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-11765

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11743 by John Swinney on 25 October 2022, what discussions the Deputy First Minister has had with the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and (b) Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development on the impact of the Emergency Budget Review on the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture portfolio, on what dates any such discussions were held, and what issues were discussed at any such meetings.

Question reference: S6W-11576

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 7 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs incurred since 22 September 2022 to date, for the Lord Advocate's referral to the Supreme Court.

Question reference: S6W-11575

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 7 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £113,955.10 spent up until 22 September 2022 on the Lord Advocate's referral to the Supreme Court.

Question reference: S6W-11413

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 3 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes from the quarterly meetings of the New Scots Core Group.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, and involves a wide range of partners across different sectors.

The New Scots Core Group brings together key stakeholders and is responsible for monitoring and reviewing progress against the overarching outcomes of the strategy. The Core Group is chaired by Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow.

The Core Group usually meets four times per year. This year, the group undertook a two-part workshop in January and February, as part of the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project. The Core Group then met in June and in October, with the final meeting of the year set to take place in December.

We will publish the minutes from the October meeting in December, once cleared by Core Group at the next meeting. We will also publish minutes of the Group’s other meetings from 2022.

Question reference: S6W-11415

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many cultural organisations in Scotland have closed since the start of 2019.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

There are official figures available for businesses that have ceased trading during a given period. These figures do not represent a complete picture of business activity as only businesses that are registered for VAT and/or operate a PAYE scheme are included.

These figures, sourced from the Office for National Statistics Business Demography data, show that for Creative Industries in Scotland there were 1,810 businesses that ceased trading in 2019 and 2,170 in 2020 (Table 7.3 at Growth sector statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Data for 2021 will be available in February 2023.

The Scottish Governments understands how deeply the cultural sector has been affected by rising energy costs and the cost of living crisis which have come just as they are beginning to recover from the pandemic.

The Scottish Government is meeting regularly with the sector to discuss these issues.

We recognise the significant role cultural organisations play in our lives and we are committed to the long term recovery of the sector.

Question reference: S6W-11417

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it has carried out on its review of the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Homes for Ukraine is the UK Government scheme and the Scottish Super Sponsor scheme works within it to offer an alternative route for displaced people from Ukraine to come to the UK.

The review convened a number of experts from across national and local government, academia and the third sector. It also took account of the perspectives and experiences of Ukrainians who participated in focus groups.

Findings from the review are being taking into consideration when developing the next steps to enhance our ability to provide appropriate and sustainable longer-term support to those who are here, as well as those who are still to travel. I will provide a statement to Parliament soon to update on the findings of the review.

Question reference: S6W-11416

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11199 by Neil Gray on 4 October 2022, whether it will list the meetings that its (a) ministers and (b) officials have had with COSLA between March 2022 and October 2022 to discuss Scotland's welcome to Ukrainian refugees.

Scottish Government officials and COSLA are working together as a partnership to ensure all Ukrainian displaced people are supported during their time in Scotland. As they are a key stakeholder in this work, the Scottish Government has regular and ongoing engagement with COSLA at Ministerial and official level.

I met with the COSLA spokesperson for Community Wellbeing this week, and details of Ministerial engagements are regularly published on the Scottish Government’s website: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-11146

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the decision was taken for the Youth Music Initiative’s funding to be secure as part of the cost of living emergency budget review.

Question reference: S6T-00915

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the reported “perfect storm” that the arts and culture sector is facing, in light of reports that organisations such as the Falkirk Town Hall, the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, the Belmont in Aberdeen and the Edinburgh International Film Festival recently entered into administration and the Modern Two art gallery in Edinburgh was forced to close for winter.

Question reference: S6W-11152

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its current decision-making criteria are for international development spending.

The Scottish Government's decision making criteria for international development spending are as set out in our 2016 Strategy available at Global Citizenship: Scotland's International Development Strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). However, we are currently implementing a review of our International Development Strategy following a review in 2021 (full details available at Coronavirus (COVID-19): review of international development programme - International development - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). We are planning to have a revised International Development Programme in place from 2023 which is being guided by the recommendations of the 2021 review. Full details of the new International Development Programme, covering decision making criteria and more, will be made available on gov.scot as these become available.