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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.

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Question reference: S5W-34623

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on promoting the Scotland is Now campaign in (a) Scotland, (b) the rest of the UK and (c) overseas.

Question reference: S5W-34395

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32185 by John Swinney on 20 October 2020, whether it will provide an update on how many digital devices for school pupils funded by the £25 million announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 23 June 2020 have been (a) ordered, (b) received and (c) distributed to learners, broken down by local authority area.

Local authorities are responsible for securing and distributing devices. The following table details devices that have been ordered, received and distributed by end-December 2020, as reported by local authorities:

Local Authority	Devices ordered but not yet received	Devices received but not distributed	Devices distributed	Total
Aberdeen City	0	0	1777	1777
Aberdeenshire	632	0	4100	4732
Angus	0	0	1555	1555
Argyll and Bute	39	0	1317	1356
City of Edinburgh	0	0	2252	2252
Clackmannanshire	33	0	828	861
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	2371	2371
Dundee City	1300	0	750	2050
East Ayrshire	325	136	2002	2463
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	1015	1015
East Lothian	399	0	1407	1806
East Renfrewshire	33	0	590	623
Falkirk	340	0	1500	1840
Fife	826	550	4089	5465
Glasgow City	0	0	7240	7240
Highland	100	116	4407	4623
Inverclyde	0	344	856	1200
Midlothian	0	0	1235	1235
Moray	0	0	1315	1315
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0	0	357	357
North Ayrshire	0	0	1734	1734
North Lanarkshire	0	2360	2427	4787
Orkney Islands	0	0	275	275
Perth and Kinross	700	388	769	1857
Renfrewshire	1800	0	1600	3400
Scottish Borders	0	66	250	316
Shetland Islands	5	0	475	480
South Ayrshire	0	334	1172	1506
South Lanarkshire	342	935	4242	5519
Stirling	266	340	1528	2134
West Dunbartonshire	1726	0	358	2084
West Lothian	0	0	2905	2905
Total	8866	5569	58698	73133

Question reference: S5W-34411

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many apprentices (a) were due to be recruited in 2020, (b) were actually recruited in 2020 and (c) it plans to recruit in 2021 as part of the Young Person's Guarantee.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has operational responsibility for our apprenticeships programmes and administers them on behalf of the Scottish Government. SDS provide regular statistical breakdowns which can be located on the SDS website here and the year-end figures for 2020/21 are due to be published in June 2021.

The total number of apprenticeship starts in 2019-20 was 29,035 against a target of 29,000. Pre Covid-19 and in keeping with the Scottish Government’s commitment to grow apprenticeship opportunities the target was increased to 30,000 for 2020-21. However as Covid-19 continues to present unprecedented challenges for business across Scotland it is clear we will now not meet our ambitious target of 30,000 apprenticeship starts this year.

Whilst disappointing, we have moved from a period which delivered historically low levels of unemployment and achieving our ambitious targets on youth unemployment, to a much more challenging labour market with young people already being more severely impacted by the pandemic.

The Scottish Government is working with SDS and other stakeholders to mitigate and address the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19. This includes measures to maximise apprenticeship uptake and to support existing apprentices to complete their apprenticeships such as, increased support for Adopt an Apprentice and an additional £15 million funding for the Apprenticeship Employer Grant, encouraging employers to recruit and retain apprentices supporting the long-term future of work-based learning and the economy.

Uncertainty in the labour market has led to many employers delaying and pausing recruitment decisions, which we expect will continue to have an impact on apprenticeship provision in 2021-22. We will continue to work closely with SDS and employers to maximise the number of apprenticeship opportunities we can create in these challenging circumstances.

Question reference: S5O-04957

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the distribution of COVID-19 business support funding.

Question reference: S5W-34297

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out each year from the Digital Growth Fund, also broken down by how many businesses have received support.

Question reference: S5W-34219

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 18 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32943 by Paul Wheelhouse on 16 November 2020, whether it will provide an update on the number of applications that have been made to the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund, and how many have been (a) approved and (b) declined to date.

The £20 million Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund closed to applications on 18 December 2020. As of this date, 13 applications for support were received with a total application value of £22.5 million. All applications are now being reviewed in line with our eligibility criteria, decisions will be issued in January 2021. Project delivery will progress in compliance with Covid-19 measures and restrictions.

Question reference: S5W-34252

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to re-opening gyms in Level 4 areas, in light of Europe-wide figures from safeACTIVE, which recorded 487 COVID-19-positive cases from 62 million visits and Public Health Scotland figures suggesting that exercising in gyms accounted for less than 4% of new cases in the week ending 13 December 2020.

We currently have no plans to allow gyms to open in Tier 4. Level 4 is intended to apply for short periods of time to bring transmission down and under control. Given that the situation with the virus remains fragile – with many cases and continuing pressure on the NHS – we are taking a cautious approach.

Decisions on what sectors and activities to re-open on our route out of lockdown are guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Decision Making. Proposals are technically assessed using the best available evidence and analysis of their potential benefits and harms to health, the economy, and broader society to minimise overall harm and ensure transmission of the virus continues to be suppressed. This assessment process includes oversight of the assessed health risks in different settings by the Chief Medical Officer and input from the other Chief Clinicians as appropriate.

Question reference: S5W-34294

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 13 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish National Investment Bank received (a) in pre-bank investment and (b) from it in (i) 2018-19 and (ii) 2019-20, and how much it will receive in 2020-21.

The full budget allocation for investment related to the Scottish National Investment Bank over 2018-21 is £490 million. This comprises £150 million for the Building Scotland Fund and £340 million for other pre-cursor investment over the 3 year period. This was set out in the Financial Memorandum which accompanied the Scottish National Investment Bank Bill. The following has been provided for within budget settlements agreed by the Scottish Parliament and reported on in relevant annual accounts:

Annual budget settlement – provision related to the Scottish National Investment Bank	2018-19 £m	2019-20 £m	2020-21 £m	Total £m
Building Scotland Fund	70	50	30	150
Other pre-cursor investment/seed funding	-	120	220	340
Total	70	170	250	490

In addition in the 2020-21 Budget the Scottish Growth Scheme was allocated £10 million and the Scottish National Investment Bank was allocated £20 million in resource budget.

Question reference: S5W-33997

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has provided to animal rescue shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Scottish Government has not provided direct financial support to animal rescue shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the unprecedented demands on the Scottish Government's budget as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is, unfortunately, no scope to offer direct financial support at this time.

However, a universal 1.6% rates relief has been made available to all non-domestic properties in Scotland. Non-domestic rates are administered by local authorities, and they will apply this relief automatically.

Additionally, charitable rates relief provides an 80% mandatory rates discount, providing the property being occupied by a charitable organisation, or trustee of a charity, and be used wholly or mainly for charitable purpose; and the organisation is formally registered with OSCR (The Scottish Charity Regulator). A further 20% charitable rates relief is available, and is awarded on the discretion of the local authority.

In addition to rates reliefs, non-domestic properties, including shelters, may have been eligible for the Small Business Grant Fund which provided £10,000 for the first eligible property, and 75% grants (£7,500) to each additional property, in receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS), or eligible for the SBBS but in receipt of a small number of other reliefs such as charitable rates relief. This scheme closed on 10 July.

Question reference: S5W-34181

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 12 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its report, The climate change impacts of burning municipal waste in Scotland, what its response is to the comment by the Environmental Services Association that "the assumptions used to calculate the carbon intensity of energy recovery compared with landfill were incorrect [and] produced an erroneous conclusion".

Year	Amount Paid out	How many businesses have received support
2018-2019	£854,229	21
2019-2020	£1,806,984	43
2020-2021	£3,452,995	57
Total	£6,114,208	121

Phase	Amount Paid Out	How many businesses have received support
Phase 1	£1,568,933	37
Phase 2	£4,545,275	84
Total	£6,114,208	121