Parliamentary questions
Paul Sweeney
1,340 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
14 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider additional interventions that could be introduced within devolved competence to support people seeking asylum, in line with recommendation 13 of the final report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into Asylum Provision in Scotland.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12299 on? 1 December 2022. 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-commit…
14 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-00961 by Angus Robertson on 15 November 2022, whether it will provide further details of what its response is to the final report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into Asylum Provision in Scotland.
Answer · Shona Robison: As set out in answer to S6T-00961, the Scottish Government will consider the recommendations made in the Asylum Inquiry Scotland’s inquiry report when preparing our response to it. That response will be published in due course. I have already written to the H…
14 Nov 2022 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that nursing staff at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital are routinely left in charge of up to 30 patients and are forced to conduct 5.00 am bed washes due to staff shortages.
14 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the top three best performing capital investment projects were in the last financial year, on the specific measure of return on investment.
Answer · Michael Matheson: We report every six months to Parliament on the delivery of major capital projects and programmes and publish an annual report on the progress of our five-year Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) which outlines the progress made in relation to the IIP’s thre…
14 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it assesses the return on investment in relation to capital expenditure.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) sets out the Scottish’s Government’s approach to appraising investment decisions. The SPFM is available by way of the following link Scottish Public Finance Manual (www.gov.scot) . The Green Book is a well-establi…
14 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a way of monitoring and recording how many schools utilise education resources on the Holocaust.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: A wide range of resources are available for schools to promote learning and teaching about, and remembrance of, the Holocaust. These resources focus on the Holocaust but also promote awareness of Jewish people, culture and their contribution to society and ad…
10 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11686 by John Swinney on 28 October 2022, whether it will provide detail on what steps it will take to invest in innovation to boost productivity in Scotland.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Investing in our innovative businesses is a key priority of the Scottish Government and we are committed to becoming a world leading, innovation nation, to increasing productivity, growing our economy and creating sustainable, green jobs. That is why this wi…
10 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11686 by John Swinney on 28 October 2022, whether it will provide detail on how it plans to expand international opportunities to boost productivity in Scotland.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government’s drive to boost productivity and innovation is set out in the third programme of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) . Our approach to expanding international opportunities is set out in NSET’s fifth programme “…
7 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will engage with the ScotWind leasing round winners, Scottish Power Renewables, SSE Renewables, Falck Renewables, Vattenfall, Shell, DEME, Ocean Winds, BayWa, Offshore Wind Power, Northland Power and Magnora, to request that they co-operate with BP in the development of a comm…
Answer · Michael Matheson: Ministers remain fully committed to utilising every lever within their devolved competence to support and grow domestic supply chain which is why we are working to realise our ambitions for the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland through The Scottish Offsh…
7 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will develop a plan to maximise the utilisation of the Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme when it is introduced later in 2022.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government welcomed the commitment by the UK Government to introduce a Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme (HSCGS) as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh. Once the detail of the HSCGS is known, we will engage with the UK Go…
4 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to convey to the UK Government the reported concerns of people seeking asylum regarding their experiences of the standard of living and welfare at the Alexander Thomson Hotel, in Glasgow.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11992 on 28 November 2022. 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-commit…
4 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the standard of accommodation at the Alexander Thomson Hotel, in Glasgow, for people seeking asylum.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Alexander Thomson Hotel is used by Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership (GHSCP) to provide temporary accommodation to people experiencing homelessness, in line with their statutory duties. We are aware that this has at times included asylum seeking …
2 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the proportion of net inward migration to the UK that settled in Scotland in each of the last 10 years, and what steps it is taking to grow this relative proportion in future years.
Answer · Neil Gray: Based on NRS and ONS data, the number of international migrants who have settled in Scotland in the last 10 years, and comparative UK data, is: Scotland UK mid-2012 35,900 517,754 mid-2013 28,200 503,723 mid-2014 33,200 582,621 mid-2015 37,800 …
2 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the National Shipbuilding Office on developing Scottish workstreams in the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government engaged with the UK Government throughout the development of the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh and continues to engage with the National Shipbuilding Office through the National Shipbuilding Strategy Board, which is scheduled …
1 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Enterprise has undertaken an equalities impact assessment to inform its reported proposal to close all its office locations except those in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Any proposals around its future operational estate are a matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to respond to you directly. However, I do understand that the current consultation on office requirement…
1 Nov 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it expects to publish the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government committed to publishing a refresh of the 2017 Energy Strategy in the Programme for Government and as part of the Bute House Agreement. Following the Scottish Government's response to the Just Transition Commission, we committed to publ…
20 Oct 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address Scotland’s reported productivity lag, in light of the findings published in the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development report, The four-day week: Scottish employer perspectives on moving to a shorter working week, that 63% of Scottish employers surveyed …
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is committed to making Scotland's businesses, industries, regions, communities and public services more productive and innovative. Productivity growth is the means by which we will build a better society, through higher incomes and liv…
18 Oct 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to increase the accessibility of the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment webinars, in light of reports from the client experience survey that just one fifth of clients accessed the webinars.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: PACE support is usually delivered face to face, often in an employer’s premises, in addition to support which is available through the PACE Helpline and through online resources. PACE webinars and pre-recorded content were a newly introduced service in 2021 t…
18 Oct 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve outcomes for female clients of the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment scheme, in light of evidence that just 14% of female clients described their new role as higher skilled and higher responsibility than their previous role, compared to 27% of men.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: We recognise the importance of improving labour market outcomes for females and we monitor the influence of PACE support through a major survey every two years. The most recent 2022 PACE Client Experience Survey report was published in September 2022, https:…
18 Oct 2022 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any discussions it has had with the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow regarding capital investment in the facility.
18 Oct 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider embedding Holocaust education in the Curriculum for Excellence in a similar way as LGBTQ+ education, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: There is no specific content embedded in the curriculum. Curriculum for Excellence is a flexible curriculum, which enables teachers to tailor the content of lessons to best suit learners in their particular circumstances To find out more about what the Scott…
18 Oct 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how education on the Holocaust is delivered in secondary schools.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Curriculum for Excellence enables teachers to tailor the content of lessons to best suit learners in their particular circumstances. Within the broad general education there is the opportunity to teach the Holocaust both within the people, past event and …
18 Oct 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all secondary school pupils are taught about the Holocaust.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11654 on 9 November 2022. 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-committ…
18 Oct 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of secondary school pupils have received education on the Holocaust during their time at school in the school year 2021-22.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Curriculum for Excellence enables teachers to tailor the content of lessons to best suit learners in their particular circumstances. Within the broad general education there is the opportunity to teach the Holocaust, not only within social studies, but ac…
14 Oct 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to allocate further funding for university students facing hardship in relation to the cost of living.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Students in further or higher education currently experiencing financial hardship should apply to their college or university for support from Discretionary Funds. We have provided £16.8m in hardship funding for the current academic year to support higher edu…
20 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to prioritise resourcing local authorities to exercise their powers to create municipal bus companies under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, in light of the cost of living crisis and climate emergency.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Section 34 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 is now in force, providing wider powers for local transport authorities to run their own buses. Additionally, secondary legislation to enable bus franchising and partnership options will be introduced before the…
20 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review, and consider increasing, the sum of £74 million that has been allocated to the Community Bus Fund, in light of reports that the total cost of bus franchising in Manchester alone is estimated to be £200 million.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government introduced the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to provide an enhanced suite of options for local transport authorities to improve bus services according to their local needs. Local Authorities now have the power to run their own bus serv…
20 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to local authorities from the £74 million Community Bus Fund since 2021, and how much remains in the fund to be distributed by the end of the current parliamentary session.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The recent Resource Spending Review allocated £46 million to the Community Bus fund for the remainder of this parliament, with a further £30 million allocated in the Capital Spending Review. These financial envelopes are intended to guide financial planning a…
20 Sep 2022 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent ballot for industrial action by members of the Educational Institute of Scotland trade union.
6 Sep 2022 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the current members of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund Investment Panel.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The membership of the panel is agreed between Scottish Government and COSLA and consists of a number of organisational representatives. A list of those organisations and current members is as follows. Scottish Government David Cowan (Co-Chair) COSLA …