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-25542

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the workforce was unemployed in each of the last five financial years, also broken down by local authority area.

Estimates for the unemployment rate for people aged 16 years and over in Scotland, broken down by local authority, are shown in the following table for the last five financial years.

Area	Apr 2018 - Mar 2019	Apr 2019 - Mar 2020	Apr 2020 - Mar 2021	Apr 2021 - Mar 2022	Apr 2022 - Mar 2023
Aberdeen City	4.9	2.5	4.7	3.6	4.3
Aberdeenshire	2.6	2.0	3.6	3.0	2.4
Angus	3.7	2.6	4.7	3.1	3.2
Argyll and Bute	3.1	2.6	4.0	2.9	3.1
City of Edinburgh	3.8	2.5	4.3	3.1	2.4
Clackmannanshire	4.3	3.6	4.8	3.4	4.7
Dumfries and Galloway	3.0	2.7	4.7	3.4	4.0
Dundee City	5.8	5.1	5.4	4.6	5.6
East Ayrshire	5.5	4.6	5.2	3.8	3.7
East Dunbartonshire	2.9	2.3	3.7	2.9	2.5
East Lothian	3.6	2.5	4.1	2.8	2.5
East Renfrewshire	3.5	2.4	4.1	3.1	2.5
Falkirk	3.8	3.7	4.2	3.2	3.8
Fife	4.6	4.1	5.0	3.7	3.9
Glasgow City	5.5	4.6	5.6	4.4	4.7
Highland	2.9	2.1	3.8	2.8	2.6
Inverclyde	5.0	4.7	4.9	3.5	3.6
Midlothian	3.5	2.4	4.0	2.3	2.5
Moray	3.7	2.7	4.3	3.2	3.2
Na h-Eileanan Siar	2.5	2.0	3.7	2.6	2.5
North Ayrshire	5.8	5.0	5.9	4.0	3.4
North Lanarkshire	4.4	4.0	5.7	3.7	3.9
Orkney Islands	2.0	1.5	3.1	2.8	2.0
Perth and Kinross	2.9	2.3	4.3	2.5	3.1
Renfrewshire	4.8	3.7	4.4	3.2	3.7
Scottish Borders	3.2	2.8	4.4	3.3	3.5
Shetland Islands	2.1	1.7	3.2	2.1	1.9
South Ayrshire	4.5	3.5	4.9	3.8	4.5
South Lanarkshire	4.0	3.0	4.6	3.1	3.2
Stirling	3.7	3.1	4.0	3.1	3.2
West Dunbartonshire	4.8	4.2	5.2	3.6	4.0
West Lothian	3.9	2.9	4.1	3.0	2.9
Scotland	4.1	3.2	4.7	3.4	3.5

Source: Annual Population Survey, April to March data, ONS and Claimant Count, ONS

Notes:

1. Unemployment figures for local authorities are model-based, except for the Scotland estimates which have been taken directly from the ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) dataset. The model-based estimates improve on the APS estimates by borrowing strength from the claimant count to produce an estimate that is more precise.

2. Data is subject to sampling variation.

3. Rates are based on unrounded numbers.

4. Rates are rounded to the nearest decimal point.

5. Estimates are based on those aged 16 and over.

Question reference: S6O-03182

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the remaining £46 million of deferred funding from the agriculture budget will be returned.

Question reference: S6W-25282

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its civil servants are currently employed in the Aberdeen City Council area.

Question reference: S6W-25278

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has distributed in flood recovery grants to (a) homes and (b) businesses affected by Storm Babet.

The Scottish Government has funded Angus, Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross Councils to distribute £516,000 in community recovery grants and £240,000 in business recovery grants to eligible homes and businesses affected by Storm Babet, totalling £756,000.

In addition, £100,000 was provided to Angus Council through the Homelessness Prevention Fund to help families who had been flooded to rebuild their lives, and £1.8m was pledged to support farmers to help repair damaged floodbanks. Ministers also activated the Bellwin Scheme to help affected local authorities with revenue and uninsurable expenditure resulting from the storm, and extended the eligibility period of claims from two to four months.

Question reference: S6W-25265

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the percentage change in the amount allocated to the Just Transition Fund is from financial year 2023-24 to 2024-25.

In 2024-25 there has been a regrettable 51.2% reduction in capital allocated to the Just Transition Fund in 2024-25.

There has been a 100% reduction in financial transactions allocated to the Just Transition Fund in 2024-25.

The change in budget allocation to the Just Transition Fund is due to a reduction in capital and financial transactions funding allocations from the UK Government which the Fund relies on. I remain entirely committed to the multi-annual funding commitment to provide £500m over ten years. 75m has been provided to date and 16m will be spent in 24/25.

Question reference: S6W-25266

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of spend from the Just Transition Fund in financial year 2022-23.

The Just Transition Fund has allocated £75 million to date, supporting projects and communities across the North East and Moray to create jobs, support innovation, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future.

A total of 23 projects were delivered through the Just Transition Fund in 2022-23.

Spend totalled £10.9 million comprised of £9.93 million in capital, £500,000 in financial transactions and £465,000 in resource funding support. A breakdown across projects is detailed in the flowing table:

Energy Transition Skills Hub (formerly Advanced Manufacturing Skills Hub	£1,180,000 (capital)
Cabrach Distillery	£361,767.25 (capital)
Climate Assemblies Pilot	£214,055 (resource)
Community Capacity Support	£23,968 (resource)
Digital Innovation Lab	£313,982.04 (capital)
Easter Anguston Farm	£504,446.86 (capital)
Energy Skills Passport	1,871,967.88 (capital)
Findhorn Ecovillage	£226,775 (capital)
Findhorn Watershed Initiative	£139,972.45 (capital)
Hydrogen Offshore Production (HOP2)	£126,000 (capital)
Hydroglen	£262,270.09 (capital)
Just Transition Hub	£243,601.16 (capital)
Moray Council Just Transition Masterplan	£250,544.62 (capital)
NESS Carbon Capture Feasibility Study	£96,750 (capital)
North East Adventure Tourism (NEAT)	£397,000 (capital)
Participatory Budgeting	£1 million (capital), £200,000 (resource)
Pilot Energy Skills Project	£39,960 (capital)
SeedPod	£500,000 (capital)
Social Enterprise Just Transition Fund	£476k (capital), £500k (FT’s), £27,180 (resource)
Sustainable Solvent Recovery/EV Battery Recycling	£457,559 (capital)
Supply Chain Pathway and Energy Transition Challenge Fund	£1,299,598 (capital)
Tidal Rotor Generator	£71,200 (capital)
Moray Net Zero Bottlenecks	£41,596.47 (capital)
Wave Energy Converter	£70,000 (capital)

Question reference: S6W-25267

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of spend from the Just Transition Fund in financial year 2023-24.

A total of 20 projects are currently being delivered through the Just Transition Fund in 2023-24.

Spend is still ongoing to March end 2024 with just under £12 million drawn down by projects to date. This is comprised of £10.3 million in capital, £1 million in financial transactions and £671,000 in resource.

A further £3.15 million of 2023-24 forecast spend has been reprofiled into 2024-25 financial year.

In addition, £25 million was allocated to the Scottish National Investment Bank for 2023-24, to be invested in the North East on a commercial basis, in line with the Bank’s Investment Strategy and its Missions, including to support a Just Transition to net zero.

Question reference: S6W-25281

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on the Scottish economy of the UK Government's decision to grant approval of the Rosebank oil field.

Offshore oil and gas licensing and the associated fiscal regime are both reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government does not undertake detailed assessments of the economic impacts of individual oil and gas field developments.

We are aware that Equinor, as 80% owner of the Rosebank field, has stated that they expect it to create £8.5 billion of total direct investment (of which 77% is expected to be in UK-based businesses).

The Scottish Government recognises, and welcomes, the positive contribution that North Sea oil and gas continues to make to the economy. The answer to question S6W-25271 on 27 February 2024 on includes information on the Gross Value Added by the oil and industry as a whole to Scotland's economy. It is also the case that the North Sea basin is declining and unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is inconsistent with the climate emergency and our just transition commitments.

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 .

Question reference: S6W-25279

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has received regarding whether any public funding that it has provided to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency has contributed to funding any proscribed terrorist groups.

We are deeply concerned by the allegations arising in January 2024 that UNRWA staff may have been involved in the October 7 attacks on Israel. Ahead of Scottish Government awarding funding to UNRWA in November 2023, UNRWA provided a copy of the regulatory framework which governs financial management and staff conduct within the organisation. That regulatory framework was scrutinised by Scottish Government officials as part of our due diligence process ahead of awarding funding.

Immediately after these allegations emerged, Scottish Government officials contacted UNWRA with specific reference to the serious allegations that had been made public to seek assurance on finance, and to enquire about the investigation as a matter of urgency. In particular, Scottish Government officials asked UNRWA for an update on what Scottish Government’s contribution to the UNRWA appeal had been spent on and assurance that it had not contributed to funding any proscribed terrorist groups. UNWRA responded to that Scottish Government enquiry, confirming that the Scottish funding within the UNRWA appeal had been used to contribute towards supporting lifesaving activities targeting vulnerable groups (children, women, and elderly) with protection and emergency hygiene needs.

As part of the agreement governing the contribution to this appeal, UNRWA is required to provide Scottish Government with the UNRWA Annual Operational Report for the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 no later than 31st July 2024.

In February, Scottish Government officials received an update from UNRWA that the UN Secretary-General, in consultation with the UNRWA Commissioner-General, commissioned an independent review to assess if the Agency is doing everything it can to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches. A final report is expected in April and will be made publicly available.

UNRWA released a press statement on 26 February 2024 stating that it is not aware of and has received no specific allegations regarding any systemic diversion of aid in Gaza by Hamas or other armed groups.

UNRWA is the largest humanitarian actor in Gaza and the primary source of life-saving aid for 2.3 million people. In pausing support for UNRWA, the lives of millions are being put at risk. The UK Government and the international community must work with the UN to find mechanisms to sustain and increase the levels of life-saving aid getting into Gaza.

Question reference: S6W-25512

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what economic impact assessment has been carried out in relation to any potential delay to the north east rail improvement project to reduce rail travel times between Aberdeen and the central belt by 20 minutes.