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-07608

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, how many properties (a) are eligible and (b) have applied for the (i) £400 and (ii) £5,000 voucher, all broken down by (A) local authority area and (B) Scottish Parliament constituency.

The interim voucher portion of the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is now closed. We do not hold data for Scottish Parliamentary constituencies. However, data on voucher eligibility for all 32 Scottish Local Authorities is provided in the following table:

Local Authority	Properties eligible for the voucher worth up to £5,000
Aberdeen City	2,231
Aberdeenshire	6,437
Angus	1,916
Argyll and Bute	3,897
City of Edinburgh	4,601
Clackmannanshire	317
Dumfries and Galloway	3,616
Dundee City	630
East Ayrshire	1,440
East Dunbartonshire	1,392
East Lothian	1,071
East Renfrewshire	1,197
Falkirk	1,579
Fife	3,801
Glasgow City	11,317
Highland	10,316
Inverclyde	398
Midlothian	1,297
Moray	2,552
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	1,912
North Ayrshire	1,222
North Lanarkshire	1,314
Orkney Islands	2,404
Perth and Kinross	3,890
Renfrewshire	2,017
Scottish Borders	2,304
Shetland Islands	1,850
South Ayrshire	977
South Lanarkshire	2,480
Stirling	1,642
West Dunbartonshire	391
West Lothian	1,447
Total	83,855

Data on the number of applications received through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (as of 1 March 2022) is provided in the following table:

	Voucher worth up to £400			Voucher worth up to £5,000
Local Authority	Vouchers Requested	Vouchers Issued	Vouchers Installed	Vouchers Requested	Vouchers Issued	Vouchers Installed
Aberdeen City			1		8	13
Aberdeenshire	3	41	75	12	175	271
Angus	4	1	8		103	39
Argyll & Bute		8	13		24	37
City of Edinburgh					14	12
Clackmannanshire	1	1	7		1	5
Dumfries & Galloway		7	110		28	23
Dundee City					17	1
East Ayrshire		1	16		6	7
East Dunbartonshire					2	1
East Lothian			3		15	7
East Renfrewshire	1		5		4	4
Falkirk		1	4	2	10	2
Fife		1	10	1	16	21
Glasgow City					9	9
Highland	1	7	45	1	161	196
Inverclyde			1			1
Midlothian			11		15	6
Moray	1	5	27	1	75	75
Na h-Eileanan an Iar
North Ayrshire			10		1	16
North Lanarkshire		1	7		18	11
Orkney Islands				5	60	9
Perth & Kinross	1	17	78	1	37	45
Renfrewshire			7		11	4
Scottish Borders	2	14	154		31	57
Shetland Islands
South Ayrshire			2		1	11
South Lanarkshire	1	3	39		6	21
Stirling		5	104	7	17	24
West Dunbartonshire			2
West Lothian			1			2
Total	15	113	740	30	865	930

Question reference: S6W-07602

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has done of any satellite services that can be procured for the purpose of providing broadband to properties that will not be served by the R100 programme and will be able to be purchased with a £5,000 main voucher under the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-07599

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Starlink satellite service as a means of providing superfast broadband to hard-to-reach properties across Scotland.

Officials advise that Starlink's base level satellite internet service offers speeds of between 50Mbps and 150Mbps, but that Starlink's beta commercial service is currently only available at a latitude below 55 degrees. This means it is unavailable to the vast majority of premises in Scotland at this time.

Starlink has indicated that they have plans to make their service available above 55 degrees latitude in financial year 2022-23 – however, there is no firm date for further availability of the service.

Question reference: S6W-07565

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any Chinese state influence or interference in universities in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-07568

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any reported allegations that the Chinese Communist Party, through student groups on university campuses in Scotland, is seeking to deter certain events from taking place, and, if so, what action has been taken to address this.

Question reference: S6W-07597

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the deadline for applications for the interim voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme for people who are experiencing delays under the R100 programme.

Question reference: S6W-07606

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07084 by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022, how many requests for vouchers through the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme have been declined in each local authority area, also broken down by (a) interim and (b) main voucher scheme.

Question reference: S6W-08114

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are for future voluntary use of domestic COVID-19 certification in light of the change in guidance on asymptomatic testing and ending of the universal testing offer.

Given the change in guidance on 18 April on asymptomatic testing and the ceasing of the universal testing offer as set out in the Test and Protect Transition Plan , it would no longer be appropriate for Covid Status Certification to be used domestically. We have therefore removed the guidance for customers and businesses on domestic certification from the Scottish Government website and the domestic function of the Covid Status app will be switched off shortly at a date to be agreed in line with the rest of the UK.

The NHS Scotland Covid Status app will continue to be used to facilitate international travel for the foreseeable future until it is no longer required.

Question reference: S6W-07529

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last reviewed the use of confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements, and whether it has any plans to update the guidance and legislation on these in (a) general and (b) relation to sexual harassment, victimisation and assault cases.

Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) are used for a variety of purposes and may be included in a number of different contractual and settlement arrangements. The Scottish Government has no plans to review the use of NDAs at this time. In an employment context, the UK Government consulted on measures to prevent the misuse of NDAs in situations of workplace harassment or discrimination in 2019 and further information can be found here . Responsibility for employment law is a reserved matter.

Question reference: S6W-07510

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made and action it has taken to ensure that former Hong Kong residents who resettle in Scotland are not subjected to racism or discrimination.

The Scottish Government is committed to upholding and advancing the rights of those that choose to make their life here in Scotland, including former Hong Kong residents. Racism and discrimination are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with the UK Government, COSLA, Police Scotland and third sector partners to understand the needs and requirements of former Hong Kong residents to support their integration into our communities.

As well as publishing a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, we have also provided funding to COSLA, who have a dedicated online Hong Kong Welcome Hub intended for Hong Kong BN(O) migrants arriving in Scotland and Council Officers supporting their integration. Both resources include information on what to do if someone is the victim of racism or discriminatory practices.

We encourage anyone subjected to racism or discrimination to report it to the relevant authorities.