The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6W-22938

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for passengers stranded on islands due to ferry cancellations.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Question reference: S6W-22939

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for NHS and other healthcare workers.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Question reference: S6W-22937

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for people working in agriculture and aquaculture.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Question reference: S6W-22966

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which of its ministers and officials are attending COP28.

List of Scottish Government Ministers and Senior Civil Servants attending at COP28

Humza Yousaf, First Minister of Scotland

Mairi McAllan, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition

Colin McAllister, Chief of Staff to the First Minister, Co-ordination of the Special Advisers (SpAds) team

Leanne Dobson, Special Adviser Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition

Emily Mackintosh, Senior Communications Special Adviser

Richard Rollison, Director for International Trade and Investment

Jemima Gordon-Duff, Deputy Director International Climate Change

Junior officials are also attending but names are redacted due to the FOI protocol.

In early 2024, the Scottish Government will proactively release a report on COP28 setting out what was achieved, who went, what they did and how much it cost.

Question reference: S6W-22919

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the next round of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund will be announced.

Question reference: S6W-22910

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how locum GPs can access the General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans’ Recognition Scheme.

The General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans’ Recognition Scheme has been developed to be relevant for all staff, including locum GPs, who may come into contact with an armed forces family or veteran patient. It is hosted on Turas, which is an online training platform run by NHS Education for Scotland and accessible to all NHS staff. It can be accessed here: General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans’ Recognition Scheme – Training Website .

More information about the scheme can also be found by contacting: [email protected]

Question reference: S6W-22925

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) agency staff and (b) other third party contractors it employed to provide services related to (i) research, (ii) planning and (iii) implementation of the Deposit Return Scheme in each year since 2017, broken down by associated costs for each year.

As part of the development of the Deposit Return Scheme, Zero Waste Scotland has undertaken various pieces of work for the Scottish Government. This includes impact assessments, including the Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, and managing the return point operator exemption process.

Zero Waste Scotland did not receive specific payment for performing these functions as they receive funding through annual grant awards from the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste budget.

The Scottish Government also used independent third party contractors to undertake services associated with consultation, publication of regulations and associated documents, evaluations, independent reviews and assurance. The total paid for these services was £224,956.05:

£54,331.80 in 2018-19
£30,758.37 in 2019-20
£9,614.00 in 2020-21
£88,307.64 in 2021-22
£15,647.50 in 2022-23
£26,296.74 in 2023-24

Question reference: S6W-22764

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christine Grahame (On behalf of the SPCB) on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will engage with the Armed Forces Parliamentary Trust regarding a possible extension of eligibility for participation in the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme to MSPs.

In 2017, a scheme was developed in conjunction with the Armed Forces in Scotland to enable Members to visit defence bases in Scotland to help Members better understand the range of social and welfare issues relevant to armed forces personnel, and their families, within their community. The programme was suspended during COVID and re-started in 2022.

These visits are open to all Members and are arranged through the different service secretariats based in Scotland.

It was agreed that this scheme would be a better fit for the Parliament than the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme that operates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and there are no plans to review the scheme at this time.

Since 2017, many Members have taken part in the Armed Forces Visits Programme, visiting defence bases across Scotland. In 2018, the Scottish Parliament hosted a reciprocal inward visit for 16 representatives from the armed services in Scotland, providing them with an opportunity to meet and shadow Members. There have been a number of outward visits for Members this year and parliamentary officials are currently exploring the possibility of resuming the inward visit.

In addition, the Presiding Officer and Clerk/Chief Executive regularly arrange events at the Scottish Parliament for the armed forces to brief Members on current issues.

Question reference: S6T-01658

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the finance secretary’s letter to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 21 November, whether it will provide an update on the delivery of “vessels and piers” projects, including the Small Vessels Replacement Programme and the port works at Ardrossan and Gourock harbours.

Question reference: S6T-01660

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the public sector workforce reductions predicted by the finance secretary on Sunday.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

Chamber and committees

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