Chamber and committees

Businesses are liable for water, sewerage and drainage charges when the property benefits from these services. A business will not be liable for charges only if the property has no connection to any services.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19930 on 28 November 2018 . 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 .

Dog wardens are a matter for individual local authorities and the Scottish Government would not routinely collect this information. However, the Scottish Government obtained the following information from individual local authorities on the number of dog wardens as part of a specific exercise earlier this year to obtain information about the use of Dog Control Notices. These figures cover the period from 27 February 2017 to 26 February 2018.

Under the current system the Scottish Government cannot directly regulate the amount of legal aid work solicitors firms undertake. Any changes made to the legal aid system via primary or secondary legislation are subject to a Business Regulatory Impact Assessment. Unlike in England and Wales where, for example, legal aid provision for housing and family law now lies largely out of scope, the Scottish Government has retained wide scope for legal aid. To assess the legal aid system in Scotland as a whole and ensure its future sustainability can be secured, Ms Ewing, the then Minister of Community Safety and Legal Affairs, commissioned an Independent Strategic Review of Legal Aid in Scotland that reported in February 2018. The report acknowledged that there are areas (both geographically and by area of law) where there is an over or undersupply of legal services. The Scottish Government response to the review will be issued on 29th November 2018.

The Bus Service Operators Grant is payable only on a local bus service as defined in section 2 of the Transport Act 1985 or a community transport service possessing section 19 or 22 permits. The services must also meet the further requirements detailed in the Bus Service Operators Grant (Scotland) Regulations 2002, as amended. The Bus Service Operators Grant does not require a service to meet any particular accessibility standards, however all local services are required to comply with the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000.

The legislation relating to the accessibility of public transport is reserved to the UK Parliament and is set out in the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) 2000. Since 1 January 2017 all buses (single and double deck) are required to be fully accessible and coaches will be fully accessible from 1 January 2020. Within this framework, the design and layout of individual vehicles are the responsibility of operators and manufacturers.

There is no specific legislation to prevent a motorist parking a caravan on a public road. However, if the caravan is causing an obstruction or is dangerously parked then the motorist would be in breach of Regulation 103 of the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 (SSI 1986/1078), and Police Scotland will be able to investigate and, where necessary arrange for its removal.

The mechanism for appealing in cumulo sentences is the same as for other appeals that may be made against sentence. The legal framework providing for appeals against sentence is contained in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 as well as any associated court rules that have been made by Act of Adjournal.

The relevant appeal court determining an appeal against sentence has the power to set aside the original sentence, whether in cumulo or otherwise, and substitute another in its place. Any such decision is entirely a matter for the discretion of the court.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the Welsh Government on a range of matters, which has in the past included discussions regarding WEDINOS.

There are no current plans to introduce a system similar to WEDINOS. Scotland already has excellent intelligence and data sharing mechanisms through a network of local drug trend monitoring groups. This network will be further supplemented by a national drug trend monitoring group which has recently been established by Scottish Drugs Forum.

The Scottish Government recognises concerns about the antisocial use of fireworks and has put in place restrictions on when fireworks can be set off. We continue to keep under review the effectiveness of the current regulations. I will be launching a consultation on the use and regulations of fireworks early next year to better understand their impact on communities. This consultation will inform any actions that the Scottish Government could take to reduce the negative impact of fireworks. This could include, for example, increased restrictions on where and when fireworks can be used, improved access to advice and support to reduce the anti-social impact of fireworks, and new national guidance to support local partner agencies.