Jackie Baillie

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which groups will be involved in future consultations regarding water charges.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Changes to water charges affect nearly all household and business customers in Scotland. The Scottish Government welcomes input from all customers when considering the principles which apply to water charges.

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20806 by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 January 2019, when the Stakeholder Advisory Group was established; what its remit is, and who is represented on it.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer the member to the answer to S5W-20806 on 16 January 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.a…

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will work with (a) older people organisations such as Age Scotland and (b) older people to determine whether proposals to reduce the single person discount for water charges should proceed.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government will work with all relevant interests before making any changes to the discounts which apply to water and sewerage charges.

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20806 by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 January 2019, what the initial terms of reference were of the multi-stakeholder reference group when it was established.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The multi-stakeholder group was formed for the purpose of discussing key themes identified in the course of the Strategic Review of Charges.

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20806 by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 January 2019, whether it is a full member and participant of the multi-stakeholder group, and what its position is on whether there is any conflict of interest with it sitting on an advisory group providing advice …

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is a member and participant of the multi-stakeholder group. As the member was advised in the answer to ? S5W-20806, the group provides a forum to explore topics included within the Water Industry Commission for Scotland’s decision pape…

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Chief Executive of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland is appointed for a set term of office.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is no set term of office for the Chief Executive of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland.  

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20806 by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 January 2019, who the representatives attending the multi-stakeholder group are.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Meetings are attended by senior members of the stakeholder organisations referred to in S5W-20806.

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to engage directly with older people at every stage of the process for considering proposals to reduce the single person discount for water charges.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is in the process of developing the Principles of Charging document for the period 2021-27. As part of this process, we will work with stakeholders and customers to explore the discounts which apply to water charges.

21 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20664 by Christina McKelvie on 9 January 2019, whether the minutes of the evidence and analysis workshop that was held on 11 December 2018 will be made public. 

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government will publish outcomes from the Race Equality Conference and a final report on Year 1 Race Equality Actions on its website in the spring. The slides used in the evidence and analysis workshop have already been published on the Scottish …

18 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to align the practical aspects of providing high-quality bereavement care with the development of the National Bereavement Care Pathway.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The National Bereavement Care Pathway for Pregnancy and Baby Loss is in the early stages of development in Scotland. The project approach will be developed over the next two years. Scottish Government has provided funding of £94,000 to the Stillbirth and Neon…

15 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20494 by Jamie Hepburn on 20 December 2018, whether it will confirm on what dates it has held discussions with Cornerstone regarding trade union recognition, and whether it will publish any exchange of letters that it has had with the company’s chie…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with Cornerstone and Unison about the dispute. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport and Councillor Currie from COSLA wrote to both organisations in 21 December 2018 offering support towards reaching …

15 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20494 by Jamie Hepburn on 20 December 2018, whether it will confirm on what dates it has held discussions with Unison regarding trade union recognition at Cornerstone, and whether it will publish any exchange of letters that it has had with the unio…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-20984 on 29 January 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…

10 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will meet the MoD to discuss the Education Support Fund and, if so, when.

Answer · John Swinney: Officials will continue to regularly meet representatives of the MoD to discuss a wide range of matters, including education matters, as part of our commitment to working in partnership with the MoD to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland. The UK-wide …

10 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how transition of children with additional support needs from forces families is managed, and whether the same level of support as that provided to other families is guaranteed.

Answer · John Swinney: The Additional Support for Learning (ASL) Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs, long and short term, of their pupils. The supporting statutory Code of Practice is clear that additional sup…

10 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have the highest concentration of children from forces families, and whether it will provide figures for each of the top ten areas.

Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally. Local authorities can and do collect the information locally. Local authorities with military bases, or with Service family accommodation connected to military bases, are likely to account for the greatest number of chi…

10 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what Barnett consequentials it receives from the UK Government as a result of the Service Pupil Premium.

Answer · John Swinney: At a Spending Review, Barnett consequentials are determined on a departmental level as opposed to a programme level, it is therefore not possible to isolate the financial impact of individual spending decisions. Whilst is not possible to determine the specif…

10 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the number of children from forces families in schools, broken down by local authority.

Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally. Local authorities can and do collect the information locally .

10 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Education Support Fund reducing, what consideration it has given to creating a variation of the services pupil premium.

Answer · John Swinney: There are no plans to implement a Service Pupil Premium in Scotland. The Education Support Fund has been additional to, not instead of, the existing, and different, UK policy measures which support armed forces children’s education. These include Additional S…

9 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of inpatient admissions to treat exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2017-18.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The information is not collected or held centrally to the level of detail requested .

8 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what new forms of communication developed since the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 was passed must be disclosed by public bodies in response to Freedom of Information requests.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 defines information as "recorded in any form”, so information held on any new form of communication developed since the introduction of the Act may be within the scope of a Freedom of Information request. Scotti…

8 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many employees who have left universities in each of the last three years have signed non-disclosure agreements, and what percentage of all leavers this represents.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government does not collect information on non-disclosure agreements from universities, and therefore does not hold this information centrally.

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what further examination it plans to undertake of the available discounts, exemptions and reductions following responses to its consultation, Investing in and Paying for Your Water Services from 2021.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government will continue to work with stakeholders to examine how the structure of water charges can be improved.

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19740 by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 November 2018, when the multi-stakeholder group was established; what its initial terms of reference were; who its members are; by whom they were appointed, and for what period of time.    

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Water Industry Commission for Scotland began a series of multi-stakeholder meetings in October 2017 to discuss key themes for the 2021-27 Strategic Review of Charges. Throughout 2017 and 2018 they provided a forum to explore topics included within the Com…

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has published all of the responses received to its consultation, Investing in and Paying for Your Water Services from 2021.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has published all responses where it has been given permission to do so at https://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/water-services-from-2021/ .

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19740 by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 November 2018, whether the agendas, minutes, papers for, and presentations made at, meetings of the multi-stakeholder group are publicly available and, if so, where.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Agendas, minutes and papers are available to customer representatives and industry stakeholders but are not publicly available. Preparatory material will be released after the conclusion of the price review. However, the proposals arising from these deliberat…

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of 87 out of 107 respondents to its consultation, Investing in and Paying for Your Water Services from 2021, indicating that the single occupant discount of 25% should not be reduced to 10%, whether it plans to proceed with a reduction.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government will undertake further research, consultation and engagement with the potentially affected demographics and relevant interest groups prior to a decision being made. The Government will take the comments received during the consultation…

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what legislation currently applies to flygrazing in Scotland.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Flygrazing is primarily a civil matter between the landowner and the keeper or owner of the horse which has been placed on that land to graze. The Horse Identification (Scotland) Regulations 2009 assist enforcement authorities in identifying the owner or kee…

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to follow the example of the Welsh and UK governments by legislating on flygrazing so that the public and landowners can act quickly to deal with horse welfare and, if so, when.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Fly-grazing is rarely reported in Scotland, unlike the situation on England and Wales; and we have not been alerted of a problem by either our stakeholders or local authorities. We are, however, aware of an isolated case in the Argyll and Bute Council area. …

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, of its estimated total of all unpaid student loans, how much is due to (a) the recipient not meeting the income repayment threshold and (b) default by the recipient.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Student Loans Company (SLC) estimate that, at the end of 2017-18, there was an estimated outstanding student loan balance of ? £4,984.5 million. Of this, they estimate that: (a) Information on the proportion of the total outstanding balance that is due t…

3 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its estimate is of the proportion of the existing student loan book that will not be repaid, in (a) percentage and (b) cash terms, as at the end of 2017-18.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The value of the student loan book disclosed in the Scottish Government accounts reflects the likelihood that a proportion of student loans will not be repaid (the accounts show the ‘fair value’). Student loans drawn down in the current year are adjusted to …