Chamber and committees

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: S6W-27236

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17778 by Graeme Dey on 23 May 2023, whether it will provide updated information on how many (a) modern, (b) foundation and (c) graduate apprenticeship learning providers there have been since 2019-20, based on the latest information available.

Question reference: S6W-27274

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many individual (a) employers and (b) learners used the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in each year since its inception in 2017-18.

Question reference: S6W-27019

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to release funding to local authorities for the delivery of No One Left Behind in 2024-25.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering vital public services and supporting households, but to balance the budget with a focus on supporting public services, tackling child poverty, and transitioning to Net Zero, limited funding must be prioritised to deliver the best value for every taxpayer in Scotland. This requires some difficult decisions and robust spending control.

Discussions are continuing to finalise allocations, with funding being released as decisions are taken to ensure activities in agreed areas can proceed as soon as possible. To enable progress and support continuity of service, I can confirm the decision to release funding equivalent to the first quarter of the financial year allocation for No One Left Behind.

Grant Offer Letters for the first quarter were issued to Local Authorities as Lead Accountable Bodies for No One Left Behind on 2 May 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27204

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many issues NHS Lothian has reported against Consort Healthcare since it took ownership of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

Question reference: S6W-27203

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much money it will have to pay Consort Healthcare when the PFI contract for the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh ends.

Question reference: S6W-26668

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when Modern Apprenticeship contract awards for 2024-25 new starts and in-training will be issued.

Question reference: S6W-26681

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of each of the 10 recommendations published as part of the Career Review.

In October 2022, the Career Review Programme Board published ' Delivering Careers By Design', including 10 recommendations co-created working with stakeholders and young people.

Since then, 'Career Review Final Report' published in March 2023 set out in further detail how the recommendations will be implemented.

Two of the ten recommendations have already been delivered. Recommendation 1; establishment of a new career development model and Recommendation 10; creation of a career services coalition – the Careers Services Collaborative.

The Collaborative continues to meet, chaired by Grahame Smith, to oversee further implementation of improvements to the careers offer, with a focus on the remaining recommendations. Further information on progress will be published via www.careerreview.scot over the course of the year.

Question reference: S6W-26667

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason suppliers have not been appointed for 2024-25 Modern Apprenticeship contracts, in line with the procurement timeline, and what is causing any delays.

Question reference: S6W-26582

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy has taken, since entering her post, to set up the Small Business Unit.

Both the Cabinet Secretary and myself as Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade are committed to deepening and strengthening our relationship with business, not only through better engagement and communication, but by actively aligning our policy with business and working in partnership on common goals. As small businesses represent just over 98% of businesses, the Programme for Government committed to establish a new Small Business Unit in the Scottish Government to work more closely with small businesses and to ensure they are heard during policy development, building good practice in participation and engagement. I have agreed that a team within the Business and Better Regulation Directorate should take this work forward as this is the most appropriate area to ensure policy is considered through the lens of small business to understand particular impacts. This directorate is made up of highly experienced officers that work closely with small businesses on a daily basis.

I have engaged on a number of occasions with the main business organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) who are also members of the New Deal for Business Group and met FSB representatives recently. I will continue to engage with them and other business organisations to enhance relations and dialogue between the government and small businesses in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-27034

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline any research underpinning the decision to close all VisitScotland information centres.