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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.

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Question reference: S4O-05643

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to increase active travel.

Question reference: S4O-05607

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it seeks to identify and acknowledge outstanding practice and contribution in the NHS.

Question reference: S4O-05587

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many responses it received to its consultation on the comprehensive review of the planning system, which closed on 1 December 2015.

Question reference: S4O-05230

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the value is of projects under construction or development in the Edinburgh area under the Hub South East Scotland Programme.

Question reference: S4W-28854

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 December 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with implementation of the plans set out in Developing the Young Workforce – Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy.

The Scottish Government has today (9 December 2015) published the first Developing the Young Workforce annual progress report.

This report highlights great progress in preparing young people for work, as was set out in our youth employment strategy published in December 2014. Key areas of progress include expanding work-related skills and qualifications, including through the new Foundation Apprenticeship pathfinders; facilitating high quality school/employer partnerships, work placements and careers education 3-18 through new national guidance and standards; offering careers advice earlier in school; increasing the opportunities for school pupils on offer in colleges; tackling inequalities by addressing stereotyping in occupation choice and targeting support on young people who face the greatest barriers to finding employment; and developing closer, productive partnerships between employers and education with seven new regional employer groups set up across the country.

Question reference: S4F-03057

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2015

To ask the First Minister what impact the proposals in the Trade Union Bill could have on the Scottish Government’s commitment to fair work.

Question reference: S4O-04639

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to encourage rail freight transport.

Question reference: S4W-27288

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 11 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many brownfield sites have been brought back into use for housing developments since 2007.

Scottish Planning Policy defines brownfield land as: “Land which has previously been developed”. The term may cover vacant or derelict land, land occupied by redundant or unused buildings and developed land within the settlement boundary where further intensification of use is considered acceptable.

In total, since 2007, 1,013 hectares (919 sites) of derelict or urban vacant land has been reclaimed for residential developments.

The following table gives details for reclaimed land from the Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey. These figures for derelict and urban vacant land are a subset of all brownfield land.

Sites that have been reclaimed for residential developments since the previous year:

Year

Derelict Land ¹

Urban Vacant Land ²

Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land

Area (hectares)

No. of Sites

Area (hectares)

No. of Sites

Area (hectares)

No. of Sites

2008	99	80	173	136	271	216
2009	66	55	60	77	126	132
2010	51	45	61	82	111	127
2011	69	40	66	72	135	112
2012	43	36	85	58	128	94
2013	57	55	60	69	118	124
2014	60	44	63	70	124	114
Total	445	355	568	564	1,013	919

Source: Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey

1. Derelict land (and buildings) is land which has been so damaged by development that it is incapable of development for beneficial use without rehabilitation. In addition, the land must currently not be used for the purpose for which it is held or a use acceptable in the local plan. Land also qualifies as derelict if it has an un-remedied previous use which could constrain future development. For both vacant and derelict land, site records must be at least 0.1 hectares in size to be included.

2. Vacant land is land which is unused for the purposes for which it is held and is viewed as an appropriate site for development. This land must either have had prior development on it or preparatory work has taken place in anticipation of future development. Urban vacant land is located within settlements of over 2,000 in population.

Question reference: S4W-27225

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of employers in Scotland have living wage-accreditation, and what information it has regarding how this compares with the rest of the UK.

This information is collected by the Poverty Alliance on behalf of the Living Wage Accreditation Initiative and the Living Wage Foundation. However, as of 9 September 2015, 318 employers have been accredited through the Scottish Living Wage Accreditation Initiative. Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance, who run the initiative, has highlighted that Scotland now has the highest public awareness of the Living Wage, and has a faster rate in terms of growth of number of Accredited Living Wage Employers than any other part of the UK. More people in Scotland are paid the Living Wage than in any country in the UK. Background statistics in the following table: Proportion Earning less than the Living Wage, 2014

	Earning less than the Living Wage
Scotland	18.4%
Wales	23.9%
Northern Ireland	27.6%
England	21.7%
- South East	17.8%
- London*	18.3%
- East	22.3%
- South West	22.6%
- North East	23.4%
- North West	23.6%
- West Midlands	24.1%
- Yorkshire and The Humber	24.3%
- East Midlands	24.7%
United Kingdom	21.7%

Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Living Wage rate of £8.80 for employees in London, £7.65 for employees who did not work in London in April 2014

Question reference: S4W-27226

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how the risk in Scotland of being paid below the living wage compares with the rest of the UK.

More people in Scotland are paid the Living Wage than in any country in the UK. Background statistics in the following table: Proportion Earning less than the living wage, 2014

	Earning less than the Living Wage
Scotland	18.4%
Wales	23.9%
Northern Ireland	27.6%
England	21.7%
- South East	17.8%
- London*	18.3%
- East	22.3%
- South West	22.6%
- North East	23.4%
- North West	23.6%
- West Midlands	24.1%
- Yorkshire and The Humber	24.3%
- East Midlands	24.7%
United Kingdom	21.7%

Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Living Wage rate of £8.80 for employees in London, £7.65 for employees who did not work in London in April 2014