot area rather than by Local Authority.

Forecasts of anticipated spend are regularly provided to the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

Question reference: S5W-24586

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to streamline the Fair Start Scotland provider scheme.

Question reference: S5W-24597

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that earnings in Scotland are underperforming compared with the rest of the UK; what analysis it has carried out of this, and how it is addressing any imbalance.

Gross median weekly earnings for full-time employees in Scotland increased by 3.0 per cent from £546.60 in 2017 to £563.20 in 2018. In the UK, gross median weekly earnings for full-time employees were £569.00, an increase of 3.5 per cent over the same period. For women, gross median weekly earnings for full-time employees are higher in Scotland compared with the UK (£516.20 and £509.10, respectively).

This performance has come in the context of continued economic uncertainty as a result of the UK Government’s approach to Brexit.

Timely analysis of earnings in Scotland is published on the Scottish Government website following the latest Office for National Statistics release of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings - https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/Earnings

There are three key elements to the Scottish Government’s approach to earnings. Firstly, our public sector pay policy supports the economy by delivering real terms wage growth particularly for those who are lower paid. This year we are delivering a guaranteed 3% increase to all those earning up to £36,500. We are also committed to tackling income inequality by targeting more at the very lowest paid.

Secondly, while pay legislation remains reserved to the UK Government we are directly tackling low pay, delivering on our wider Fair Work ambitions and tackling the gender pay gap through our relevant Action Plans. We have set a target of 25,000 additional workers to be paid at least the real living wage, through employer accreditation, by 2021. There are now over 1,500 Living Wage accredited employers in Scotland, proportionately more than 5 times as many accredited LW employers as in the rest of the UK. However, whilst Scotland is ahead of the rest of the UK on paying the real Living Wage, we are determined to do more to tackle low pay sectors.

Thirdly, broader earnings growth requires a growing economy which attracts investment, provides skilled jobs and ensures that workers have the expertise companies require. We are supporting business and continuing to grow Scotland’s economy by focusing on investment, internationalisation, innovation and inclusive growth. This includes establishing the Scottish National Investment Bank, launching our export growth plan - backed by £20 million of investment - and establishing a National Retraining Partnership, to help the workforce to up-skill.

Collectively, these measures and the wider actions set out in this year’s budget and Economic Action Plan provide a coherent and robust set of measures to support earnings and employment across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-24598

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when the findings for the first international independent review of the Scottish Fiscal Commission will be published.

This is an operational matter relating to the Scottish Fiscal Commission and the Chief Executive of the Commission has provided the following response:

“The independent review of the Scottish Fiscal Commission led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is being undertaken this summer. The review team’s report will be published and laid before the Scottish Parliament in the autumn.”

Question reference: S5W-24591

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried of what risk is involved in increasing the borrowing limit to the fiscal framework.

Whilst our reserves and borrowing capacity are sufficient to manage the 2017-18 reconciliation for income tax, which will apply to the 2020-21 budget, it is already clear that the current limits on the use of the reserve and borrowing powers are inadequate to manage the level of budget volatility in the current system. The Fiscal Framework review must consider revising these, which are clearly not fit for purpose.

The Scottish Government will continue to use any reserves and borrowing capacity in a fiscally sustainable way.

Question reference: S5W-24589

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address the reported gap between reconciliations and its annual borrowing limit for forecast error.

Official figures published by HMRC on 18 July 2019 confirmed that our reserves and borrowing capacity are sufficient to manage the reconciliation for 2017-18 income tax, which will be applied to the 2020-21 budget. Reconciliations which will apply to the 2021-22 and 2022-23 budgets are still only forecasts, and are subject to significant uncertainty.

I will make a decision as part of budget and spending review processes on how to manage any reconciliations in a fiscally responsible way that supports our vital public services.

However, it is already clear that the current limits on the use of the reserve and borrowing powers are inadequate to manage the level of budget volatility in the current system. The Fiscal Framework review must consider revising these, which are clearly not fit for purpose.

Question reference: S5W-24596

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 August 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the management of fiscal framework, following reports that this has resulted in £1 billion worth of reconciliations.

Question reference: S5W-23744

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Dundee City Council and other stakeholders regarding reviving the post of city makar, or official poet, which has been unfilled since October 2018.

The Scottish Government welcomes all initiatives to promote poetry across Scotland. This includes the appointment of civic makers by the relevant local organisations across Scotland.

Civic makars complement the work of the national Makar, Jackie Kay, who is appointed by the Scottish Government, and who promotes poetry for everyone in Scotland.

The appointment of a Dundee makar in 2013 was entirely the decision of organisations in the city and the Scottish Government has not held discussions with those organisations on the future of this role.