Liam McArthur

16 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will publish a response to its consultation on a Future Islands Bill.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The independent analysis of responses received to the consultation on provisions for a Future Islands Bill was published on the Scottish Government's website on 14 March 2016: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/03/4180. The Scottish Government is commit…

16 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £500,000 funding allocated to the Small Business Research Initiative to tackle diabetes has been distributed to organisations.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: To date, £150,000 has been allocated to Phase 1 of the Small Business Research Initiative competition which will see competitors develop a feasibility study for their proposed ideas. This funding will be distributed to organisations incrementally over the nex…

12 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported comment by Nicola Sturgeon in The Press and Journal on 6 April 2016 that "a re-elected SNP government will begin work immediately to look at how we can reduce fares for the northern isles and provide greater support to businesses and residents in Shetland and Ork…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In December 2015, Transport Scotland commissioned consultants to conduct a comprehensive study to inform the specification of the next Northern Isles ferry service contract, commencing in April 2018. The study is being overseen by a working group of key st…

14 Mar 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the final report of the Commission on Widening Access.

10 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29455 by Aileen Campbell on 9 March 2016, for what reason it first judged the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs unable to meet the criteria for funding “given the role SAYFC plays in our rural communities.”

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-30765 and S4W-30769 on 18 March 2016. 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/pa…

10 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29455 by Aileen Campbell on 9 March 2016, how it came to the conclusion that the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs should be given £30,000 less than the previous grant of £66,000.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-30769 on 18 March 2016. 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 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29455 by Aileen Campbell on 9 March 2016, for what reason “given the role SAYFC plays in our rural communities” it provided less than half of the grant it withdrew from the association.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government provided the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) with funding of £66,000 for a three year period which was always intended to end in March 2016, with no organisations guaranteed funding beyond this point. However, t…

10 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29455 by Aileen Campbell on 9 March 2016, on what grounds it judged the Scottish Association of Young Farmers unable to meet the criteria for funding.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Applications to the new Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Funds were assessed in terms of relevance, need, quality (of outcomes proposed), sustainability, consideration of vulnerable groups (e…

10 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the common agricultural policy allocation has been spent in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland, (b) the Highlands and Islands and (c) Orkney.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: To give a full answer to the question i.e. to provide information spanning five years, broken down as requested has necessitated further bespoke interrogation of the IT system and will take some time to complete. The requested information will be made availab…

10 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what EU Structural and Challenge Fund funding has been spent in each of the last five years in (a) Scotland, (b) the Highlands and Islands and (c) Orkney.

Answer · Keith Brown: EU Structural and Challenge Fund funding spend in each of the last five years in: (a) Scotland (b) The Highlands and Islands and (c) Orkney is as follows: Scotland (£) Highlands and Islands (£) Orkney Islands (£) 2011 162,279,283.36 27,149,283.62 …

10 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce a zero waste Bill.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government legislated, through the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, to require separate collection of food waste and dry recyclable materials, and to restrict materials going to landfill or incineration. All bills in this parliamentary session …

10 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) plans it has and (b) steps it has taken to create new national parks.

Answer · Aileen McLeod: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-30383 on 22 March 2016. 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…

10 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has been made on the "new actions" specified in the marine litter strategy and how it is working with Orkney Islands Council and other local authorities to develop monitoring measures and reduce marine litter.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has established a steering group to bring together partners to discuss how they are contributing to delivering the actions and to track progress. Local authorities are represented on this group by COSLA and KIMO. Activities currently b…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to provide free fruit for pregnant women.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Healthy Start programme in Scotland is a means-tested UK-wide scheme for pregnant women and children under four. From the tenth week of pregnancy, pregnant women on certain benefits or tax credits – or any pregnant women under 18 years irrespective of inc…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of primary school children receives free fruit in (a) Orkney, (b) the Highlands and Islands and (c) Scotland.

Answer · Angela Constance: This information is not held centrally

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to provide higher and further education scholarships for the children of servicemen and women killed on active duty.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government provides support for children of servicemen and women who have been killed on active duty, through the Bereaved Scholarships Scheme (BSS). The scheme, which was launched in 2011, is funded by the Department for Education in England and…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the European Commission to discuss introducing a new management fee to be paid by EU students and whether it will publish all records of these discussions.

Answer · Angela Constance: As indicated in my answer to your question of 6 March 2015 (S4W-24609), the most recent meeting between the Scottish Government and the European Commission to discuss the introduction of a management fee for EU student studying at Scottish universities took p…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on introducing a new management fee to be paid by EU students.

Answer · Angela Constance: As previously indicated in the answer your question on 23 February 2015 (S4W-24406), considerable discussion took place with EU representatives about the concept and application of management fees for EU students. My predecessor, Michael Russell MSP, made cle…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that it can eliminate all unsuitable school buildings in the next five years.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government, in collaboration with local authorities, published The Suitability Core Fact in 2008. This guidance aims to provide a measure of the extent to which a school building and its grounds are appropriate in providing an environment which s…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been educated in unsuitable buildings in each of the last five years.

Answer · Angela Constance: In each of the last five years, in terms of suitability, the following numbers of pupils have been education in category C (poor) and D (bad) schools: 2011 145,769 2012 141,536 2013 123,511 2014 114,108 2015 117,761 Since 2011, there has been a r…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the pupil-teacher ratio was in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each of the last five years.

Answer · Angela Constance: This information was published on 9 December 2015 in Table 2.1 of the Summary statistics for schools in Scotland, No.6: 2015 Edition’ (http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/7925). The pupil teacher ratio (PTR) in primary schools has increased from 16.1 …

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to establish a Youth Enterprise Scotland Challenge with a prize fund of £100,000 to be awarded to the teams with the best ideas for taking forward a new business enterprise.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Young Innovators Challenge was developed and established in response to this 2011 manifesto commitment. Launched in 2013, the Young Innovators Challenge is a competition for people in training, further and higher education. Its key aims are to encourage a…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of S1 to S4 pupils has received 100 minutes of quality PE each week delivered by specialist PE teachers in 2015-16.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Healthy Living Survey results from 2015 outlined that 93% of pupils in secondary schools (S1-S4) received at least 100 minutes of PE each week. This PE provision was delivered by either a General Teaching Council for Scotland registered class teacher or a PE …

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of (a) primary and (b) secondary pupils has received two hours of quality PE each week delivered by specialist PE teachers in 2015-16.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Healthy Living Survey results from 2015 outlined that 98% of primary school pupils were receiving at least 2 hours of PE each week; and 93% of secondary school pupils (S1-4) were receiving at least 100 minutes of PE each week. For both primary and secondary s…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time (a) early years, (b) language and (c) science teachers there (i) were in 2007 and (ii) have been in 2015-16.

Answer · Angela Constance: Data on teachers by sector and subject is published as part of the online dataset associated with the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland (http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/teachcenssuppdata). (a) Early learning and childca…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that headteachers will have the power to decide on the most appropriate class sizes in later years.

Answer · Angela Constance: Maximum class size limits are prescribed either in legislation or in teachers' terms and conditions of service. It is for headteachers, in consultation with local authorities, to determine the size of each class in their schools, within the prescribed limits.…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities offer kinship care payments.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: All 32 local authorities offer kinship care payments.

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to encourage employers to allow (a) parents and (b) carers the opportunity to request flexible working.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to encourage employers to allow (a) parents and (b) carers the opportunity to request flexible working. The Scottish Government funds and is an active partner in the Family Friendly Working Scotland Partn…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to remove debt repayments owed to the Student Loans Company by Scotland-domiciled and resident graduates.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has no current plans to remove debt repayments owed to the Student Loans Company by Scottish-domiciled students and resident graduates. Average student loan debt in Scotland is the lowest in the UK.

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time school teachers there are, and how this compares with 2007.

Answer · Angela Constance: This information was published on 9 December 2015 in Table 2.1 of the Summary statistics for schools in Scotland, No.6: 2015 Edition, http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/7925, and past years data are available in previous publications. In the 2015 tea…