Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-04069

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many social enterprises have made use of the cultural and creative Social Enterprise Network since it began operating.

There are currently 146 social enterprises on the list of current members of the Culture and Creative Social Enterprise Network (SEN) on the SEN website .

The number of social enterprises that have made use of the Culture and Creative SEN services over the years is far greater than the current membership for a number of reasons:

Social enterprises that have delivered cultural/ creative activity (but this is not their primary activity) are linked into the activities of the SEN through other thematic SENs, Local SENs, Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) and other partners.
Organisations that do not fall within the Voluntary Code of Practice for Social Enterprise in Scotland and therefore cannot be a member have still tapped into services including events and signposting.
Partner organisations (e.g. Local SENs, TSI’s, Creative Scotland, Museum Galleries Scotland, Just Enterprise, Culture Counts) that are providing one to one support have tapped into knowledge to ensure that the organisation they are working with is best supported.
SENs may have also been a member for a period of time and are no longer a current member.

Question reference: S6W-04068

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many social enterprises have been supported by the Cultural and Creative Social Enterprise Network since it began operating.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04069 on 9 November 2021 asking the Scottish Government how many social enterprises have made use of the cultural and creative Social Enterprise Network since it began operating.

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/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-03816

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to FOI request FOI/202100240457, whether it will consider revisiting its decision to withhold information on the locations of tower blocks with combustible cladding.

Question reference: S6W-03815

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will disclose the locations of tower blocks with combustible cladding, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

We are currently undergoing a pilot program of Single Building Assessments across Scotland with 16 buildings in Glasgow, 8 buildings in Edinburgh and 1 building in Aberdeen.

The purpose of the Single Building Assessment is to establish if there are any potential risks with buildings beyond just cladding. It will be a wide ranging review of fire risk for entire buildings and all homeowners will be made aware and covered in one singular assessment.

Question reference: S6W-03814

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to FOI request FOI/202100240457, what assessment it made that resulted in its decision to withhold information on the basis that concerns over home safety were outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the privacy of individuals who provided personal information.

Question reference: S6W-03582

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to South Ayrshire Council to tackle child poverty in order to meet the Child Poverty Delivery Plan, in light of reports of the levels of child poverty in South Ayrshire being higher than the Scottish average.

Tackling child poverty is a national mission for this government and we are making considerable investment to increase family incomes and reduce household costs. In 2020-21 we spent £2.5 billion in targeted support for low-income households, including nearly £1 billion to support low income families with children.

This year, through our Scottish Child Payment and Bridging Payments, we will put around £130 million directly in the pockets of low income families across Scotland. By the end of June over £351,000 was awarded to families in South Ayrshire through the Scottish Child Payment, and over £645,000 was awarded through Bridging Payments by the end of August. We will further increase the support available to families by doubling the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week as early as possible and will set out how we will do this as part of the budget bill process.

We also made a £130 Low Income Pandemic Support Payment by the end of October for every household who received Council Tax Reduction in the month of April – an investment of up to £65 million, expected to benefit over 500,000 households across Scotland, including an estimated 10,600 in South Ayrshire.

To help raise educational attainment, to date, we have made more than £15 million available to South Ayrshire Council through the Attainment Scotland Fund, of which £3.5 million is available this year. And to help parents with the cost of the school day we have further increased the value of school clothing grants, and also started expansion of universal Free School Meals and school holiday provision, for which South Ayrshire Council will receive around £1 million.

In 2021-22, South Ayrshire Council will receive a total funding package of £232.7 million to support local services, which includes an extra £6.3 million to support vital day to day services, equivalent to an increase of 2.9 per cent compared to 2020-21.

To date, the council have been allocated an additional £30 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the local government settlement - over and above their regular grant payments.

However, the Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

We will continue to work closely with local authorities to deliver the action required on child poverty and will publish our next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan in March 2022 which will set us on a critical path to achieve our shared child poverty targets.

By contrast, the UK Government’s decision to cut Universal Credit from the start of October could remove over £460 million in social security spending from Scotland by 2023-24. Based on the latest data available (May 2021), the Scottish Government estimate that around 4,800 children in South Ayrshire will be affected by the cut from the start of October.

Question reference: S6W-03581

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 3 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to South Ayrshire Council in light of reports of an estimated funding gap of between £59 and £69 million for the period to 2029-30.

Decisions on future local government finance settlements will be the subject of negotiations with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities and announced as part of the outcome of future Scottish Budgets and/or Spending Reviews.

In 2021-22, South Ayrshire Council will receive a total funding package of
‎ £232.7 million to support local services, which includes an extra £6.3 million to support vital day to day services, equivalent to an increase of 2.9 per cent compared to 2020-21. To date, the council have been allocated an additional £30 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the local government settlement - over and above their regular grant payments.

Question reference: S6O-00331

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Barr Environmental has received a £99 million fine for having not paid tax on disposed waste.

Question reference: S6W-03585

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £250,000 provided to the Humanitarian Emergency Fund in relation to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has been spent to date.

On 2 September 2021, the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture announced that £250,000 would be made available from the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF) to provide critical help for the people of Afghanistan.

Given the volatile operating environment on the ground in Afghanistan, our NGO partners have been unable, as of 19 October, to operate safely to deliver much needed humanitarian assistance. However, we are in close contact with our partners and as soon as assurances over the safety of their staff in Afghanistan are forthcoming, disbursement will commence.

Question reference: S6W-03584

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards are in place to ensure the £250,000 provided to the Humanitarian Emergency Fund to help with the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is not misspent.

On 2 September 2021, the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture announced that £250,000 would be made available from the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF) to provide critical help for the people of Afghanistan.

The Scottish Government is in close contact with the charities involved in the HEF to determine how support could be delivered safely and effectively.

All members of the HEF Panel are obliged to comply with the HEF Operations Manual, which includes financial, safeguarding and fraud guidelines. Furthermore, project implementing partners are required to sign a grant offer letter with the Scottish Government before funding is released. Our grant conditions require all grant-holders to keep open and transparent records for all Scottish Government funds.

Chamber and committees