Kezia Dugdale

22 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-06241 by Angela Constance on 29 March 2012, whether it remains its position to finalise its youth employment strategy for publication in spring 2012 and, if so, on what date it will be published.

Answer · Angela Constance: The final version of the Youth Employment Strategy will be published by the end of June 2012.

22 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the £25 million funding to tackle youth unemployment that it announced on 9 May 2012 will be allocated and whether this will be before its youth employment strategy is (a) finalised or (b) published.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is considering how best to use the £25 million to support youth employment announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment on 9 May. Proposals for allocating the funds will be agreed after the publication o…

22 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who (a) was invited to and (b) attended the first regional action forum on youth employment.

Answer · Angela Constance: Invitees to Lanarkshire Action Forum on Youth Employment, 22 May 2012: Jim McCaffer South Lanarkshire Council Simon Carey South Lanarkshire Council Alex Morton South Lanarkshire Council Councillor Chris Thompson South Lanarkshire Council Gavin Whit…

22 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the purpose is of the regional action forums on youth employment.

Answer · Angela Constance: The purpose of the regional action forums is to look in detail at how we can work more effectively across the public, private and voluntary sectors to support young people into work.

22 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings of the regional action forums on youth employment (a) have been held and (b) are planned, broken down by (i) date and (ii) location.

Answer · Angela Constance: The first Action Forum on Youth Employment took place on 22 May in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire. The next event will be held in Glasgow on 12 June and preparations are under way for an action forum in Edinburgh on 26 June. Other events around the country will b…

18 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made representations to the UK Government regarding proposed changes to maternity and paternity leave in light of the potential impact on its parenting strategy.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has been in contact with the UK Government regarding proposed changes to maternity and paternity leave. We would welcome any changes that introduce more flexibility to suit parents.

16 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on local authorities having the power to limit the number of private hire car licences in their area.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Providing local authorities with the power to limit the number of private hire car licences is one of a range of options we are considering as part of our wider review of taxi and private car licensing.

16 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review the law in relation to the licensing of private hire cars.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: We are currently looking at a range of issues related to taxi and private hire car licensing to see where changes are needed to legislation and guidance from the Scottish Government. We aim to have a public consultation on options for change in the Autumn.

16 May 2012 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether Sodexo staff working in the Parliament are entitled to sick pay.

Answer · Linda Fabiani: All Sodexo employees receive sick pay as part of their contractual terms and conditions which is linked to their length of service.

15 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote knowledge and understanding of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child among ministers and officials, in light of the proposed Rights of Children and Young People Bill.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: We will take forward a programme of work over the course of this Parliament with partners in order to improve knowledge and understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child across the Scottish Government.

15 May 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-05889 by Aileen Campbell on 6 March 2012, what the timetable is for the introduction of the proposed Rights of Children and Young People Bill.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: As we announced on 11 May, the Scottish Government will deliver children’s rights as part of a single integrated Children and Young People Bill that will also include measures to improve children’s services, rather than in separate legislation. The integrated…

26 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-06349 by Bruce Crawford on 26 April 2012, what changes have been made as a result.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: An internal intranet page explaining moderation policy to Scottish Government staff was amended to clarify the reasons why some comments on news items were not being published.

25 Apr 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that cyberbullying incidents are recorded accurately.

18 Apr 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recently reported comments by the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, whether it will regulate so-called pay-day loans.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I wrote to the UK Minister Norman Lamb on 17 April 2012 seeking greater regulation of payday loans and urging the UK Government to consider a cap on interest rates for high interest and payday lending. The Scottish Executive cannot regulate payday loans as p…

13 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been allocated from the Electric Vehicle Procurement Support Scheme.

Answer · Keith Brown: Every local authority in Scotland and their community planning partners received funding (£8 million in total) over 2010-11 and 2011-12 to buy low carbon vehicles and install supportive infrastructure.

13 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether contributions to the Your Scotland, Your Referendum Facebook page are counted as submissions to the consultation.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: The Your Scotland, Your Referendum Facebook page was created to stimulate discussion about the referendum and encourage responses to the consultation. Contributions to the Facebook page will not be counted as submissions to the consultation.

13 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it plans to spend on the (a) technological and (b) network development of electric cars (i) nationally and (ii) in Lothian in each of the next three years.

Answer · Keith Brown: Through the Future Transport Fund we will invest £16.7 million across Scotland over the next three years in activities to support the uptake of electric and other low carbon vehicles, including green buses, and the installation of charging infrastructure: in …

13 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it encourages the (a) ownership and (b) use of electric cars.

Answer · Keith Brown: Electric Vehicles (EVs) are a central part of the Scottish Government's commitment to achieving almost total decarbonisation of road transport by 2050. Over the past two years, the Scottish Government has invested over £8 million in electric vehicles and infr…

4 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who the members were of the Scottish Stakeholder Group that was involved in the development of Scotland's Child Internet Safety Action Plan.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The members of the Scottish Stakeholder Group involved in the development of Scotland’s Child Internet Safety Action Plan were representatives from the following organisations: Scottish Government The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS)…

3 Apr 2012 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S4W-05706 by Liam McArthur on 5 March 2012, what its position is on the adequacy of the (a) current powers, (b) remit and (c) appeals process available to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

Answer · Liam McArthur: The functions of the Ombudsman are set out in legislation as agreed by Parliament. The SPCB does not have a view on the adequacy of the legislative provisions.  During the last parliamentary session the Parliament established the Review of SPCB Supported Bod…

2 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the Respondent Information Form for the Your Scotland, Your Referendum consultation asks respondents to state their country of residence; whether this is standard in all of its consultations, and, if not, what its reasons are for its position on this in this instance.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: The Respondent Information Form is revised on a case-by-case basis for individual consultations. Respondents are asked to return the form to ensure that the government handles the response appropriately for publication purposes and to help with analysis of re…

2 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which of its consultations have been externally verified since 2007, broken down by (a) who carried out, (b) the reason for and (c) the cost of the verification.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: A list of the consultation analyses that have been externally commissioned since 2002-03 is available on the Scottish Government’s website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/About/Social-Research/SR-Contracts. This includes the organisation that ca…

2 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has specifically targeted the respondents to the National Conversation and encouraged them to participate in the Your Scotland, Your Referendum consultation. 

Answer · Bruce Crawford: No.

2 Apr 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether www.consult.scotland.gov.uk collects the IP addresses of respondents.

Answer · Bruce Crawford: The Scottish Government’s new consultation hub, Citizen Space, has the following internet URL: https://consult.scotland.gov.uk. As stated on the website, a respondent’s Internet Protocol (IP) address will be recorded where individuals voluntarily contact the …

28 Mar 2012 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged between 20 and 24 are unemployed.

Answer · Angela Constance: Unemployment levels for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland are published by the Office for National Statistics on a monthly basis, covering rolling quarters. The latest monthly figures were published on 18 April covering the period December to February 2012. Est…

26 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum grant has been under the postgraduate student allowances scheme in each of the last three years.

Answer · Michael Russell: In academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12, under the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS) eligible students could receive an allowance of up to £3,400 towards the cost of their tuition fees (£1,700 for part-time students). In 2009-10, in addition to t…

26 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people will be assisted under the postgraduate tuition fee loan scheme in each of the next three years.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government estimates that around 5,000 full and part-time postgraduate students will be eligible to apply for non-means tested support towards the cost of their tuition fees under the postgraduate tuition fee loan in each of the next three years.…

26 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been assisted under the postgraduate student allowances scheme in each of the last three years.

Answer · Michael Russell: In 2009-10, 1,825 students were assisted under the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS). This increased to 2,332 in 2010-11 and 2,329 in 2011-12.

26 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the postgraduate student allowances scheme has cost in each of the last three years.

Answer · Michael Russell: In 2009-10, the total paid under the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS) was £9.6 million. In 2010-11, the figure was £7.7 million, and in 2011-12, £7.6 million.

26 Mar 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the postgraduate tuition fee loan scheme will cost in each of the next three years.

Answer · Michael Russell: We have allowed for loans of up to £17 million in each of the next three years for the postgraduate tuition fee loan.