- Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how the planning system can help to create a
strong, prosperous and vibrant retail sector, including through business
support.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any increase in water quality testing that is proposed for rivers in the north east.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to propose a parliamentary debate on sewage.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023
- Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its vision for solar energy.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, how households will be
successfully engaged with, as part of Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy
(LHEES) delivery plans, in order to take action to retrofit their homes with
energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures.
Answer
Advice and support for households is currently accessed via Home Energy Scotland or via local authority-led Area Based Schemes. It is likely that this arrangement will continue in the short term, but we are committed to working with delivery partners, including Local Government to ensure the efficient delivery of advice and support to households.
This year we will publish a Public Engagement Strategy setting out how we will raise public awareness and understanding of the changes we all need to make to our home heating to meet the net zero targets by 2045. We will need to communicate in a coordinated way across all levels, including nationally and through trusted grassroots and local messengers.
This will include taking a place-based approach through working with local government to communicate to the public what the transition will mean for them, informed by upcoming Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) Delivery Plans. This will help to ensure that people know whether they can expect to connect to a local heat network or will need to install renewable technologies such as a heat pump, the steps involved and how they can access any support available. We will use a range of tactics to achieve this, including multi-channel marketing and community engagement initiatives.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-17666 and S6W-17670 by Paul McLennan on 17 May 2023, whether it will provide a costing breakdown of the money that has been allocated so far in the current parliamentary session (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the total money made available to the fund.
Answer
A total of (a) £18.181 million has been allocated from the (b) £30 million demand-led Rural and Islands Housing Fund for the current parliamentary term. The following table provides a breakdown of allocated funds between rural and island by local authority area.
Local Authority | Rural | Island |
Argyll & Bute | 0.000 | 4.196 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 0.000 | 0.813 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 0.408 | 0.000 |
Highland | 4.214 | 1.712 |
Moray | 1.443 | 0.000 |
Orkney | 0.000 | 0.961 |
North Ayrshire | 0.000 | 1.512 |
Perth & Kinross | 0.384 | 0.000 |
Scottish Borders | 0.737 | 0.000 |
Stirling | 0.586 | 0.000 |
West Lothian | 1.215 | 0.000 |
Total | 8.987 | 9.194 |
This table includes provisional programme management information for 2022-23 and 2023-24 and could be subject to change. |
- Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it provided any support to local authorities, including technical assistance or funding, to introduce existing bus stop bypasses, also known as "floating" bus stops, such as those in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Answer
The Scottish Government has provided funding and technical assistance to local authorities to design and deliver projects through the Spaces for People, Places for Everyone and National Cycle Network programmes that are delivered by Sustrans Scotland, and a small number of these projects contain bus stop bypasses.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research’s updated report, published in April 2023, Infants Born into Care in Scotland, including the reported finding that around one in every 100 children born in Scotland enters care before their first birthday.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping the Promise and ensuring that families are supported to stay together when it is safe to do so. While we still have more work to do, it is positive progress that the recent Infant's Born into Care Report confirms that the proportion of children entering care before their first birthday in Scotland has fallen since 2018 - from 122 in every 10,000 to 91 in every 10,000 in 2021.
The Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach ensures that children and families can access support across maternity, health visiting, family nursing and social work services to help them thrive. Where it is deemed that a child requires statutory support for their care, the Local Authority becomes their Corporate Parent and are responsible for working with partners to ensure that the right services are in place to deliver a personalised plan to meet their needs.
- Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to introducing a moratorium on the creation of bus stop bypasses, also known as "floating" bus stops.
Answer
No consideration has been given to a moratorium on the creation of bus stop bypasses. Local authorities are responsible for management of local roads and paths and the Scottish Government has no authority to make such a mandate.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential impact on decisions to support business development with multinational companies in Scotland, what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government in relation to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) regarding the environmental impact of palm oil production.
Answer
As with the development of all new trade arrangements, the Scottish Government has sought to engage with the UK Government at Ministerial and official level throughout the negotiations for accession to the CPTPP to ensure that Scottish interests are identified and taken into account.
As part of this process the Scottish Government has raised the issue of increased palm oil production. In my recent letter to the UK Government Minister of State for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston MP, I reiterated our concerns and specifically asked to see the UK’s assessment of the impact of lowering tariffs through accession to CPTPP. I raised the matter again on 1 June when we last met.