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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: S4W-14800

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 20 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13033 by Margaret Burgess on 5 March 2013, what its position is on the findings of the Institute of Fiscal Studies report, Child and working-age poverty in Northern Ireland from 2010 to 2020, and whether it considers that these suggest that the number of children in Scotland who will be deemed to be in poverty by 2020 might be higher than originally forecast.

The recent report published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies included projections for the percentage of children in poverty in Scotland from 2011-12 to 2020-21. This shows that the percentage of children in relative income poverty before housing costs is projected to increase from 17.6% of children to 22.7% of children, this implies an increase of around 50,000 children living in poverty by 2020-21.

Question reference: S4O-02101

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to OKI Electric's plans to reduce the size of its workforce at its Cumbernauld plant by around half.

Question reference: S4O-02062

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on seizing illegal drugs.

Question reference: S4W-13737

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 27 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether community councils within the catchment areas of affected schools are subject to consultation under the provisions of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 and are considered to be bodies that must be consulted as part of that consultation procedure.

Schedule two of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act sets out the list of relevant consultees for all relevant proposals listed under Schedule one of the 2010 Act.

In instances where a local authority is consulting on the following relevant proposals on “Closure, Establishment, Relocation, Admission arrangements, Transfer from primary to secondary school and Discontinuance of a further education centre”, the community council (if any) is included under the list of relevant consultees.

Under Schedule two of the 2010 Act a “community council” is one established by a local authority under Part IV of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65).

Question reference: S4W-13659

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 26 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13385 by Michael Russell on 13 March 2013, how many requests for call-in there have been in each of the 75 school closure proposals considered under the terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

Under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 the number of representations made for the 75 school closure proposals considered by the Scottish Minister are as follows:

Local Authority	School	Number of representations
East Ayrshire Council	Crossroads Primary School	6
Dumfries and Galloway Council	Glentrool Primary School	0
Glasgow City Council	Stonydyke Primary School	0
Glasgow City Council	St Mark's Primary School	0
Glasgow City Council	St Joan of Arc School	1
Glasgow City Council	St Aiden's School	0
Glasgow City Council	St Vincent's Primary School	0
Highland Council	Caol Primary School	3
Highland Council	Achintore Primary School	0
Highland Council	Achnasheen Primary School	0
Highland Council	Borrodale Primary School	0
Highland Council	Glen Borrodale Primary School	0
Highland Council	Achaphubuil Primary School	0
Highland Council	Fort William Primary School	0
Highland Council	Fort William RC Primary School	3
Highland Council	Lochyside RC Primary School	3
Scottish Borders Council	Roberton Primary School	1
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Balallan Primary School	4
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Bragar Primary School	30
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Carloway Primary School	167
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Cross Primary School	7
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Daliburgh (Secondary Provision)	0
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Lionel School (Secondary Provision)	876
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Sandwick Hill Primary School	234
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Scalpay Primary School	2
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Shawbost (Secondary Provision)	30
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Shelibost Primary School	79
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Stoneybridge Primary School	0
Moray Council	Cabrach Primary School	0
North Ayrshire Council	Broomlands Primary School	0
North Ayrshire Council	Fencedyke Primary School	0
North Ayrshire Council	Towerlands Primary School	0
North Ayrshire Council	John Galt Primary School	0
Shetland Islands Council	Scalloway Junior High School	45
Stirling Council	Inversnaid Primary School	2
Stirling Council	Lochearnhead Primary School	0
Aberdeen City Council	Raeden Nursery School	0
Aberdeen City Council	Hazelwood School	0
Aberdeen City Council	Woodlands School	0
City of Edinburgh	High School Yards Nursery School	7
City of Edinburgh	Princess Elizabeth Nursery School	3
Fife Council	Dunearn Primary School	1
North Lanarkshire Council	Abronhill Nursery	28
Orkney Islands Council	Egilsay Primary School	0
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	Paible School (S1-2 Provision)	0
Aberdeenshire Council	Clatt Primary School	9
Aberdeenshire Council	Logie Coldstone Primary School	17
South Ayrshire Council	Pinwherry Primary School	0
South Ayrshire Council	St Ann's Primary School	1
East Renfrewshire Council	Auchenback Primary School	1
East Renfrewshire Council	Robslee Primary School	67
Shetland Islands Council	Uyeasound Primary School	6
Shetland Islands Council	Burravoe Primary School	65
Angus Council	Muirfield Primary School	50
Angus Council	Timmergreens Primary School	50
Clackmannanhire Council	Tower Nursery School	3
Clackmannanhire Council	St John's Primary School	0
Clackmannanhire Council	Claremont Primary School	0
Glasgow City Council	St Raymond's School	1
North Ayrshire Council	Garnock Academy	0
North Ayrshire Council	Glengarnock Primary School	0
North Ayrshire Council	Moorpark Primary School	0
South Lanarkshire Council	Kittoch ASN	0
South Lanarkshire Council	Ridgepark ASN	0
Perth and Kinross Council	Strone of Cally Primary School	0
Argyll and Bute Council	St Kieran’s Primary School	0
Argyll and Bute Council	Ardchonnol Primary School	0
City of Edinburgh	Tollcross Primary School (GME Provision)	6
Highland Council	Hillhead Primary School	169
Highland Council	Wick North Primary School	181
Highland Council	Pulteneytown Academy Primary School	0
Highland Council	Wick South Prmary School	0
Glasgow City Council	Gadburn ASN Primary School	24
City of Edinburgh	Westfield Court Nursery School	0
East Renfrewshire Council	Glen Family Centre	0

Question reference: S4W-13385

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 13 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) highest number and (b) average number of representations is that it has received requesting a call-in of a local authority decision under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

The number of representations made to the Scottish Ministers under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 about school closure proposals varies significantly on a case by case basis. In many cases no representations have been made while in others there have been some hundreds of representations.

The highest number of individual representations made to the Scottish Ministers about a single school closure proposal is nearly 900.

The average number of representations made to the Scottish Ministers about a school closure proposal, based on the 75 school closure proposals considered to date, is estimated to be around 30.

Question reference: S4W-13384

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 13 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many representations it has received requesting a call-in of the decision by North Lanarkshire Council on 6 February 2013 to rationalise Abronhill and Cumbernauld high schools.

The total number of representations made to the Scottish Ministers under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (2010 Act) about North Lanarkshire Council’s proposals for Abronhill High School and Cumbernauld High School is almost 800. This figure includes a number of duplicate or multiple representations, the precise number of which is still being determined.

However, the decision on whether to issue a call-in notice is not dependent on the number of representations made but where it appears to the Scottish Ministers that the education authority may have failed:

(a) in a significant regard to comply with the requirements imposed on it by the 2010 Act so far as they are relevant in relation to the closure proposal, or

(b) to take account of a material consideration relevant to its decision to implement the proposal.

Question reference: S4O-01918

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how civic society is engaging with the process involved in the lead-up to the independence referendum.

Question reference: S4W-13033

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 5 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of children in Scotland who will be deemed to be in poverty as a result of changes in welfare benefits since 2010.

The Scottish Government does not produce forecasts of poverty, however analysis published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in October 2011 estimated that the number of children in the UK living in relative poverty will rise by approximately 700,000 between 2009-10 and 2020-21. In 2009-10 200,000 children, 20 per cent of children, were living in relative income poverty in Scotland, this was 7.7 per cent of all children in the UK living in relative income poverty. Assuming Scotland’s share of UK child poverty remains unchanged at 7.7 per cent in future years, this would imply an additional 50,000 children in Scotland will be living in relative poverty by 2020-21. This estimate does not include changes subsequently introduced by the UK Government.

Question reference: S4F-01203

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 February 2013

To ask the First Minister what the impact will be on the Scottish economy of the downgrading of the UK Government’s bond rating.