Questions · Gavin Brown

17 Feb 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what main changes will arise from the 2013-14 Spring Budget Revision.

30 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the 2013-14 Spring Budget Revision will be published in advance of the stage 3 debate on the 2014-15 Budget Bill and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-19512 on 19 February 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamenta…

30 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will publish the 2013-14 Spring Budget Revision; whether this is later than originally planned and, if so, for what reason.

Answer · John Swinney: In accordance with plans, and in line with last year’s timetable, the 2013-14 Spring Budget Revision, was laid and published on 6 February 2014 together with the supporting document.

28 Jan 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its main international strategy priority will be in 2014-15.

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013 record an £11 million underspend on the Climate Challenge Fund.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The consolidated accounts for the year ending 30 March 2013 do not show an £11 million underspend on the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF). The £11 million referred to is the underspend on the Climate Change - Level 2 line. This Climate Change - Level 2 line (£18…

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on the Climate Challenge Fund in 2012-13.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: A total of £5 million was spent of the Climate Challenge Fund in 2012-13.

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional people could have received assistance from its Get Ready for Work scheme in 2012-13 if the scheme had received its full budget allocation.

Answer · Angela Constance: Whilst all targets were met on demand led employability schemes, timing issues meant that associated expenditure was less than anticipated in 2012-13. The level of investment is however being maintained by re-profiling existing education and lifelong learning…

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013 record a £10 million underspend for the Get Ready for Work scheme.

Answer · Angela Constance: Whilst all targets were met on demand led employability schemes, timing issues meant that associated expenditure was less than anticipated in 2012-13. The level of investment is however being maintained by re-profiling existing education and lifelong learning…

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on the Get Ready for Work scheme in 2012-13.

Answer · Angela Constance: Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has operational responsibility for Get Ready for Work, with the programme funded from its core funding. Programme expenditure for 2012-13 is therefore recorded in the SDS Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year en…

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013 record a £10 million overspend on concessionary fares.

Answer · Keith Brown: The budget for Concessionary Fares and Bus Services in 2012-13 was £248.6 million. The largest elements of this were £187 million to reimburse bus operators for concessionary travel under the Scotland-wide Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons…

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 March 2013 record a £5 million underspend in the Enterprise, Energy and Tourism portfolio "as a result of lower than anticipated advances of grants".

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Audit Scotland published a report on 12 September 2013, focusing on public sector action and investment in developing renewable energy. The report found that some renewable energy projects are progressing more slowly than anticipated, for reasons which includ…

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) temporary, (b) agency, (c) seconded, (d) consultancy and (e) other staff from outside its organisation it has hired to work on (i) the white paper on and (ii) other work in relation to independence, broken down by (A) job title and description, (B) contract start and end dat…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: No staff from outwith the Scottish Government have been hired to work on the white paper on independence. Two agency members of staff have been recruited to fill short term administrative roles between October 2013 and January 2014. Three staff have been se…

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend on advertising the white paper on independence, broken down by the nature of expenditure.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the Official Report of the Meeting of the Parliament on Tuesday 26 November 2013 at column 24856. The official report is available at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/OfficialReport.aspx.

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend on the launch of the white paper on independence and publicity in connection with this, broken down by the nature of expenditure.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The launch of Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland took place at the science centre in Glasgow on 26 November 2013. The cost of this event was £12,432.76, covering venue hire, set-up costs and transport. There were no additional costs for…

8 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in what formats the white paper on independence will be published and how much it plans to spend on each, broken down by the nature of the expenditure.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland is a landmark publication, as such we are looking to ensure the public are as well informed as possible about its contents and the opportunities offered by independence. To enable this, the document has…

5 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £800,000 expenditure for the independence referendum, as set out in its 2013-14 autumn budget revision, is being financed through a transfer of funds from Scottish Water.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-18087 on 4 December 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentar…

5 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the £800,000 expenditure for the independence referendum, as set out in its 2013-14 autumn budget revision, is not shown in the summary of proposed changes at page 68 of the document.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-18087 on 4 December 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentar…

5 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £800,000 expenditure for the independence referendum, as set out in its 2013-14 autumn budget revision, (a) has been spent and (b) it is contractually committed to spend.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-18087 on 4 December 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentar…

5 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what items the £800,000 expenditure for the independence referendum, as set out in its 2013-14 autumn budget revision, will be spent.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-18087 on 4 December 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentar…

5 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to announce in the spring budget revision an increase in its planned expenditure for the independence referendum.

Answer · John Swinney: The total cost is estimated to be around £13.7 million with £800,000 of that being spent this year, and the rest spent in 2014-15. There has been no change to the cost of the referendum. The financial memorandum which was published alongside the Scottish Ind…

23 Sep 2013 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the main cost implications are of the policies outlined in Pensions in an Independent Scotland.

10 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it planned to introduce the Procurement Reform Bill as part of its 2012-13 legislative programme and, if so, for what reason it did not do so.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15200 on 23 May 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybus…

10 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce the Procurement Reform Bill.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill will be introduced shortly. The First Minister confirmed to members during his appearance in front of the Scottish Parliament Conveners’ Group on 12 September that the Bill had been submitted to the Parliament.

26 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-16190 by John Swinney on 26 July 2013, how much of the money allocated for 2012-13 each project spent.

Answer · John Swinney: The provisional outturn figures for each project to 31 March 2013 is provided in the following table. The main change from forecast spend was for renewable energy projects, as discussed with the Finance Committee at the 2012-13 Spring Budget Revision on 13 M…

26 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many companies in the oil and gas sector have been account-managed by its enterprise agencies in each of the last five years.

Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Enterprise (SE) account managed 291 oil and gas companies in April 2013. As part of Scotland’s oil and gas strategy, SE are aiming to engage with an additional 100 oil and gas companies over the period 2012 - 2015. The following table shows the brea…