Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-03076

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it plans to use to assess how successful the ScotRail peak fares removal pilot has been.

Question reference: S6O-03063

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what dialogue it has had with Inverclyde Council regarding the Scottish Budget for 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-25083

Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-24891

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on meeting its tree planting targets of the proposed reduction to the budget for woodland creation grant funding.

Question reference: S6W-24310

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 31 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) other staff, including those appointed by ministers, have worked in its Scottish Affairs Office in Brussels in each year since its establishment, also broken down by (i) job title and (ii) pay grade.

The Scottish Government Brussels office was established in 1999 and staffing records covering the entirety of its existence are not held. The currently held information on staffing numbers, job titles and pay grade is outlined below.

1. Staffing numbers

18-19 – 16

19-20 – 17

20-21 – 17

22-23 – 17

23-24 - 17

2. Job titles and pay grade

Director

Deputy Director

Senior Policy Adviser Energy and Marine – SG A-C band*

Senior Policy Adviser Research and Innovation - SG A-C band

Senior Policy Adviser Trade, Economics and Inclusive Growth - SG A-C band

Head, International Justice Cooperation Unit - SG A-C band

Senior Policy Adviser Political, EU Institutions and Engagement - SG A-C band

Marine Planning and Strategy Manager - SG A-C band

EU Policy Officer - Trade & Economic Development - SG A-C band

Policy Adviser - Environment & Transport - SG A-C band

Policy and Communications Officer - SG A-C band

Events and Visits Manager - Country based staff (CBS) A-B band

Policy Officer: European Parliament and Bilateral - CBS A-B band

Executive Assistant to Director and Deputy Director - CBS Administrative Officer

Finance, Administrative Support Officer - CBS Administrative Officer

Corporate Services - CBS Administrative Officer

Policy and Communications Support Officer - CBS Intern

The staffing profile of the office has remained in place for the period covered by point 1), except for the addition of the 'EU Policy Officer - Trade & Economic Development' post in 2019-20.

* Please note we are unable to provide a small amount of the information you have requested relating to the specific pay grades of each member of staff. This information is personal data of a third party, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Question reference: S6W-24305

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 31 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) other staff, including those appointed by ministers, have worked in its Scottish Affairs Office in China in each year since its establishment, also broken down by (i) job title and (ii) pay grade.

The Scottish Government Office in China has operated with 4 members of staff since its establishment in 2005. Provided below are details of salary scale and job titles:

Scottish Government Civil Servants / Salary scale

Job Title

Country Based Staff

Job Title

1 x A-C Band

Head of Scottish Government Office

3

Deputy Head of Scottish Government Office

Head of Events

Head of Engagements and Media

Please note we are unable to provide a small amount of the information you have requested relating to the specific pay grades of each member of staff. This information is personal data of a third party, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Question reference: S6W-24309

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 31 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) other staff, including those appointed by ministers, have worked in its Scottish Affairs Office in Copenhagen in each year since its establishment, also broken down by (i) job title and (ii) pay grade.

The Scottish Government Office in Copenhagen has operated with 3 members of staff since its established in 2022.

Scottish Government Civil Servants / Salary scale

Job Title

Country Based Staff

Job Title

2 x A-C Band

Head of Scottish Government Office

Deputy Head of Scottish Government Office

1

Office and Events Manager

Please note we are unable to provide a small amount of the information you have requested relating to the specific pay grades of each member of staff. This information is personal data of a third party, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Question reference: S6W-24306

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 31 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) other staff, including those appointed by ministers, have worked in its Scottish Affairs Office in the USA in each year since its establishment, also broken down by (i) job title and (ii) pay grade.

The Scottish Government Office in the USA has operated with either 4 or 5 members of staff since its establishment in 2001. Provided below are details of salary scale and job titles from 2018-19:

FY	Scottish Government Civil Servants - Salary scale	Job Title	Country Based Staff	Job Title
2018-19	2 x A-C Band	Head of Scottish Government Office Deputy Head of Scottish Government Office	2	Office-Project Manager Communications & Engagements Officer
2019-20	2 x A-C Band	Head of Scottish Government Office Deputy Head of Scottish Government Office	2	Project and Events Manager Communications & Engagements Officer
2020-21	2 x A-C Band	Head of Scottish Government Office Deputy Head of Scottish Government Office	3	Project and Events Manager Congressional Engagements Officer (intern) Communications Manager
2021-22	2 x A-C Band	Head of Scottish Government Office Deputy Head of Scottish Government Office	3	Project and Events Manager Communications Manager Relationships Manager (1 year)
2022-23	2 x A-C Band	Head of Scottish Government Office Deputy Head of Scottish Government Office	2	Project and Events Manager Communication Manager
2023-24	2 x A-C Band	Head of Scottish Government Office Deputy Head of Scottish Government Office	2	Project and Events Manager Communications Manager

Between the financial years 2007-08 and 2013-14, the Head of Scottish Government Office in the USA was graded as SCS1. From 2014-15 this role was regraded within A-C Band.

Please note we are unable to provide a small amount of the information you have requested relating to the specific pay grades of each member of staff. This information is personal data of a third party, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Question reference: S6W-24332

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 31 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to conducting a revaluation of Council Tax bands across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-24999

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 January 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its Programme for Government commitment to pilot a new aquaculture consenting process to help deliver a more streamlined regime across Scotland.

In the 2023-24 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to pilot a new aquaculture consenting process in two local authority areas to help deliver a more streamlined regime across Scotland.

I am pleased to inform Parliament that pilots for a new pre-application consenting process for fish farm developments are underway in the Shetland and Highland local authority areas.

The commencement of these pilots is a result of the work undertaken by the Consenting Task Group, which I established in November 2022 to consider the recommendations of the Independent Review of Aquaculture Consenting and to identify and pilot improvements to the consenting system.

The Consenting Task Group, which includes representatives from the fish farming sector, SEPA, local authorities and other regulators, have worked together to co-design a new management process which maintains robust assessment of development proposals, but which coordinates and enables appropriately informed regulatory decisions to be made as quickly as possible.

During the pilot phase, the Consenting Task Group will continue to meet on a quarterly basis to share key learnings and make improvements as part of an iterative review process.

I would like to thank the Consenting Task Group’s Chair, Professor Dickon Howell, and all the task group members for their contributions to the pilots and I look forward to further progress. Information on the work of the Consenting Task Group is available on the Scottish Government webpages.

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