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-27018

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects that Modern Apprenticeship contract awards for 2024-25 will take place.

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-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: S6O-03360

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with Petroineos and trades unions about refining capacity at Grangemouth.

Question reference: S6W-26584

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22036 by Neil Gray on 19 October 2023, what action it has taken in relation to its commitment to improve its collection and reporting of data on how women are supported by Scotland’s business support systems and how its actions are closing the gender gap and widening participation in entrepreneurship.

The Business Support Partnership (BSP) is a commitment from Scottish Government, Scotland’s Enterprise and Skills Agencies, Business Gateway, and Local Government to develop a streamlined, efficient, and effective business support system that drives collaboration at a local, regional, and national level. Partners are committed to including the voice of businesses and communities and delivering inclusive and fair support that is underpinned by shared research, aligned customer surveying and data.

In its Strategic Delivery Plan 2023-2026, the BSP sets out its goal to ensure that the business support system in Scotland is inclusive, accessible and responsive, and that it recognises underrepresented groups, targets priority areas and supports socio-economic growth in response to data and the views of customers.

This is a long term undertaking, but one that is central to closing the gap in entrepreneurial participation. Better collection and reporting of data will provide us with essential information, which will allow us to prioritise and target support to under-represented and under-supported groups and to measure our progress.

Alongside this work we continue to develop our response to the broader recommendations of the Pathways report with emphasis on the establishment of Pre-Start support, with the Pathways Pre-Start Fund awarding £1.3m in partner led programmes aimed at widening entrepreneurial participation in 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-26580

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which of Scotland’s trade unions the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy has met with since entering her post, and when.

Since taking on my expanded portfolio as Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy, I have formally met with a number of trade unions. I attended a meeting with GMB on 27 February in relation to Ferguson Marine, Port Glasgow. I also met with STUC and a number of affiliate unions (UNISON, Unite, RMT, GMB and Prospect) on 29 February to discuss matters related to energy and Just Transition, and on 28 March I met with STUC, Unite and GMB to discuss union involvement in Grangemouth Future Industry Board Leadership Forum (GFIB).

Additionally, trade unions are often represented on many other forums I engage with such as Scottish Energy Advisory Board and GFIB. My Ministerial colleagues also meet regularly with trade unions and STUC, reflecting their important role as key social and economic partners.

Question reference: S6W-26488

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regarding using the 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth as an incentive for the pharmaceutical industry to improve the sustainability of current products in Scotland.

The regulation for the pricing and supply of medicines is reserved to the UK Government. Scottish Government officials worked closely with their counterparts in the UK Government during the 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry, however, the devolved administrations were not included in the formal negotiations.

Commitments made on medicines and pharmaceutical manufacturing sustainability in the 2024 VPAG can be found in section 7.11 to 7.14 here: 2024 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (publishing.service.gov.uk) .