Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-12845

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct the National Records of Scotland to include the Auditor General’s recommendations relating to Scotland's Census 2022 from the 2021/22 audit of National Records of Scotland into its lessons learned exercise on the census.

Question reference: S6W-12768

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons the team producing the housing statistics quarterly update for December 2022 did not have the required capacity and time to process the data on schedule.

As stated in the list of Scottish Government forthcoming official statistics published at Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , the planned publication month for the next Housing Statistics for Scotland quarterly update was moved from the month of December 2022 to January 2023 due to team capacity and to allow further time to process the data.

The housing statistics team that produces the quarterly publication have been involved in a range of other work over recent weeks, including the Housing and Regeneration Outcomes Framework Indicator Updates published on 22 November 2022, the latest Private Sector Rent Statistics Scotland 2010 to 2022 published on 29 November 2022, as well as providing resource to support work on the emergency legislation Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Scotland Act. This has impacted on the capacity of the team to be able to prepare and publish the housing statistics quarterly update in December, which is planned for release in January 2023.

Question reference: S6W-12670

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how its current forestry strategy protects Scottish biodiversity and food security.

The Scottish Forestry Strategy is based on the international principles of Sustainable Forest Management which require all forests and woodlands to contribute to biodiversity. Of the six Priorities for Action in the Scottish Forestry Strategy the following three promote the safeguarding biodiversity as well as priority species and habitats:

Increasing the adaptability and resilience of forests and woodlands,
Enhancing the environmental benefits provided by forests and woodlands.
Expanding the area of forests and woodlands, recognising wider land-use objectives;

The Scottish Forestry Strategy emphasises the importance of taking wider land use objectives into account when expanding our woodlands and forests, and one of the key objectives considered is when doing so is food security, which is further recognised in wider Scottish Government Strategies and Plans.

The Strategy also states that ‘we will focus on achieving greater integration between forestry and other land-based businesses, such as crofting, farming, and estate management’. The latest Forestry Strategy Implementation Plan (2022-2025), includes actions to promote greater integration of land use including the farmer-led

Integrating Trees Network which promotes the benefit of woodland creation on farms, such as providing shelter for livestock, enhancing biodiversity and a source of income.

Question reference: S6W-12643

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether additional NHS boards may need to be placed into Stage 4 of NHS Scotland’s National Performance Framework for Governance, Leadership and Culture, in light of the escalation in NHS Forth Valley announced on 23 November 2022.

The decision to escalate or de-escalate an NHS Board is based on a combination of evidence. Escalation addresses complex issues and an element of judgement will always be required. In order to support robust decision-making in this sphere, the Scottish Government regularly convenes the National Planning and Performance Oversight Group which considers a range of data and intelligence relating to the delivery of health and social care across Scotland and the performance of our health boards. Should there be a requirement to escalate any additional NHS Boards, for any reason, I will update Parliament in the first instance.

Question reference: S6W-12692

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made in developing a (a) business case and (b) delivery plan for the proposed Clyde Metro.

Question reference: S6W-12587

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all international trips taken by the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 1 January 2022, and what the cost was of each flight for him and any accompanying staff for each trip.

Ministerial engagements and expenses, including those for overseas travel, are proactively published by the Scottish Government three months in arrears in line with the Ministerial Code. This can be accessed via the Scottish Government website .

Travelling to other countries allows Ministers to promote Scotland, build relationships and boost investment - including emphasising the Scottish Government's role in working with partners to support Scottish companies.

The cost of flights for those accompanying me, up to and including trips proactively published on the SG website, are listed below.

Date of Travel	Destination	Flight cost
8 March 2022	Dublin	£109.16
3 April 2022	Canada and USA	£3620.94
20 April 2022	Germany	£373.68
30 May 2022	Belgium	TBC
29 August 2022	Slovenia	£724.07

Question reference: S6W-12588

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all international trips taken by the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since his appointment up until 31 December 2021, and what the cost was of each flight for him and any accompanying staff for each trip.

Question reference: S6W-12844

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to regional festivals, in light of the cost of living crisis.

The Scottish Government and its agencies support many of our festivals and events in a multitude of ways as set out in the following table:

Financial Support – financial year 2022-23

Funding Stream	Funding Provided	Notes
Scottish Government: EXPO	£1.8m for 12 major Edinburgh and Glasgow Festivals, plus £200,00 provided to Festivals Edinburgh	Since the start of the pandemic upon until now, we have supported the major Edinburgh and Glasgow festivals with approximately £14.1 million in EXPO, PLaCE, Gateway, and Covid emergency funding support, to enable their safe and successful return, as well as a £1m interest free loan to the Fringe Society.
Scottish Government: PLACE	£1m for the Platforms for Creative Excellence Programme (PLACE), which is match funded by City of Edinburgh Council, for the 10 major Edinburgh Festivals, as well as additional funding for Festivals Edinburgh.
Creative Scotland: Regularly Funded Organisations	£2,663,336 has been provided to 11 festivals around the country, other than the major EXPO festivals.	£6,349,510 in RFO funding to 18 festivals or organisations that deliver festivals, which includes 7 of the 12 EXPO funded festivals.
Creative Scotland: Open Funding	£1,423,973 in Open Funding to 29 festivals other than the major EXPO festivals.	All of the festivals or organisations that present festivals in receipt of Open Funding are not EXPO funded.
Event Scotland: International Events Programme	The EventScotland International Events Programme supported 33 events with over £1.9 million funding including the Burrell Collection Reopening, BWA Tiree Wave Classic, The Royal National Mòd and Edinburgh International Festival.
Event Scotland: National Events Programme	In 2022, EventScotland supported a range of events through the return of existing programmes including over £1 million funding to 93 events across Rounds 45 & 46 of the EventScotland National Events Programme. During 2022 EventScotland also supported 18 events across 12 Local Authorities (£160k budget) as part of the Community Cycling Fund (Round 1)	This has been designed to give everyone the chance to experience the joy riding a bike can bring to their everyday lives in a fun and safe environment while also creating a lasting benefit from the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. Events included Fife Loves Cycling, Recyke-a-Bike Celebrate Cycling Festival weekend, and Get About Aberdeen Cycling Festival.
Year of Stories	The Scottish Government has supported 180 community-centred Community Stories events and festivals with £735k of partnership funding and 21 Open Funded events and festivals with £600k of funding, the latter via EventScotland.	During 2022 for Scotland’s Year of Stories, Scottish Government has been working in partnership with EventScotland, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Museums and Galleries Scotland,
Dandelion	In support of the Scottish activity, Scottish Ministers have assigned total funding of £11.002 million (gross) to EventScotland split across two financial years, 2021-22 and 2022-23.	Within the overall sum allocated to EventScotland, funding is included to provide support for identified activities such as: Dandelion project commission - £7.08 million net (£8.5m gross incl. VAT) Commissioning, governance, management, and engagement. Contribution to wider shared programme activities; including learning and participation resources, marketing, digital and communications, evaluation and monitoring, international engagement– £2.14 million net (£2.5m gross incl. VAT)

Wherever possible funding has been provided to support organisations to manage the current costs of living crisis, for example: Creative Scotland has advised all Regularly Funded Organisations that annual awards can be utilised to address financial impacts of rising operational costs and that Creative Scotland will be flexible where this causes organisations to deviate from planned spending on projects/other work.

In terms of Open Fund, Creative Scotland advise that all applicants take rising costs into consideration when submitting their budgets for consideration and in deciding upon what level of funding to apply for.

Non-Financial Support: 2022-23

As part of Scotland’s Year of Stories, EventScotland has also supported 140 unfunded Partnership Events and festivals, throughout Scotland, by offering the opportunity for free events listings on the VisitScotland website for any events which align with Year of Stories, marketing webinars plus a free marketing toolkit available on the VisitScotland website to support events and communities to get involved.

The Scottish Government has created a free toolkit of information resources to continue to embed the values messaging key to St Andrew’s Day and support events taking place across Scotland. This toolkit has been co-created with Scotland Food and Drink, VisitScotland and SDI and we have included Fair Saturday as well as the Scotland Loves Local initiative run by the Scottish Towns Partnership.

VisitScotland also launched a new promotional campaign (running April – June 2022) entitled ‘Buzz is Back’ to showcase Scotland’s exciting, exhilarating, and eclectic mix of music, cultural and sporting events to audiences, and to help support the sector as part of the recovery from the pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-12820

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when Healthcare Improvement Scotland will report to ministers on insights and different approaches to the redesign of learning disability day services in the context of COVD-19, and how service users, families, carers and disabled people's organisations will be involved in this work.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of day services to both those who use them and to their families and carers and has been working closely with local areas to ensure that services are delivered safely. Revised guidance for buildings-based day services was published on 26 May 2022 and 28 September 2022. The guidance says that such services should return to pre-pandemic capacity wherever possible, while operating safely in line with COVID-19 guidance.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) was commissioned to gather and provide insights into different approaches to the redesign of learning disability day services, recognising the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created for service users, their families and service providers. A range of methods have been used to progress this programme of work including national learning sessions, connections sessions and focus groups. As a result, services have collaborated with people who use services, families, carers and disabled people's organisations to develop new community-based approaches to day service provision. Information on the work currently being undertaken can be found on the ihub website at: New Models for Learning Disability Day Support Collaborative | Healthcare Improvement Scotland - New Models for Learning Disability Day Support Collaborative (ihub.scot)

This programme of work concludes at the end of March 2023 and a final report will be published on the ihub website.

Question reference: S6W-12818

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, for its (a) Alcohol Harm Prevention Policy Team, (b) Alcohol Treatment Policy Team and (c) Drugs Policy Unit, how many posts there are in each team, and of these, how many are currently filled.

Chamber and committees