-  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
- 
                                            Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
                                        
- 
                                        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
- 
                                            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.
 
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  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 McAllan on 5 July 2022
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported concerns over the impact of seals entering rivers, what information it has on where in Scotland the seal, Spearmint, is due to be relocated to; how seals released from captivity, or which have had previous interaction with humans, are monitored and assessed for any (a) unusual behaviour and (b) impact on their local environment, including foraging in rivers, and whether it will provide details of any such monitoring to date.
                                Answer
                                    The juvenile grey seal Spearmint was released on the Farne Islands, Northumberland on 30 June 2022.
Grey seals are regularly found injured or sick along the UK coastline. In most cases these animals are taken to rescue centres where, following a period of rehabilitation, are released back to the wild at the locations where they are found. The Scottish Government is not aware of any monitoring that takes place with regards to the release of rehabilitated seals from these centres.
Grey seals are widely distributed around the Scottish coast and in some limited cases, individual animals may enter river systems. The Scottish Government recognises that seal predation is one of several pressures affecting wild salmon in rivers, which is why it continues to work with the sector, stakeholders and scientific community to explore practical ways to address these interactions. 
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  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   Keith Brown on 4 July 2022
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08590 by Keith Brown on 6 June 2022, whether it can provide details of any improvements that can be evidenced since the implementation of the new procedure of delivering reforms to support early resolution of summary cases, and how and when it plans to report on any reductions in delays.
                                Answer
                                    I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09221 on 28 June 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at  https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers 
 
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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                                            Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
                                        
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                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Michael Matheson on 28 June 2022
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08724 by Michael Matheson on 7 June 2022, whether it will provide the timeframe for when a decision on whether to grant planning approval for Fetteresso Wind Farm, case reference WIN-110-1, will be made.
                                Answer
                                    Scottish Ministers received the Public Inquiry Report on 18 February 2022 and are currently considering the terms of the report. The timeframe for considering reports, in addition to considering all other material considerations and application documents is very much site specific. The determination for Fetteresso is currently progressing in line with the most recent average timescales. 10 determinations, where a Public Inquiry was held, have been issued since January 2021. The average time taken, between receipt of the Public Inquiry Report from the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (the “DPEA”) and the issue of these determinations, is around 6 months within a range of 2 to 15 months. 
 
                        
                            
                                
                                
                                        -  Asked by:     Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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        Submitting member has a registered interest.
     
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                                            Date lodged: Friday, 17 June 2022
                                        
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                                        Current Status:
                                            Answered by   Kate Forbes on 28 June 2022
                                    
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses and organisations are currently still waiting for COVID-19-related funding and payments to be paid out to them.
                                Answer
                                    The Scottish Government has supported businesses with more than £4.7bn since the start of the pandemic. All funds have been allocated and no payments remain to be paid out by the Scottish Government. All Covid-19 business support funds have now closed.