Daniel Johnson

20 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how and (b) when it was made aware of the increase in project capital costs for the Dunard Centre in Edinburgh from £45 million to £162 million.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government was informally updated that the project capital costs for the Dunard Centre were expected to rise during the course of regular engagement with IMPACT Scotland, the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal Programme Management…

11 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of technology used by Scottish public sector bodies, including non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), NHS boards and local authorities, can be defined as legacy systems, and which organisations consistently measure this.

Answer · Angela Constance: Scottish Government does not hold a central repository of all legacy systems across the wider public sector. The Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) works with public sector organisations across Scotland to understand and advise on their approach to main…

5 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the planned refresh of its digital strategy, as proposed in the 2024 progress report.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Digital Strategy for Scotland Vision and the Sustainable Digital Public Services Delivery Plan (2025-2028) were both published on 18 November 2025.The Digital Strategy for Scotland Vision is available here:https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781806433698The Sustai…

4 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list all public bodies that have adopted the Cloud Platform Service to date.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The following Public Bodies and Scottish Government Directorates have adopted the Cloud Platform Service to date:Public BodiesAccountant in BankruptcyEnvironmental Standards ScotlandRevenue ScotlandScottish Commission on Social SecurityScottish GovernmentScot…

4 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, since the ScotAccount scheme started, how many (a) unique accounts have been created, (b) sign-ins have been made, and (c) times each public service has been accessed via a Scot Account account.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Since ScotAccount’s launch in February 2023, over 540,000 unique accounts have been created with more than 2,200,000 total sign-ins to ScotAccount made.ScotAccount has been used to access the following services online:Public serviceNumber of times acces…

4 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many externally issued hard-copy letters relating to their work were sent by (a) its executive agencies and (b) other public bodies, in the last calendar year, and also broken down by how much was spent on these.

Answer · Ivan McKee: This is a matter for individual public bodies. This information is not held centrally.

4 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of (a) its executive agencies’ and (b) other public bodies’ services are (i) fully digitised, (ii) partially digitised, (iii) have a pathway to digitisation and (iv) not digitised.

Answer · Ivan McKee: This is a matter for individual public bodies. This information is not held centrally.

4 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many external telephone calls relating to their work were made by (a) its executive agencies and (b) other public bodies in the last calendar year, broken down by how much was spent on these, and what information it has regarding the number of calls …

Answer · Ivan McKee: This is a matter for individual public bodies. This information is not held centrally.

27 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is provided to local authorities on parental eligibility for Neonatal Care Pay and Leave.

Answer · Shona Robison: Neonatal Care pay and leave is currently a matter that is reserved to the UK Parliament and statutory guidance, including that on parental eligibility, is provided by the relevant UK department.Local authorities are entirely separate entities from the Scottis…

27 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on which local authorities provide their staff with statutory paternity leave and pay and which local authorities provide their staff with enhanced paternity leave and pay, and what the level of uptake is for these across local authorities. 

Answer · Shona Robison: Local authorities are entirely separate entities from the Scottish Government. Their powers are set out in statute and, it is up to each local authority to manage its own day to day business, including their own parental leave policies. As such, the Scottish …

3 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40750 by Richard Lochhead on 2 October 2025, what the remaining 29% of funding not allocated to local government was spent on.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: As set out in the response to S6W-40750, £98.6 million (98%) was spent in 2024-25. Of that, £70.1 million (71%) went to local government. The remaining £28.5 million (29%) was spent on the delivery of Fair Start Scotland, supporting the tota…

3 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding will be committed to the National AI Adoption Programme in 2025-26, and how much of this will be committed to (a) grants and (b) loans.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: In 2025-26, the Scottish Government committed £975,000 to the National AI Adoption Programme, reflecting its ongoing support for the responsible and inclusive uptake of AI across Scotland’s business community.Of this total, £290,000 will be …

1 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes when its corporate devices, including laptops and mobile phones, reach the end of their business needs and are no longer required by it, and how they are routinely disposed of, including whether it allows any of these devices to be reused subsequently outside of its …

Answer · Richard Lochhead: When corporate devices are no longer required for operational use, we follow a structured and secure disposal process to ensure data protection and environmental compliance. This includes:Assessment: Devices are reviewed to determine whether they are eligible…

1 Oct 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on legal enforcement measures being taken with regard to retailers committing age of sale offences when selling age-restricted items, such as vapes and cigarettes.

25 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26080 by Mairi McAllan on 25 March 2024, whether the 58 actions published in its report, The Entrepreneurial Campus, have been delivered, and what mechanisms are in place to scrutinise the delivery.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government is working with partners, including the college and university sector, to deliver the ten-year Entrpreneurial Campus Blueprint. We continue to align this work with existing policies such as Techscaler, the Innovation Strategy and the K…

24 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the 2024-25 employability budget of £102.8 million (a) it spent and (b) was passed on to local government.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: At outset, budget for Employability Level 2 was £102.8 million, £2.5m was transfer out to Finance and Local Government portfolio to support Employability Child Poverty co-ordinators across 32 local authorities.1. Of the remaining budget, £98…

24 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the suggestion in the Scottish Retail Consortium’s manifesto, Scotland’s Future High Streets, that accredited providers other than local authorities should be permitted to issue building warrants, in line with the approach taken in England.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: There are no current plans to introduce private verification in Scotland. Local authorities are appointed by Scottish Ministers as verifiers to administer the building standards system for their own geographical area. The appointments are conditional on verif…

18 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the business forum, which was established to discuss priorities in advance of Scottish budgets and programmes for government as part of its New Deal for Business, has met, broken down by (a) who attended and (b) what was discussed.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government can confirm that the first meeting of the Strategic Business Forum on 28 August, which I chaired. Attendees included leads from a range of sectors as well as Business Representative Organisations and the discussion focussed on priority…

10 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many self-sufficient information and communications technology (ICT) structures with dedicated data centres and professional staff exist within the Scottish public sector, including non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), NHS boards and local government.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Responsibility for ICT provision rests with individual organisations, including NHS boards, local government, and non departmental public bodies who determine the most appropriate and cost effective arrangements for their operational needs.In line with Scotla…

10 Sep 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Creative Industries Leadership Group.

3 Sep 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of children currently waiting for an ADHD assessment and the median length of wait.

27 Aug 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken on digital exclusion to address the "weakened" national leadership referred to by Audit Scotland in its report Tackling Digital Exclusion, which was published 12 months ago.

20 Aug 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to use the £764,000 allocated from the UK Government’s Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund; what role stakeholders will have in the design and delivery of any programme, and when it anticipates that any programme will be operational.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is currently developing plans for how the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund allocation will be used to support digital inclusion in Scotland. We will work with stakeholders to ensure that delivery complements existing programmes and su…

17 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken on each of the recommendations in the Audit Scotland report, Tackling digital exclusion, published in August 2024.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government welcomes the Audit Scotland report Tackling digital exclusion, published in August 2024, and recognises the importance of its recommendations in shaping a more inclusive digital future for Scotland.The Scottish Government continues to …

24 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33389 by Neil Gray on 24 January 2025, whether it will provide an update on the business case for a new pre-hospital emergency critical care replacement service for the east of Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government is awaiting the final business case from the Scottish Ambulance Service.Once received, it will be reviewed through the relevant governance processes.

23 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what new investment has been secured as a result of the Global Offshore Wind Investment Forum.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Scotland is a highly attractive destination for investors, including in offshore wind where we offer extensive natural resources, a deep history of engineering excellence, strong supply chain capability, excellent port infrastructure, and a stable policy envi…

3 Jun 2025 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Strategic Defence Review's emphasis on a "whole society" approach to national security, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding work to contribute to a comprehensive national resilience strategy.

12 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published, Allegations in Foster Care Toolkit, by the Fostering Network, what its position is on what impact the investigation ofunsubstantiated allegations will have on retaining and attracting fostercarers.   

Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government recognises the serious impact that the investigation of unsubstantiated allegations can have on foster carers, including the retention of existing carers and the willingness of others to consider fostering.In our recent consultation on…

7 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on developing a portal where people can view content posted on Twitter/X from its departments, without requiring a Twitter/X account.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government is not currently looking into developing such a portal.We make decisions about channels to best meet our communications objectives and to reach target audiences with important public messages. We regularly review the accessibility and …

2 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what barriers to hydrogen production development in Scotland it has identified.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government is fully committed to helping the Scottish hydrogen sector develop. To help identify and better understand the barriers to the deployment of hydrogen production in Scotland we have established the Scottish Hydrogen Industry Forum (SHIF…