Daniel Johnson

9 May 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason a number of written parliamentary questions have not received an answer by ministers within the required timescale.

2 May 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what lessons have been learned regarding the procurement of new ferries.

25 Apr 2022 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the potential impact on Scottish Government standard due diligence of reports of lost documentation related to the Ferguson Marine ferry contract. 

20 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to consult hosts within its Super Sponsorship Scheme, for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, as part of its development of the scheme.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government has contacted all Scottish hosts to check that people are happy to undergo statutory safeguarding checks and to gather more information about their offer. This information will then be passed onto local authorities so they can undertak…

20 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that local authorities are carrying out home visits for its Super Sponsorship Scheme, for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, fairly, proportionally and equally across Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government is working closely with local authorities on this work. Guidance for all local authorities supporting displaced people from Ukraine through the Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme and who match through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme has been p…

15 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06722 by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2022, whether it has considered any international evidence in relation to the potential impact of the inclusion of glass in a Deposit Return Scheme on the willingness of producers to switch from using glass packaging…

Answer · Lorna Slater: We have drawn extensively on international evidence in the design for our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Where there has been a movement away from glass in other countries, this is usually attributable to a range of factors e.g. a movement towards increased use…

15 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06722 by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2022, what its position is on whether creating an incentive for producers to switch from using plastic packaging to using glass packaging would be a negative outcome.

Answer · Lorna Slater: Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme treats in-scope containers equally, whether they are made from glass, plastic or metal, and will ensure that significantly more of these containers will be collected and sent for recycling.  

15 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06722 by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2022, what modelling it has done regarding the likelihood of producers in the food and drink sector switching from glass packaging to plastic packaging as a result of the inclusion of glass in its Deposit Return Sche…

Answer · Lorna Slater: As the answer to question S6W-06722 set out, we consider that any switching away from glass containers as a result of our Deposit Return Scheme would not be extensive given the range of factors affecting formatting decisions.  

11 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will clarify whether it is committed to replacing the Common Agricultural Policy with a scheme that directly pays farmers for environmental land management, including all forms of carbon sequestration.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07181 on 24 March 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/writte…

2 Mar 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide for establishing a dedicated Gaelic Medium Education school in Edinburgh.

28 Feb 2022 · SPCB Oral Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what steps are being taken to introduce unified communication setups across both parliamentary and constituency offices for MSPs.

21 Feb 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00255 by George Adam on 23 August 2021, whether it plans to publish and maintain an up-to-date list of special advisers and their responsibilities.

Answer · George Adam: Special Advisers are appointed by the First Minister for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers. Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 obligates the Scottish Government to prepare and lay before the Scottish Parlia…

16 Feb 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of (a) how and (b) when the £3 million funding for city centre recovery will be spent, as announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy on 10 February 2022.

Answer · Kate Forbes: In addition to the £3m announced on 10 February 2022, the First Minister announced a further £3m for the City Centre Recovery Fund on 22 February, bringing the total to £6m. Funding is awarded directly to local authorities to take forward local recovery prior…

16 Feb 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessment was undertaken regarding adding glass to its Deposit Return Scheme, particularly in relation to any rise in plastic packaging use.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Full Business Case Stage 1 for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), published on 8 May 2019 (pp36-37), considered the costs and benefits of including glass within the scheme and concluded that glass should be included due to the substantial environment…

16 Feb 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason glass has been included in its Deposit Return Scheme.

Answer · Lorna Slater: Including glass in our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will bring significant environmental and economic benefits. The inclusion of glass will save over 1.2 megatonnes CO 2 equivalent over 25 years. DRS will also reduce the amount of harmful glass litter in our e…

8 Feb 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the budget underspend was in each year from 2018-19 to 2021-22; what the uplift figures have been in each of the last three years, and what the projected (a) underspend and (b) cash reserve is for the year 2022-23.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The underspend on HM Treasury Funds available for each of the three years is as follows: 2018-19 - £339m (£191m Resource, £147m Financial Transactions and £1m Capital) 2019-20 - £256m (£85m Resource, £97m Financial Transactions and £74m Capital) 2020-21 - …

4 Feb 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the net benefit figure for Business, in table 2 of annex F of the publication, A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland: Final Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, of £333 million is calculated as the sum of -£1,291 and £920 million, and, if so, whether the figure is correct, and, …

Answer · Lorna Slater: Annex F of the updated Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which we published alongside the draft DRS Regulations on 15 December 2021, provides a sensitivity analysis of the economic case for DRS by ana…

4 Feb 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) time period and (b) discount rate of return was used to calculate the Net Present Value (NPV) figures in table 2 of annex F of the publication, A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland: Final Business Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Answer · Lorna Slater: A discount rate of 3.5% over a 25-year period was used to calculate the Net Present Value for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme.

2 Feb 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether additional funding will be allocated to the Deposit Return Scheme, in light of the reported estimation by Circularity Scotland Limited that there are 37,000 return points, rather than the 17,000 outlined in business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA) and, if so, how much mor…

Answer · Lorna Slater: In line with the principle of producer responsibility, the operational costs to industry of discharging its obligations under the Regulations are not funded by the Scottish Government.    

24 Jan 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05645 by Ivan McKee on 19 January 2022, what epidemiological evidence it considered when classifying the bingo sector as a live event.

Answer · Ivan Mckee: As I noted in my previous response to the member, the indoor events capacity limits were introduced in regulations from 26 December 2021 in order to mitigate the greatly increased transmission rates of the omicron COVID-19 variant, recognising that large capa…

24 Jan 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05645 by Ivan McKee on 19 January 2022, whether an impact assessment was undertaken as part of its decision to classify the bingo sector as a live event.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government does not assess risk on a sector by sector basis as the risks of a significant number of people gathering together indoors is the same regardless of the activity that brings them together.   For the purposes of the capacity limits o…

10 Jan 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason bingo has been classified as a live event, when it was reportedly not classified as such before the end of 2021.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The indoor events capacity limits were introduced in regulations from 26 December 2021 in order to mitigate the greatly increased transmission rates of the omicron COVID-19 variant, recognising that large capacity events indoors pose a high risk of transmissi…

10 Jan 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the bingo industry is ineligible for the Hospitality Top Up Fund.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Hospitality Top Up Fund provides support to hospitality businesses that lost bookings during the festive trading period, including pubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. Bingo businesses are eligible for funding though the Hospitality and Leisure top-u…

16 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to meet the needs of an evolving labour market by (a) promoting employer business models that commit to investing in evidence-based human resources development and (b) ensuring that employability programmes focus on developing skills and providing quality work.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: (a) The Scottish Government is taking effective steps to meet the needs of an evolving labour market by promoting employer business models that commit to investing in evidence-based human resources development. In September 2021, the Scottish Government esta…

16 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting businesses in providing psychologically healthy workplaces in (a) an office and (b) home-based working environment.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We know meaningful, fair work can provide important benefits for people’s mental health and wellbeing. Creating workplaces which support and promote good mental health benefits individuals and employers. Our ‘Mental Health – Transition and Recovery Plan’ ou…

16 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the inclusion of psychologists in (a) career coaching, (b) development and (c) vocational rehabilitation programmes for those returning to employment.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Fair Start Scotland the national employability support service is available to support those who face the greatest challenges in finding fair and sustainable work. Key workers offer personalised, one to one support, tailored to individual circumstances. Pre-e…

15 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when new rules to reintroduce (a) physical distancing and (b) the managing of queues will come into effect.

Answer · John Swinney: A requirement to keep at least 1 metre physical distancing between groups in hospitality and leisure settings came into force at 5 am on 27 December. Also from 27 December (at 5 am), we have put in place a table service requirement for hospitality venues serv…

8 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many lateral flow tests have been distributed in each month since they became available to order free of charge.

Answer · Maree Todd: The information requested is management information and is not currently published, however, Public Health Scotland produce a weekly COVID-19 Statistical Report, with the most recent version being published on 7 January 2022. This report provides a range of i…

8 Dec 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many lateral flow tests will be available for distribution in the next 12 months.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has enough testing stock to meet demand into next year and we are working with the UK Government on procuring additional stocks.

6 Dec 2021 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS Lothian, and other NHS boards, given the consequences and impact of delayed discharges.