- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what operating company will run the maintenance and management of trunk roads across the north east of Scotland from the start of the new contract period, and for what reasons has the decision been taken to appoint that company.
Answer
Amey OW Ltd has been awarded the Network Maintenance Contract for the North East Unit. This contract will begin on 16 August and run for 8 years, with a potential to extend for a further 4 years. The procurement process was carried out in compliance with the Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (the Regulations) in a fair, equal and transparent manner, Amey OW Ltd being identified as the successful tender in accordance with the competition rules as advertised within the Contract Notice and all competition documentation.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement that local authorities will have the power to run bus services, whether this will affect the entitlement to free bus travel for people who currently receive it.
Answer
The new powers under section 34 (provision of bus services by local authorities) of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 do not affect the entitlement to free bus travel for people who currently receive it.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 28 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to translate the full 72-page publication, Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland?, into other languages.
Answer
Summaries of the first two papers in the Building a New Scotland series have been translated into 17 languages, including British Sign Language, Arabic, Gaelic, Polish and Ukrainian. Audio and Easy Read versions have also been produced to support accessibility. We have no current plans for a full translation of Independence in the Modern World .
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09142 by Mairi Gougeon on 6 July 2022, for what reasons it has taken over one year for the report on bird stomach contents to be finalised and published.
Answer
The project commenced in 2019 however further field work and laboratory analysis scheduled during 2020 were affected by COVID-19 restrictions. This had a knock on effect, delaying the remaining stages of the project, including quality control of the data and writing the report. The report is now finalised and will be published soon.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of all meetings of the industry advisory group for talent.
Answer
The minutes of the meetings of the Industry Advisory Group for rUK Talent Attraction are not currently published but information on previous meetings can be made available on request.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government who sits on the industry advisory group for talent.
Answer
Membership of the Industry Advisory Group for rUK Talent Attraction comprises:
Shona Artale; Q 2 Solutions (Life Sciences); Justin Black; Hays (Recruitment); Craig Clark; Space Scotland (Space Sector); Mark Cowan; Scottish Leather Group (Advanced Manufacture: Mechanical); Shona Darroch; Diodes (Advanced Manufacture: Electronic); Steven Grier; Microsoft (UK) (Tech Sector); Colin Halpin; Scottish Financial Enterprise (Financial Services); Gordon McGuinness; Skills Development Scotland (Skills Agency); Julie Morrison; Scottish Enterprise (Enterprise Agency); Sarah Ronald; Nile HQ (FinTech); Greig Rooney; Valneva (Inward Investment); Ross Tuffee; Digital Technology Skills Group (Tech Sector); and Morag Watson; Scottish Renewables (Renewables).
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in connection with the industry advisory group for talent, what locations in the rest of the UK have been identified as places to seek to attract talent from, and which specific skills it is seeking to attract from each of those locations.
Answer
The Industry Advisory Group for rUK Talent Attraction was established to share talent attraction expertise.
Part of the remit of the group is to identify locations across the rUK and to develop talent attraction activities to target opportunities that will create jobs and bring wider benefits to positively impact on Scotland’s regions and wider economy.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the industry advisory group for talent has met, and when it is next due to meet.
Answer
The Industry Advisory Group for rUK Talent Attraction met on 19 April 2022 and 8 June 2022. It is next scheduled to meet on 1 September 2022.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 18 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided for motor neurone disease (MND) research in the last 10 years.
Answer
In the last ten years, the Scottish Government's Chief Scientist Office has provided £889,000 in funding towards Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the report on the analysis of bird stomach contents, provisionally reported on in June 2020, will be published and available to local fishery organisations who supported the study.
Answer
The report of the study on goosander and cormorant diet on four Scottish rivers is being finalised and will be published shortly.