Parliamentary questions

Daniel Johnson

1,103 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

17 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05856 by Derek Mackay on 12 January 2017, how much tax revenue it expects will be generated by the large business rates supplement in 2017-18, broken down by business sector.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government's estimate of non-domestic rates income attributable to the large business supplement for 2017-18 by Assessors' property classification is set out in the following table. Class Estimated income (£m) Advertising 0.1 Care Facilities…

11 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-05135 by Jamie Hepburn on 13 December 2016, what it estimates (a) the cost of the Scottish public sector contribution to the UK Apprenticeship Levy and (b) the net impact on the Scottish Government’s net spending power will be, in each of the next t…

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: a) The cost of the Scottish public sector contribution to the Apprenticeship Levy is estimated at £73 million per annum. b) Given the direct financial impact on public sector employers, in 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, we estimate that the Scottish Governmen…

11 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by Reform Scotland on ending nursery age discrimination.

Answer · Mark McDonald: Starting dates for three year olds are defined in legislation. Under these provisions, children who could start school at around 4½ are entitled to an additional year of ELC if parents wish and start school around 5½; children who will be closer to their 5th …

11 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of reducing local government funding by £327 million would be on funding for schools.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Taking next year’s local government finance settlement plus the other sources of income available through potential increases in council tax and Health and Social Care Integration, the overall increase in spending power to support local authority services, in…

10 Jan 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs it estimates will be lost due to technological change; what the timeline for any losses will be; which sectors it expects to lose the most jobs, and what its skills strategy is to deal with any changes.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government continue to monitor the emerging evidence base in this area, and its implications for Scotland. We recognise the need to anticipate future trends and economic or societal changes and to be able to adapt and react to them quickly. Our …

21 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many commercial properties the large business rates supplement will apply to in 2017-18, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) business sector.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government's estimate of the numbers of properties liable for the large business supplement for 2017-18, broken down by local authority area and by Assessors’ property classification, is set out in the following tables. Local authority Estimate…

21 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each of the last five years on (a) Developing the Young Workforce regional groups, (b) the Flexible Workforce Development Fund, (c) digital economy skills and business support, (d) the Voluntary Sector Development Fund, (e) early years recruitment and training, (…

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Funding has increased 34% from 2012-13 to 2016-17 (estimated spend) on the specific programmes listed below where figures have been provided. The following tables shows the amount spent on the specific programmes requested. a) Developing Young Workforce (re…

21 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each of the last five years on (a) modern apprenticeships, (b) national occupation standards, (c) graduate level apprenticeships, (d) foundation apprenticeships, (e) workforce development and (f) pre-employment support.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: (a) Modern Apprenticeships, SG spent the following on modern apprenticeships in the last five years Programme 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Projected Figures £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 a Modern Apprenticeships 74,988 74,536…

21 Dec 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much tax revenue it expects will be generated by the large business rates supplement in 2017-18, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government's estimate of non-domestic rates income attributable to the large business supplement for 2017-18 by local authority area is set out in the following table. Local authority Estimated income (£ million) Aberdeen City 11.0 Aberdeen…

12 Dec 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to figures released by the Care Inspectorate that show that 70% of four-year-olds were recorded as receiving funded childcare.

6 Dec 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Futures Trust regarding school rebuilding in Edinburgh.

29 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what methodology it uses to analyse how the literacy skills of Scotland’s school pupils compare with others internationally, and whether it will publish the most recent findings.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government welcomes international scrutiny of the education system, and the Scottish Government participates in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Th…

29 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what methodology it uses to analyse how the performance of Scotland’s school pupils in mathematics compares with others internationally, and whether it will publish the most recent findings.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government welcomes international scrutiny of the education system, and participates in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The programme runs every t…

29 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what methodology it uses to analyse how the performance of Scotland’s (a) primary and (b) S1 - S3 school pupils compares with others internationally, and whether it will publish the most recent findings.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government participates in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The programme runs every three years across all OECD members and a variety of partner c…

28 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which public bodies it estimates will pay the apprenticeship levy in Spring 2017 and how much it estimates each will pay.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government estimates that the majority of public bodies in Scotland will pay the UK Government's Apprenticeship Levy. Overall we estimate that Scottish public bodies will pay £73 million in 2016-17. Exact details of each body’s contribution will…

28 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total payroll cost is for each public body in 2016-17 and what estimate it has made of these costs for the next three years.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government does not hold information on total payroll costs centrally. This would be a matter for individual public bodies. However, we do collect projected and actual paybill costs for those employees within public bodies covered by the Scotti…

28 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the introduction of the apprenticeship levy will have on the (a) total money available in the block grant for apprenticeships, (b) cost of paying the levy by the public sector and (c) the net impact on its resource DEL, in each of the next three years.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: a) Funding allocated to the Scottish Government as a result of the introduction of the UK Government Apprenticeship Levy will form part of the Scottish block grant. Barnett consequentials accrued to the Scottish Government are added to or, if comparable UK b…

21 Nov 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its priorities are for public transport.

21 Nov 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister, following the recent call by Save the Children, what action the Scottish Government will take to increase the number of teachers and other staff working in nurseries with specialist training in speech and language development.

8 Nov 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its and its agencies' staff earn below the Scottish Living Wage.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government and its agencies are covered by the Scottish Government’s public sector pay policy and as such are required to pay their employees the Scottish Living Wage as part of their annual pay settlements. This requirement has been an integral …

4 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03782 by Mark McDonald on 3 November 2016, in light of the data in the response providing the information for children who are registered for the funding only, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding the number who are e…

Answer · Mark McDonald: As reported in the Financial Review, we estimate that there were around 16,000 two year olds entitled to free early learning and childcare in Scotland in 2015 under the terms of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. This does not include those ch…

4 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03783 by Mark McDonald on 3 November 2016, in light of the requested information not being held centrally, what the evidence is for its claim in the report, Financial Review of early learning and childcare in Scotland: the current landscape, that th…

Answer · Mark McDonald: We do not routinely collect information on the number of children who are registered with more than one provider. We contacted local authorities in June 2015 to ask them to provide data which would allow us to estimate the double count of registrations for 3 …

1 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the estimate in Deloitte report, State of the State 2016-17, which suggests that one-in-six jobs in the public sector could be lost to automation.

Answer · Keith Brown: We’re committed to ensuring the public sector workforce is fit-for-purpose and can deliver on our digital transformation ambitions. This includes ensuring the resources we have are invested in front-line services. Digital transformation in itself requires t…

1 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of (a) how many and (b) what percentage of jobs are susceptible to be lost to automation or computerisation, broken down by (i) type of job and (ii) sector.

Answer · Keith Brown: There is no analysis undertaken as the data is not gathered or held centrally. As digital transformation plans are developed, a full assessment of the impact at all levels including equality, business and people, will be undertaken.

1 Nov 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to extend access to high-speed fibre broadband across the country.