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: S6O-03847

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it evaluates the performance of the enterprise agencies in directly investing in businesses.

Question reference: S6W-30379

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many customs sites are being used by businesses at the two Scottish Green Freeports.

Question reference: S6W-29302

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many floorcovering Modern Apprenticeship starts there have been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-29280

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27776 by Tom Arthur on 7 June 2024, how Scotland has performed relative to other UK nations and regions on inward investment, both from UK located firms and foreign firms, in each of the last five years.

The latest EY Attractiveness survey, published 11 July 2024, shows that for the ninth consecutive year Scotland was the top performing part of the UK for foreign direct investment (FDI) projects outside of London. Scotland remains highly attractive as an FDI destination, with 26% of investors looking to invest or expand in Scotland in the next year. This is up from 19.2% in 2022 and ranks behind only London – as well as being well ahead of the UK’s other regions and devolved administrations.

Information on how Scotland has performed relative to other UK nations and regions are available via the EY attractiveness survey (the latest results can be found here: ey-scotland-attractiveness-survey-07-2024.pdf) and the Department for Business and Trade Inward Investment Results (the latest results can be found here: DBT inward investment results 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Minister for Employment and Investment's answer to your question S6W-28567 on 30 July 2024 provided details on investment in Scotland for the past five years from a UK-based parent company. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-29491

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 18 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28739 by Tom Arthur on 29 August 2024, how many public sector (a) grants and (b) contracts that have been awarded since 1 July 2023 have exempted the receiving body from complying with the "effective workers' voice" criteria, broken down by the (i) receiving body and (ii) reason for exemption.

(a) There are no exemptions to the Fair Work First conditions in public sector grants. There is provision in the Fair Work First policy for limited exceptions where a potential grant recipient cannot afford to pay the real Living Wage to all or part(s) of its workforce and so is unable to accept the standard grant conditions regarding payment of the real Living Wage. There is no provision for an exception to meeting the effective voice condition. Funders may apply flexibility to recognise the different forms of voice that are appropriate for different organisations. The Fair Work First guidance is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/fair-work-first-guidance-2/.

(b) For information on the number of contracts including Fair Work First considerations, I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-28739 on 29 August 2024 and S6W-28738 on 23 August 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-29556

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 18 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28739 by Tom Arthur on 29 August 2024, whether it will outline the scale of the limited exception applied to each receiving body, including (a) grant amount and (b) number of employees affected.

Question reference: S6W-29539

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses and organisations applied for funding from the Fairer Workplaces Fund prior to it being closed on 21 August 2024.

Question reference: S6W-29538

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many hours of civil servants' time was spent (a) preparing the Fairer Workplaces Fund to open and (b) processing applications prior to the fund being cancelled.

Question reference: S6W-29275

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 13 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) Economic Leadership Group was established, and how many times it has met.

Question reference: S6W-29313

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many regulations have been removed as per advice from the Regulatory Review Group since it was relaunched in autumn 2023 as recommended by the New Deal for Business Group.

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