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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: S5W-28697

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cost to it of continuing business support schemes that are directly funded by the UK Government to businesses in Scotland.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self Employment Income Support Scheme are run by the UK Government and have been an essential part of our collective response so far. The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is offered by banks across the UK with guarantees from the UK Government. We could not afford, and do not have powers to, create separate Scottish schemes to mirror these. The Scottish Government and its Ministers continue to work closely with the UK Government to ensure that the schemes take account of the different public health priorities that we need to manage compared to the rest of the UK. We intend to monitor uptake of the schemes in Scotland to ensure that our businesses are able to take advantage of them, and are working with HMRC to obtain relevant data.

Question reference: S5W-28838

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support South of Scotland Enterprise will provide to small- and medium-sized enterprises to help reset, restart and recover from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-28836

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 outbreak has had on the (a) establishment and (b) governance arrangements of South of Scotland Enterprise.

Question reference: S5W-28839

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered or is considering issuing ministerial directions to the agency under Section 17 of the South of Scotland Enterprise Act 2019 in response to the impact of COVID-19 and, if so, for what purposes.

Question reference: S5W-28835

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are employed by South of Scotland Enterprise; what impact the COVID-19 outbreak has had on this number, and how many it expects will be in position by March 2021.

Question reference: S5W-28696

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 13 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of each business support scheme introduced in Scotland to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, broken down by funding (a) directly to businesses from the UK Government, (b) from the Scottish Government from additional Barnett consequentials and (c) from existing Scottish Government budgets.

Question reference: S5W-28695

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the potential impact on communities in the south of Scotland of the UK Government easing or exiting the COVID-19 lockdown measures in the north of England.

Question reference: S5W-28694

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government to achieve the correct UK-wide strategy and timescale for easing or exiting the COVID-19 lockdown measures.

The Scottish Government supports the Four Nations approach where this aligns with the science as part of our commitment to aligning decision making with evidence and expert advice. Where the evidence supports the case for different approaches, we will make decisions which reflect our top priority of minimising the harm in Scotland.

The Scottish Government updated its assessment framework “COVID 19 - A Framework for Decision Making” on 5 May. The framework makes clear that we will consider the case for different approaches to meet the needs of specific geographic areas where such options can be implemented safely and communicated effectively – and are supported by the available evidence. No decisions have been made about this yet and we are committed to listening to the views of local people, business and organisations most affected by these decisions as we develop our approach.

A new digital platform was launched on 5 May to give people most affected by decisions about transitioning from the lockdown the opportunity to engage with the issues and evidence we are setting out through publications such as the framework document so that their views and ideas can help inform our decision-making process.

Question reference: S5W-28692

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 7 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what specific financial support (a) Highlands and Islands Enterprise and (b) South of Scotland Enterprise has provided to businesses to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

A collaborative multi-agency response to COVID-19 is being delivered by the enterprise and skills agencies. Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise are reviewing and reprioritising their spending plans for 20/21, so that existing funds can be used to address the impacts of Coronavirus on businesses and the economy. The agencies are working closely with communities in some of the most rural and fragile areas to ensure that they are accessing the support they need.

To date, measures with an estimated cost of over £2.3 billion have been committed to business support and the £100 million package of additional grant support for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and newly self-employed people announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture for Finance, opened for applications on 30 April:

£45 million Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, managed by the Enterprise Agencies providing bespoke grants and wrap around business support to viable but vulnerable SMEs who are vital to the local or national economic foundations of Scotland.
£20 million Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund, managed by the Enterprise Agencies in partnership with Creative Scotland and VisitScotland for small and micro creative, tourism and hospitality companies not in receipt of business rates relief with grants of up to £25K.

The Scottish Government is also providing £1 million to top up Creative Scotland’s Bridging Bursaries in the not-for-profit sector.

Question reference: S5W-28693

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been carried out to determine the impact on communities in the south of Scotland of a different strategy and timescale between Scotland and England for easing or exiting the COVID-19 lockdown measures.