Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-16661

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed in the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the Slovenian Minister for Foreign Affairs on 30 August 2022.

State Secretary Marko Štucin and I had a constructive meeting last year during which we discussed areas for collaboration including equalities and AI.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

Question reference: S6W-16659

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed in the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and Catherine Martin, Irish Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, on 8 March 2022.

The Minister and I had a constructive meeting last year during which we discussed Ireland’s Basic Income for Artists Scheme and the Euro 2028 football championships.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

Question reference: S6W-16663

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed in the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the French Minister of State for Europe on 4 October 2022.

The Minister and I had a constructive meeting last year in Paris during which we discussed the scope for further developing Franco-Scottish relations and discussed the challenges of welcoming refugees following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

Question reference: S6W-16657

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many overseas trips members of the Cabinet declined to attend in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-16660

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed in the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and Simon Coveney, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, on 9 March 2022.

The Minister and I had a constructive meeting last year during which we discussed the progress on Scottish-Irish Bilateral Review and how we support displaced people from Ukraine.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

Question reference: S6W-16654

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are currently working to develop the proposed prospectus for an independent Scotland, broken down by pay grade.

Question reference: S6W-16662

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed in the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the UK’s Ambassador to France on 4 October 2022.

The Ambassador and I had a constructive meeting last year during which we discussed renewable energy and trade, and UK-France relations.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

Question reference: S6W-16652

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund for local authorities and registered social landlords beyond 31 March 2023 for all potentially viable housing proposals, and, if it has no plans to do so, whether it will consider reopening the fund at a later date.

Question reference: S6W-15518

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average response time has been for the Office of the Public Guardian to process (a) Electronic Power of Attorney Registration (EPOAR) submissions and (b) postal power of attorney requests in each financial year from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

The information below has been provided by the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPG). Full-year information is not yet available for 2022-23. The average response time for the OPG to process powers of attorney, online via Electronic Power of Attorney Registrations (EPOAR) and by post, in business days (excluding those expedited where special urgency was indicated) is as follows:


Year	Business Days
Year	EPOAR	Postal
2018-19	30	39
2019-20	36	43
2020-21	150	154
2021-22	123	135

Question reference: S6W-15517

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Office of the Public Guardian, in light of the reported delays for processing power of attorney submission requests, and whether it anticipates an improvement in processing times in the near future.

This question relates to functions that are the responsibility of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) which the Office of the Public Guardian for Scotland (OPG) is a part of. The SCTS is an independent body corporate and as such it is not directly answerable to the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government has regular engagement with SCTS where a range of issues are discussed. The SCTS capital budget allocation will increase from £8 million in 2022-23 to £12.7m in 2023-24. This will include funding to replace the OPG IT system, which will help improve processing times for PoA applications.

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