Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-26010

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which (a) job-related and professional training course costs, (b) professional subscription fees and (c) purchases of small equipment made up the £146,366.43 of electronic purchasing card (ePC) transactions by Transport Scotland in 2022-23.

Under the Public Sector Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 Government bodies are required to publish details of information relating to: public relations; overseas travel; hospitality and entertainment; external consultancy; details of all items of expenditure over £25,000; remuneration; sustainable growth; efficiency; and shared services.

Transport Scotland has also followed the Scottish Government extension of these requirements to publish annual details of Electronic Procurement card transactions. Details can be found on the Transport Scotland website.

Disclosures for the financial years 2022-23 and 2021-22 - Electronic Purchasing Cards | Transport Scotland

Description	Amount - £
Job Related and Professional Training Courses	58,408.55
Professional Subscription Fees	24,586.63
Small Equipment	14,578.43
Other Sundry Payments	48,792.82
Total	146,366.43

Question reference: S6O-03258

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will give further consideration to allowing events to start in the Parliament building while Members' Business debates are ongoing.

Question reference: S6W-25421

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24652 by Mairi McAllan on 7 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £37.8 million, or 75.6%, reduction to the Just Transition Fund in its Budget 2024-25, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Question reference: S6W-25389

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24657 by Graeme Dey on 6 February 2024, whether it will confirm whether a specific impact assessment was conducted regarding the £23.5 million reduction to the “Lifelong Learning and Skills” budget.

Question reference: S6W-25378

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24644 by Patrick Harvie on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £9.3 million reduction to the total "Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation" budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Question reference: S6W-25391

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24659 by Graeme Dey on 6 February 2024, whether it will confirm whether a specific impact assessment was conducted regarding the £9.3 million reduction to the “Skills Programmes” budget.

Question reference: S6W-25390

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24658 by Graeme Dey on 6 February 2024, whether it will confirm whether a specific impact assessment was conducted regarding the £4.1 million reduction to Skills Development Scotland’s budget.

The impact assessments for the E&S portfolio were prepared collectively and reflected in the Education and Skills portfolio analysis section in Annex B of the Equality and Fairer Scotland statement available at this link Scottish Budget - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Ministers have been clear that they expect SDS to prioritise the careers service and maximise apprenticeship opportunities from within their budget allocation. This will also be set out in their annual Letter of Guidance for 2024-25.

SDS have their own internal budget processes and have clear focus on equalities and relevant expertise on their board.

Question reference: S6W-25384

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24650 by Mairi McAllan on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £6.7 million reduction to the "Central Government Grants to Local Authorities" budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.

The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23 and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years. Furthermore, the Spring Budget includes no new capital funding.

A significant proportion of the expenditure in the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced our room for manoeuvre.

It is within these challenging circumstances that we have had to make difficult decisions to achieve a fiscally sustainable budget.

As Miri McAllan MSP indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.

Question reference: S6W-25383

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24645 by Mairi McAllan on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the removal of all funding from the "Green Economy" budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Further to the response I gave on 2 February, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.

The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23 and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years.

A significant proportion of the expenditure in the former Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio has been legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced our room for manoeuvre.

It is within these challenging circumstances that we have had to make difficult decisions to achieve a fiscally sustainable budget.

As I indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.

Question reference: S6W-25382

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24647 by Mairi McAllan on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £38.7 million reduction to the "Climate Change and Land Managers Renewables Fund" budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

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