Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-07559

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made and action it has taken to ensure that former Hong Kong residents who resettle in Scotland are not subjected to racism or discrimination.

Question reference: S6W-07560

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to meet with former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland in order to collect feedback on their experiences.

Question reference: S6W-07558

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it has supported former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-07566

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economic value that Chinese students who come to Scotland to study bring to (a) universities and (b) the national economy.

HESA statistics show that Chinese student enrolment in Scottish universities was 18,555 in AY 2020/21. Tuition fee estimates are calculated using HESA Finance data and are based on the average tuition fee paid by all non-EU students. The estimated tuition fee income from Chinese students to Scottish Higher Education Institutions was around £300 million in academic year 2019/20.

According to a report by London Economics for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) , the average non-EU student in the 2018/19 cohort will have a net benefit to the UK economy of £102,000 over the duration of their studies. The study also shows that international students in Scotland as a whole contributed £2.47 billion to the UK economy. Information on the impact of Chinese students studying in Scotland to the national economy is not available.

Question reference: S6W-07557

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that former Hong Kong residents who resettle in Scotland are successfully integrated into local communities.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting integration of former Hong Kong residents into our communities. We have published a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, on our website. On 9 February, we wrote with the Welsh Government to the UK Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Local Government requesting assurances that promised funding of £2.98m will be provided and that it can be carried forward to subsequent financial years in order to meet any current or future potential support needs. To date, no response has been received.

Question reference: S6O-00960

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it and Police Scotland have undertaken to ensure that police officers have access to additional trained mental health workers.

Question reference: S6W-07561

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07058 by Neil Gray on 14 March 2022, whether it will provide further details of the steps that it has taken to ensure that Hong Kong residents coming to the UK through the British National (Overseas) visa scheme are encouraged to resettle in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00934

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported ongoing shortage of social housing since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-07158

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being put in place to prevent Scottish freeports from being used as hubs for money laundering and illicit trade.

The applicant prospectus states that Green Freeport operators must adhere to the OECD Code of Conduct for Clean Free Trade Zones – and the specific anti-illicit trade and security measures therein. In addition they must meet the current obligations set out in the UK’s Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. Furthermore, operators of Green Freeports will be responsible for the security of the customs site. As part of this, they will be required to be authorised as a customs site operator and meet requirements set out by HMRC.

The Green Freeport governance body will be required to actively manage security risks across physical, personnel, and cyber domains, and to work with the Scottish Government, HMRC, Border Force, the National Crime Agency, Home Office and other relevant agencies and government departments to conduct an annual audit of the security measures in place and any breaches.

As part of the application process, applicants will be asked to set out what steps they will take to ensure that the customs sites and tax sites in their proposed Green Freeport will be secure against illicit activity, including organised criminal activity, money laundering, smuggling and people trafficking. Applicants that do not show adequate consideration of steps to prevent illicit activity will not be considered for Green Freeport status.

Question reference: S6W-07159

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether a public register of all businesses operating within Scottish freeports will be published.

The Green Freeport governance body will need to maintain a record of all the businesses operating, or applying to operate, within the tax site. That record must be kept up-to-date, contain information about the beneficial owner of the business, and be readily accessible to law enforcement agencies, including HMRC and the National Crime Agency.

We are discussing the issue of publication of information by the Green Freeport governance bodies with the UK Government.

Tell us your views

Seòmar agus comataidhean