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: S5W-15734

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Skills Development Scotland publication, Foundation Apprenticeships: Early Progress and Learning Insights, which suggests that there is a lack of foundation apprenticeships in the IT and scientific technologies sectors in the Edinburgh area.

Foundation Apprenticeships(FA) provide industry-recognised qualifications in key sectors where there is a real need for skilled employees. Skills Development Scotland has worked with industry to deliver 3 digital frameworks and 1 scientific technologies framework to support the skills gap and growth of these sectors across the Scottish economy.

The Foundation Apprenticeship programme is delivered through partnerships between schools, a local college or learning provider, and local employers to provide individuals industry-recognised qualifications in key sectors where there is a real need for skilled employees. A phased approach was taken, in which cohort 2016-18 saw the roll out of two new Foundation Apprenticeship frameworks that are designed to support the digital sector in Scotland, IT: Hardware/System Support and IT: Software Development.

In Cohort 2017-2019 a further digital framework was established to support the sector, Creative and Digital Media, and the number of starts on the IT Hardware/System Support framework more than tripled and the number of starts on the IT: Software Development rose by 4 times the number of starts in 2016-18.

Skills Development Scotland has also been working with a digital technologies sector industry ambassador to encourage greater employer participation in the digital Foundation Apprenticeship pathways. An element of this approach is to establish employer Digital FA hubs to help employers to collectively support work based learning; one of these hubs is currently being established in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S5W-15733

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what contribution foundation apprenticeships could make towards Edinburgh achieving its ambition to become the data capital of Europe.

The Scottish Government is supporting Edinburgh’s ambitions to become the data capital of Europe, including through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Partnership (ESESCRP).

Skills Development Scotland are also key partners in this work, and are supporting an assessment of the regional skills needs linked to the ambitions of the ESESCRP.

Foundation Apprenticeships are now a well-established element of our apprenticeship offer, and we will build on recent progress made on the expansion, enhancement and diversification of our apprenticeship offers to support the regional skills needs of partners such as for example the ESESCRP.

Skills Development Scotland are also currently working with the Data Lab as one of the Data Driven Innovation key partners to explore employer demand for future apprenticeship expansion to support this sector.

Question reference: S5O-01882

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce antisocial behaviour.

Question reference: S5T-00962

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its response to the recent severe weather.

Question reference: S5W-14599

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to learn from other European countries, such as Finland and Germany, regarding export finance, particularly for SMEs, and how this is informing the future work of the Scottish National Investment Bank.

Benny Higgins, CEO of Tesco Bank, was invited by the First Minister to develop plans for the Scottish National Investment Bank. To inform this work the University College London Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose were commissioned to produce a comprehensive report on all financing activities across a selection of international state investment banks, including Finland and Germany. This has been published alongside the Implementation Plan on 28 February 2018. In addition, visits were made to Germany and Ireland to learn from experience there. The recommendations will be considered by Cabinet followed by a statement to the Scottish Parliament in due course.

Question reference: S5W-14598

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop public sector business support, such as fostering greater peer-to-peer business mentoring and development.

The Scottish Government is delivering a ‘public sector business support’ network that is responsive to and driven by the real needs of our business community. In June 2017 we published Phase 2 of the Enterprise & Skills Review and we are, by working with and through partners, implementing its recommendations.

We recognise and value the impact of peer-to-peer support and, beyond the systemic development of the public enterprise network, we continue to work with private and third sector partners to better enable and facilitate the economic potential of all of Scotland’s peoples.

Question reference: S5W-14600

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent figures, which reportedly highlight that 42 health and safety "near misses" have taken place in Edinburgh schools and other council buildings since 2014, and what help it can provide The City of Edinburgh Council to improve building maintenance to avoid such incidents.

The health and safety of all Scotland's people is of paramount importance to us. However, health and safety legislation is not devolved to Scottish Government. The Health and Safety Executive has UK wide responsibility for enforcement of the related legislation and regulations.

The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 places a statutory responsibility on all local authorities to manage and maintain the school estate and provide a safe school environment for all school users. However, through the Scottish Government’s school building programme – Scotland’s Schools for the Future – the City of Edinburgh Council has been awarded over £62m towards the construction of
‎ 4 schools.

Question reference: S5O-01835

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the criminal justice social work statistics that were published on 6 February 2018.

Question reference: S5W-14155

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 21 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether section 1 of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 applies to matches (a) organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association and (b) between teams from football associations outwith Scotland.

An offence can only be committed under section 1 of the 2012 Act if it is committed in relation to a “regulated football match”. A match played in Scotland is a regulated football match where one, or both, participating teams is (i) a national football team; (ii) a club which is a member of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL); (iii) a club which is a member of a professional football league in England and Wales; (iv) a club team playing in Scotland as part of a competition or tournament organised by, or under the authority of, FIFA or UEFA. Therefore:

(a) Section 1 does not apply to Scottish Junior Football Association matches played in or outside Scotland.

(b) Section 1 does cover matches played in Scotland between national teams and between club teams playing in the circumstances described above.

Question reference: S5W-14240

Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-01687 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 January 2018, whether the criteria for qualifying for the £20,000 career changers bursary have been set and made publicly available.