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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-19330

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the estimated last date will be that rural residents in Perth and Kinross can expect to have superfast broadband installed.

The Reaching 100% (R100) programme is ensuring that all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband. This is being delivered through three strands of activity – the £600 million R100 contracts (North, Central and South), our R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) and commercial coverage.

Both the R100 North and Central contracts will deliver connections across Perth and Kinross - with final connections due to be delivered through the contracts by March 2028. The R100 contracts are now solely delivering full fibre, gigabit capable connectivity, over 30 times faster than our superfast commitment.

For those properties beyond the reach of the R100 contracts or commercial coverage plans, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme – offering vouchers worth up to £5,000 – remains available to help secure a superfast broadband connection.

However, as the R100 SBVS is a demand-led scheme, it is not possible to provide dates by which people might be connected.

Likewise, for properties within the plans of commercial broadband suppliers, we do not hold data on when those connections will be delivered.

Question reference: S6W-19305

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote links to China following the announcement of the launch of a new direct flight route from Edinburgh to Beijing.

We welcome the start of Hainan’s direct service between Edinburgh Airport and Beijing which we have promoted through our social media channels in China, with over 500,000 impressions to date. We wish Edinburgh Airport and Hainan every success with this service. The Scottish Government’s engagement with China continues to support political, economic, cultural, education, and social relationships with the people of China in keeping with the values of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-18381

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter from the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport on 22 May 2023, whether it will provide an update on the status of the funding request from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service for the replacement of the Office of the Public Guardian's current IT system, in order to develop a "new, intuitive case management system" that it argues is the long-term solution for the backlog of power of attorney applications and amendments.

As part of the 2023-24 budget we have provided SCTS with £4.7m in additional capital funding, on top of their £8m baseline capital allocation. The additional £4.7m was identified within the Justice portfolio budget to support a number of priority SCTS capital projects, including towards the costs in 2023-24 of the replacement of the Office of the Public Guardian IT system, as part of wider modernisation and improvement in the work of the OPG. Work on the new OPG IT system is progressing as planned.

Question reference: S6W-19219

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how much expenditure Circularity Scotland incurred for day-to-day expenditure in (a) May and (b) April 2023.

Question reference: S6W-19578

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19148 by Lorna Slater on 27 June 2023, whether it will (a) publish the data that it states was provided by Zero Waste Scotland and (b) confirm that neither it or Zero Waste Scotland hold a copy of the underlying efficiency studies provided by WRAP, and for what reason the underlying efficiency studies could not be retained by it or Zero Waste Scotland.

Neither Scottish Government nor Zero Waste Scotland retain the data or own the research undertaken by WRAP. Queries on the data and publication status should be directed to WRAP.

The figure from WRAP was used to engage stakeholders through the Circular Economy Route Map consultation. The data referred to was also previously cited in the UK wide consultation on extended producer responsibility for packaging, which closed on 4 June 2021.

Zero Waste Scotland subsequently published detailed research on commercial waste zoning ( https://cdn.zerowastescotland.org.uk/managed-downloads/mf-l4c68iko-1686671978d ).

Question reference: S6W-19579

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19150 by Lorna Slater on 27 June 2023, whether its response also applies to the commercial waste sector.

Question reference: S6W-19449

Asked by: Ruth Maguire, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many parents who currently access the Parental Employability Support Fund are under the age of 25.

Since April 2019, a range of Scottish Government funding has been made available to Local Government partners as the scope of delivery under No One Left Behind expands over time. This includes funding for the initial phase of No One Left Behind (April 2019), the Parental Employability Support Fund (February 2020) and the Young Person's Guarantee (November 2020).

The Scottish Government publishes summary information on Scotland's devolved employability services covering both Fair Start Scotland and No One Left Behind on a quarterly basis. Data for No One Left Behind is presented in its totality and not broken down by funding type. The most recent statistics published on 22 February 2023 covering the reporting period April 2020 to September 2022 show that 5,944 parents have started receiving support through No One Left Behind, 1,006 (17%) of whom are under the age of 25.

More information can be found at: Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary February 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-19455

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18938 by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023, whether it has plans to engage with the UK Government regarding any concerns that it has about the enforcement of workers' rights in Scotland.

As the answer of 20 June set out, the Scottish Government is committed to promoting positive outcomes for workers and their rights. The Scottish Government engages regularly with the UK Government at a variety of levels in order to advocate for these outcomes, and to raise concerns where we see workers’ rights being threatened. For example, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade recently to raise concerns that elements of the UK Government’s proposed approach to retained EU legislation could undermine workers’ rights. Scottish Government ministers have also repeatedly raised objections to the Strikes (Minimum Services Level) Bill.

While labour market enforcement is a reserved matter, the Scottish Government will not hesitate to raise concerns with the UK Government where necessary.

Question reference: S6W-19386

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18715 by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023, whether it will provide the information requested, specifically regarding whether or not the gateway review will be made publicly available, and what its reasons were for not providing this information in its answer.

As stated in my answer to S6W-18715 all correspondence with the Committee will be made publicly available. My letter of 16 June setting out the findings of the gateway review and the Scottish Government response is available on the Scottish Parliament website at:

https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/session-6-net-zero-energy-and-transport-committee/correspondence/2023/scotlands-deposit-return-scheme-16-june-2023 .

I also wrote to the Committee on 28 June to provide them with as full a version of the gateway review as I am able, given we have been obliged to make some redactions to protect the commercial interests of the parties involved. The letter and gateway review are available on the Scottish Parliament website at:

https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/net-zero-energy-and-transport-committee/correspondence/2023/drs-gateway-review-28-june-2023.pdf .

Question reference: S6W-19221

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential implications for its Deposit Return Scheme, whether it has undertaken any planning for a situation where Circularity Scotland would have a year-end deficit.

Circularity Scotland Limited is a private not for profit company set up by industry. As an independent private company, it is not required to report to the Scottish Government and is responsible for its own financial planning. Therefore the Scottish Government has not undertaken any planning in relation to Circularity Scotland’s financing.

Circularity Scotland is currently in administration. More information on this can be found at: : Interpath Administrators appointed to Circularity Scotland Ltd (interpathadvisory.com)