Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-29871

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29030 by Shona Robison on 9 September 2024, whether it will provide the specific number of occasions that it has met with the leader of Moray Council in each year since 2021.

Details of every external meeting all Ministers have undertaken since 2016 can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/. This currently shows engagements up until May of this year, however information on engagements after this point will be published in due course, as per the Scottish Government’s commitment to do so, which is set out in the Scottish Ministerial Code.

It is also worth noting that although the names of specific councils or council leaders may not appear in records of certain engagements, the First Minister, previous First Ministers and other Ministers have engaged with various council leaders at COSLA Annual Conferences and other conferences and events that involve council leaders since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-29872

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29029 by Shona Robison on 9 September 2024, whether it will provide the specific number of occasions that it has met with the leader of Shetland Islands Council in each year since 2021.

Details of every external meeting all Ministers have undertaken since 2016 can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/. This currently shows engagements up until May of this year, however information on engagements after this point will be published in due course, as per the Scottish Government’s commitment to do so, which is set out in the Scottish Ministerial Code.

It is also worth noting that although the names of specific councils or council leaders may not appear in records of certain engagements, the First Minister, previous First Ministers and other Ministers have engaged with various council leaders at COSLA Annual Conferences and other conferences and events that involve council leaders since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-29875

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29027 by Shona Robison on 9 September 2024, whether it will provide the specific number of occasions that it has met with the leader of Argyll and Bute Council in each year since 2021.

Details of every external meeting all Ministers have undertaken since 2016 can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/. This currently shows engagements up until May of this year, however information on engagements after this point will be published in due course, as per the Scottish Government’s commitment to do so, which is set out in the Scottish Ministerial Code.

It is also worth noting that although the names of specific councils or council leaders may not appear in records of certain engagements, the First Minister, previous First Ministers and other Ministers have engaged with various council leaders at COSLA Annual Conferences and other conferences and events that involve council leaders since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-29587

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue (a) has been raised by and (b) it has withdrawn from Crown Estate Scotland’s first round of offshore wind leasing in each year since the round concluded in 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-29847

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding its announcement of £22 billion of potential budget reductions and any impact that this will have on Barnett consequential funding.

The First Minister and I met the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 28 August, following the Chancellor’s statement on 29 July that outlined a £22 billion shortfall in the UK public finances.

I will be having further discussions with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, along with the devolved finance ministers from Wales and Northern Ireland, at a meeting of the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee (F:ISC) on 3 October.

Under the Barnett formula, increases or decreases in funding for UK Departments drive the funding available to the Scottish Budget. We expect that consequentials for this financial year will be not be formally confirmed until the completion of the supplementary estimates process in early 2025, with an update expected as part of the UK Budget on 30 October.

Question reference: S6W-29876

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any senior civil servants have received a non-consolidated performance payment and a pay increase in the same year since 2023, and what the total amount was of any such payments.

Question reference: S6W-29874

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29031 by Shona Robison on 9 September 2024, whether it will provide the specific number of occasions that it has met with the leader of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar in each year since 2021.

Details of every external meeting all Ministers have undertaken since 2016 can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/. This currently shows engagements up until May of this year, however information on engagements after this point will be published in due course, as per the Scottish Government’s commitment to do so, which is set out in the Scottish Ministerial Code.

It is also worth noting that although the names of specific councils or council leaders may not appear in records of certain engagements, the First Minister, previous First Ministers and other Ministers have engaged with various council leaders at COSLA Annual Conferences and other conferences and events that involve council leaders since 2021.

Question reference: S6O-03809

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with senior representatives from the Scottish hospitality industry.

Question reference: S6O-03812

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that school meals meet or exceed existing nutritional standards.

Question reference: S6O-03808

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact on public services of an increased population in areas such as Midlothian.

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