- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will initiate an independent review into the architecture of political integrity and transparency in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of political integrity and transparency, and takes these issues seriously. We review and update guidance when necessary. Since 2016 Scotland has been a member of the Open Government Partnership, a global partnership with civil society that works to make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. As part of this work, we will consider the options for a review of political integrity and transparency in Scotland.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has set any targets in relation to its commitment to lay the foundations for delivering five gigawatts of hydrogen production by 2030 and the development of a hydrogen supply chain in Scotland, as set out in its publication, Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership – A fresh start.
Answer
In December 2022, we published our Hydrogen Action Plan setting out the actions necessary to support the development of the hydrogen economy in Scotland. These actions, include providing funding through the Scottish Government's £180m Emerging Energy Technologies Fund to support renewable hydrogen production. In addition to this we will publish our Hydrogen Export Plan later this year and we continue to assist development of a strong domestic supply chain by working with our agency partners to attract and support companies. To that end the Scottish Government hosted a Hydrogen Supply Chain Event in September 2022, which brought together over 200 stakeholders to promote and build opportunities across the value chain.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to (a) ban and (b) restrict the breeding of the Scottish Fold cat.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no plans at this time to ban the breeding of the Scottish Fold cat. The breeding of this particular breed is however restricted under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (the 2021 regulations).
The 2021 Regulations include a licence condition (section 8(4), schedule 2) which states that "no cat may be kept for breeding if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of its genotype, conformation, behaviour or state of health, that breeding from it could have a detrimental effect on its health or welfare or the health or welfare of its offspring". Given the well documented conformational health issues with this breed, the licensing authority is likely to refuse any application for a licence or a request to vary a licence where the intention is to breed the Scottish Fold. Comprehensive guidance produced for local authorities and cat breeders also makes it clear that persons seeking to breed the Scottish Fold are unlikely to be granted a licence to do so.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its employees have been offered mental health first aid training in each of the last five years.
Answer
The following table illustrating the number of staff trained to become qualified in delivering support for Mental Health First Aid and the year this was completed.
Year | Number mental health first aiders trained |
2022 | 2 |
2021 | 2 |
2020 | 1 |
2019 | 31 |
2018 | 109 |
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what budget savings the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has budgeted to make in each year since its formation, and whether these have been achieved.
Answer
The resource budget for SFRS is set each year in the Budget Act and the SFRS Board has responsibility for taking decisions on how that budget should be spent. There are no savings targets set out in the annual budget process and the SFRS Accountable Officer is responsible for ensuring that SFRS delivers a balanced budget and does not overspend. SFRS has achieved that each year since it was established in 2013.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many places have been available on the National Clinical Skills for Pharmacists Programme in each year since it was established.
Answer
Time period covered | Clinical skills places offered |
November 2020 – October 2021 | 551 places |
November 2021 – December 2021 | 126 places |
January 2022 – December 2022 | 1457 places |
January 2023 – March 2023 | 433 places |
April 2023 – December 2023 | 1364 places to be offered |
From November 2020 to October 2021 a total of 551 delegate places of clinical skills training for pharmacists were delivered. 126 delegate places of clinical skills training for pharmacists were delivered from November 2021 to end of December 2021 and a further 1457 delegate places of clinical skills training for pharmacists were delivered between January and December 2022.
For January – March 2023, 433 clinical skills training places have been offered with a further 1364 places to be offered up to 31 December 2023.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will appoint a Good Governance Champion.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of good governance, and takes this issue seriously. We undertake regular reviews of our corporate governance system and will consider the matter of a Good Governance Champion as part of this work.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the NatureScot publication, Avian Influenza Report on the H5N1 outbreak in wild birds 2020-2023, published on 11 April 2023.
Answer
We welcome NatureScot’s Avian Influenza Report on the H5N1 outbreak in wild birds and agree that our priority both now and in the future should be on continued disease surveillance, demographic monitoring and research to inform the long-term management of our wild bird populations in light of HPAI and other pressures.
The Scottish Government will continue working with the Scottish Avian Influenza Task Force to monitor and respond to HPAI in wild birds.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether the pathfinder phase for Bairns' Hoose has begun, and, if it is the case that it has not yet commenced, when it will do so.
Answer
The final stages of preparation for the Pathfinder phase for Bairns’ Hoose are underway. Applications for prospective pathfinders partnerships will open in Summer 2023 with pathfinders commencing in Autumn 2023. Further information on this phase will be included in the Project Plan Progress Report and Pathfinder Development Plan to be published this Spring.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 3 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many different bonus schemes are available at Ferguson Marine, and, from these, how (a) much has been paid out and (b) many people have received bonuses, in each year since 2018.
Answer
Scottish Government have been made aware of details of the bonus scheme for senior management at Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) (Holdings) Ltd. The scheme allocates payments on 3 levels with the CEO at level 1, directors at level 2 and other senior management at level 3. Table 1 sets the total amount paid in bonus payments to FMPG Senior Management from 2018-19 to date.
Table 1 Bonus Payments at FMPG 2018-19 to 2022-23
18-19 | 1 staff member | £48.8k |
19-20 | 9 staff members | £135k |
20-21 | 0 staff member | £0 |
21-22 | 6 staff members | £87.9k |
22-23 | 8 staff members | £47,218* |
*£47,218 has been calculated as due in 2022-23 with the first instalment of £23,609 paid in April 2023, and second in June 2023.
Scottish Ministers acquired Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited from administration in December 2019 and a new company Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow (Holdings) Ltd (FMPG) was created. Not all data and information before this date has been made available to Scottish Government and this answer is based upon the information we have available to date.
