- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 7 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of international land reform measures, and how any such assessment has influenced its proposed Land Reform Bill.
Answer
We established the Scottish Land Commission on 1 April 2017, after the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 came into force. Its remit is to review the effectiveness and impact of our laws and policies relating to land, and to make recommendations to Scottish Ministers on future land reform.
As part of the development of their discussion paper, Legislative Proposals to address the impact of Scotland’s Concentration of Land Ownership, (published February 2021), and their ongoing work on land reform, the SLC has published a series of reports reviewing international experience of interventions in land ownership, to inform fresh thinking for Scotland. They may be found here: International Experience - Governance & Ownership - Our work - Scottish Land Commission .
The proposals put forward in our consultation on the Bill were based on the Commission's discussion paper, which in turn were(where relevant) informed by the findings and lessons of these reports.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of workers currently employed by Scotland’s rural estates are paid at least the real Living Wage.
Answer
Per the latest available Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings real Living Wage data from the Office for National Statistics, Scotland remains the best performing of all four UK countries with the highest proportion of employees (18+) paid the Real Living Wage or more (91.0%). Ahead of Wales 88.2%, England 87.5%, NI 85.4%, and the UK 87.8%. The data is also recorded by Scottish Industry Sector in table 5.4, and Local Authority area in table 5.7. The full data tables can be accessed and downloaded from the following web page.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings-2022/
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact on workers of seasonal and insecure contracts, and whether it is working to reduce the use of these contracts in favour of permanent and secure contracts.
Answer
Scotland has one of the lowest levels of low pay, insecure work and low paid insecure work across all UK regions, however with 17% of workers in Scotland classed as being in insecure work (which is deeply connected to low pay), we are not complacent. Although employment law is reserved to the UK Government, we are committed to mainstreaming Fair Work throughout Scotland. Our Fair Work Action Plan aims to use the levers that we have control over to ensure that all parts of the Scottish Government set out collectively what we can do to discourage the use of precarious contracts. Our Fair Work First criteria have been applied to over £4bn of public sector funding since 2019 – driving fair work practices across the labour market. For public sector grants awarded on or after 1 July 2023 we have introduced a requirement to pay at least the real Living Wage to all employees, and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, within the bounds of what we can do within devolved competence.
On 6 November 2023, the Scottish Government announced its accreditation as a Living Hours employer, the first government in the UK to do so. The Living Hours scheme recognises that in addition to payment of the real Living Wage, number and frequency of work hours are critical to tackling in-work poverty. Criteria to accredit also includes providing a contract reflecting accurate hours worked, a guaranteed minimum of 16 hours a week (unless the worker requests otherwise), and at least 4 weeks’ notice of shifts and guaranteed payment if shifts are cancelled within this period.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many of Scotland’s rural estates are accredited Living Wage Employers.
Answer
The accreditation scheme is managed by Living Wage Scotland, where individual employers go through an application process to obtain accredited status. A directory for all currently accredited employers is available to view on the Living Wage Scotland website at the below page, and can be filtered by Local Authority:
https://scottishlivingwage.org/employer-directory/
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to develop a wealth tax.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2023
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been granted through Peatland ACTION to cover labour costs for peatland recovery, broken down by applicants that are categorised as (a) from the (i) public (ii) private and (iii) third sector, (b) individuals and (c) "other".
Answer
- The Scottish Government funds five direct delivery partners on an annual basis, based on the government wide capital spending allocations as agreed by Cabinet. These five direct delivery partners are NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority and Scottish Water.
- These delivery partners then sub-contract physical restoration works to organisations in the third sector and private sector contractor companies.
- Contracts for peatland restoration are issued on a composite unit cost basis. Therefore, labour costs – for example machine operator wages – are not itemised separately.
- As each individual project across delivery partner and geographic location can vary significantly, it is not possible to determine an average labour cost across or within the delivery partners.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many people are directly employed in the public sector to undertake peatland restoration work, broken down by public body employer.
Answer
The total number of FTE staff (rounded to the nearest whole number) employed in the public sector, within the Peatland Action programme, to undertake peatland restoration work – as of November 2023 – is as follows:
- NatureScot – 56
- Forestry and Land Scotland – 23
- Cairngorms National Park Authority – 8
- Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority – 5
- Scottish Water – 3
- Scottish Government – 4
Total – 9
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 December 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what ongoing monitoring of labour conditions is undertaken in relation to private sector projects that have been granted public funding, such as through Peatland ACTION, under its Fair Work First guidance.
Answer
- Monitoring compliance with Fair Work First principles, including the requirements to pay workers at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, is the responsibility of individual grant managers across government and of relevant funders across the wider public sector, including through our Peatland ACTION programme. It takes place within existing grant assurance and monitoring processes, as with any other condition of grant, such as agreed outcomes.
- Peatland Action partners comply with these principles as part of their own procurement frameworks that govern the respective grant agreements. They do this through a range of measures like mandated self-declaration when applying for grants and the regular liaison with the contractors during the course of ensuing works including site visits.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 28 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the 310,000 potential jobs in Scottish domestic hydrogen production highlighted in its 2020 report, Scottish Hydrogen Assessment, how many of these jobs it estimates would be based in the north east.
Answer
The Scottish Hydrogen Assessment projections were all done at a Scotland level and as such, there are no explicit figures for jobs by region.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 28 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many landholdings it expects will be split into lots or offered to community bodies each year as a result of the measures to reduce the scale and concentration of landownership in its proposed Land Reform Bill.
Answer
Our aim is to introduce a Bill that strikes an appropriate balance in applying to significant landholdings whilst not disproportionately impacting smaller businesses and farms. A suite of impact assessments is being developed for Bill introduction, which will further help to inform final policy proposals. Final decisions on the Bill’s contents will be made in due course by Ministers and the Bill will be published on the Scottish Parliament website following its introduction in line with the established legislative process for Bills.
