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-13671

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact in Scotland of the UK Government’s decision to extend the freeze on alcohol duty rates until 1 August 2023.

Alcohol duty is a reserved tax which is set and administered by the UK Government. We are not aware of the UK Government having made any assessment of the impact of the extended six-month freeze on alcohol duty on Devolved Administrations, nor did they consult with us on this decision.

We believe the UK Government must provide long-term clarity for the alcohol sector beyond the six-month rates freeze. Businesses have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, as well as the uncertainty surrounding the freeze which was announced, cancelled, then re-announced, all in a three-month period.

When setting alcohol duty rates following the freeze, the Scottish Government would strongly recommend that the UK Government considers public health as part of this. We remain committed to reducing alcohol related harms, in line with the World Health Organization’s focus on affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol.

Question reference: S6W-13555

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Creative Scotland board’s reported decision to use a proportion of its National Lottery reserves to maintain funding for regularly funded organisations at 2022-23 levels in light of a reduction in Scottish Government funding of £6.6 million.

The Scottish Government recognises the difficult situation that the culture sector is facing currently.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-01744 11 January 2023. The answer to the Oral Question can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-11-01-2023?meeting=14081 .

The Scottish Government remains keen to conclude some work on multiyear funding, and will discuss this with Creative Scotland, even if economic uncertainty means that the figures for later years can be at most only indicative. The outlook, following the recent Autumn Statement by the UK Government, is even more challenging for the later years of the Resource Spending Review period.

Question reference: S6W-13580

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many students have (a) applied for and (b) received discretionary funds to support their higher education in each year since 2020.

In the academic year 2020-21, there were 33,761 applications to the Higher Education Discretionary Funds across colleges and universities. The Discretionary Funds include the additional Covid Fund, introduced to support students during the pandemic.

27,500 applications were successful.

These figures come from the financial returns provided by colleges and universities, and reflect the applications made to them. The overall total applications number is not disaggregated into individual students’ applications - it could include several applications being made by the same individual student.

Data for 2021-22 is not yet available, and is due to be published in the annual SAAS Statistical Publication in August.

Question reference: S6W-13211

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has (a) allocated funding to and (b) spent money on establishing a presence on Meta’s so-called metaverse.

Question reference: S6W-13629

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly published less information in its publication, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics, in December 2022 compared with previous months.

The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics, in December 2022, explains that the Scottish Government are currently conducting a data reconciliation project to gather updates on the checking, matching and availability statuses of expressions of interest shared with local authorities. This record level information will allow us to more confidently calculate the values estimated from the local authority survey. An update on this project will be provided in due course. As a result of this exercise, we have reviewed the Local Authority Survey. The survey has been reduced and no longer includes questions on expressions of interest, private hosts, properties, property and disclosure checks.

Question reference: S6W-13565

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to include all ethnic minority groups in the Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure.

The Scottish Government is using a range of interventions across its policies to advance the Race Equality Framework and human rights for all minority ethnic groups, one of which is the Interim Governance Group.

The Interim Governance Group is a short-life working group with a specific remit to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers on establishing long-term anti-racist infrastructure. Its membership includes those with experiences of intersecting marginalisation(s) and the realities of systemic racism and expertise in tackling it. Individuals were also appointed on the basis of having extensive knowledge and/or experience of policy making in Scotland, and design and implementation of policy/systems. More information on the remit and membership of the group is available here: https://www.gov.scot/groups/interim-governance-group-to-develop-national-anti-racist-infrastructure/

The intention is that the work of the IGG will support the development of improved infrastructure and accountability that has a positive impact on the lives of all racialised minority communities. Racialised outcomes are not experienced uniformly, and effective interventions need to take specific experiences into account. In Scotland, this includes important disparities impacting Black/minority ethnic groups.

Ensuring that communities are engaged with policy developments, including in long-term oversight and governance, is of utmost importance, and we are looking to explore mechanisms and routes to achieve that in the best way possible. Policy areas focussed on anti-racism and race equality are actively engaging with a range of stakeholders and communities as part of their work. The Interim Governance Group has commissioned a programme of community engagement, to both disseminate information about forthcoming anti-racist policy infrastructure and to gather community members' and organisations' perspectives on how it can work best to deliver genuine change-making policy and practice in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13319

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many ministerial visits have been made in Scotland since 2010, broken down by parliamentary region.

Information on Ministerial engagements is routinely published on the Scottish Government website and can be found at: www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/ .

Information on Ministerial engagements prior to May 2016 can be found at: Ministerial Engagements (webarchive.org.uk)

Visits are not recorded by parliamentary region. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question reference: S6O-01801

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with community housing enablers, such as the Communities Housing Trust in the Highlands and Islands region, to support the delivery of its commitments regarding rural homes.

Question reference: S6O-01798

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress of the Bairns' Hoose for young people within the justice system.

Question reference: S6O-01803

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any racial profiling practices in Police Scotland.