Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Questions Covid-19 Recovery and Parliamentary Business Rona Mackay S6O-01380 1. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the rolling out of citizens' assemblies. Jim Fairlie S6O-01381 2. To ask the Scottish Government how measures set out in its Programme for Government 2022-23 will support Scotland’s COVID-19 recovery. Douglas Lumsden S6O-01382 3. To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the impact will be on its Covid Recovery Strategy of the reduction to the Covid Recovery budget announced on 7 September as part of the emergency budget review. Stephanie Callaghan S6O-01383 4. To ask the Scottish Government how the cost of living crisis is impacting its Covid Recovery Strategy. Joe FitzPatrick S6O-01384 5. To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it has provided to Dundee as part of its Covid Recovery Strategy to support the city's recovery from the pandemic. Bill Kidd S6O-01385 6. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions have taken place with ministers across government regarding the impact of the UK Government’s fiscal statement on Scotland's Covid Recovery Strategy. Jamie Halcro Johnston S6O-01386 7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how the work of the Covid Business Resilience and Support Directorate is supporting its Covid Recovery Strategy. Mark Ruskell S6O-01387 8. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to consult further on electoral reform in Scotland. Finance and the Economy Paul McLennan S6O-01388 1. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has undertaken of the cumulative impact on business of the pressures of a weak currency, high inflation, rising energy costs and Brexit. Audrey Nicoll S6O-01389 2. To ask the Scottish Government how the National Planning Framework 4 will be equipped to attract investment to north east Scotland. Brian Whittle S6O-01390 3. To ask the Scottish Government how many projects and what total value of loans the Scottish National Investment Bank has supported. Jamie Greene S6O-01391 4. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Scottish Retail Consortium's recommendation to accelerate the process of lowering the higher property rate. Stuart McMillan 5. [Not Lodged] Mercedes Villalba S6O-01393 6. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of the survey of participants in 4 Day Week Global’s pilot. Alex Cole-Hamilton S6O-01394 7. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Sanjeev Gupta. Maurice Golden S6O-01395 8. To ask the Scottish Government how it will address any concerns over cost pressures affecting the retail sector. followed by Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Debate: Scottish Government Handling of Ferry Contracts That the Parliament welcomes the long-awaited publication of the Project Neptune report on Scotland’s ferries; believes that the report sets out viable alternatives to the current structure, which is not delivering for islanders; calls on the Scottish Government to set out an urgent plan for fleet procurement, manufacturing and operations; notes that the CalMac fleet has become increasingly beset by technical issues and cancellations and that these technical issues are leading to increasingly higher repair costs; further notes that island communities, who have faced significant disruption already, are concerned that a lack of resilience in the fleet could cause further disruption this winter; expresses disappointment that, under latest estimates, vessels 801 and 802 will not be completed until May and December 2023, despite originally being due for completion in May and July 2018, and calls for a public inquiry into the matter. followed by Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Debate: Addressing NHS Waiting Times That the Parliament is concerned by the length and scale of NHS waiting times; notes that A&E, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), cancer and routine treatment waiting times are well short of where they need to be; recognises that the root cause of this problem is a lack of beds in NHS hospitals; regrets, therefore, that the Scottish Government is focussed more on structural reform than building greater capacity into the social care system; notes that the NHS Recovery Plan is failing to have a demonstrably positive impact on waiting times, and calls, therefore, on the Scottish Government to rewrite its NHS Recovery Plan ahead of this winter. followed by Decision Time followed by Members' Business — S6M-04407 Pam Gosal: Congratulating Scottish Universities on Research Excellence Framework 2021 Results That the Parliament acknowledges the results of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, which it understands states that 84.86% of the research submitted by Scottish universities is considered “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” in its quality; considers that Scotland is a world-leading research nation; recognises what it sees as the contribution that this research has made to social and economic challenges faced in the UK, including in the West Scotland region, and abroad; welcomes the reported growth and investment arising from this world-class research, and considers that Scotland should capitalise on what it sees as the massive potential created by Scottish universities to improve sustainable economic growth.