Kezia Dugdale

22 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Minister for Youth Employment will use the £30 million youth employment budget to create and sustain opportunities for young people from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Answer · Angela Constance: Through Opportunities for All the Scottish Government has committed to offering a place in education or training for every 16-19 year-old who is not already in work, education or training. This is a universal commitment for all young people. Where barriers ex…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Minister for Youth Employment will use her budget to guarantee opportunities for graduates.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has committed to consult with a range of partners on the best use of the £30 million in additional funding to support youth employment. With that in mind, final decisions on the targeting of this resource have not been made. The Scott…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Youth Employment will guarantee that jobs created from her £30 million budget will pay the living wage.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government fully supports the principles of the living wage and we are leading from the front by paying staff whose wage packets we control a living wage. We encourage all employers within the public, private and third sectors in Scotland to do l…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Minister for Youth Employment will guarantee that her £30 million budget will create long-term job opportunities.

Answer · Angela Constance: It is for employers, not Government, to create permanent job opportunities. This Government will continue to work with employers from businesses of all sizes and across all sectors to encourage them to employ young people. Through our investment in post-16 e…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Minister for Youth Employment will consult external organisations regarding the best way to use her £30 million budget.

Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04748 on 18 January 2011. 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/parliamentary…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Minister for Youth Employment will guarantee equal employment opportunities for young women.

Answer · Angela Constance: It is for employers, not Government, to create permanent job opportunities. This Government will continue to work with employers from businesses of all sizes and across all sectors to encourage them to employ young people across all sections of our communitie…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Minister for Youth Employment will use her budget to guarantee opportunities for people leaving school with few or no qualifications.

Answer · Angela Constance: We will work with key partners to deliver Opportunities for All from next financial year to ensure an offer of a place in learning or training for every 16 to 19 year old who is not already in work, education or training. We will continue to target those who …

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Youth Employment expects to receive additional money arising from Barnett consequentials.

Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-04751 on 18 January 2011. 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…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive from where the Minister for Youth Employment’s budget of £30 million was reallocated.

Answer · Angela Constance: The £30 million of additional funding is made up of £6 million per year for the next three years from consequential funding falling from the UK Government’s budget combined with £12 million from across the Scottish Government budget in financial year 2012-13.…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Minister for Youth Employment plans to allocate her £30 million budget.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is currently consulting with local government, colleges, the third sector and employers on the most effective allocation of the additional £30 million Opportunities for All funding. As a first step, I announced on 22 December £1.5 mil…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Youth Employment plans to consult local authorities on how her budget can be best spent throughout Scotland.

Answer · Angela Constance: Local authorities and Community Planning Partnerships are at the forefront of supporting young people into work. I have already had positive discussions with COSLA and will continue to work with local government to identify how we can do more together to supp…

21 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what engagements the Minister for Youth Employment has planned in 2012 to meet organisations to discuss the best use of her £30 million budget.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is convening a special session of the National Economic Forum on 1 February to explore with a wide range of partners and stakeholders how to maximise the effectiveness of this new resource. This builds on a strategic roundtable discuss…

16 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has discussed its plans for a public inquiry on the Edinburgh tram project with the Lord Advocate.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: It is a long-established convention, as set out in the Ministerial Code, that the Scottish Government does not disclose whether it has or has not received legal advice from the Law Officers.

16 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions since May 2011 the Lord Advocate has given an opinion on a devolution issue.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: It is a long-established convention, as set out in the Ministerial Code that the Scottish Government does not disclose whether it has or has not received legal advice from the Law Officers.

16 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times since May 2011 its legal directorate has referred requests for legal advice to the Lord Advocate.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: It is a long-established convention, as set out in the Ministerial Code, that the Scottish Government does not disclose whether it has or has not received legal advice from the Law Officers.

16 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Cabinet meetings the Lord Advocate has attended since May 2011.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: Between May and December 2011, the Lord Advocate attended 14 meetings of the 23 meetings of the Scottish Cabinet.

13 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-04230 by Fiona Hyslop on 9 December 2011, whether it has made representations to (a) the City of Edinburgh Council or (b) Historic Scotland regarding the suitability of Edinburgh Castle as a site.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has not made any representations to Edinburgh City Council regarding the installation of the Olympic symbol within the city. Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government charged with safeguarding the nation’s his…

13 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-04270 by Keith Brown on 9 December 2011, whether this was on a (a) 4-weekly or (b) quarterly basis and, if not, how frequently.

Answer · Keith Brown: Ministers have been kept appraised of progress and developments as necessary.

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact there would be on businesses in Scotland if the UK Government were to introduce a so-called Tobin Tax.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government supports measures that enable a well functioning financial system and improves access to finance, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses. Clear evidence that a Tobin Tax will help achieve this goal is therefore needed befor…

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made a submission to the UK Government’s High Pay Commission.

Answer · John Swinney: The High Pay Commission has been established independently from the UK Government. The Scottish Government has not yet made a submission to the Commission.

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the impact on devolved areas of responsibility of the UK Government’s decision to freeze the BBC license fee for six years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government regards the way in which the current licence fee settlement was negotiated, behind closed doors, without any outside consultation and within 48 hours as deeply unsatisfactory. The Scottish Government is engaging with the BBC as it dev…

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the current euro exchange rate has on Scottish (a) tourism and (b) exports.

Answer · John Swinney: Tourism and export figures are affected by a variety of factors, including exchange rates. The Scottish Government publish export statistics on an annual basis in the Global Connections Survey and publish manufactured exports data on a quarterly basis. The O…

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected loss in Barnett consequentials would be if air passenger duty was abolished.

Answer · Keith Brown: None. The Barnett formula is a system whereby the grant payable to the Scottish Government is adjusted to reflect the spending plans (budgets) of comparable UK Departments. The income derived from Air Passenger Duty (APD) is not a comparable programme and the…

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the potential impact on poverty in Scotland, what its position is on the UK Government’s decision not to uprate benefits in line with inflation.

Answer · Michael Matheson: We vigorously oppose any changes to the welfare system which further reduce the income of the most vulnerable people in Scottish society.

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it seeks to measure children’s healthy development with regard to (a) attachment, (b) stimulation and (c) nutrition.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is taking a number of steps to ensure measurement of children’s healthy development, for example: national mental health indicators have been established; work is being commissioned to review assessment of attachment for Looked After C…

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to judge local authorities' attempts to avoid the early emergence of inequalities.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Single Outcome Agreements prepared by local authorities and their community planning partners are required to take account of the three social frameworks of Achieving Our Potential, Early Years and Equally Well. In addition, each of the shared risk assess…

8 Dec 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its economic tests would be for an independent Scotland joining the euro.

Answer · John Swinney: As set out in the White Paper, Your Scotland, Your Voice published in November 2009. Scotland would continue to operate within the Sterling system until a decision to join the Euro by the people of Scotland in a referendum when the economic conditions were r…

25 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth has approved the relaxation of the conditions set out in the grant agreement for the Edinburgh tram project since January 2008 and, if so, to what extent the conditions were relaxed and whether this was agreed wi…

Answer · Keith Brown: The substantive grant conditions have not been relaxed. Ministers have approved changes to two grant conditions with the agreement in each case of the City of Edinburgh Council. In October 2010, the council sought approval to waive the 30 days formal notice r…

25 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth was first made aware that the Edinburgh tram project would not meet its planned opening date of January 2011.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth was first made aware that the Edinburgh tram project would not meet its planned opening date of January 2011, in March 2010.

25 Nov 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the reports it receives from Transport Scotland on the progress of the Edinburgh tram project are structured on the basis of each grant condition and the degree to which these conditions have been met.

Answer · Keith Brown: The progress reports cover all relevant aspects of the tram project and are not specifically structured on the basis of each grant condition.