Parliamentary questions

Liam McArthur

3,646 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

25 Feb 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland, Modern Apprenticeships, Equality & the Economy: Spreading the Benefits, what it is doing to reduce the discrepancy between the proportion of disabled people taking up apprentices in Scotland and England, and to …

Answer · Angela Constance: Achieving a balanced workforce which reflects Scottish society as a whole is a challenge for the wider labour market and is not specific to the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) programme. A key element of the MA programme in Scotland is, and has always been, that a…

25 Feb 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many disabled people aged between 16 and 24 have enrolled in modern apprenticeships in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold this data centrally. I will ask the Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland to write to you with the information you have requested.

25 Feb 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many disabled people have enrolled in modern apprenticeships in each of the last three years for which information is available.

24 Feb 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the proposed abolition of honorary sheriffs will have on access to justice in rural and island areas.

17 Feb 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Island Areas Ministerial Working Group will next meet and what will be discussed.

31 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether all men aged 50 and over have a right to a free prostate-specific antigen test from the NHS provided they have first been given sufficient information on the pros and cons to enable them to make an informed choice about taking the test.

Answer · Alex Neil: We fully expect GPs to discuss prostate cancer with people who are at risk and recommend Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing where appropriate. Guidance in the form of a Prostate Cancer Risk Management Pack which supports the Prostate Cancer Risk Managem…

27 Jan 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with SSE regarding options for reinforcing the electricity grid in Orkney.

10 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time (i) disabled students and (ii) students with additional support needs have attended further education college courses in each of the last five years.

Answer · Michael Russell: Data on the number of students who attended colleges in Scotland are produced by the Scottish Funding Council. The latest data are for academic year 2012-13. Table 1 shows the number of students who attended college broken down by mode of study, recorded dis…

6 Jan 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to assist the staff of Ortak Jewellery Ltd following the company's closure.

3 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent guidance it has received from the European Commission on the impact of using the 5% uplift to basic payments for farmers in areas of natural constraint on less favoured area payments under Pillar 2.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: In addition to the text of the CAP Regulations, Member States have received a draft guidance fiche for “Payments to areas facing natural or other specific constraints” under Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricul…

3 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it considers that using the 5% uplift to basic payments for farmers whose holdings are wholly or partly in areas of natural constraint would impact on less favoured area payments under Pillar 2.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The recently published CAP Regulations state that any payments for Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) made under Pillar 1 must be taken into account when calculating any ANC, payments to be made under Pillar 2 and make it clear there shall be no double fundin…

18 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to change the repayment threshold for student loans during the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Michael Russell: The repayment threshold will change in April 2014. Details of the change will be published on the Student Loans Company website.

18 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Air Discount Scheme has cost in each year since 2007-08.

Answer · Keith Brown: The figures are as follows: 2007-08 £5.622 million 2008-09 £6.054 million 2009-10 £6.251 million 2010-11 £6.018 million 2011-12 £4.905 million 2012-13 £5.073 million These figures include reimbursing member’s discounts to airlines and the cost of…

18 Dec 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence it has that team teaching brings the same benefits to children as smaller class sizes.

16 Dec 2013 · Written Question

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Information on the destinations of school leavers with additional support needs from the school years 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 is already published. Information on the destinations of school leavers from the 2012-13 school year will be published in June 2014…

16 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the figures published in the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No 4: 2013 that suggest that the number of pupils with additional support needs is equivalent to 19% of the school population, and whether it considers that the decline in the number of teach…

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government is clear that the statistics indicate that there continues to be improved recording of children and young people with additional support needs in Scotland. The statistics also indicate that the pupil teacher ratio in local authority sc…

10 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Law Officers have given an opinion on the policy in the white paper on independence of charging UK students tuition fees.

Answer · Michael Russell: The white paper is consistent with and informed by legal advice the Government has received. It is the long-standing practice of the Scottish and UK Governments, as is recognised in their respective Ministerial Codes, not to disclose the fact or content of ad…

3 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which of the arm’s-length foundations established by the regional boards of colleges have yet to submit their (a) application for charitable status, (b) constitution and (c) business plan to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally. I have asked the Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council to respond directly to the member.

3 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which of the initial trustees of the arm’s-length foundations established by the regional boards of colleges have still to sign the memoranda and articles of association that have to be submitted to Companies House.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally. I have asked the interim chief executive of the Scottish Funding Council to respond directly to the member.

3 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which of the arm’s-length foundations established by the regional boards of colleges have yet to identify their initial trustees.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally. I have asked the interim chief executive of the Scottish Funding Council to respond directly to the member.

3 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times people have been prevented from accessing the Air Discount Scheme because their journey was for non-personal reasons since the regulations were changed to prevent the scheme being used for business travel.

Answer · Keith Brown: We do not hold a record of this.

3 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many claims for discounted flights under the Air Discount Scheme have been made in each of the last five years, and how many were approved.

Answer · Keith Brown: The figures are as follows: 2009 Claims made – 144,725 2010 Claims made – 185,633 2011 Claims made – 161,402 Flights not approved – 124 2012 Claims made – 136,607 Flights not approved – 268 2013 Claims made – 124,959 Flights not approved – 174

3 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Air Discount Scheme has cost to administer in each of the last five years.

Answer · Keith Brown: The cost of resourcing the Air Discount Scheme administration team was as follows: 2008 - £217,644 2009 - £203,819 2010 - £191,295 2011 - £193,325 2012 - £178,511.

3 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which companies have been found liable under the Environmental Liability (Scotland) Regulations 2009 of causing (a) land damage, (b) water damage and (c) damage to protected (i) habitats and (ii) species, and what penalty was imposed.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The competent authorities under the Environmental Liability (Scotland) Regulations 2009 are SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage and Marine Scotland. SEPA has not to date received any notifications of “environmental damage” (as defined in the Regulations) from op…

2 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many apprenticeships it has offered in each of its directorates in each of the last three years.

Answer · John Swinney: As an employer the Scottish Government introduced direct entrant Modern Apprenticeship’s from 1 April 2011. These are in our entry level grade of A3. During the financial years 2011-12 and 2012-13 the Scottish Government’s Directorates delivered the following…

2 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in how many primary (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 classes team teaching is used, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: The following table shows for each local authority the number of primary 1, 2 and 3 classes that had more than one teacher as at September 2012. Composite classes with one or more pupils in primary 1, 2 or 3 and more than one teacher are shown separately: …

2 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the costs involved in allowing schools to decide which Higher examinations pupils can take in 2015.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: There are no anticipated additional costs. The decision to “dual run” the new Highers with current Highers in 2014-15 was taken several years ago, primarily to enable S6 learners to take the higher qualification which would best fit their earlier learning an…

28 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Pentland Ferries will be entitled to a proportion of the subsidy paid to Serco under the terms of the Northern Isles ferry contract during January 2014 when it fulfils requirements for lifeline passenger ferry services across the Pentland Firth.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: No. Pentland Ferries will gain commercial benefit from the additional traffic carried during this period. The MV Helliar is able to carry all expected freight vehicles and up to 12 passengers. Serco NorthLink Ferries held constructive dialogue with Pentland …

28 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, as a result of the decision to operate the MV Helliar on the Stromness to Scrabster route in January 2014, Serco will be liable for fines under the terms of the contract for ferry services to the Northern Isles and, if so, how much those fines are expected to be.

Answer · Keith Brown: The contract provides an overall regime of performance measures, with deductions to be applied, for failure to meet the performance measures. Performance measures cover reliability, punctuality, compliance and reporting. During a period of scheduled unavaila…

28 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the replacement of MV Hamnavoe with MV Helliar on the Stromness to Scrabster route in January 2014 is compliant with the terms of the contract that it signed with Serco in 2012.

Answer · Keith Brown: The replacement service that will be provided in January 2014, is compliant with the terms of the public service contract signed between Scottish Ministers and Serco Limited. The contract requires the operator to provide a suitable replacement vessel to unde…