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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-15999

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07586 by Patrick Harvie on 7 April 2022, for what reason it did not set out more detailed proposals on a Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill by the end of 2022.

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery wrote to the Convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 13 December 2022, which provided the Scottish Government’s response to the ‘Ambitions into Action’ Inquiry. The letter expressed the Deputy First Minister’s shared ambition for an NPF that better achieves impact that is recognised and felt by the people who live in Scotland. The letter also set out more details on the development of the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill.

The Committee, in their inquiry into the National Performance Framework, stated that where necessary the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (WSD) Bill should also give legal effect to the outputs of the statutory review of the National Performance Framework and National Outcomes. The Scottish Government is therefore considering how the NPF can be further embedded in the practices of government and public bodies which will therefore form a key part of the development of the WSD Bill.

The Scottish Government continues to develop the policy proposals for the Bill and intended to set out more detailed proposals after the Review of National Outcomes is complete.

Question reference: S6W-16000

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11088 by Patrick Harvie on 29 September 2022, how many organisations it has engaged with since September 2022 regarding establishing a Future Generations Commissioner.

Since 1 September 2022, I have held four meetings with representatives of larger stakeholder groups who have a keen interest in the development of a Wellbeing and Sustainable Bill and the establishment of a Future Generations Commissioner. In addition, I attended the WEAII Wealth of Nations 2.0 Conference joining in discussions with a range of participants in relation to a wellbeing economy and future generations.

Question reference: S6O-02077

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential reduction in taxation revenue from the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax - Green Freeports Relief proposals, which were published for consultation on 17 March 2023.

Question reference: S6W-15437

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14430 by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2023, whether it plans to consult with (a) universities and colleges and (b) the National Union of Students Scotland on collecting data on student homelessness, as part of the review of homelessness data collections.

Homelessness data collected by the Scottish Government is management information gathered by local authorities as part of carrying out their statutory duties in providing support to anyone in Scotland who is found to be unintentionally homeless/threatened with homelessness, and who is eligible for homelessness assistance, including students. Detailed information on occupation or student status of household members is not currently collected in the homelessness data returns.

The review of homelessness data collections is considering what changes need to and can be made to data generated by local authorities with the aim of bringing these up to date, improving consistency and better meeting user needs.

A public consultation on changes required for the homelessness data collections was carried out in Winter 2020. No responses were received from universities, colleges or the National Union of Students Scotland. Feedback on Scottish Government homelessness statistics can be provided to the homelessness statistics and analysis team at any time via their dedicated inbox homelessness_statistics_inbox@gov.scot.

Data gaps identified during the development of new homelessness data collection content will be considered as part of the review. Decisions on content will require a balance to be struck between asking local authorities to record any additional information, the resources this would require to implement, data quality and how much this would improve the overall monitoring of homelessness in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-15438

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14430 by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2023, when the full review of homelessness data collections (a) was commissioned and (b) will be published.

In consultation with local authority data providers a review was felt to be valuable to ensure data collections were as up to date as possible, reflecting changes in homelessness legislation, terminology and policy. In addition, the review would aim to rationalise the collections by updating these to better reflect the data needs of the sector and data users.

Work is ongoing and we anticipate that a full review of existing content, development of new or alternative content and agreement on final content will be concluded by end 2024-beginning of 2025. This includes time to adequately research content, hold in-depth discussion with data providers and stakeholders to understand data requirements and feasibility of collection. The work will involve review of all relevant legislation and statutory guidance. The aim is to also build in an opportunity to share draft amended content publicly, with a final opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback before content is fully agreed.

Question reference: S6W-15784

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next publish a Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics report.

Question reference: S6O-02038

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers there currently are in the Edinburgh divisional area.

Question reference: S6W-15330

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the datasets that are published within the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture portfolio, and what the frequency of publication of each is.

The Scottish Government published the following datasets within the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture portfolio in the last 12 months:

Publication title	Frequency of publication	Last published	Link
Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics	Monthly	February 2023	https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-in-scotland-statistics-february-2023/ https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-in-scotland-statistics-january-2023/ https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-in-scotland-statistics-december-2022/ https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-in-scotland-statistics-november-2022/ https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-in-scotland-statistics-october-2022/ https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-in-scotland-statistics/
Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: expressions of interest data reconciliation exercise	Ad-hoc one off publication	February 2023	https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-in-scotland-expressions-of-interest-data-reconciliation-exercise-february-2023/
The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands IndexSM – Scotland	Every 2 years	February 2023	https://www.gov.scot/publications/anholt-ipsos-nation-brands-indexsm-2022-report-scotland-scottish-government-constitution-international-migration-analysis/
Local Government Candidate Diversity Survey 2022	No plans to repeat	November 2022	https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-government-candidates-survey-2022/
Scottish Social Attitudes Survey – Core module Attitudes to Scottish Government and Parliament	Every 2 years	October 2022 (Survey data 2021/22)	https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-2021-22/
Scottish Household Survey : Culture and Heritage	Annually	February 2022	https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-household-survey-2020-telephone-survey-culture-heritage-report/pages/2/
Survey of the extension of the voting franchise to prisoners	No plans to repeat	May 2023/TBC	Not published, forthcoming publication

Additionally, the Scottish Government publish a calendar of forthcoming statistical releases. The calendar can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/official-statistics-forthcoming-publications/

Question reference: S6W-15284

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has stopped all planning, and dropped any assumption, regarding an independence referendum taking place in October 2023.

The Scottish Government accepts the Supreme Court’s judgment as to whether the Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate for an independence referendum without a Section 30 order.

There is however a democratic mandate for an independence referendum, and we stand ready to engage with the UK Government to give the Scottish people the right to choose their constitutional future in line with the result of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election which resulted in a clear majority in the Parliament in favour for a referendum.

Given the legislative and other arrangements that would be necessary, the Scottish Government is not planning for a referendum in October of this year.

Question reference: S6W-15283

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are currently working on the Building a New Scotland series, given as a (a) headcount and (b) FTE staff figure.

Work to develop the prospectus is drawing on a range of officials across the organisation who will contribute to varying extents as part of their wider responsibilities in supporting the Scottish Government. The exact number of officials contributing as part of their wider responsibilities is not known as the Scottish Government has no need to record this information.

The Constitutional Futures Division coordinates work on the Building a New Scotland series. As of 22 February 2023, it comprises 24 civil servants, including one Deputy Director. This equates to 23.3 FTE .