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-12027

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is offering to the Fire Brigade's Union's DECON campaign to help firefighters protect themselves and others from harmful contaminants, in light of a reported study from the University of Central Lancashire stating that firefighters are four times more likely to get cancer than the average working person, due to toxic contaminants released during fires.

The safety and wellbeing of all fire and rescue officers is of upmost importance to the Scottish Government.

As the employer of firefighters in Scotland, the FBU DECON campaign is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. SFRS has been engaged with this research for a number of years and met with Professor Anna Stec of the University of Central Lancashire on 1 November to hear directly of the important research she is doing and to offer SFRS cooperation on that work.

SFRS have a Management of Contaminants Group which has already made significant changes in procedures, equipment and facilities to reduce firefighter contact with equipment which could contain contaminants harmful to health and this important work will continue.

Question reference: S6W-11852

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it was recently approached by any potential buyer of Stoneywood Mill, Aberdeen, for financial assistance.

Question reference: S6W-11668

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the reported freeze of Modern Apprenticeship funding on the childcare sector.

Question reference: S6W-12075

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported data showing that rural areas in the North East Scotland region continue to experience significantly worse broadband access than the Scotland and UK averages.

Despite the area of telecommunications being wholly reserved to the UK Parliament under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998, the Scottish Government has already stepped in and taken the lead in addressing poor broadband coverage, given its economic importance to Scotland.

Through initiatives such as the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) and Reaching 100% (R100) programmes, we have connected almost one million properties to faster broadband right across Scotland.

Our R100 programme ensures that all homes and businesses can access a superfast broadband connection delivered through the £600 million R100 contracts, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme or commercial coverage.

Question reference: S6W-11960

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the proportion of net inward migration to the UK that settled in Scotland in each of the last 10 years, and what steps it is taking to grow this relative proportion in future years.

Based on NRS and ONS data, the number of international migrants who have settled in Scotland in the last 10 years, and comparative UK data, is:

	Scotland	UK
mid-2012	35,900	517,754
mid-2013	28,200	503,723
mid-2014	33,200	582,621
mid-2015	37,800	636,277
mid-2016	40,400	649,550
mid-2017	32,900	571,515
mid-2018	32,900	625,927
mid-2019	39,900	609,308
mid-2020*	39,200	741,000
mid-2021*	41,000	573,000

*Figures are provisional.

In this year’s Programme for Government, in support of delivering the Population Strategy’s “Attractive and Welcoming Country” pillar, the Scottish Government has committed to launching a Talent Attraction and Migration Service to attract people to come and live in Scotland, help those moving to Scotland settle into communities, and support employers to navigate the immigration system. Service design is ongoing to ensure it achieves these outcomes and the service will launch during 2023.

Question reference: S6W-11968

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a Low Carbon Industrial Strategy.

One of the key pillars of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation is to strengthen Scotland’s position in new markets and industries to generate well-paid jobs and support a just transition to net-zero. The Strategy sets out a range of actions to deliver on this vision. We are now developing sectoral Just Transition Plans, which will identify relevant green industrial opportunities. Our first Just Transition Plan will be the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which is intended for publication in due course.

Over the next year we will be developing Just Transition Plans to address the transport, buildings and construction, and agricultural sectors, as well as a standalone plan for the Grangemouth industrial cluster. Our Grangemouth Future Industry Board, established in acknowledgement of the significant role of the cluster in our energy system and our economy, has initiated and leads on the design of that Plan.

Our approach to Just Transition Plans builds on our world-first National Just Transition Planning Framework and sets out how we will be working with others on the economic and social impacts of transition. It has co-design at its heart, meaning that we will ensure that those who stand to be most impacted by the transition to net zero are given a voice in determining their future.

Question reference: S6W-11959

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the National Shipbuilding Office on developing Scottish workstreams in the National Shipbuilding Strategy.

The Scottish Government engaged with the UK Government throughout the development of the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh and continues to engage with the National Shipbuilding Office through the National Shipbuilding Strategy Board, which is scheduled to meet again in December.

Scottish Government agencies are also members of wider structures that support the strategy. For example, representatives of Skills Development Scotland are members of the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce, chaired by Dr Paul Little of City of Glasgow College.

The Scottish Government will continue to contribute to these forums and ensure that Scotland’s world class shipbuilding industry remains well represented.

Question reference: S6W-12070

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11466 by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2022, when the further work to assess the amounts to be recouped from Integration Joint Boards in line with COVID-19 requirements will be completed.

We communicated the action to reclaim surplus Covid reserves to be redistributed across the sector to meet current Covid priorities on 12 September 2022. We will continue to work with IJBs to understand their financial forecasts and further detail will be communicated later in the financial year. The detail will follow at an IJB level and the process and timetable will follow through further communications.

Question reference: S6W-11771

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will have responsibility for the duty of care in relation to single building assessments.

Question reference: S6W-11855

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it was asked to provide financial assistance to any potential buyer of Stoneywood Mill, Aberdeen, and arrived at the decision not to provide any such assistance.