Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-31533

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the persons and organisations that will take part in its review of Creative Scotland.

I recognise that it is essential that the culture sector has an opportunity to engage in this work and I can confirm that this engagement will begin early next year with a short survey about the scope of the review.

I will write to the member when the survey is launched and would welcome his assistance in ensuring that as many of the sector have the opportunity to respond to the survey as possible.

This will be the first stages of engagement with the sector and there will be further opportunities as the review progresses.

Question reference: S6W-31254

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to improve productivity in the public sector, and how it measures any progress on this.

The Scottish Government’s Public Service Reform (PSR) Programme sets out Scottish Government’s approach to driving efficiency and effectiveness, and to delivering service change to prioritise prevention.

An update on the PSR programme was shared with the Finance and Public Administration Committee in December 2023 and a subsequent update was shared in September 2024. The most recent update sets out the plans for the Public Bodies Programme and details of savings realised and projected from efficiency programmes within Scottish Government such as Single Scottish Estate and the Intelligent Automation Centre of Excellence.

Our Single Scottish Estate, National Collaborative Procurement, Commercial Value for Money and digital programmes are securing cost avoiding and cash releasing savings, expected to reach up to £280 million over a two-year period by the end of 2024-25, with further projected savings of nearly £300 million over the following two financial years to the end of 2026-27. The Scottish Government’s total workforce reduced in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years by 0.4% and 3.0% respectively, with ongoing monitoring to ensure the workforce is delivering as effectively and efficiently as possible.

In November we have published data on corporate costs from public bodies. This data will support Government and public bodies to work together to drive efficiencies and release resources to the frontline.

The latest Scottish Government labour productivity statistics for Scotland for 2023 show output per hour worked for Government services. The recent Scottish Government publication Public Sector: Economic Overview presents a range of public sector statistics including labour productivity statistics for relevant sectors.

Scottish Government analysts are also stakeholders in the ONS led Public Services Productivity Review. The first phase will look at measurement improvements for England but will also work with devolved administrations to share best practice and identify what data sources would be required to make improvements, with a view to how UK-wide measurement improvements will be incorporated into the national accounts in future. The latest ONS update can be found here.

Question reference: S6W-31253

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to improve the (a) collection and (b) availability of information on (i) economic inactivity and (ii) its causes.

Data on economic inactivity and its causes is collected for Scotland by the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS).

The Scottish Government publishes its own analysis on economic inactivity in Scotland based on the ONS LFS and APS data. The most recent publication including this data is the Labour Market Trends: November 2024 publication. This can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/labour-market-trends-november-2024/

The Scottish Government also recently published an evidence review on Economic Inactivity in Scotland: Supporting those with longer-term health conditions and disabilities to remain economically active. The report can be found here: Economic inactivity in Scotland: supporting those with longer-term health conditions and disabilities to remain economically active - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government are working with Welsh and Northern Irish Governments and our colleagues in ONS to better understand and to guide improvements in the collection of this data.

Question reference: S6W-31252

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to improve the (a) collection and (b) availability of information on (i) underemployment and (ii) its causes.

Data on underemployment and its causes is collected for Scotland by the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS).

The Scottish Government publishes its own analysis on underemployment in Scotland based on the ONS LFS and APS data. The most recent publication including this data is Scotland’s Labour Market Insights: July 2024 publication. This can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-labour-market-insights-july-2024/pages/people-in-work. The report highlights that an estimated 5.9 per cent of those in employment in Scotland were underemployed, the joint lowest in the series.

The Scottish Government is working with Welsh and Northern Irish Governments and our colleagues in ONS to better understand and to guide improvements in the collection of this data.

Question reference: S6T-02197

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported comments from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that its income tax increases on the highest earners may have reduced the revenue raised.

Question reference: S6O-03950

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in relation to its handling of malicious and vexatious criminal complaints.

Question reference: S6F-03503

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the concerns expressed by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee regarding funding to complete the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness by the new target date of 2035.

Question reference: S6O-03904

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to local authorities to help secure the future of community libraries.

Question reference: S6O-04076

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Saturday, 12 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reported concerns that the licensing scheme introduced by the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 is acting as a loophole in the fox hunting ban.

Question reference: S6O-03814

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Creative Scotland is fit for purpose as an arts funding body.

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