Chamber and committees

The Workplace Parking Levy will only apply where a local authority choses to implement the levy. The Green Party amendments on workplace parking levies, agreed by the Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) Committee at the Transport (Scotland) Bill Stage 2 session on 19 June, include exemptions for disabled parking spaces, NHS premises and hospices. The provisions also enable Local Authorities to exempt any groups or premises based on local circumstances. This may be subject to further consideration as part of stage 3 of the Bill.

The provisions in the Green Party amendments on workplace parking levies (WPL), supported by Scottish Government and agreed by the Rural Economy and Connectivity (REC) Committee during Transport (Scotland) Bill Stage 2 session on 19 June define the occupiers of premises as liable for paying the workplace parking levy. This may be subject to further consideration as part of stage 3 of the Bill.

The provisions do not include an exemption for Ministerial cars.

We welcome the action of employers which support the sustainable travel hierarchy which promotes walking, cycling, public transport and bike, car, or ride sharing in preference to single occupancy car use for movement of people. Scottish Government funds Cycling Scotland to deliver the Cycle Friendly Employer scheme, which supports employers in enabling their employees to walk and cycle for commuting and business journeys. Since 2010, 504 employers (including the Scottish Government) have achieved Cycle Friendly status. There are no plans to reduce car parking on the core Scottish Government estate but we keep Scottish Government car parking spaces under regular review. The information for executive agencies is not held centrally.

As a responsible government, we are continuing to plan and prepare for all EU Exit possibilities, including ‘No Deal’. We are absolutely committed to safeguarding, as far as we are able, the interests of businesses, communities and individuals, including EU nationals.

Cabinet is currently overseeing work on preparations for a possible ‘No Deal’ exit on 31 October, prioritising areas that will be heavily impacted such as the economy, transport, food and drink, medicines, agriculture and the rural economy.

Nevertheless, it is clear that it will not be possible to mitigate all of the impacts of a ‘No Deal’ exit – which is why we continue to press the UK Government to rule out this possibility.

While IJBs have the power to hold reserves, these funds are used to support local services. Detail on reserves are publically available on individual IJB websites. The latest consolidated position reports that IJBs have general contingency reserves of £27.5 million, in addition to £130.6 million of specific earmarked reserves.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with partners across health and social care, including Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs), to ensure plans, as far as possible, mitigate against key risks and potential disruption to service delivery should a no-deal Brexit arise. Chief Officers of Health and Social Care Partnerships are appropriately involved in locality resilience planning arrangements.

The UK Government has overall responsibility for EU exit contingency planning and in particular for entry and any customs control at the UK Border. The UK Government continues to fail to rule out a no deal exit from the EU. By necessity, therefore, the Scottish Government has been working with the UK Government to seek to secure supplies of medicines, medical devices and clinical consumables in the event of a no deal exit.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Medical Officer and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer wrote to health professionals across Scotland on 28 March 2019 to offer advice on preparations being made to enable the NHS to respond to and manage potential medicine shortages, as well as outlining the support that will be given to prescribers and pharmacists. A further update letter was issued to NHS Scotland and others on 27 June 2019.

In addition, a NHS Scotland Medicines Shortages Response Group, chaired by the Scottish Government’s Chief Pharmaceutical officer and consisting of a range of health professionals has been established to ensure that UK wide plans to manage shortages that may arise in the context of a no deal exit from the EU are implemented effectively in Scotland, taking account of health and social care needs here.

The Scottish Government carried out a staff travel survey in 2012. The survey results can be viewed online: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/01/2595

Survey data for agencies is not held centrally.

The Citizens Advice Scotland report, “Charting a new course: a study in developing affordability policy for water and sewerage charges”, provides an initial understanding of customers facing affordability issues. The Scottish Government will continue to listen to a wide range of views as it develops the policy framework that enables the independent regulator to determine a fair structure of water charges.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21548 on 26 February 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government sets out the Principles of Charging but does not direct the Water Industry Commission for Scotland to set a level of charges. The Water Industry Commission for Scotland will publish its Draft Determination for 2021-27 in May 2020 for public consultation. This document will set out the proposed customer charge levels for the period.