- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is ensuring that those awarded public sector contracts and grants meet its Fair Work First requirements, including the payment of the real Living Wage.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2024
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of the Regulatory Review Group meeting of February 2024.
Answer
Re-instating the Regulatory Review Group (RRG) was a priority for business when developing the New Deal for Business recommendations and is pivotal in supporting Ministers understand and mitigate challenges associated with implementing regulations. Within its first six months, the RRG scrutinised regulation implementation on high-profile proposals, including Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing, Vaping, Heat in Buildings and Circular Economy Bill.
To ensure transparency, all meeting minutes and advice sent to Scottish Ministers are published on its webpage found on the Scottish Government website. The minutes from the RRG meeting on February 17 have now been published on Regulatory Review Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects that Modern Apprenticeship contract awards for 2024-25 will take place.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26667 on 2 May 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to release funding to local authorities for the delivery of No One Left Behind in 2024-25.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to delivering vital public services and supporting households, but to balance the budget with a focus on supporting public services, tackling child poverty, and transitioning to Net Zero, limited funding must be prioritised to deliver the best value for every taxpayer in Scotland. This requires some difficult decisions and robust spending control.
Discussions are continuing to finalise allocations, with funding being released as decisions are taken to ensure activities in agreed areas can proceed as soon as possible. To enable progress and support continuity of service, I can confirm the decision to release funding equivalent to the first quarter of the financial year allocation for No One Left Behind.
Grant Offer Letters for the first quarter were issued to Local Authorities as Lead Accountable Bodies for No One Left Behind on 2 May 2024.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of each of the 10 recommendations published as part of the Career Review.
Answer
In October 2022, the Career Review Programme Board published ' Delivering Careers By Design', including 10 recommendations co-created working with stakeholders and young people.
Since then, 'Career Review Final Report' published in March 2023 set out in further detail how the recommendations will be implemented.
Two of the ten recommendations have already been delivered. Recommendation 1; establishment of a new career development model and Recommendation 10; creation of a career services coalition – the Careers Services Collaborative.
The Collaborative continues to meet, chaired by Grahame Smith, to oversee further implementation of improvements to the careers offer, with a focus on the remaining recommendations. Further information on progress will be published via www.careerreview.scot over the course of the year.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason suppliers have not been appointed for 2024-25 Modern Apprenticeship contracts, in line with the procurement timeline, and what is causing any delays.
Answer
The funding for the 38,000 apprentices in training is committed. SDS commenced contracting for up to 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship opportunities at the start of April.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when Modern Apprenticeship contract awards for 2024-25 new starts and in-training will be issued.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26667 on 2 May 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy has taken, since entering her post, to set up the Small Business Unit.
Answer
Both the Cabinet Secretary and myself as Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade are committed to deepening and strengthening our relationship with business, not only through better engagement and communication, but by actively aligning our policy with business and working in partnership on common goals. As small businesses represent just over 98% of businesses, the Programme for Government committed to establish a new Small Business Unit in the Scottish Government to work more closely with small businesses and to ensure they are heard during policy development, building good practice in participation and engagement. I have agreed that a team within the Business and Better Regulation Directorate should take this work forward as this is the most appropriate area to ensure policy is considered through the lens of small business to understand particular impacts. This directorate is made up of highly experienced officers that work closely with small businesses on a daily basis.
I have engaged on a number of occasions with the main business organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) who are also members of the New Deal for Business Group and met FSB representatives recently. I will continue to engage with them and other business organisations to enhance relations and dialogue between the government and small businesses in Scotland.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with Petroineos and trades unions about refining capacity at Grangemouth.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2024
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government which of Scotland’s trade unions the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy has met with since entering her post, and when.
Answer
Since taking on my expanded portfolio as Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy, I have formally met with a number of trade unions. I attended a meeting with GMB on 27 February in relation to Ferguson Marine, Port Glasgow. I also met with STUC and a number of affiliate unions (UNISON, Unite, RMT, GMB and Prospect) on 29 February to discuss matters related to energy and Just Transition, and on 28 March I met with STUC, Unite and GMB to discuss union involvement in Grangemouth Future Industry Board Leadership Forum (GFIB).
Additionally, trade unions are often represented on many other forums I engage with such as Scottish Energy Advisory Board and GFIB. My Ministerial colleagues also meet regularly with trade unions and STUC, reflecting their important role as key social and economic partners.
