Jamie Hepburn

17 Dec 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to amend the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.  

11 Dec 2013 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to assist the Church of Scotland and other faith bodies to develop and promote a better use of credit unions.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government recognises the valuable role played by credit unions in providing ethical and affordable financial services and products to a wide range of customers. We are committed to doing all that we can to support and promote credit unions, and …

9 Dec 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Creative Scotland regarding the establishment of a film and TV studio for Scotland.

2 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many children in Scotland have been adversely impacted by the so-called bedroom tax.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The latest statistics released by the Department for Work and Pensions show that as at August 2013, 12,090 households with children had their benefits reduced as a result of the removal of the spare room subsidy or so-called bedroom tax.

15 Nov 2013 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will set out the economic opportunities of independence.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government will publish Building security and creating opportunity: economic policy choices in an independent Scotland on the morning of Tuesday 19 November. The report is a detailed analysis of the performance of the Scottish economy as part of …

30 Oct 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the abolition of prescription charges will have over this coming winter.

2 Sep 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities on gull management.

26 Aug 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the under-occupancy charge, which is commonly known as the bedroom tax, is having on communities in Scotland.

26 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many children in Scotland were affected by the abolition of child trust funds and how many were from (a) low income and (b) the poorest 30% of households.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: As this policy relates to a reserved matter, we do not hold detailed information on numbers affected as a result of the abolition of the policy. However, a broad estimate suggests that in total around 580,000 children in Scotland will have been affected by t…

9 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cumulative impact on the household income of (a) couples with children and (b) single people with children by 2017-18 of the provisions in the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Act 2013 and the impact of this on the Scottish Government’s priorities.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government estimates that the reduction in benefit expenditure in Scotland as a result of the UK Government’s welfare reforms could reach over £4.5 billion by 2015, of which around £1 billion relates directly to children. This includes changes to…

8 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact changes to council tax benefit since 2010 have had on (a) poverty and (b) child poverty in Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16391 on 2 August 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/parliamentaryb…

8 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of the abolition of council tax benefit has been in Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: Working in partnership with local government, we responded quickly to put in place transitional arrangements to plug the estimated £40 million gap in funding from the UK Government following their abolition of council tax benefit. This ensures that around 560…

8 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cumulative impact of changes to (a) tax credits and (b) housing benefit since 2010 on (i) poverty and (ii) child poverty in Scotland.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government does not produce projections of poverty. However, changes to tax credits since 2012 are estimated to leave low income households in Scotland approximately £700 a year worse-off on average, with some losing all their tax credit entitlem…

26 Jun 2013 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities will continue to deliver the Scottish Welfare Fund beyond the period of the interim arrangements.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Following the successful launch of the interim fund, we have agreed with COSLA leaders that local authorities are best placed to take on delivery of the Scottish Welfare Fund on a permanent basis. We will continue to work together to share good practice, over…

10 Jun 2013 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the report of the Expert Working Group on Welfare.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I’m pleased to advise that the report of the Expert Working Group on Welfare will be published today. It can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/welfarereform/EXPERTWORKINGGROUPONWELFARE. I am also publishing the Scottish Government’s i…

3 Jun 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage young people to learn to swim in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.

23 May 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how important the interconnectivity of green spaces is in promoting local biodiversity.

9 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13033 by Margaret Burgess on 5 March 2013, what its position is on the findings of the Institute of Fiscal Studies report, Child and working-age poverty in Northern Ireland from 2010 to 2020, and whether it considers that these suggest that the numb…

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The recent report published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies included projections for the percentage of children in poverty in Scotland from 2011-12 to 2020-21. This shows that the percentage of children in relative income poverty before housing costs is p…

29 Apr 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to OKI Electric's plans to reduce the size of its workforce at its Cumbernauld plant by around half.

22 Apr 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on seizing illegal drugs.

15 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether community councils within the catchment areas of affected schools are subject to consultation under the provisions of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 and are considered to be bodies that must be consulted as part of that consultation procedure.

Answer · Michael Russell: Schedule two of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act sets out the list of relevant consultees for all relevant proposals listed under Schedule one of the 2010 Act. In instances where a local authority is consulting on the following relevant proposals on…

13 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13385 by Michael Russell on 13 March 2013, how many requests for call-in there have been in each of the 75 school closure proposals considered under the terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

Answer · Michael Russell: Under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 the number of representations made for the 75 school closure proposals considered by the Scottish Minister are as follows: Local Authority School Number of representations East Ayrshire Council Crossr…

4 Mar 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how civic society is engaging with the process involved in the lead-up to the independence referendum.

28 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) highest number and (b) average number of representations is that it has received requesting a call-in of a local authority decision under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

Answer · Michael Russell: The number of representations made to the Scottish Ministers under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 about school closure proposals varies significantly on a case by case basis. In many cases no representations have been made while in others ther…

28 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many representations it has received requesting a call-in of the decision by North Lanarkshire Council on 6 February 2013 to rationalise Abronhill and Cumbernauld high schools.

Answer · Michael Russell: The total number of representations made to the Scottish Ministers under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (2010 Act) about North Lanarkshire Council’s proposals for Abronhill High School and Cumbernauld High School is almost 800. This figure inc…

25 Feb 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the impact will be on the Scottish economy of the downgrading of the UK Government’s bond rating.

13 Feb 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what importance is placed on Education Scotland’s findings on local authority plans to close schools.

8 Feb 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of children in Scotland who will be deemed to be in poverty as a result of changes in welfare benefits since 2010.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government does not produce forecasts of poverty, however analysis published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in October 2011 estimated that the number of children in the UK living in relative poverty will rise by approximately 700,000 between…

28 Jan 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage healthy eating in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.

17 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimates it has made of the number of extra children in Scotland who will be deemed to be in poverty as a result of the provisions in the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Department of Work and Pensions are estimating that the uprating measures in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 will result in around an extra 200,000 children being in relative income poverty compared to uprating benefits by CPI. Based on Scotland’s current sh…