Parliamentary questions

Ms Wendy Alexander

505 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is regarding the exclusion of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland from Lloyds Banking Group’s initial rights issue in May 2009.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government''s position is that the Lloyds TSB Foundation should be allocated all shares to which it is entitled.

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the Scottish small-business banking share of (a) the Royal Bank of Scotland and (b) HBOS in August 2008; (c) the Royal Bank of Scotland and (d) Lloyds Banking Group in August 2009, and (e) the Royal Bank of Scotland and (f) Lloyds Banking Group post disposals requi…

Answer · John Swinney: The SME Access to Finance survey indicated that the small-business banking shares at the time of the survey undertaken in March-April 2009 were (a) the Royal Bank of Scotland, 40% (b) HBOS, 28% and (c) Lloyds Banking Group, 7.5%. Information is not a…

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it did not ask the Office of Fair Trading, under the terms of the Enterprise Act 2002, to refer the small-business banking market in Scotland to the Competition Commission for further investigation in the last year.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government SME Access to Finance Survey highlighted the extent to which two banks are the main providers of finance to SMEs in Scotland, with around three quarters of the market share for SME finance. The Scottish Government shared these findings…

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that its decision to make no written representations to the European Commission regarding the structure of the Royal Bank of Scotland or Lloyds Banking Group was correct.

Answer · John Swinney: The European Commission has not opened a formal investigation into Royal Bank of Scotland or Lloyds Banking Group, but instead was involved in commercially sensitive discussions concerning the banks'' plans for restructuring as required by the European Commis…

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the limiting of bonuses at the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.

Answer · John Swinney: Bonuses should only be paid for exceptional performance and should be consistent with effective governance, risk management and the creation of shareholder value. We look to UK regulatory authorities to ensure that there is no reward for short-term speculativ…

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the comments of the European Commissioner for Competition Policy that the Royal Bank of Scotland had become too big to supervise, too big to operate and too complex to understand.

Answer · John Swinney: It is clear from the events in the global banking sector that some organisations'' structures and products had become extremely complex and that this was a contributory factor in the failure by both financial institutions and regulatory bodies to foresee the …

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional jobs have been created, and over what period, by the advanced capital spend and how it has arrived at these figures.

Answer · John Swinney: Estimates of the employment impacts of the accelerated capital spending programme have been produced using the Scottish Government input-output model. Details of the number of jobs supported in the Scottish economy over the period of the programme can be foun…

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it submitted representations on the UK Government’s forthcoming Financial Services and Business Bill as part of its legislative programme consultation and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Government officials have worked closely with HM Treasury officials on the Financial Services Bill and its application to Scotland.

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it submitted a response to the UK Government’s consultation on its white paper, Reforming Financial Markets, which closed on 30 September 2009 and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Government officials worked closely with HM Treasury officials in considering which proposals to implement in Scotland.

22 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the names are of the 14 condition C schools in Renfrewshire as noted in table 6.1 of Schools Estate Statistics 2009.

Answer · Keith Brown: The 14 primary schools in condition C in Renfrewshire as noted in table 6.1 of School Estate Statistics 2009 are: Auchenlodment Primary School; Brediland Primary School; Howwood Primary School; Kirklandneuk Primary School;<…

8 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which three primary schools in Renfrewshire had a roll less than 50% of capacity in 2008-09, as stated in Table 7.1 of the School Estate Statistics 2009.

Answer · Keith Brown: The three primary schools in Renfrewshire which had a roll less than 50% of capacity in 2008-09, as stated in table 7.1 of the School Estate Statistics 2009 are: Mossvale Primary School; South Primary School, and St John Bos…

8 Oct 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive in what way it considers that real-terms reductions in the enterprise budget promote economic recovery.

Answer · Jim Mather: This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1008-01.htm">http://www.scott…

7 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will name the secondary school in Renfrewshire that was rebuilt or substantially refurbished in 2008-09, as stated in Table 4 of the School Estate Statistics 2009, and how much was spent in direct funding on that school in 2008-09.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Renfrewshire Council reported Castlehead High School as being rebuilt or substantially refurbished in 2008-09, as stated in Table 4 of the School Estate Statistics 2009, with the reported value of works being £4.26 million.

5 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its funding to local authorities to maintain teacher numbers, whether it has concerns that the reduction in teacher numbers exceeds the proportionate fall in pupils in the Renfrewshire local authority area.

Answer · Keith Brown: Yes, and these views have been expressed to both COSLA and Renfrewshire Council but we also acknowledge that Renfrewshire have still managed to reduce their average primary class sizes in order to benefit the teaching and learning of their primary pupils.…

5 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its funding to local authorities to maintain teacher numbers, whether it has concerns about the reduction in teachers by over 100 in the Renfrewshire local authority area.

Answer · Keith Brown: Yes, and those concerns have been expressed to both COSLA and Renfrewshire Council. It is encouraging to note, however, that despite the reduction in teacher numbers in Renfrewshire Council schools between the 2007 census and the 2008 census, the average prim…

5 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has concerns about a reduction in competition in high street lending and what policy intervention it (a) has promoted and (b) supports to address this issue.

Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has concerns about the level of competition in the banking sector and our SME Access to Finance Survey highlighted the extent to which two banks are the main providers of finance to SMEs in Scotland with around three quarters of the ma…

5 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it (a) has undertaken and (b) will publish a review of the effectiveness of recent financial market policy interventions for the Scottish financial sector.

Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Government reviews the effectiveness of recent financial market policy interventions for the Scottish financial sector and monitors the impact and performance of the sector through various channels, including consultation with the industry though…

5 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish its views on future regulatory reform of banking in Scotland.

Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Government closely monitors, and comments on, regulatory proposals from UK, EU and international regimes as appropriate. Officials have most recently worked with HM Treasury officials on the UK''s Financial Services Bill as it applies to Scotland…

5 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will identify the proposals in the UK Government white paper, Reforming financial markets, that it does not support.

Answer · Jim Mather: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28025 on 5 November 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps…

5 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will identify the proposals in the UK Government white paper, Reforming financial markets, that it supports.

Answer · Jim Mather: Scottish Government officials are working closely with HM Treasury officials in considering which proposals are to be implemented in Scotland.