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-31224

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise when giving evidence to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 25 September 2024 that there is “a return of £25 of gross value added for every £1” that the agency has invested, whether it will confirm what methodology was used for this conclusion to be reached.

Question reference: S6W-30852

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £1.3 million 2023-34 Connecting Scotland funding was spent.

In 2023-24, total Scottish Government funding for Connecting Scotland and Ethical Digital Nation combined was £1.3 million. This was allocated as follows:

Grant funding to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) to develop digital training, continue support for existing clients and deliver existing projects. This funding covers support for a wide range of digital inclusion initiatives including:
- ‘Digital Champion’ training, delivered through Mhor Collective, which equips individuals to support others in engaging safely and meaningfully online, building digital confidence within communities;
- Offboarding support for existing Connecting Scotland users, including temporary extension of connectivity with further support for users to transition to other means of connectivity;
- Supporting the delivery of three digital inclusion programmes - lending libraries, social housing, and place-based initiatives - helping more people to get online through access to devices, connectivity, and technical support, and providing public and third-sector organisations and their staff with support in digital inclusion provision;
£100,000 for the Digital Participation Charter Fund to promote and recognise digital inclusion amongst organisations. Some of the projects funded include:
- Budding Engineers (£10,000 award) to provide access to digital skills and teaching for people with additional support needs in several areas of Scotland;
- Deaf Action (£10,000 award) to provide digital and employability support for people experiencing hearing loss across Scotland;
- Milan Senior Welfare Organisation (£9,850 award) to provide basic digital skills and digital support for older people and their carers from the South Asian community in East Lothian and Edinburgh;
Programme incidentals (e.g. software licences, training, stakeholder engagement, advertising and marketing);
Staffing costs to support the ongoing management of both programmes

Question reference: S6W-30851

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of Connecting Scotland’s £1.6 million budget for 2024-25 has been committed, and on what this is being spent.

There is a budget of £1.8m which covers Connecting Scotland, Ethical Digital Nation and Unlocking the Value of Data programmes. To date, the following spend has been committed:

Grant funding to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) to develop digital training, continue support for existing clients and deliver existing projects. This funding covers support for a wide range of digital inclusion initiatives including:
‘Digital Champion’ training, delivered through Mhor Collective, which equips individuals to support others in engaging safely and meaningfully online, building digital confidence within communities.;
Offboarding support for existing Connecting Scotland users, including temporary extension of connectivity with further support for users to transition to other means of connectivity;
Supporting the delivery of three digital inclusion programmes - lending libraries, social housing, and place-based initiatives - helping more people to get online through access to devices, connectivity, and technical support, and providing public and third-sector organisations and their staff with support in digital inclusion provision;
The University of Liverpool to undertake research on a Minimum Digital Living Standard for Scotland. The findings from this research will provide the Scottish Government with detailed Scotland-specific data to identify where there is a need for targeted support for digital inclusion, and help to inform future service design;
licenses, travel and other services
staffing costs to support the management of the programme.

All remaining spend in this financial year will be assessed in line with the guidance set out by Ministers in the Scottish Public Finance Manual and current Scottish Government guidelines on spending controls

Question reference: S6O-04010

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to boost the rural economy.

Question reference: S6W-30952

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Creative Industries Leadership Group's "working group reports", which are referenced in the minutes of the meeting on 8 June 2022, will be published.

Question reference: S6W-31225

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length is of courses delivered by the Scottish Digital Academy.

The professional learning offer (courses) delivered via the Scottish Digital Academy is varied and multi-faceted, as it has been designed to meet the needs of a diverse audience.

Taught courses are broadly defined into three categories with an average duration as follows:

Short courses – 3.5 hours (half day)

Courses – 12 hours (2 days)

Programmes – 30 hours (5 days)

Some events are typically 6 hours (1 day) in length and self-directed learning courses vary between 15 minutes and 3 hours, as these are taken at the learner’s own pace and to meet their individual needs.

Question reference: S6W-31391

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government on which meeting dates its representatives (a) have and (b) have not attended meetings of the Digital Economy Skills Group.

Question reference: S6W-31390

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Digital Academy courses have been completed by employees in the third sector in each year since it was launched in January 2018.

Question reference: S6W-31389

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Digital Academy courses have been completed by employees of Scottish public bodies, other than the Scottish Government, in each year since it was launched in January 2018, broken down by public body.

Question reference: S6W-31388

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its employees have completed courses through the Scottish Digital Academy in each year since it was launched in January 2018.