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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: 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

Question reference: S4W-27173

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 August 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 24 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when the expansion of the education maintenance allowance will be introduced.

The Scottish Government is committed to the education maintenance allowance (EMA) programme and values its contribution in helping young people overcome financial barriers to access learning. To help even more young people the current EMA thresholds will increase to £24,421 for a family with one dependent child and £26,884 for a family with more than one dependent child. Also for the first time part time college students will be able to apply for an EMA. We estimate these changes will support an additional 22,000 young people and will come into effect from 1 January 2016.

Question reference: S4W-26266

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 24 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing the revised approach to recruitment incentives as set out in Developing the Young Workforce – Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy.

Recent monthly labour market stats show a sustained improvement in the number young people in Scotland in employment, but this government remains focused on our ambitions to reduce youth unemployment by 40% by 2021.

Scotland’s Employer Recruitment Incentive, which will open to applications from 1 July 2015, will offer employers around £4,000 over the course of the first 12 months of employment to offset the additional costs of recruiting and employing a young person. In addition employers will be encouraged to pay the living wage and will receive an additional £500 payment if they agree to do so. The new programme, which will support around 2,200 young people into work, replaces the Youth Employment Scotland Fund which, since it was launched in June 2013, created up to 10,000 job opportunities across 32 local authorities.

The programme will deliver our commitment to key Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce recommendations by simplifying the recruitment incentive offer, focussing on those young people who face barriers to employment and also on supporting small employers to recruit to the successful Modern Apprenticeship programme.

Question reference: S4O-04308

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent refurbishing schools in Edinburgh in 2014-15.

Question reference: S4W-25301

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 April 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the Fair Work Convention.

The convention will meet for the first time on 30 April 2015 when it will consider priorities for its future work to develop, promote and sustain a fair employment and workplace framework for Scotland. It will be co-chaired by Anne Douglas, former National Secretary of Prospect, and Linda Urquhart, Chairman of Morton Fraser.

Following this meeting and after the UK General Election, we will publish the Scottish Government’s full response to the recommendations of the Working Together Review alongside the agreed remit of the convention.

The full membership of the convention is as follows:

Co-Chairs:

Anne Douglas, former President, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC)

Linda Urquhart, Chairman, Morton Fraser

Members:

Mary Alexander, Deputy Regional Secretary – Scotland, Unite

Lilian Macer, Scottish Convenor, Unison

Bernadette Malone, Chief Executive, Perth and Kinross Council

John Reid, General Manager, Michelin

Henry Simmons, Chief Executive, Alzheimer Scotland

Grahame Smith, General Secretary, STUC

Academic Support:

Provided by Patricia Findlay, Director of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research at the University of Strathclyde.

Question reference: S4O-04234

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what relationship it has with UK Visas and Immigration.