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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-03837

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how the Scottish budget method of consultation and committee deliberation compares with that of the UK.

Question reference: S4O-03753

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the economic benefits of immigration from the EU are to Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-03695

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what its position is on offering a small discount or other incentives to encourage the use of cashless payments in the Garden Level Restaurant.

Question reference: S4W-22768

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions were or have been secured in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014 under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012, also broken down by club.

Statistics relating to people convicted of offences under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 are available on page 79 of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2012-13 statistical bulletin. This is available via the following web link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/11/2711

Information held centrally does not enable these convictions to be broken down by club.

Comparable information for 2013-14 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2013-14 statistical bulletin. This is due to be published in December 2014.

The dates of all Scottish Government official and national statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/03/18798

Detailed information on charges under the Act, including the sporting affiliation of those charged (where known), is included in Charges reported under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 for 2012-13 (including the one month of 2011-12 for which the Act was in force) and 2013-14. Both reports are available via the following web links:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/06/4590

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/06/8566/0

Question reference: S4W-22751

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated economic impact of the 2014 Commonwealth Games was for (a) Glasgow, (b) the west of Scotland and (c) Scotland during the Games.

The Scottish Government is committed to maximising the benefits and creating a lasting legacy for the whole of Scotland from Glasgow hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. These Games have provided the entire country with an excellent opportunity for regeneration, innovation and sustainable economic growth.

As part of the Games legacy evaluation, we are working with Games partners to deliver a robust economic assessment of the Games. This report will be available for Glasgow and Scotland in spring 2015, however early indications from the pre-Games report, published on 28 April 2014, show that:

Construction and refurbishment of the venues and Athletes’ Village, over the six years leading to 2014, has contributed (on average) £52 million to Scotland’s gross value added, and supported 1,000 jobs each year.

As of the end of June 2014, Scottish companies had been awarded 484 Games-related contracts, worth £290 million.

To date, 37 national and international events have been secured using the Games venues, with an estimated economic impact of over £14 million.

By the time of the opening ceremony, over 50 national Legacy 2014 programmes and over 80 Supporting Legacy 2014 projects were already in place, benefitting people, communities and organisations across Scotland, including the West of Scotland. For example, in the West of Scotland, over 100 trainees have taken up employment through the Legacy 2014 Employer Recruitment Incentive programme, and more than 150 young people have received training and volunteering opportunities through the Legacy 2014 Scotland’s Best programme. Additionally, businesses in the West of Scotland were awarded 66 of the contracts associated with the Games.

An XX Commonwealth Games Highlight Report was published on 14 August 2014. We also expect to produce a post-Games report in 2015, an interim legacy report in 2017 and a final legacy report in 2019, detailing the benefit of these Games to Glasgow and the whole of Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-03652

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Glasgow City Council’s decision to award a house in multiple occupation licence to the Bellgrove Hotel and whether it considers this an appropriate level of regulation for a building housing over 140 people.

Question reference: S4W-22752

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that Glasgow City Council is providing sufficient nursery places within walking distance.

Glasgow City Council, like all local authorities, has a statutory duty to secure early learning and childcare (ELC) for eligible children whose parents wish it. All eligible children are now entitled to a minimum of 600 hours per year.

When a child becomes eligible for their early learning and childcare place, local authorities will do their best to meet the needs of each parent, and can offer places through their own settings or through private and third sector providers. However, this cannot always be guaranteed to be at a parent or carer’s first choice of nursery.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 also puts flexibility on a statutory footing for the first time. Local authorities are now required to consult with groups of parents at least once every two years on patterns of ELC provision. This will increase parental choice and better meet the needs of families.

Question reference: S4W-22753

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 28 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that Glasgow City Council is giving parents enough choice of nursery places for their children.

Question reference: S4W-22586

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a league table of recycling rates for local authorities.

Official statistics on household waste are published annually by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Its annual household waste summary reports, which include the recycling rate for each local authority, can be viewed on SEPA’s website at:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data/waste_data_reports/lacw_reporting/household_waste_reporting.aspx

These SEPA reports give an overview of local authority household waste management performance, showing that:

Nine local authorities recycled/composted more than 50% of household waste in 2013 - the same authorities that achieved this in 2012 (Stirling, Perth and Kinross, North Ayrshire, Moray, Inverclyde, Fife, Falkirk, East Renfrewshire, Clackmannanshire).

20 local authorities improved on their 2012 rates. The biggest increases were: Orkney, up 8.3% (to 30.8%); East Dunbartonshire, up 6.2% (to 44.9%); Renfrewshire, up 5.4% (to 44.3%); Inverclyde, up 4.8% (to 55.5%); Argyll & Bute, up 4.6% (to 36.1%).

Variation between councils is a big factor in overall performance – five of the eight with biggest waste volumes are recycling under 40%, as follows: South Lanarkshire 39.1% (up 1.7%); Edinburgh 38.1% (up 1.4%); Aberdeen City 37.1% (down 0.2%); Aberdeenshire 35.9% (up 0.3%); Dundee 31.1% (up 1.4%); Glasgow 26.9% (down 2.6%).

Waste landfilled in Scotland went down from 55.5% in 2012 to 53.5% in 2013. The biggest local decreases were: East Dunbartonshire, down 12.6% (to 48.7%); Angus, down 7.4% (to 46.6%); East Ayrshire, down 6.6% (to 49%); Argyll and Bute, down 5.9% (to 51.1%); Dundee, down 5.8% (to 43.6%)

Question reference: S4W-22584

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the recycling rates of each local authority.

Official statistics on household waste are published annually by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). As from 2012, SEPA started publishing household waste data information on an annual calendar year basis rather than a financial year basis. This aligns household waste data reporting with other European waste data reporting, and allows comparison and aggregation of the information on household waste data with commercial and industrial waste data. The data in the household waste reports are obtained from WasteDataFlow (the web based system for waste data reporting by UK local authorities to government).