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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-21767

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 20 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has provided to (a) Young Scot and (b) the Scottish Youth Parliament in each financial year since 2017.

Young Scot are provided with core funding from the Scottish Government. The funding comes from the Children's Rights team and the Health Inequalities team. They have received £975,000 annually since 2014.

The Scottish Youth Parliament are provided with core funding through the Scottish Government’s Children Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) Fund. This fund is administered by the CORRA Foundation on behalf of Scottish Ministers. They received £325,000 in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and received £341,250 in 2022 and 2023.

Question reference: S6W-21930

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 20 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) timescales and (b) processes it has in place to legislate to end so-called conversion practices in Scotland; what it anticipates such a ban will entail or encompass, and whether it considers there will be adequate time for consultation to allow for all views to be heard on the matter while still being able to legislate within the current parliamentary session, in light of other current legislative pressures.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a Bill on ending conversion practices in Scotland. A public consultation containing detailed proposals for legislative change will be published by the end of this calendar year. The consultation will allow us to provide clear and detailed information on our proposed approach in order to obtain views from stakeholders and the broader public.

In developing our proposals we are carefully considering a wide range of evidence and expert advice. This includes the report of the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee and the report and recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group set up by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-21768

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendations included in the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report by Lord Hardie that sanctions should be considered for individuals or companies who "knowingly submit misleading information to councillors", and that once it is established that the information and/or report was misleading, “Ministers should consider whether there is a need for a statutory criminal offence involving strict liability”.

Question reference: S6W-21868

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has concluded whether any further staff pay increases in the education sector (a) will be funded via additional money delivered to local authorities by the Scottish Government, (b) will be taken from existing wider local authority budgets or (c) can be paid for using Scottish Government education funds that have ring-fenced and specified targeted uses, and what discussions the Scottish Ministers have had with COSLA on this matter.

Question reference: S6O-02638

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of new secondary school teachers.

Question reference: S6W-21869

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it can provide to all the relevant stakeholders to find a safe and permanent solution to the ongoing issues with the Ayr Station Hotel building, in light of repeated fire outbreaks affecting local transport, commuting and commercial activity.

The Scottish Government continues to provide support to South Ayrshire Council in relation to the Ayr Station Hotel building.

I met with the leader of the council on October 11 on the subject of the station hotel building and remain open to further discussion around what assistance may be required.

Officials are in regular dialogue with the council, and Network Rail and ScotRail, through the Strategic Governance Group which is looking at the plans for the station moving forward as well as more recently the implications of the most recent fire at the station hotel building.

Question reference: S6W-21866

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the financial profit or loss has been of the Scottish National Investment Bank in the last financial year, and what projects or investments constituted or affected these figures, broken down as far as it is publicly possible to do so.

The Scottish National Investment Bank published its Annual Accounts ( Annual Report and Accounts 2023 | Scottish National Investment Bank (thebank.scot) ) on 27 September 2023 and disclosed a loss before tax of £20.1 million.

Page 128 shows the Statement of Comprehensive Income and identifies the main driver for the loss was the ‘Net unrealised (losses) on revaluation of investments’. The revaluation is on a ‘fair value’ basis and considers how much the investments are currently worth – it is not a verdict on the long-term prospects of the investments.

The Bank was set up less than three years ago and is expected to address market failure and compliment, not compete, with other investors. In the Bank’s early years, as the portfolio is being built, unrealised gains and losses are expected. As stated in the Annual Report and Accounts, the current position is in line with industry and development finance expectations.

Question reference: S6W-21867

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors NHS Scotland and its procurement contracts and practices to ensure that they comply with all relevant laws governing corruption, bribery, fraud and theft and conform to adequate due diligence, in light of its status as a public body under the direction of the Scottish Ministers.

We take the threat from fraud very seriously and, through the NHS counter-fraud standards, continue to work with NHS Boards to combat fraud against our NHS to ensure that health funding is used where it is needed most – treating patients.

Procurement by NHS Boards is administered independently of Scottish Ministers and it is for NHS Boards to ensure that tendering exercises are in accordance with relevant rules and guidance to ensure that all bidders are treated appropriately and best use of public funds.

Question reference: S6W-21863

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 13 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21311 by Paul McLennan on 26 September 2023, in order to ensure there is clarity for the general public, whether it will clarify how it defines "benefits in kind" in its answer; how it clearly defines what constitutes a "home exchange"; how this definition differs from either a one-way house sit or a mutual two-way house sit, and for what reason a house swap, or house exchange, which is an informal arrangement between individuals and through which there is no payment for services, is subject to the new licensing scheme where a house sit under the same terms would not be.

My previous reply to question S6W-21311 set out that home exchanges are within scope of short-term let licensing legislation. This is because the host is benefitting from exchanging their accommodation, whether this is by gaining 'points' for letting their accommodation that they can save up and use to secure holiday accommodation for themselves at a future time or through a reciprocal exchange of accommodation with another host (that may or may not be simultaneous). Further explanatory information about the inclusion of 'benefits in kind' as part of commercial consideration is set out in the Policy Note published alongside The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 (legislation.gov.uk) .

Where an individual has asked another individual to house or pet-sit and the arrangement does not involve payment for the accommodation or a benefit in kind, this is an ‘informal arrangement’ between individuals and is out of scope of short-term let licensing.

Where the host is offering the accommodation for the principal purpose of facilitating the provision of work or services by the guest, this is also exempt from the requirement for a short-term let licence.

Question reference: S6W-21853

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 13 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many officials accompanied the First Minister on his trip to New York for New York Climate Week in September 2023, and what the total cost was of the trip.