- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Christina McKelvie on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support National Museums Scotland with approaching the City of Long Beach, California, regarding the potential acquisition of at least one of the original lifeboats from the RMS Queen Mary that were built by Hugh McLean & Sons Ltd, of Govan, Glasgow, for Scotland's national collection, in light of reported proposals to scrap 19 of the 22 boats.
Answer
This is an operational matter for National Museums Scotland and the Board of Trustees.
National Museums Scotland has advised officials that it is not looking to acquire one of the lifeboats from the RMS Queen Mary for the National Collection.
NMS does not actively collect full sized aquatic vessels in its transport collection. Space and storage limitations would prevent them from being able to care appropriately for an object of this size.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons why the number of active construction projects in Glasgow and Edinburgh is reportedly lagging behind that of every other major British city.
Answer
There has been no specific assessment and it is important to note that these data only reflect Considerate Contractor members.
Scottish Government monitor the market dynamics through our which was developed by the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) and can be viewed on the CLF website .
We work closely with the construction industry through the Construction Leadership Forum (CLF), chaired by myself, which is the main forum for Scottish Government/Industry interaction and meets every two months.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 21 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many manufacturing jobs were created in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
Specific data on job creation is not collected. Over the past ten years, the estimated numbers of manufacturing jobs in Scotland, rounded to the nearest 1,000, were as follows:
Year | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Total | 184000 | 176000 | 189000 | 181000 | 179000 | 185000 | 181000 | 169000 | 178000 | 179000 |
Source: Business Register and Employment Survey (Office for National Statistics; 2022)
The number of estimated jobs in manufacturing in each year since 2012 has fluctuated between 169,000 and 189,000. The most recent figure (2021) shows 179,000 estimated jobs.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Dorothy Bain on 21 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of Glasgow City Council solicitors stating that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has "not been accepting planning prosecutions in recent years", what information it has on whether this is true, and, if it is true, what its position is on whether this has the effect of undermining the authority of the planning system.
Answer
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will give careful consideration to any reports of alleged criminal conduct which are submitted by the police, or any specialist reporting agency.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has no policy whereby it will not accept offences reported to by the police, or any specialist reporting agency.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 21 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its engagement with the UK Government regarding whether there will be a third round of the Levelling Up Fund.
Answer
We understand from regular contact with colleagues in UK Government that the third round of the Levelling Up Fund is in development however we have no further information or clarity on when or how the funds will be allocated.
The Scottish Government maintains that this funding should be devolved to us to distribute in line with our regional economic policy arrangements.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to take forward the recommendations made by the COVID-19 Recovery Committee in its letter to the Minister for Public Health and Women's Health on 5 July 2023 regarding its Recovery of NHS dental services inquiry, including the recommendation that "the Scottish Government provide costings for – and consults on – different service model options".
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing NHS dental payment reform on 1 November 2023 which will retain independent dental practices as the mainstay of NHS provision. Payment reform will also continue to comprise fee-per-item, capitation and allowance payments within a blended model.
In bringing forward payment reform, Scottish Government is seeking to address how best to maximise patient care and access to NHS dental services within a challenging financial position, and ensure value-for-money to the public sector. It is our view this can only be done by maintaining the blended system of payment, and our engagement with the sector during the development of reform has shown that dentists prefer being able to determine their own income and workload through the fee-per-item model.
The Scottish Government is currently responding to the committee’s letter in full, and this response will be published in due course.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish an inspection schedule for all NHS buildings that have still to be inspected for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answer
The schedule NHS Scotland buildings included in the on-site phase of the survey programme was submitted as part of the answer to question S6W-19366 on 21 July 2023 and was published on the NHS Scotland Assure website on the 15th September 2023: . All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the reported 255 NHS buildings that are suspected to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete have been inspected by structural engineers.
Answer
There have been 91 NHS buildings surveyed under the RAAC survey programme (as at 19th September 2023).
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the Industrial Development Authority of Ireland's performance at capturing inward investment relative to Scottish Development International.
Answer
All Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) have distinct methodology and approaches for the attraction of inward investment, impacting each IPA’s reporting and monitoring of country-level or sub-national inward investment performance and securing of inward investment global market share. Without a full and detailed knowledge of how other IPAs approach this, including the approach adopted by the IDA Ireland, it would be inappropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on comparative inward investment agency performance.
However, the Scottish Government does take an evidence-based approach to inward investment attraction and performance, which we keep under regular review. According to the most recent independent, industry recognised EY Annual Attractiveness Survey 2023, Scotland has been the most attractive foreign direct investment (FDI) location outside of London for the last eight years, providing clear evidence that our Team Scotland approach to attracting good quality inward investment is working.
For ease of reference I’ve included a link to EY’s independent Annual Attractiveness Survey 2023 if you would like to know more
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent CAMHS waiting time statistics, for the quarter ending in June 2023, which reportedly demonstrate a decrease in the number of children and young people being seen within the 18-week waiting time target.
Answer
The most recent CAMHS statistics show that the number of patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral did in fact increase in quarter ending June 2023, and in comparison with the same quarter the previous year.
3,760 children and young people (CYP) started treatment within 18 weeks of referral during the quarter ending June 2023, a 3.0% increase from the previous quarter (3,652) and a 5.7% increase from the same quarter in the previous year (3,557).
This is the second highest number of patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral for any quarter since 2019 . While the number of patients being seen is increasing, this is not yet reflected in performance against the standard as Boards also continue to work to treat those who have had longer waits.