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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-17723

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what provision Social Security Scotland has made to retrain staff on the social security charter once it is agreed.

Officials leading on the design and delivery of staff training are being kept closely informed of progress on developing the charter and will put in place any necessary additional training as quickly as possible. For example, links are already being made with key stakeholders and other relevant third sector organisations to gain access to bespoke training modules and wider expertise for this purpose.

Question reference: S5W-17719

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the social security charter does not apply to the first payments of the carers allowance supplement.

Following its approval by Parliament the charter will apply to recipients of Carer’s Allowance Supplement. In the meantime, agency procedures and staff training are being designed to closely align line with the social security principles that the charter is legally required to reflect. This includes e.g. training focussed on dignity, respect, equality and human rights – all matters that Ministers expect to feature prominently in the charter.

Question reference: S5W-17718

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable is for the development of the social security charter; when its evaluation of stakeholder feedback will be completed and when it will publish this.

The intention is to submit the charter for Parliamentary approval by the end of the year.

In line with Ministers’ legal duty to co-design the charter with the people of Scotland, people with lived experience of the system will have the primary role in deciding what it should contain. A core group of experience panel members has been recruited for this purpose and will oversee the development of the charter from beginning to end.

A separate stakeholder group, chaired by Dr Sally Witcher, has also been convened to provide advice and feedback to this core group. As with all experience panel research, a paper setting out the full findings and methodology will be published following the completion of this work.

Question reference: S5W-17284

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what public expenditure there has been on (a) vessel and (b) passenger facilities at (i) Hunter's Quay and (ii) McInroy's Point since 2006.

Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd received a development grant of £398,400.36 from Argyll and Islands Enterprise for improvements to the infrastructure at Hunter’s Quay, Dunoon involving the construction and installation of a new linkspan, improved passenger facilities and enhanced marshalling area.

Details of the Argyll and Islands Enterprise development grant funding are as follows:

Year	Grant
2007	£376,862.55
2008	£19,884.81
2009	£1,653.00
Total	£398,400.36

Question reference: S5W-17283

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what contracts Transport Scotland has with external consultants that include the provision of advice on the contract specifications in the next public contract for ferry services on the Gourock-Dunoon route, and what the (a) duration and (b) value is of any such contracts.

Question reference: S5W-17282

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual income derived from harbour dues at all harbours on (a) subsidised and (b) non-subsidised ferry routes between Inverclyde and the Cowal Peninsula has been since 2006.

The undernoted table details the harbour dues paid by Cowal Ferries Ltd (to June 2011) and Argyll Ferries Ltd (from June 2011) in respect of the Gourock-Dunoon ferry service.

Year	Period	Harbour Dues
2007	1 April 2007 - 31 March 2008	£608,234.86
2008	1 April 2008 - 31 March 2009	£632,504.65
2009	1 April 2009 - 31 March 2010	£683,807.74
2010	1 April 2010 - 31 March 2011	£690,545.03
2011	1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012	£359,110.29
2012	1 April 2012 - 31 March 2013	£254,946.61
2013	1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014	£377,859.88
2014	1 April 2014 - 31 March 2015	£417,974.48
2015	1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016	£433,304.40
2016	1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017	£576,902.47
2017	1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018	£625,311.19

Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd own the harbours at Hunter’s Quay and McInroy’s Point and the Scottish Government does not hold any information on harbour dues paid at those facilities.

Question reference: S5W-16796

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes it has built during the current parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government publishes statistics on affordable housing completions each quarter. The latest set of figures was published on 13 March in the Quarterly Housing statistics update, and covered activity over the time period up to end December 2017.

The published figures show that 7,280 new build affordable homes have been completed between April 2016 and December 2017. This figure includes new build homes only; rehabilitations and off-the-shelf purchases are not included.

The next quarterly update, which will cover the quarter from January to March 2018 and therefore will provide complete coverage of the 2017-18 period, is planned to be published on 12th June 2018.

Question reference: S5O-02193

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on recent changes to the terms and conditions of interpreters used by the courts service.

Question reference: S5W-16307

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the cost of studying for a diploma in legal practice.

Tuition fees for postgraduate study are not regulated by the Scottish Government and each individual higher education institution is responsible for setting their own fee rates for postgraduate courses, including the Diploma in Legal Practice.

However, the Scottish Government does provide students with loan support for postgraduate study. Following a recent review of postgraduate funding, in academic year 2017-18 we increased the maximum level of available loan support to £10,000 (comprising £5,500 for tuition fees and £4,500 for living costs).

In addition to this students who require additional support for example with housing or travel costs, can apply for Discretionary Funds. These funds are allocated by Scottish Ministers and administered by individual universities.

Question reference: S5W-16306

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to people from poorer backgrounds who are seeking to study for a degree in law.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing students with the support they need to enter and remain in Higher Education.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) funds the Access to High Demand Professions Access Programme, which helps to increase the number of applications, offers and entrants from students from disadvantaged backgrounds into high demand and competitive areas of study, including law.

One of the recommendations of the Commission on Widening Access was for the Commissioner for Fair Access to consider what further work is required to support equal access for other groups of learners and within specific degree subjects. We will highlight this issue to the Commissioner for consideration in respect of his future work plan.

In terms of financial support, for those students seeking to study an undergraduate degree in law, in addition to free tuition, our student support package provides a minimum income of £7,625, through a combination of bursaries and loans, for eligible students with a household income of less than £19,000. All Scottish domiciled students, irrespective of circumstances are eligible for a loan of up to £4,750 a year.

Eligible students undertaking postgraduate law courses, including the Diploma in Legal Practise can apply for access student loans of £10,000 (comprising £5,500 for fees and £4,500 for living costs).

Undergraduate and postgraduate students, who require additional support for example with housing or travel costs, can also apply for Discretionary Funds. These funds are allocated by Scottish Ministers and administered by individual colleges and universities.