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-27204

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many issues NHS Lothian has reported against Consort Healthcare since it took ownership of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

Question reference: S6O-03444

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is ensuring that those awarded public sector contracts and grants meet its Fair Work First requirements, including the payment of the real Living Wage.

Question reference: S6W-27017

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of the Regulatory Review Group meeting of February 2024.

Re-instating the Regulatory Review Group (RRG) was a priority for business when developing the New Deal for Business recommendations and is pivotal in supporting Ministers understand and mitigate challenges associated with implementing regulations. Within its first six months, the RRG scrutinised regulation implementation on high-profile proposals, including Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing, Vaping, Heat in Buildings and Circular Economy Bill.

To ensure transparency, all meeting minutes and advice sent to Scottish Ministers are published on its webpage found on the Scottish Government website. The minutes from the RRG meeting on February 17 have now been published on Regulatory Review Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-27018

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects that Modern Apprenticeship contract awards for 2024-25 will take place.

Question reference: S6W-27019

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to release funding to local authorities for the delivery of No One Left Behind in 2024-25.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering vital public services and supporting households, but to balance the budget with a focus on supporting public services, tackling child poverty, and transitioning to Net Zero, limited funding must be prioritised to deliver the best value for every taxpayer in Scotland. This requires some difficult decisions and robust spending control.

Discussions are continuing to finalise allocations, with funding being released as decisions are taken to ensure activities in agreed areas can proceed as soon as possible. To enable progress and support continuity of service, I can confirm the decision to release funding equivalent to the first quarter of the financial year allocation for No One Left Behind.

Grant Offer Letters for the first quarter were issued to Local Authorities as Lead Accountable Bodies for No One Left Behind on 2 May 2024.

Question reference: S6W-26681

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of each of the 10 recommendations published as part of the Career Review.

In October 2022, the Career Review Programme Board published ' Delivering Careers By Design', including 10 recommendations co-created working with stakeholders and young people.

Since then, 'Career Review Final Report' published in March 2023 set out in further detail how the recommendations will be implemented.

Two of the ten recommendations have already been delivered. Recommendation 1; establishment of a new career development model and Recommendation 10; creation of a career services coalition – the Careers Services Collaborative.

The Collaborative continues to meet, chaired by Grahame Smith, to oversee further implementation of improvements to the careers offer, with a focus on the remaining recommendations. Further information on progress will be published via www.careerreview.scot over the course of the year.

Question reference: S6W-26668

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when Modern Apprenticeship contract awards for 2024-25 new starts and in-training will be issued.

Question reference: S6W-26667

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason suppliers have not been appointed for 2024-25 Modern Apprenticeship contracts, in line with the procurement timeline, and what is causing any delays.

Question reference: S6W-26582

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy has taken, since entering her post, to set up the Small Business Unit.

Both the Cabinet Secretary and myself as Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade are committed to deepening and strengthening our relationship with business, not only through better engagement and communication, but by actively aligning our policy with business and working in partnership on common goals. As small businesses represent just over 98% of businesses, the Programme for Government committed to establish a new Small Business Unit in the Scottish Government to work more closely with small businesses and to ensure they are heard during policy development, building good practice in participation and engagement. I have agreed that a team within the Business and Better Regulation Directorate should take this work forward as this is the most appropriate area to ensure policy is considered through the lens of small business to understand particular impacts. This directorate is made up of highly experienced officers that work closely with small businesses on a daily basis.

I have engaged on a number of occasions with the main business organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) who are also members of the New Deal for Business Group and met FSB representatives recently. I will continue to engage with them and other business organisations to enhance relations and dialogue between the government and small businesses in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-03360

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with Petroineos and trades unions about refining capacity at Grangemouth.