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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: S6W-07565

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any Chinese state influence or interference in universities in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-07608

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, how many properties (a) are eligible and (b) have applied for the (i) £400 and (ii) £5,000 voucher, all broken down by (A) local authority area and (B) Scottish Parliament constituency.

The interim voucher portion of the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is now closed. We do not hold data for Scottish Parliamentary constituencies. However, data on voucher eligibility for all 32 Scottish Local Authorities is provided in the following table:

Local Authority	Properties eligible for the voucher worth up to £5,000
Aberdeen City	2,231
Aberdeenshire	6,437
Angus	1,916
Argyll and Bute	3,897
City of Edinburgh	4,601
Clackmannanshire	317
Dumfries and Galloway	3,616
Dundee City	630
East Ayrshire	1,440
East Dunbartonshire	1,392
East Lothian	1,071
East Renfrewshire	1,197
Falkirk	1,579
Fife	3,801
Glasgow City	11,317
Highland	10,316
Inverclyde	398
Midlothian	1,297
Moray	2,552
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	1,912
North Ayrshire	1,222
North Lanarkshire	1,314
Orkney Islands	2,404
Perth and Kinross	3,890
Renfrewshire	2,017
Scottish Borders	2,304
Shetland Islands	1,850
South Ayrshire	977
South Lanarkshire	2,480
Stirling	1,642
West Dunbartonshire	391
West Lothian	1,447
Total	83,855

Data on the number of applications received through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (as of 1 March 2022) is provided in the following table:

	Voucher worth up to £400			Voucher worth up to £5,000
Local Authority	Vouchers Requested	Vouchers Issued	Vouchers Installed	Vouchers Requested	Vouchers Issued	Vouchers Installed
Aberdeen City			1		8	13
Aberdeenshire	3	41	75	12	175	271
Angus	4	1	8		103	39
Argyll & Bute		8	13		24	37
City of Edinburgh					14	12
Clackmannanshire	1	1	7		1	5
Dumfries & Galloway		7	110		28	23
Dundee City					17	1
East Ayrshire		1	16		6	7
East Dunbartonshire					2	1
East Lothian			3		15	7
East Renfrewshire	1		5		4	4
Falkirk		1	4	2	10	2
Fife		1	10	1	16	21
Glasgow City					9	9
Highland	1	7	45	1	161	196
Inverclyde			1			1
Midlothian			11		15	6
Moray	1	5	27	1	75	75
Na h-Eileanan an Iar
North Ayrshire			10		1	16
North Lanarkshire		1	7		18	11
Orkney Islands				5	60	9
Perth & Kinross	1	17	78	1	37	45
Renfrewshire			7		11	4
Scottish Borders	2	14	154		31	57
Shetland Islands
South Ayrshire			2		1	11
South Lanarkshire	1	3	39		6	21
Stirling		5	104	7	17	24
West Dunbartonshire			2
West Lothian			1			2
Total	15	113	740	30	865	930

Question reference: S6W-07562

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of reported concerns that Confucius Institutes may represent a threat to academic freedoms and freedom of expression.

We are concerned by suggestions of foreign interference in Scottish universities. Our universities are autonomous institutions and the alliances they forge across global academic networks are a matter for them and their governing bodies.

However, we expect all universities to understand and manage the reputational, ethical and security risks associated with international partnerships. This includes conducting appropriate due diligence before entering into new international partnerships and monitoring existing partnerships. Guidance to support universities has been published by Universities UK.

Academic freedom is of paramount importance in Scotland and we have legislated to expand the statutory definition of academic freedom in the Higher Education Governance Act 2016. We also expect our universities to listen to the campus community when taking decisions affecting the university, its staff and students.

Question reference: S6W-07558

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it has supported former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-07559

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made and action it has taken to ensure that former Hong Kong residents who resettle in Scotland are not subjected to racism or discrimination.

Question reference: S6W-07566

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economic value that Chinese students who come to Scotland to study bring to (a) universities and (b) the national economy.

HESA statistics show that Chinese student enrolment in Scottish universities was 18,555 in AY 2020/21. Tuition fee estimates are calculated using HESA Finance data and are based on the average tuition fee paid by all non-EU students. The estimated tuition fee income from Chinese students to Scottish Higher Education Institutions was around £300 million in academic year 2019/20.

According to a report by London Economics for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) , the average non-EU student in the 2018/19 cohort will have a net benefit to the UK economy of £102,000 over the duration of their studies. The study also shows that international students in Scotland as a whole contributed £2.47 billion to the UK economy. Information on the impact of Chinese students studying in Scotland to the national economy is not available.

Question reference: S6W-07557

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that former Hong Kong residents who resettle in Scotland are successfully integrated into local communities.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting integration of former Hong Kong residents into our communities. We have published a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, on our website. On 9 February, we wrote with the Welsh Government to the UK Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Local Government requesting assurances that promised funding of £2.98m will be provided and that it can be carried forward to subsequent financial years in order to meet any current or future potential support needs. To date, no response has been received.

Question reference: S6W-07560

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to meet with former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland in order to collect feedback on their experiences.

Question reference: S6O-00960

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it and Police Scotland have undertaken to ensure that police officers have access to additional trained mental health workers.

Question reference: S6W-07561

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07058 by Neil Gray on 14 March 2022, whether it will provide further details of the steps that it has taken to ensure that Hong Kong residents coming to the UK through the British National (Overseas) visa scheme are encouraged to resettle in Scotland.