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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-22704

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much of its Flexible Workforce Development Fund has been spent on training in the current year.

For the current academic year 2023-2024, there has been no Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) spend to date. We hope to confirm the final decision on delivery soon.

Academic year 2022-2023 is still in delivery with any contractually agreed training due to be completed by the end of December 2023. Based on the latest data provided by the Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland, the total spend so far is £11.55 million. Spend figures for 2022-23 will be finalised when delivery is complete.

Question reference: S6O-02765

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-22637

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the shortages of ADHD medication, including what is causing these shortages, and what action it is taking, in conjunction with NHS boards, to mitigate the shortages.

The Scottish Government is aware that there are ongoing global supply issues affecting the availability of various products which are licensed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is anticipated that the shortages will be resolved by end of December.

The shortages are caused by a combination of manufacturing issues and an increase in global demand. The pricing and the supply of medicines is currently a reserved matter for the UK Government. We continue to engage with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and we will continue to monitor the situation.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact of these global shortages on people living with ADHD and their families. NHS Scotland has robust systems in place to manage medicine shortages when they arise and anyone affected by this issue should speak to their usual clinical team.

Question reference: S6W-22240

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 13 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent Zoopla figures showing that rent in Scotland is rising faster than any other nation in the UK, what evaluation it has carried out of the effectiveness of the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022.

Zoopla published a report titled “ Rents for new lets rise 10.3% over the last year ” on 03 October 2023, covering changes in average rents for new tenancies over the latest year to September 2023. This report is based on newly advertised rental data and does not include trends in rents for existing tenancies, and does not therefore cover trends in rents for the whole private rented sector in Scotland.

This report states that the average monthly advertised rent for 1 to 4 bedroom properties on the open market in Scotland in September 2023, was £750, 36% cheaper than the average rent across the UK as a whole of £1,164, and lower than the average rent figures across each of the UK countries and regions of England except for Northern Ireland (£744) and the North East of England (£649).

The report also states that these rents in Scotland increased by 12.8% in the last year to September 2023, similar to the corresponding increases in some other regions in England and Wales, with increases of 10% and above in the West Midlands (10.1%), Wales (10.2%), the North West (11.3%) and London (11.5%).

The Scottish Government considers that there are a wide range of factors contributing to high increases in private rents in Scotland and across the UK. The Programme for Government confirms the intention to introduce a Housing Bill to deliver a New Deal for Tenants, including the introduction of long-term rent controls for the private rented sector to address large increases in rents both during and between tenancies in Scotland.

The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 provides stability of rents for the majority of existing tenants in the private rented sector in Scotland. Since 1 April 2023, rents for tenancies subject to the rent cap can increase by up to 3%, or landlords can apply to Rent Service Scotland for approval of an increase of up to 6% in specific circumstances. Our emergency legislation has led the way at a time when rents have been rising across the UK, stabilising rents to help tenants to stay in their homes. Anywhere else in the UK, private tenants have faced a double impact of unfettered rent rises both during and between tenancies.

This emergency legislation is time-bound and temporary, and the ongoing necessity is regularly reviewed and reported on. The First Report , Statement of Reasons for the Act’s extension from March 2023, Statement of Reasons for the Act’s second extension from September 2023 and the latest Report covering the period 1 June to 30 September 2023 are available on the Scottish Government website.

Question reference: S6O-02736

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the ADHD medication shortages, as referred to in the National Patient Safety Alert of 27 September.

Question reference: S6W-21979

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21642 by Shona Robison on 3 October 2023, whether it can provide the figures that are not "inclusive of payments made via the government electronic procurement card".

An expansion to S6W-21642 requesting % of payments made within 5 working days, which are not inclusive of electronic procurement card. As noted in the response to S6W-21642, top level figures on payments made within 5 days is only held from 2014 onwards.

Financial Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
% paid in 5 days (invoices only)	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	64.7	67.9	68.7	63.0	74.5	71.5	69.1	67.0	70.6
% paid in 10 days (invoices only)	96.1	96.2	97.5	97.7	97.5	97.9	96.7	98.3	97.8	96.6	96.0	96.0

Question reference: S6O-02650

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether Scotland’s infrastructure is equipped to deliver the current offshore wind pipeline of up to 42GW, including in relation to port infrastructure.

Question reference: S6W-22037

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21609 by Tom Arthur on 4 October 2023, whether it will provide details of any assessment that it carried out to determine the extent of any competitive disadvantage to Scottish ports as a result of freeports in the rest of the UK, and whether any equivalent assessment has been carried out to determine the extent of any competitive disadvantage between Scottish ports that are green freeports and those that are not.

The Scottish Government recognises that a diverse and successful ports and shipping sector contributes significantly to the national, regional and local economies in which they operate. Ports and harbours are crucial gateways to Scotland and Scottish Ministers continue to support a market-driven approach to ports policy, and recognise the contributions of port and shipping operators to the economy of Scotland.

The Green Freeports model in Scotland has been carefully designed by Scottish and UK Government Ministers to build on the existing strengths of local areas, minimise displacement of local economic activity, and create new opportunities for disadvantaged areas within Scotland.

To track the impact of the Scottish Green Freeports against these aims, we are developing a monitoring and evaluation framework in partnership with the UK Government and a consortium of external evaluation experts. This framework will also monitor and evaluate the impacts of the wider English and Welsh Freeports within the context of the UK. Once the framework has been established fully, Scottish Government and UK Government will publish findings from data collected.

In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with the Scottish ports sector and trade associations going forward, to understand any issues affecting the sector, including – where relevant – any concerns around the impact of Green Freeports or Freeports.

Question reference: S6W-21996

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many green jobs have been created by the £100 million Green Jobs Fund, as referenced in its Programme for Government 2020-21, as a result of funding allocated by (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) the Scottish Ministers.

Forecasts provided by the recipients of the Green Jobs Fund awards estimated projects will support up to 4,462 full time jobs over the life of the individual project.

Scottish Enterprise	1446
Scottish Ministers	3016

For the purpose of calculating these job numbers, green jobs have been defined as:

Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit or conserve natural resources.
Jobs in which workers' duties involve making their establishment's production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.

Question reference: S6W-21995

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much of the £100 million Green Jobs Fund, as referenced in its Programme for Government 2020-21, has been allocated by (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) the Scottish Ministers.

Scottish Enterprise	£13,796,559
Scottish Ministers	£6,366,129