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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: S6W-10311

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help employers support good mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

I have today launched an online employer mental health and wellbeing platform, which provides a single point of access to signpost employers to relevant, reputable and free sources of support. As well as links to guidance and training to help employers support mental wellbeing at work, there are a range of case studies that showcase existing promising practice in organisations across Scotland.

The platform has been developed in collaboration with a wide range of partners, including employer organisations, Trade Unions, Public Health Scotland and mental health charities, and will be hosted on Public Health Scotland’s Healthy Working Lives website. The URL for the platform will be: www.healthyworkinglives.scot/mentalhealth

Question reference: S6W-09959

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to support the introduction of planning apprenticeship schemes in order to encourage people into town planning careers.

The Scottish Government funded and supported delivery of the recent Future Planners Project Report which identifies the need for a number of new initiatives to increase the number of planners working in Scotland, including introducing a planning apprenticeship scheme. We recognise the value such an apprenticeship scheme would bring and we are engaging with the Royal Town Planning Institute to support introduction of a planning apprenticeship scheme in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-09932

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many projects have (a) applied for and (b) received funding from the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme since it was created, broken down by (i) local authority area and (ii) the value of each project award.

Question reference: S6W-09971

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when repair work on the A77 at Carlock Wall is anticipated to be completed.

Question reference: S6W-09873

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 11 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what current research and work Zero Waste Scotland is conducting to develop the Scottish Waste Environmental Footprint Tool (SWEFT).

Question reference: S6W-09895

Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an estimate of the number of people in (a) the East Kilbride constituency and (b) Scotland who have benefitted from the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax first time buyer relief since its introduction.

Around 43,000 home buyers have claimed first-time buyers relief since its’ introduction in September 2018.

Revenue Scotland does not publish constituency level data, however, the latest available local authority data shows that around 1,040 homebuyers in South Lanarkshire have claimed the relief.

LBTT statistics published by Revenue Scotland can be found at: https://revenue.scot/news-publications/publications/statistics/land-buildings-transaction-tax-statistics-0

Question reference: S6W-09874

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 11 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the latest results of the Material Flow Accounts, due to be published in September 2022, will inform the analysis of its consultation on a circular economy bill.

Question reference: S6W-09844

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many premises currently receive Business Growth Accelerator relief on non-domestic rates.

Question reference: S6W-10071

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 10 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it made available to support the Elect Her website, and what assessment it has made of the outcomes of any funding.

Since 1 October 2021 the Scottish Government has funded Elect Her through the Equality and Human Rights (EHR) fund to increase the level of women’s political representation. Their annual EHR funding is approximately £106k of which £250 is used for website hosting. Other elements of their funded work include the creation of an online learning platform and running online workshops.

All organisations funded through the EHR Fund provide progress updates to the fund manager, Inspiring Scotland, every six months. We know that Elect Her supported 58 women in the 2022 Scottish local elections and 27 of them were elected.

Question reference: S6W-09850

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding for non-domestic rates relief it has (a) budgeted and (b) allocated to date, in 2022/23.

Decisions on non-domestic rates reliefs are taken as part of the budget process, using Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts of the total revenues raised net of relief costs. At the 2022-23 Scottish Budget in December 2021, the Scottish Fiscal Commission forecast that the reliefs package would save businesses £802 million. A breakdown of this figure is available in Figure S4.10, at https://www.fiscalcommission.scot/publications/scotlands-economic-and-fiscal-forecasts-december-2021/ .

It is for local authorities to administer non-domestic rates reliefs in accordance with the relevant legislation. Data on non-domestic rates income, including the values of reliefs, is released periodically at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-income-statistics/ .
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