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 MSPs 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: S6W-13626

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place to monitor and evaluate its eight international offices and Scotland House, London.

Each Scottish Government international office submits a monitoring and evaluation report every financial year. Offices use a range of both qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure their performance; monitor their effectiveness; ensure they are achieving their strategic objectives and that they are providing value for money.

We are committed to ensuring our international work is measurable, transparent and available to the public. From this year onwards, we will publish an annual report explaining how our international offices work to promote our values, objectives and priorities across the globe.

Question reference: S6W-12859

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress had been made regarding the reform of the Traffic Regulation Orders system.

Amended Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) regulations were introduced in November 2021 for use by all Road Authorities to help tackle the main issues that had been raised by the TRO Review Group.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with a range of stakeholders including the local authority sector, Police Scotland, business and active travel representatives to understand any remaining issues being encountered with the various road order processes.

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-12589

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 publish the minutes of the New Scots Core Group’s (a) July 2022 meeting and (b) (i) January and (ii) February 2022 workshop.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, and involves a wide range of partners across different sectors.

The New Scots Core Group brings together key stakeholders and is responsible for monitoring and reviewing progress against the overarching outcomes of the strategy. The Core Group is chaired by Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow.

The Core Group usually meets four times a year. This year, the group undertook a two-part workshop in January and February, as part of the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project. The Core Group then met in June and in October, with the final meeting of the year set to take place in December.

The workshops in January and February were run by our external evaluator and looked at the Theory of Change for the New Scots strategy as part of the external evaluation. Details of these workshops will be made available in a wider ScotCen evaluation report which is due to be published in March 2023.

We will publish the minutes from the Core Group’s June meeting shortly.

Question reference: S6W-12477

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken since the recommendations were made by the National Review of Care Allowances Group.

Question reference: S6W-12476

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing the recommendations of the National Review of Care Allowances.

Question reference: S6W-12586

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 6 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) working groups and (b) advisory groups there currently are within the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture portfolio, and whether it will provide a list of these groups.

There are currently three working groups, nine advisory groups and one that is both a working and advisory group within the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture portfolio. These are as follows:

‎ Working Groups

‎ • Public Interest Journalism Working Group: Public Interest Journalism Working Group
‎ • Measuring Change Group: National Partnership for Culture: National Partnership for Culture: Workshop 4 – measuring change information paper - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

• Local and National Delivery Group – newly established working group to improve local and national government collaborative working on Culture. Terms of reference in development so not currently published.

‎ Advisory Groups

‎ • Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population: https://www.gov.scot/groups/migration-and-population-expert-advisory-group/

• The Global South Panel
‎ • Creative Industries Leadership Group: https://www.gov.scot/groups/creative-industries-leadership-group/
‎ • National Partnership for Culture: National Partnership for Culture - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

• Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel(SAFAP): SAFAP - Treasure Trove (treasuretrovescotland.co.uk)

• 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships Policy Advisory Group: Governance | 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships (cyclingworldchamps.com)

• Event Industry Advisory Group (EIAG): Event Industry Advisory Group - Updates & Guidance | VisitScotland.org

• 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships Cabinet: Governance | 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships (cyclingworldchamps.com)

• Culture Convenors – group jointly chaired by SG and COSLA as described in the Culture Strategy: A Culture Strategy for Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Both Advisory and Working Group

‎ • Scotland’s Historic Environment Forum (SHEF): https://www.historicenvironment.scot/media/8668/shef-290622-event-report.pdf

In addition to the groups listed above, Portfolio officials frequently meet with stakeholders across a number of other groups and one to one meetings.

Question reference: S6W-12315

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11932 by Neil Gray on 15 November 2022, for what reason it will not publish a breakdown of the allocations made.

Question reference: S6W-12267

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11628 by Neil Gray on 7 November 2022, what action it took following the letter received by the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture from the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) on 26 September 2022.

Further to the answer to question S6W-11628, answered on 7 November 2022, I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-11493 on 26 October 2022, and S6T-00915 on 25 October 2022. The administration process is still ongoing, but I would like to assure the member that the Scottish Government is continuing to engage with key partners in relation to this matter, including Creative Scotland.

The answer to Topical Question S6T-00915 can be found here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-25-10-2022?meeting=13939&iob=126317#16180

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers