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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: S5W-31268

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to engage employers to promote the positive benefits of providing more job opportunities for young people, and through which channels.

The Scottish Government’s youth employment strategy, ‘Developing the Young Workforce’, has transformed how employers engage with young people through the education and skills system, improving the work readiness of Scotland’s young people. DYW Regional Groups bring local employers together to take an industry led approach to further improving the relationship between employers and young people in the senior phase at school.

We have appointed Sandy Begbie to advise on the implementation of a Youth Guarantee, which will promote the importance of giving young people the opportunity to access employment, education and training. In line with the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery this work will be led by employers. We engage regularly with a wide range of employers and business organisations and will continue to do this as the Youth Guarantee is implemented.

We have committed to make £60 million available to support the delivery of the Guarantee this year. We recognise the need for this to work alongside the UK Government KickStart scheme. Although we regret that Kickstart was announced with no opportunity for the Scottish Government to contribute or influence it, we are working with DWP to ensure our investment adds value and delivers better outcomes for young people in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-31259

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, as set out in its Economic Recovery Implementation Plan, whether it will set a target for a proportion of the increase in private sector representation on agency and public boards to feature small and micro business representation.

Question reference: S5W-31264

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many laptops with internet access were provided to disadvantaged children as part of its commitment to provide 25,000 of these, also broken down by local authority area.

A breakdown of the allocation of these devices by local authority is shown in the following table. Local authorities are making arrangements for distribution of the devices to disadvantaged learners in their areas. Funding allocations for the remainder of the £25m investment in digital exclusion have been made to all local authorities who are now in the process of ordering additional equipment, be that devices or connectivity solutions, to meet local need.

Local Authority	Number of devices
Aberdeen City	1447
Aberdeenshire	2725
Angus	1111
Argyll & Bute	800
Clackmannanshire	674
East Ayrshire	1366
East Dunbartonshire	815
East Lothian	407
East Renfrewshire	590
Fife	4139
Glasgow City	300
Highland	3248
Midlothian	1235
North Ayrshire	750
South Ayrshire	1200
South Lanarkshire	1792
Stirling	1528
West Dunbartonshire	358

Question reference: S5W-31254

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what independent expert advice it has identified as being necessary to include in its forthcoming working group to assess the capability to manage ownership stakes in private companies.

Question reference: S5W-31253

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it has established for determining whether to take ownership stakes in private businesses.

Question reference: S5W-31255

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to second business leaders or delegate officials to manage potential ownership stakes in private businesses.

Question reference: S5W-31265

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 25 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether applications to its proposed Transition Training Fund will be restricted to those having worked in specific sectors and, if so, which ones.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of upskilling and retraining individuals to mitigate the labour market challenges causes by Covid-19. As the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture announced on 16 July, we will bring forward proposals for a new transition training fund to help people develop the skills they need to enter into sectors or occupations where we are most confident of a strong recovery, high demand, or tangible job opportunities.

Question reference: S5W-31267

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of its £50 million support package for youth unemployment will be ringfenced for rural communities.

During the debate on 12 August I announced that the level of funding to support the Youth Guarantee would be increased by a further £10m to a total of £60m. The precise detail of this £60m cannot be finalised until we have the detail of the implementation plan being developed by Sandy Begbie, as well as fuller detail of how DWP’s KickStart scheme will operate in Scotland. We will work with local authorities and other partners to ensure this investment supports local pressures and is directed towards the most vulnerable and this will include how we best support those in rural communities.

Question reference: S5W-31257

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it will identify business leaders to engage with its officials on providing both challenge and support for policy development as set out in its Economic Recovery Implementation Plan.

Question reference: S5W-31258

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how small and micro business representation will be included in plans to invite business leaders to engage with senior officials as set out in its Economic Recovery Implementation Plan, and what proportion of overall engagement has been targeted for those sectors.