Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for ��˿�� to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-15107

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) UK Government, (b) Welsh Assembly Government and (c) Northern Ireland Executive since October 2010 regarding the decision of the Office for National Statistics to reclassify colleges as part of central government in Scotland.

There has been a series of written communications, discussions and meetings with HM Treasury, both formal and informal, to discuss the basis of the decision, the implications of implementing this change in Scotland and the timing of that implementation. There has also been informal communication with BIS, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive, which covered respective positions, and associated activity, in relation to ONS classification.

Question reference: S4W-15108

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it has carried out with the college sector and other stakeholders since October 2010 regarding the decision of the Office for National Statistics to reclassify colleges as part of central government in Scotland.

Colleges were notified of the change in 2010. Since then Scottish Ministers have been negotiating with HM Treasury on the basis for the decision, the timing of implementation and the scope for mitigating the implications. Full engagement with the sector could be undertaken only once these issues had been resolved.

The Cabinet Secretaries for Education and Lifelong Learning and Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth held a positive and constructive meeting with college Chairs and Principals on 13 May to discuss the impact of reclassification.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning met with the Regional Leads on 14 May. A Project Team has also been established and met with the college Finance Directors on 23 May.

Question reference: S4W-15106

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with (a) HM Treasury and (b) the Office for National Statistics since October 2010 regarding the decision to reclassify colleges as part of central government in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-14847

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 28 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the level three funding streams for each Scottish Funding Council (a) further and (b) higher education programme (i) have been in each year since 2006, and (ii) will be in each of the next two years.

The level three funding streams for the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) further and higher education programmes are publicly available through the Scottish Budget documents from 2006 onwards:

Information is also provided on adjustments to the SFC’s further education programme by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning’s letter to the Education and Culture Committee on 23 October 2012.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth also gave a commitment to provide additional funding for the SFC FE programme during his 2013-14 budget announcement, on 6 February 2013.

The answer to question S4W-14615 on 2 May 2013 makes clear that the £10 million of additional college funding for 2013-14, announced on 6 February 2013, has now been found from 2012-13 Scottish Government underspend, full details of which will be published within the Scottish Government accounts in due course.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

Question reference: S4F-01414

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2013

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the opinions expressed in the briefing paper, The Funding of Higher Education in Scotland, the UK and Internationally.

Question reference: S4F-01381

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2013

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government is having with local authorities regarding access to Gaelic medium schools.

Question reference: S4W-14413

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 9 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many public toilets have been closed in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S4W-14343

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 3 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4F-01301 by Alex Salmond on 18 April 2013 (Official Report, c.18734), how much it has paid the Big Lottery Fund to administer the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund.

Question reference: S4F-01301

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2013

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to address the delay in implementing the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund.

Question reference: S4W-13858

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Liam McArthur on 15 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what assessment it has made of the (a) impact on the work of and (b) possible additional costs to the Scottish Information Commissioner resulting from changes to EU data protection laws.

EU data protection laws will impact on all Scottish organisations and guidance on this will issue from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office which has responsibility for data protection. The changes will only impact on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s regulatory function in relation to whether personal data is exempt under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. There will therefore be limited impact and the Scottish Information Commissioner has advised that there will be no additional costs to her office as a result of these changes.