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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-03939

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 22 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address barriers to employment faced by black and ethnic minority women.

The Scottish Government recognises the particular barriers to employment often faced by black and ethnic minority women. For new Scots, this often includes language difficulties and a lack of understanding of the skills required for particular jobs.

That is why last week I announced that the Scottish Government is funding the Women Into Sustainable Employment programme, a joint delivery and knowledge exchange venture between Bridges Programmes, Glasgow City College and the Dundee International Women’s Centre.

Over a year, the programme will provide vocational English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) training to 105 women in total – 75 in Glasgow and 30 in Dundee in growth sectors including early years education; bio-science; hospitality/tourism; finance; and customer service. We are hopeful that if successful, the learning from this sector specific approach can become a feature of future ESOL delivery in Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-03949

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many college students are achieving qualifications that are recognised and valued by employers.

Question reference: S4W-23519

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many people covered by its pay policy will be affected by the increase in the living wage on 1 April 2015 and what their average pay increase will be.

Addressing low pay is an explicit objective of our public sector pay policy.

Almost 640 individuals covered by our public sector pay policy will directly benefit from the increase in living wage from £7.65 per hour to £7.85 per hour. The increase will normally be applied as part of each public body’s annual pay settlement which may be 1 April 2015 or later. Details of individual settlement dates are available in the submission timetable available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-sector-pay/staff-pay

The average annual pay increase will depend upon individual hours worked but for a full-time employee it will be in the region of £390.

Question reference: S4W-23520

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many children received free school meals in 2014 and how many will receive them in 2015 following the extension in January.

In 2014, 126,388 (18.8%) children and young people in Scottish schools were registered to receive a free school meal. This includes a very small number of children in primary 1-3, who might not meet the eligibility criteria prescribed in statute, but registered for free school meals as part of local initiatives designed to promote healthy eating in the early years. Take up of these is higher than any year since 2005 (85% of those registered and present).

From January 2015, all primary 1-3 pupils will become entitled to a free school meal. It is not possible to predict precisely what the impact will be on the uptake of free school meals for primary 1-3, however, free school meal pilots in 2007-08 resulted in an increase in uptake from 53% to 75% of primary 1-3 pupils. The evaluation of that pilot forms the starting point for our estimates. We have agreed to monitor the uptake of free school meals with COSLA but estimate that the measure is expected to benefit an additional 135,000 pupils across Scotland and will save families of every eligible child at least £330 a year.

Question reference: S4O-03829

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how the piloting of project bank accounts will impact on small businesses in the construction sector.

Question reference: S4O-03780

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how the expansion of funded early learning and childcare will benefit the most disadvantaged people.

Question reference: S4O-03561

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4O-03506

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce red tape for agricultural industries.

Question reference: S4O-03435

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether pensioners in an independent Scotland would be guaranteed their state pension and whether they would be paid at the same rate as in the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S4O-03332

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle health inequalities in the most deprived communities.