Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 2067 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-23868

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration (a) the Just Transition Commission and (b) Scottish Enterprise has made of the economic impact of the Ardochrig super-battery project near Whitelee Windfarm.

The Just Transition Commission has not made any assessment of the economic impact of this project. The Commission works independently from Government and is tasked with providing practical advice to Ministers on how to make the transition to a net-zero economy in a way that is fair for all.

Scottish Enterprise has not conducted an evaluation of the economic impact of the development proposed by the application. Scottish Enterprise were not involved in the project at stages where this would be appropriate.

Question reference: S5W-23864

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to (a) supply chain benefits and (b) local employment opportunities during the process of consent for the Ardochrig super-battery project near Whitelee Windfarm.

Question reference: S5W-23865

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what local employment Scottish Power has committed to create during the manufacture, construction, installation and operation of the Ardochrig super-battery project near Whitelee Windfarm.

Question reference: S5W-23866

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the infrastructure of the Ardochrig super-battery project near Whitelee Windfarm it will establish using UK capital content.

Question reference: S5W-24477

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-23973

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21923 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 March 2019, in light of the progress with the discussions with the DWP, how much it estimates the transition will cost each year, broken down by benefit, and what methodology it uses to calculate this.

Question reference: S5W-23936

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21923 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 March 2019, whether the discussions with DWP in relation to these costs have been completed and, if (a) so, on what date and (b) not, when it expects them to do so.

Question reference: S5W-23762

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 27 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23317 by Jamie Hepburn on 6 June 2019, how it works with the private and third sectors to support them in reporting on their race pay gap.

As employment law is currently reserved, the Scottish Government cannot oblige employers in the third and private sector to report their ethnicity pay gaps. However, the Scottish Government is committed to working with key stakeholders to tackle the ethnicity pay gap.

In January 2019 the Scottish Government responded to the UK Government Ethnicity Pay Reporting Consultation. In our response we noted our support for ethnicity pay reporting, and highlighted the need for the UK Government to ensure that there is clear guidance communicated to employers on how to comply with any new regulations.

In December 2017 we launched ‘A fairer Scotland for all: race equality action plan and highlight report 2017-2021’ which sets out key actions for the Scottish Government to drive positive change for minority ethnic communities. Within the action plan there is a section on employment and a number of employment actions aim to help reduce the race pay gap.

Question reference: S5W-23749

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-20752 and S5W-20753 by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019, whether it now holds information on what the verified financial gain (VFG) is to date of its Financial Health Check service and, if so, what this is.

Question reference: S5W-23761

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 27 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23316 by Jamie Hepburn on 6 June 2019, what the race pay gap is in (a) the Scottish Government, (b) its agencies, (c) NHS boards and (d) all other public bodies, broken down by public body.

The following table show the mean and median ethnicity gap for a) Scottish Government core and b) the Agencies for which it holds pay data, except for those bodies where only a small number of staff within these organisations that have self-declared their ethnicity to avoid identifying any individual members of staff.

For the purposes of this table, pay includes both salary and on-going allowances, such as pay supplements, but excludes overtime. Part-time staff are reckoned at their full-time equivalent.

Ethnicity pay gap as at 31 December 2018		Pay Gap
Ethnicity pay gap as at 31 December 2018		Mean	Median
SG Core	SG Core	5.37%	8.90%
Agencies	Disclosure Scotland	17.60%	15.66%
	Social Security Scotland	7.53%	13.65%
	Transport Scotland	20.23%	29.36%
Others	Food Standards Scotland	-2.64%	-9.25%
Others	National Records of Scotland	0.96%	-5.03%

The Scottish Government does not hold relevant payroll data for b) Agencies, other than those listed above, c) NHS boards, or d) all other public bodies. A list of public bodies and their contact details are available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-public-bodies-directory/ .