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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-05747

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 31 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the explanation provided in the 2022-23 Level 4 Budget data, whether it will provide further details of the reasons for the budget allocation to Skills Development Scotland being reduced by £5.8 million in its draft Budget 2022-23, and what assessment has been made of the impact of this reduction on (a) upskilling and (b) reskilling workers.

This was one of the most fiscally challenging Scottish Budgets to date, with efficiencies having to be found across a number of portfolios. The budget allocation to Skills Development Scotland (SDS) should be seen in that context.

The SDS budget allocation includes Grant in-Aid for programme delivery and programme liabilities, which fluctuate depending on the numbers of people in training. The allocation also covers operational and staffing costs.

In 2021-22, the SDS budget allocation included around £8m for the continued delivery of programmes created as a response to COVID-19 which we do not expect will be continuing at the same levels in 2022/23.

We are working with SDS to finalise the details of their budget approach in 2022-23. This will ensure continued provision against Ministerial priorities and prioritise the delivery of training and learning opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-05749

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported findings that 95% of cybersecurity issues can be attributed to human error, and what actions it is taking to improve digital literacy skills.

Cyber security issues can result from, or be exacerbated by, human error and it is increasingly important for everyone to be aware of the cyber risks and to be able to mitigate them.

The Scottish Government works closely with partners such as Education Scotland, Police Scotland, Lead Scotland, YouthLink Scotland and Young Scot to raise awareness of cyber risks and of the measures people can take to protect themselves, their families and their communities.

Cyber resilience and broader digital skills are embedded into the Curriculum for Excellence. In 2017, we refreshed the Technologies curriculum to ensure that young people are learning up-to-date computing, digital and cyber resilience skills from early years onwards.

Question reference: S6W-05746

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people aged 19 and under were prescribed the antidepressant, fluoxetine, in 2019-20, and, of those, how many were prescribed other antidepressants, broken down by what these antidepressants were.

Question reference: S6O-00649

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of the live music and night time industries sectors and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-04961

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the original estimated cost was for the Haudagain Improvement project, and what the current estimated cost is.

Question reference: S6W-04962

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the original estimated date was for roads to open to traffic following the completion of the Haudagain Improvement project, and what the current estimated date is.

The A92 A96 Haudagain Improvement project, which was anticipated to be complete in winter 2021, has faced a number of challenges including the impact of the pandemic continuing to disrupt progress. The contractor has indicated a revised date for completing the works, with the Improvement now due to open to traffic by the end of March 2022 as detailed in the recent press release available on the Transport Scotland website at: https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/a92a96-haudagain-improvement-update-to-expected-completion-date/ .

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05362 on 21 December 2021. 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: S6O-00600

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when its refreshed Energy Strategy will be published.

Question reference: S6W-04963

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of premises in each Scottish parliamentary constituency have access to broadband speeds of no more than (i) 5, (ii) 10 and (iii) 24 Mbps.

We do not hold this data. However, Ofcom provides breakdowns at Local Authority and UK parliamentary constituency level as part of the interactive report they produce alongside their Connected Nations updates. Their latest published information can be found at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-update-summer-2021/interactive-report . Please also note that Ofcom breaks down this data into different speed categories than those you have requested.

Question reference: S6W-04960

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03169 by Keith Brown on 1 October 2021, how many mobile phones have been confiscated from prisoners in HMP and YOI Grampian in each month since September 2021.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The following table provides the number of SPS issued mobile phone handsets that have been confiscated at HMP & YOI Grampian, each month, from 1 September 2021 to 10 December 2021:

Month

September 2021

October 2021

November 2021

December 2021 (01/12/21 to 10/12/21)

Number of SPS issued mobile phone handsets confiscated*

*Number of illegal mobile phones (handsets not issued by SPS) that have been recovered are not included.

Question reference: S6W-04964

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) foundation, (b) modern and (c) graduate-level apprenticeships have been started in each (i) month and (ii) year since April 2019.

Official Modern Apprenticeship statistics are published by Skills Development Scotland quarterly, including the number of starts. The Modern Apprenticeship 2021-22 Q4 (Year End) statistics is expected to be published in May 2022. Foundation and Graduate Apprenticeship statistics are published on an annual basis.

The annual Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) statistics are:

? Cohort 4 (2019) – 3,450 (SCQF Level 6) and 442 (SCQF Level4/5) FA Starts

? Cohort 5 (2020) – 2,975 (SCQF Level 6) and 1,265 (SCQF Level4/5) FA Starts

The annual Modern Apprenticeship (MA) statistics are:

? 2019-20 – 27,875 MA Starts

? 2020-21 – 18,655 MA Starts

? 2021-22 Q2 – 11,104 MA Starts

The annual Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) statistics are:

? 2019-20 – 1,157 GA Starts

? 2020-21 – 1,158 GA Starts

The Quarter 2 statistics, published on 9 November 2021, show a positive increase in Modern Apprenticeship starts in comparison to the same time last year but are still lower than at the same point pre-pandemic, reflecting the ongoing impact from COVID-19.

The following table below provides a breakdown of the quarterly Modern Apprenticeship Starts since 2019/20 which are cumulative throughout the year.

Modern Apprenticeship starts by Quarter	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22 Q2
Q1	4,336	910	3,402
Q2	13,719	3,633	11,104
Q3	21,240	10,604	N/A
Q4 (Year End)	27,875	18,655	N/A

Prior to the impacts of COVID-19, the Scottish Government consistently exceeded its annual Apprenticeship targets year on year