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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-14213

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next publish statistics in relation to the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13624

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether relevant stakeholders, including PLACE and community councils, were consulted before it took the decision to delay the implementation of commercial short-term let licensing by six months.

We are not delaying the implementation of commercial short-term let licensing. Licensing schemes opened in October 2022, and new hosts must now apply for, and obtain, a licence before accepting bookings or receiving guests. Local authorities continue to receive applications from new and existing hosts

In recognition of the wider cost of living crisis that is placing pressure on existing short-term let hosts and businesses, we have announced that we will introduce legislation in January 2023 to extend the deadline for existing hosts to apply for a licence from 1 April 2023 to 1 October 2023.

This is not a pause and we encourage hosts to keep applying throughout.

Question reference: S6W-13625

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons it is delaying the implementation of commercial short-term let licensing by six months.

Question reference: S6W-13837

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13629 by Neil Gray on 12 January 2023, when it expects to provide the update mentioned in the response, and whether this will be by the end of January 2023.

Question reference: S6W-13825

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what key performance indicators it has in place for its international offices.

The Scottish Government’s international offices use five shared strategic objectives to inform the activity and evaluation of their work. These are:

Scotland's international reputation is improved;
Scottish businesses are trading internationally more effectively;
Scottish research and innovation capability is promoted and further partnerships and funding secured;
Investment to Scotland has increased
Scotland's interests in the EU and beyond are protected and enhanced.

When reporting against these outcomes, offices use a range of both qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure their performance, monitor their effectiveness; ensure they are achieving their strategic objectives and that they are providing value for money.

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-13626

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

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place to monitor and evaluate its eight international offices and Scotland House, London.

Each Scottish Government international office submits a monitoring and evaluation report every financial year. Offices use a range of both qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure their performance; monitor their effectiveness; ensure they are achieving their strategic objectives and that they are providing value for money.

We are committed to ensuring our international work is measurable, transparent and available to the public. From this year onwards, we will publish an annual report explaining how our international offices work to promote our values, objectives and priorities across the globe.

Question reference: S6W-12859

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress had been made regarding the reform of the Traffic Regulation Orders system.

Amended Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) regulations were introduced in November 2021 for use by all Road Authorities to help tackle the main issues that had been raised by the TRO Review Group.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with a range of stakeholders including the local authority sector, Police Scotland, business and active travel representatives to understand any remaining issues being encountered with the various road order processes.

Question reference: S6W-12587

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all international trips taken by the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 1 January 2022, and what the cost was of each flight for him and any accompanying staff for each trip.

Ministerial engagements and expenses, including those for overseas travel, are proactively published by the Scottish Government three months in arrears in line with the Ministerial Code. This can be accessed via the Scottish Government website .

Travelling to other countries allows Ministers to promote Scotland, build relationships and boost investment - including emphasising the Scottish Government's role in working with partners to support Scottish companies.

The cost of flights for those accompanying me, up to and including trips proactively published on the SG website, are listed below.

Date of Travel	Destination	Flight cost
8 March 2022	Dublin	£109.16
3 April 2022	Canada and USA	£3620.94
20 April 2022	Germany	£373.68
30 May 2022	Belgium	TBC
29 August 2022	Slovenia	£724.07

Question reference: S6W-12588

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all international trips taken by the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since his appointment up until 31 December 2021, and what the cost was of each flight for him and any accompanying staff for each trip.