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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: S6F-00522

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on whether nuclear power is an essential part of Scotland's transition to net zero.

Question reference: S6F-00500

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to Rape Crisis Scotland's Survivor Reference Group: Police Responses in Scotland Report.

Question reference: S6F-00501

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to a SEPA investigation uncovering the single largest illegal export of household waste from Scotland, resulting in Saica Natur UK Limited being fined £20,000.

Question reference: S6F-00493

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00494

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6T-00301

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to NHS boards that are under pressure.

Question reference: S6T-00296

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools are currently shut due to staff shortages resulting from COVID-19 cases.

Question reference: S6W-04283

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 22 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether some of the reported £1million of funding to NHS boards to support international recruitment will be directed to social care providers to enable them to recruit from overseas.

I am most grateful to my colleague, Mr Burnett, for raising the important matter of overseas recruitment for social care providers. Regarding the recent funding for NHS boards; this funding cannot be routed to social care providers, who sit outwith the NHS. However, I would be happy to explain to Mr Burnett the work which is ongoing to address recruitment within the sector.

The Scottish Government are working hard to attract more people to a career in the social care sector. For the past two years the Scottish Government has funded an Adult Social Care Marketing Campaign. A further national marketing campaign launched on 8 November to attract more people to the sector.

We believe that Scotland’s social care services benefit greatly from the staff in the workforce who come from overseas. The sector is deeply concerned about the impact that the post-EU Exit loss of freedom of movement will have on recruitment to critical frontline social care roles. Scottish Government and key sector partners will continue to engage with UK Ministers to highlight why Scotland’s social care sector must have access to workers from outwith the UK, to help meet shortfall in workforce capacity and avoid the subsequent impact on our most vulnerable citizens. We also highlight that Scotland’s care workers are qualified, registered and regulated.

We will continue to push for a migration system tailored to Scotland’s needs, including a Scottish Visa, and work with partners and employers to develop proposals that suit their requirements.

Question reference: S6W-04245

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many solicitors it and its directorates directly employ, and what the average salary is for those roles, broken down by bandings related to seniority or other factors.

The Scottish Government currently directly employs the following number of solicitors, set out below by pay band/grade. SCS - Director is the most senior grade with legal trainees being the most junior grade. It should be noted that there are other individuals who may be qualified solicitors employed in non-legal roles in policy/operational directorates across the Scottish Government but that information is not centrally known or held.

Directorate for Legal Services

Grade	Total Headcount
SCS - Director	1
SCS - Deputy Director	12
C3	4
C2	52
C1	142
Legal Trainee	13
Total	223

Parliamentary Counsel Office

Grade	Total Headcount
SCS - Director	1
SCS - Deputy Director	8
C3	2
C2	3
C1	9
Total	23

The Scottish Government average annual salaries (full time equivalent) for 2021 – 22, for each pay band, are shown in the following table:

Grade	Annual average salary (full time equivalent) per band
SCS - Director	£102,980
SCS - Deputy Director	£81,259
C3	£76,060
C2	£69,044
C1	£55,181
Legal Trainee	£27,704

Question reference: S6W-04244

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the current (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) contract workforce is at Ferguson Marine shipbuilding yard in Port Glasgow; how this compares with figures for the same date in each of the last five years; what the current job vacancy rate is, expressed in number of FTE roles, and for how long these vacancies have been live and unfulfilled.

In the following table, the data provided covers the period from when the Scottish Government took control of the shipyard to the present day. The table includes a yearly workforce count, and a count taken when the shipyard entered administration on 16 August 2019. The Agency/Contracted count includes workers employed through agencies and contractors working under FMPG management control, including interims.

	16 August 2019	18 November 2019	13 November 2020	17 November 2021
Permanent	158	150	323	365
Temporary	117	172	45	45
Agency/ Contracted	10	10	56	39
Total	285	332	424	449

Currently, there are 10 roles that the shipyard is in the process of recruiting.