Daniel Johnson

27 Jul 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to promote the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, and how many businesses have applied for support from the scheme to date.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Our website at www.scotlandsuperfast.com is the main means of publicising the R100 programme, of which the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) is a key component. In addition, we publicise the R100 SBVS via the press, social media, and through con…

27 Jul 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in the Edinburgh Southern constituency have applied for support from the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: As of 1 August 2023, no businesses in the Edinburgh Southern constituency have applied for vouchers through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

19 Jul 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has done any work to ascertain how many tour operators have removed guaranteed departure products as a result of the reported disruptions to CalMac-operated ferry services.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government have not undertaken work to ascertain how many tour operators have removed guaranteed departure products as a result of disruption to CalMac operated ferry services.  

19 Jul 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full list of employers that have at least one employee currently undertaking a graduate apprenticeship.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The following list of employers with Graduate Apprentices (GAs) in training as at 30 June 2023 has been provided by Skills Development Scotland. Since the start of academic year 2021/22, GA learning costs for learners joining the programme have been funded b…

18 Jul 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of (a) graduate, (b) foundation and (c) modern apprenticeships by (i) occupational grouping and (ii) employer size in each of the last five years.  

Answer · Graeme Dey: Apprenticeship statistics are published on the Skills Development Scotland (SDS) website at Statistics | Skills Development Scotland . The statistics also include a breakdown of the number of Modern Apprenticeships by occupational grouping and a breakdown b…

18 Jul 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of its Skills and Training budget detailing (a) resources committed per programme, (b) staffing costs and (c) capital costs in each of the last five years.

Answer · Graeme Dey: A breakdown of the Skills and Training budget is set out in the Scottish Government’s annual budget publications: Scottish Budget 2023-2024 Scottish Budget 2022-2023 Scottish Budget 2021-2022 Scottish Budget 2020-2021 Scottish Budget 2019-2020 The …

18 Jul 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the integration of the Skills 4.0 model into work-based learning and the broader skills and education systems.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government recognises the importance equipping people of all ages and stages of life with the knowledge, skills and attributes to thrive in the 21 st Century. This forms a core part of all post-school pathways, including apprenticeships, and is r…

17 Jul 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what active strategies it has in place to reduce roads deaths, and what evaluation has been carried out into the effectiveness of any such strategies.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government, in conjunction with road safety partners, developed a world leading Road Safety Framework to 2030 (RSF 2030) which was published in 2021 and sets out a compelling long-term goal for road safety, where no one is seriously injured or …

27 Jun 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full appraisal of the National Transition Training Fund, including the total number of people who accessed the fund, the proportion of fund users who were unemployed or economically inactive, and the number of people who used the fund to upskill and reskill.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Year One report for the National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) was published in February 2022 and can be found here: National Transition Training Fund (NTTF): year 1 report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This shows that 9.482 individuals were supported i…

26 Jun 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported shortage of HGV drivers, including any help and support that it is providing regarding the cost of training for individuals.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Investing in skills across people’s lifetimes is critical to our future productivity and success as the economy and labour market continues to evolve over the coming decades. This is underlined by our commitment to a skilled workforce set out within the Natio…

21 Jun 2023 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what post-diagnostic clinical support is available for autistic children and young people.

14 Jun 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding action to address any skills shortages affecting the rural economy.     

12 Jun 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of administering the Skills for Growth programme has been in each year of its operation, including staffing and any direct business support.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The detailed information requested is currently being collated by Skills Development Scotland and I will write to the member as soon as this data is available and a copy will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib number 64366).

30 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will update its target to grow Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure to £1.75 billion by 2025, in order to account for the change in methodology used by the Office for National Statistics.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Office of National Statistics (ONS) have recently changed their measurement of Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure which has led to significant uplift revisions to BERD expenditure estimates. Work is currently underway between …

30 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the updated Stroke Improvement Plan, and whether there will be the required resource provided to allow its implementation.

Answer · Jenni Minto: We will publish our Stroke Improvement Plan on 14 June 2023. Funding to drive forward the actions in the plan has been confirmed for 2023-24 with some of the implementation work already underway. Delivery of the actions contained within this plan will enable…

30 May 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many modern apprentices working in construction, from the 2017 and 2018 cohorts, are still in training.

25 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what Barnett consequential funding it received as a result of the UK Government’s £63 million Swimming Pool Support Fund, and how much of this has been used to support swimming pools in Scotland, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government places great importance on swimming pools. They are crucial to the wellbeing of all our country and most importantly, for our children and young people to be healthy and active. The financial package announced by the UK Government to …

23 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which apprenticeship providers have delivered (a) Modern, (b) Foundation and (c) Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland in each year since 2018-19, also broken down by occupational grouping.

Answer · Graeme Dey: This information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under BiB No. 64319.  

22 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an appraisal of its Innovation Centre (IC) programme, across the range of key performance indicators (KPIs) used for monitoring and reporting quarterly progress.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Innovation Centre funding partners (Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise) have commissioned an evaluation of the IC Programme led by Additional Research and in association with Context Economic and Social Rese…

15 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a full appraisal of the Scottish Funding Council's Upskilling Fund, from its inception in 2019, including details on (a) uptake, (b) type of learner, (c) level of qualification, (d) the (i) hours and (ii) credits of learning provided and (e) any employer engagement.

Answer · Graeme Dey: All data is provided by the Scottish Funding Council. Details are as follows: (a) Uptake A summary of enrolments for all courses in each of the academic years (AY) since 2019-20 is as follows:- 19-20 – 4,041 enrolments 20-21 – 7,056 enrolments 21-22 – 7,…

15 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have participated in Skills Development Scotland's Skills for Growth programme in each year of its operation, and what analysis has been conducted of the impact of the programme on participating businesses.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has delivered Skills for Growth to the following number of employers: Financial Year Number of Employers 2012-13 25 2013-14 79 2014-15 121 2015-16 238 2016-17 222 2017-18 126 2018-19 149 2019-20 170 2020-21…

9 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its "blueprint" for Entrepreneurial Campuses, as set out in Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government has been engaging with tertiary education providers, and other relevant stakeholders, on how to implement a structure to best support entrepreneurialism in colleges and universities and intends to publish its blueprint on entrepreneuri…

4 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a regional breakdown of collaborations enabled by the Interface programme, also broken down by the estimated Gross Value Added (GVA) for each project.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Since August 2005, when Interface was established, it has played a role in facilitating 3,410 collaborative projects with 2,144 unique businesses. Between August 2018 and April 2023, Interface brokered 1,528 collaborations with universities, research institut…

4 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on increasing Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure to £1.75 billion by 2025, as outlined in its strategy for innovation, and what additional funding it has put in place to support this aim.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Provisional data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure estimate for Scotland in 2021 was £3.12bn. Note that the ONS has recently changed their measurement of BERD. The BERD…

3 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many apprenticeship learning providers there have been in each year since 2018-19.

Answer · Graeme Dey: There are a range of training providers across Scotland delivering training for apprenticeships including Independent Training Providers, Colleges, Universities and Third Sector Organisations. The number of Modern Apprenticeship contracts by year are as foll…

2 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether funding for post-diagnostic support for autistic people and their families, which is currently delivered by third sector organisations, will be renewed, and, if so, when allocations will be announced.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has provided funding of £2m since December 2020 to a number of third sector organisations to pilot Autism Post Diagnostic Support Schemes. The pilots and associated funding were extended to March 2023. We are currently working to devel…

26 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the longest delay has been, between the point of application and receipt of the first payment, for the processing of a Child Disability Payment claim to date.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the question S6W-17628 on 25 May 2023. 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-qu…

26 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is, between the point of application and receipt of the first payment, for Social Security Scotland to process a Child Disability Payment claim.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Official statistics covering processing times for Child Disability Payment are published as a part of the regularly scheduled quarterly publication. The latest Child Disability Payment statistical publication was published on Tuesday 16 May 2023. Information …

25 Apr 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the development of sustainable aviation fuel in Scotland.

19 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in developing interventions to address economic inactivity, and what metrics will be used to measure success.

Answer · Neil Gray: Officials have been working across government portfolios to understand, in detail, the causes and drivers of economic inactivity in Scotland. Addressing the challenges around inactivity are complex and although there have been improvements in the rate in rece…