Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-04997

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in promoting greater financial inclusion and capability and what progress was made in the previous parliamentary session.

Question reference: S4W-04991

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to tackle the underlying social and economic determinants of poverty in order to improve the circumstances in which children grow up.

Question reference: S4W-05011

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the reduction in the housing and regeneration budget might have on child poverty levels.

<>Child poverty reflects the complex interaction of many factors and it is not possible to identify the impacts of specific changes. The Equality Statement Scottish Spending Review 2011 and the Draft Budget 2012-13 available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/26110945/26 provides an overview of the impact of budget changes on those on low incomes.

impact of budget changes on those on low incomes.

The housing and regeneration spending review settlement keeps us on track to deliver the manifesto commitment to 30,000 affordable houses over the life of the parliament. We have increased funding for fuel poverty programmes to £65 million in 2012-13 and in 2013-14, rising to £66.25 million in 2014-15 representing a 35% increase on the original spend in 2011-12. In addition, £18 million will be spent in the next financial year on energy efficiency advice and the Warm Homes Fund will receive £30 million of funding over the Spending Review period.

Question reference: S4W-05016

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the public sector pay freeze might have on child poverty levels.

Child poverty reflects the complex interaction of many factors and it is not possible to identify the impacts of specific changes. The Equality Statement Scottish Spending Review 2011 and the Draft Budget 2012-13 provides an overview of the impact of budget changes on those on low incomes.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/26110945/26.

The public sector pay policy protects family incomes for the lowest paid by increasing the Living Wage to £7.20 per hour and setting a minimum increase of £250 a year for those paid less than £21,000.

Question reference: S4W-05007

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the reduction of the further education budget might have on child poverty levels.

<>Child poverty reflects the complex interaction of many factors and it is not possible to identify the impacts of specific changes. The Equality Statement Scottish Spending Review 2011 and the Draft Budget 2012-13 available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/26110945/26 provides an overview of the impact of budget changes on those on low incomes.

The Scottish Budget in February 2011 boosted support to college students in the current academic year to a record £95.5 million, a real-terms increase of more than 9%.

Question reference: S4W-04986

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to shift resources into early intervention and other action to prevent child poverty.

The Programme for Government and the Government Economic Strategy set out the Scottish Government’s determination to shift resources to invest in early intervention and prevention. This is a long term process which will take place across a range of policy areas, and is reflected in the Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13. Over the next three years, through the Joint Priorities work of national and local government, preventative spending initiatives will be boosted by £500 million. This includes the introduction of the £270 million Early Years and Early Intervention Change Fund.

Question reference: S4W-05010

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the reduction in education maintenance allowances might have on child poverty levels.

<>Child poverty reflects the complex interaction of many factors and it is not possible to identify the impacts of specific changes. The Equality Statement Scottish Spending Review 2011 and the Draft Budget 2012-13 available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/26110945/26 provides an overview of the impact of budget changes on those on low incomes.

The draft budget continues to support Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) funding at current levels and there are no plans to make changes to the current EMA scheme. Previous changes to the EMA scheme refocused support towards students from the lowest income households, protecting our most vulnerable young people.

Question reference: S4W-05003

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address child poverty in lone parent families.

Question reference: S4W-04985

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what investment it has made to eradicate child poverty.

The Programme for Government and the Government Economic Strategy set out the Scottish Government’s determination to shift resources to invest in early intervention and prevention. This is a long-term process which will take place across a range of policy areas and is reflected in the Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13. The success of a shift to early intervention will be influenced heavily by actions by local government to shift resources. The Scottish Government approach is characterised by the introduction of the £270 million Early Years Change Fund which is designed to encourage moves towards early years early intervention.

The concordat between central and local government establishes the responsibility on community planning partnerships to understand their local populations and design and implement strategy to improve outcomes. Tackling inequality and improving children’s circumstances and life chances are central to these objectives. The concordat is underpinned by a substantial financial settlement - £11,478.689 million in 2012-13.

In addition, the Scottish Government is funding specific voluntary sector projects which support child poverty-related outcomes through the Early Years, Early Action Fund as well as targeted family interventions such as the Family Nurse Partnership and the Healthier, Wealthier Children project in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.

Question reference: S4O-00653

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its budget priorities are for Glasgow.

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