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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: S6O-01644

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any progress that has been made in finding a solution to save the Belmont in Aberdeen and the Edinburgh Filmhouse and International Film Festival from permanent closure.

Question reference: S6O-01661

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a vote in favour of strike action by over 80% and over 90% from members of the UCU and EIS trade unions respectively is a democratic mandate for strike action.

Question reference: S6O-01659

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects police officer numbers to be restored to the previous target of 17,234 officers.

Question reference: S6O-01664

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-12734

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Keith Brown on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the outcome of its public consultation on legislative proposals from the Dame Elish Angiolini report of the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing

I am pleased to confirm the publication today of the independent analysis report of responses to the consultation on police complaints, investigation and misconduct - legislation. The full report is available here: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805251668 . A summary report is also available here: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805251651

The consultation received 55 responses, 33 of which came from individuals and 22 on behalf of organisations. The responses will be published today where we have permission to do so at https://consult.gov.scot/safer-communities/police-legislative-reforms/ .

The Scottish Government is giving careful consideration to the range of views received. The findings from the consultation analysis, along with our continuing engagement with stakeholders will help inform how the changes that Dame Elish recommended can be implemented as preparations for introducing a Police Complaints and Misconduct Handling Bill in this Parliamentary session continue.

Question reference: S6W-12748

Asked by: Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the publication of the Blue Economy Vision for Scotland on 31 March 2022, whether it will provide an update on progress with Scotland’s blue economy approach.

Delivering Scotland’s Blue Economy Approach s ets out the first phase of delivery towards our Blue Economy Vision, as well as a commitment for subsequent next steps in our work.

It includes an overview of Scotland's Blue Economy against the six outcomes presented in the Vision, a review of existing actions to identify how they contribute towards the Blue Economy outcomes and an initial evaluation of the type of "Enablers" (tools, interventions and levers) that will be required to deliver the outcomes. These Enablers have been identified from stakeholder feedback and a review of other international Blue Economy approaches.

Over the next 12 months, the Scottish Government will establish a governance structure for our blue economy agenda and seek to promote collective ownership of the activity needed to deliver Scotland’s Blue Economy Vision.

Question reference: S6W-12482

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the £10 million of funding for Changing Places toilets that it announced will be released.

The Scottish Government will invest in Changing Places Toilets over this parliamentary term, in order to increase the number of these facilities across the country and to support mobile Changing Places Toilets to allow people easier access to events and outdoor venues.

The Scottish Government is currently planning its budgets for 2023-24 and will publish its draft budget on 15 December. More detailed information about budget allocations will be available next year, once the Scottish Parliament has approved the draft budget.

Question reference: S6W-12464

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding enterprise issues that fall within of the responsibilities of the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, how it assesses (a) outcomes, (b) performance and (c) value for money in relation to capital investment.

Robust processes are in place for assessing the outcomes, performance and value for money of capital investment, tailored to the nature of the investment.

For example, projects within the Scottish City and Region Growth Deal Programmes are developed in accordance with HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance which requires appraisal of the social economic and carbon outputs, outcomes and impacts from public sector investment; whole life cycle costing is examined and value for money reviewed. In addition, Benefit Realisation Plans for the Deal Programmes, aggregate project business case performance information, supplemented by qualitative information, to evidence the cumulative impact of public sector investment in the relevant region.

Our enterprise agencies also follow a rigorous appraisal process aligned to the Scottish Public Finance Manual and HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance to assess investment proposals. Evaluation of value for money is also undertaken. In the period from April 2017 to March 22, Scottish Enterprise delivered £85m of capital investment grant support to businesses which is expected to leverage a further £410m of private sector investment. The agency’s evaluation demonstrates that its capital investment grants also support other benefits, including company creation, innovation, increased company sales and exports, and attracting companies to locate to or stay in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12448

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much in-year additional health and social care funding, in addition to the spending commitments outlined in its 2022-23 budget, has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date, broken down by (i) date of announcement and (ii) nature of expenditure.

The Scottish Government continues to prioritise funding for health, providing increases year on year and funding of £18 billion in 2022-23, as set out in the Scottish Budget.

However, the scale of the financial challenge across the Scottish Government and health and social care is unprecedented, as a result of rising inflation and energy costs and the ongoing impacts of Covid and Brexit.

The UK Government’s Autumn statement provided no additional funding this year to support health and social care in addressing these challenges or to support fair pay deals, with the funding outlined over the coming two years falling massively short of the combined impact of Covid pressures, energy costs and inflation.

It is vital that further funding is provided by the UK Government to address the backlog in care caused by Covid and to help our NHS and social care staff deal with the cost of living crisis

Question reference: S6W-12444

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £165 million allocated to the National Care Service in its 2022-23 budget has been allocated and spent to date, broken down by expenditure.

We have revisited the NCS financial memorandum assumptions and, based on a revised recruitment profile and revised investment in data and digital work, £15 million of funding in 2022-23 has been reprioritised. We are taking time to get this right, ensuring engagement through events such as the Forum and launch of the Lived Experience Expert Panel. As a result some costs that would have been expected in this financial year will not occur.