Parliamentary questions

Kezia Dugdale

1,684 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) it and (b) its agencies plan to increase the number of young people in its/their workforce.

Answer · Angela Constance: As part of the all government, all Scotland approach to tackling youth employment, all areas of the Scottish Government and its agencies will continue to consider how best they can support Scottish Government objectives of helping young people into employment…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of (a) its and (b) its agencies' workforce is made up of young people.

Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-08723 on 20 August 2012. 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/parliamentarybu…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) modern apprenticeships and (b) work experience or student places (i) it and (ii) each of its agencies has offered in each of the last three years.

Answer · Angela Constance: This answer includes responses to PQ references S4W-08724, S4W-08754 and S4W-08755. The following numbers of Modern Apprenticeships, Work Experience and Student Placements have been appointed in the last three years. 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Paid St…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who attended the meeting in March 2012 with public sector chief executives to discuss youth employment and what the "nearly 100 pledges" were that resulted.

Answer · Angela Constance: 1. The Scottish Leaders Forum (SLF) brings together chief officers of all public bodies in Scotland to strengthen networks and bring strategic thinking to issues of relevance across public service. 2. The Scottish Leaders Forum Plenary Meeting on 1 and 2 Mar…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs in the energy industry will be created for young people as part of the establishment of the Nigg Skills Academy.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Nigg Skills Academy has been developed to provide access to training which will equip individuals with the skills to participate in the opportunities that will flow from current and future investment in Nigg and in the wider energy industry. In 2012-13 t…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who will be invited to the youth unemployment action forum in (a) Oban and (b) Dumfries.

Answer · Angela Constance: An action forum on youth employment was held in Dumfries on 21 June. Those invited included local employers, young people, training providers, politicians and representatives of public, private and third sector organisations. Invitations to the event in Oban,…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what youth unemployment action forums it has planned.

Answer · Angela Constance: An action forum on youth employment is being planned in Erskine (for Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire) in August 2012, with a wider rural skills and youth employment action forum taking place in Oban in September 2012. Further events will take…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when each local authority and Skills Development Scotland will have completed youth employment actions plans and whether these will be made public.

Answer · Angela Constance: In support of Opportunities for All, we anticipate that Youth Employment Action Plans for all local authority areas to be in place by the end of the autumn. For most areas this will be a first version and plans will be updated on a regular basis. The documen…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many 16 to 18-year-olds have been unemployed for over a year and not in full-time education, broken down by geographical area.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the preferred source of detailed data on young unemployed people. The latest APS data available is for April 2011 to March 2012. This data shows that there were 4,500 people aged 16 to 18 who were not in full-time educat…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it used in choosing local authorities for its pilot scheme to support graduate recruitment and business growth.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Chambers of Commerce put forward a proposal for a pilot scheme to support graduate recruitment and business growth. The Scottish Chambers of Commerce considered areas with high rates of unemployed young people aged 18 to 24 and areas in which the…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what targets NHS boards have regarding smoking cessation.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Board Smoking Cessation HEAT Targets Board 1-Month Quits to be Delivered within the 40% Most-Deprived within-Board SIMD areas by end March 2014. 1- Month Quits to be Delivered across whole Board population by end March 2014 NHS Ayrshire and Arran 3,…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the role of smoking cessation practitioners contributes to NHS boards meeting relevant targets.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Specialist smoking cessation practitioners are key contributors to meeting the HEAT target on smoking cessation. They provide the front line “stop smoking” services to clients who wish to quit and also feed in data on quitters to the Information Services Divi…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the role of smoking cessation practitioners is integral to the treatment plans of patients with smoking-related cancers.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Funding for the provision of smoking cessation services is allocated to NHS health boards. Individual boards are then responsible for design and delivery of high quality services, in line with current evidence and guidance, in order to deliver the agreed targ…

16 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in smoking cessation services in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Funding levels for smoking cessation from the tobacco control budget have remained the same for each of the last three years. Funds have been issued to boards as follows, including this current year: Board Smoking Cessation (£) 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2…

11 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Creative Scotland defines (a) new and (b) established artists for the purposes of grant funding.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I have asked Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland, the public body for Culture and Creative Industries, to write to the member. Further information about Creative Scotland’s activities is available at http://www.creativescotland.com/.

11 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many independent solo artists Creative Scotland has supported in the last 12 months.

11 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support Creative Scotland can provide to new and emerging artists.

10 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether companies that hold government contracts will be contacted during the consultation process for the proposed Sustainable Procurement Bill.

Answer · Alex Neil: We are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including business representatives and, once the consultation on the Bill is launched, all businesses, not just those who already hold Government contracts, will have an opportunity to submit their views.

10 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many apprenticeships have been created by companies that have held government contracts or received public support since May 2011, broken down by (a) contract and (b) company.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government published guidance in February 2008 on how to use public contracts to deliver wider community benefits, such as training and employment opportunities. Over 3,500 targeted recruitment and training opportunities have been achieved in Sco…

10 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether training and apprenticeship plans for companies that have held government contracts or received public support since May 2011 are publicly available and, if so, where this information can be accessed.

Answer · Alex Neil: We intend to use the forthcoming consultation on a Procurement Bill to seek the views of the public, private and third sectors on whether those awarded a major contract should publish their training and apprenticeship plans.

10 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which companies that have had government contracts or received public support since May 2011 have produced a training and apprenticeship plan.

Answer · Alex Neil: Whilst training and apprenticeship plans have been produced in some Scottish Government contracts, for example, the construction of the Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh, this information for all contracts is not held centrally and can only be provided at dis…

9 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will provide to support local authorities in delivering activity agreements in each of the next three years.

Answer · Angela Constance: We are investing £10.5 million in the next three years to support local partnerships to deliver activity agreements. Broken down as follows: 2012-13 - £4 million, 2013-14 - £3.5 million and 2014-15 - £3 million. A dedicated National Development Manager …

9 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether discussions have taken place with Skills Development Scotland on collecting data on the 16 to 19 age group in addition to those collected in September and March/April on school leavers.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is working with Skills Development Scotland and other partners to improve the quality and use of data on 16 to 19-year-olds in order to support the delivery of Opportunities for All.

9 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will follow the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development charter for work experience that was launched in April 2012.

Answer · Angela Constance: In Action for Jobs - Supporting Young Scots into Work, Scotland's Youth Employment Strategy, the Scottish Government committed to investigate existing guidance on work experience with relevant organisations and identify whether there is a need for further res…

9 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proposals arose from the Making Training Work Better review.

Answer · Angela Constance: Making Training Work Better allowed us to develop proposals that seek to reduce duplication of funding for episodes of training whilst focussing on the provision of skills development for young people and maximising support for the low paid low skilled and th…

9 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the My Work Coach programme will be launched.

Answer · Angela Constance: Skills Development Scotland has been piloting the My Work Coach service since April this year across five local authority areas. These areas are North Lanarkshire, Borders, Highlands, Fife and Glasgow. Learning from this pilot, Skills Development Scotland pla…

6 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) whether cyberbullying was discussed and (b) what actions were agreed at its recent conference on so-called virtual violence.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Virtual Violence CPD Event on 12 June 2012 was organised by the Violence Reduction Unit and looked at a broad range of topics within e-safety, including cyberbullying. The event aimed to raise awareness about e-safety and highlighted the role of professio…

6 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the Minister for Local Government and Planning has had with private sector employers to promote the merits of a living wage since his appointment; on what dates, and who attended each meeting.

Answer · Derek Mackay: I have had no meetings with private sector employers specifically or solely on the living wage. However, the Scottish Government supports the payment of the living wage and encourages all employers within the public, private and third sectors in Scotland to d…

6 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the Minister for Local Government and Planning has had with local authority leaders to discuss the living wage since May 2012.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Local authorities are self-governing bodies and set the terms and conditions under which staff are employed. I have had a number of meetings with local authorities since May, which have provided an opportunity to discuss a range of issues including the living…

2 Jul 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that there is a data gap following the suspension of the Scottish School Leavers Survey.

Answer · Michael Russell: We do not consider that there is a data gap following the suspension of the Scottish School Leavers Survey. Whilst this was a rich data source, there is no evidence that it was widely used. Latterly, its usefulness was also undermined by high attrition rates,…