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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-06190

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have received a free bus pass through the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, broken down by local authority.

The Improvement Service (IS), who manage the application process, have informed us that at close of business on 1 March 2022 a total of 144,377 cards had been produced and despatched.

The latest figures that IS have provided broken down to a local council level are from close of business on 14 February 2022 and can be found in the following table.

Aberdeen City Council	3,949
Aberdeenshire Council	5,126
Angus Council	1,350
Argyll & Bute Council	1,136
City of Edinburgh Council	16,580
Clackmannanshire Council	504
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	260
Dumfries & Galloway Council	1,973
Dundee City Council	5,919
East Ayrshire Council	4,838
East Dunbartonshire Council	1,507
East Lothian Council	2,336
East Renfrewshire Council	2,375
Falkirk Council	1,888
Fife Council	7,426
Glasgow Council	8,209
Highland Council	3,155
Inverclyde Council	6,873
Mid Lothian Council	1,837
Moray Council	1,383
North Ayrshire Council	1,452
North Lanarkshire Council	3,999
Orkney Islands Council	176
Perth & Kinross Council	2,502
Renfrewshire Council	2,635
Scottish Borders Council	2,722
Shetland Islands Council	1,018
South Ayrshire Council	1,106
South Lanarkshire Council	2,840
Stirling Council	1,282
West Dunbartonshire Council	851
West Lothian Council	3,791

Question reference: S6W-06231

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many online applications for a new or replacement National Entitlement Card (NEC) or Young Scot National Entitlement Card (Young Scot NEC), to access the Young Persons' Free Bus Travel Scheme, have been started since the application process opened on 10 January 2022; of these started applications, how many have been completed and submitted, and, of these submitted applications, how many have been rejected, broken down by the reason for rejection.

The Improvement Service (IS), who manage the application process, do not have the statistics on applications started available. Some online applications were submitted in advance of the 10 January 2022 application open date. At close of business on 1 March 2022, there had been a total of 201,306 online applications submitted.

The IS are able to report on the online rejection numbers only. At close of business on 1 March 2022, 47,251 applications had been rejected. Among the most common reasons for rejection were:

? Abbreviated birth certificate supplied which contains insufficient information necessary to prove that a parent is authorised to act on behalf of a child.

? Documents supplied cannot be read

? Parental ID not supplied

? Mismatch on address

? Data mismatch

? Non-compliant photo

? Documents do not pass security features checks

? Wrong date of birth

? Duplicate application

? Failed ID verification checks

Question reference: S6W-06188

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people it estimates are eligible for the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, broken down by local authority.

Up to 930,000 young people aged between 5 and 21 will be eligible for the Young Persons' Free Bus Travel Scheme. This is in addition to almost 60,000 young people in this age group who already hold National Entitlement Cards providing access to the existing Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons. The following table provides population estimates calculated by Transport Scotland on the basis of data published by National Records of Scotland.

Scotland	989,300
Council areas
Aberdeen City Council	37,600
Aberdeenshire Council	51,400
Angus Council	20,800
Argyll and Bute Council	14,100
City of Edinburgh Council	84,800
Clackmannanshire Council	9,700
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	4,600
Dumfries & Galloway Council	25,100
Dundee City Council	26,600
East Ayrshire Council	22,400
East Dunbartonshire Council	21,000
East Lothian Council	20,900
East Renfrewshire Council	21,400
Falkirk Council	30,000
Fife Council	70,400
Glasgow Council	107,000
Highland Council	42,100
Inverclyde Council	13,600
Mid Lothian Council	18,600
Moray Council	17,600
North Ayrshire Council	24,500
North Lanarkshire Council	67,400
Orkney Islands Council	3,800
Perth and Kinross Council	26,700
Renfrewshire Council	32,400
Scottish Borders Council	20,400
Shetland Islands Council	4,500
South Ayrshire Council	19,100
South Lanarkshire Council	59,100
Stirling Council	17,500
West Dunbartonshire Council	16,600
West Lothian Council	37,900

Question reference: S6W-06784

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many opportunities there are for youth work placements through the current Modern Apprenticeships scheme.

Official Modern Apprenticeship (MA) statistics are published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) quarterly, including the number of starts.

The following table shows the number of MA starts over the last five years on the Youth Work Framework:

Year	Starts
2020-21	28
2019-20	31
2018-19	29
2017-18	37
2016-17	27

Published on 15 February 2022, the Quarter 3 statistics covering April-December 2021, show there have been 16 starts on the Youth Work Modern Apprenticeship Framework by the end of Quarter 3. The Modern Apprenticeship 2021-22 Q4 (Year End) statistics are expected to be published in May 2022.

Apprenticeships are a key way for all employers to invest in their workforce, providing the skills the economy needs both now and in the future. Apprenticeship opportunities are led by demand from employers. Each year SDS carries out an extensive industry demand assessment to support planning and contracting across the apprenticeship family.

The Scottish Government will continue to work collaboratively with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council to maximise apprenticeship opportunities and prioritise a recovery that creates new jobs, good jobs and green jobs, supporting the long-term future of work-based learning and the economy.

Question reference: S6W-06676

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings ministers have had with ministers from Northern Ireland regarding cultural matters and cultural exchange in (a) 2019 (b) 2020 (c) 2021 and (d) 2022 to date.

Scottish Ministers attended the 36 th British Irish Council (BIC) Summit hosted by the Welsh Government which had the theme of Indigenous Minority and Lesser-Used Languages. Shirley-Anne Somerville, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, attended a virtual work sector meeting on 17 November 2021, and Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister and Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy attended the Summit on 19 November, when Ms Forbes gave her update on economic recovery to the pandemic in Gaelic.

Scottish Ministers have taken part in a number of ‘Exit Operations’ meetings with their counterparts across the UK. These meetings have focused on measures to prepare for and address the impacts of the UK’s exit from the EU. The meetings have dealt with a range of issues relevant to the culture and creative sectors, including the international mobility of artists, international trade and exports, and funding.

Scottish Ministers engage with their counterparts across the UK through Four Nations Ministerial Meetings, which have addressed issues of shared concern such as sectoral recovery from the pandemic and the challenges to the culture sector presented by Brexit.

Question reference: S6W-06681

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to promote cultural links between Scotland and Wales.

Wales was the special partner nation at Showcase Scotland 2022 as part of Celtic Connections, with six Welsh acts featuring as part of the festival programme: Cynefin, Eve Goodman, N’Famady Kouyaté, No Good Boyo, Pedair and The Trials of Cato. There was increased collaboration in advance of the festival with meetings of cultural organisations between the two nations and a strong partnership between Feis Rois and Welsh group Avanc has resulted. As Showcase Scotland took place virtually in 2022, Wales will once again have a focus in 2023 alongside Brittany. The virtual launch was attended Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and Dawn Bowden, Welsh Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport.

Focus Wales was a partner with the recent successful iteration of Global Music Match which saw Scottish and Welsh artists collaborating with other international artists, with many longstanding relationships resulting.

Question reference: S6W-06673

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to promote cultural links between Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

The Scottish Government has an office in Dublin which delivers an ambitious and exciting programme to engage local audiences with Scotland’s contemporary culture, in support of Scotland’s wider International Framework.

The office supports Scotland’s programme of cultural celebrations throughout the calendar year, and identifies opportunities to celebrate anniversaries of significant dates with local events. It also designs programmes of cultural activity that support Scottish artists and performers to develop markets in Ireland. It works closely with Scotland’s cultural institutions including Creative Scotland and the National Performing Companies.

The Ireland-Scotland Joint Bilateral Review, launched in 2021, highlights culture as one of its six key themes. In line with the recommendations of this report, the Scottish Government in Ireland is working alongside Irish Government colleagues with a continued focus on creating opportunities for our artists and performers, and for our creative and heritage sectors to flourish.

Question reference: S6W-06680

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what cultural exchange programmes it funds between Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Through Colmcille 1500, there has been a partnership between Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland to celebrate St Columba’s legacy and 1500 years since his birth.

There have also been many projects supported through a Creative Scotland funding stream set up to encourage activity linking Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic language and culture projects.

As referred to in the answer to question S6W-06673 on 4 March 2022, the Scottish Government Office in Dublin, one of its external network of offices, delivers an ambitious and exciting programme to engage local audiences with Scotland’s contemporary culture, in support of Scotland’s wider International Framework.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6O-00861

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-00854

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) whether it will consider amending its policy on party identity or affiliation appearing on publications paid for by the SPCB.