- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many electric buses are currently in operation in Scotland.
Answer
The Department for Transport publish statistics on all licensed plug-in vehicles for each quarter and this provides the total number of bus and coaches operating in Scotland. The data is captured at data sheet VEH0141 and can be found at the following link - Vehicle licensing statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to (a) deliver fair work for lecturers and support staff, (b) prevent compulsory redundancies and (c) protect students from the impact of any reduction in funding, in light of reports of an ongoing industrial dispute, which resulted in hundreds of lecturers and support staff from 21 colleges taking part in strike action on 29 February 2024.
Answer
The Scottish Government expects fair work principles to be adhered to in the college sector. To support fair work in the college sector, the Scottish Government recently introduced legislation to add trade union nominees to college boards, which will improve trade union recognition and confidence in college governance.
While operational decisions on pay and staffing matters are the responsibility of individual colleges, the Scottish Government has been clear that compulsory redundancies should only be considered as a last resort, after all other options have been fully explored in collaboration with trade unions.
The Scottish Government remains concerned by the impact of potential action on students and expects that institutions take action to mitigate those impacts.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 15 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reallocate the funding earmarked for freezing Council Tax in (a) Inverclyde and (b) Argyll and Bute to other local authorities or public services, in light of reports of these councils not agreeing to the proposed freeze.
Answer
Scottish Ministers remain committed to working with councils to ensure that all households across Scotland benefit from a council tax freeze in 2024-25. Our offer to Argyll and Bute Council and Inverclyde Council to deliver a freeze in 2024-25 remains on the table.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 15 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will introduce its proposed Land Reform Bill to the Parliament.
Answer
The Bill was introduced on Wednesday 13 March, and published on Thursday 14 March 2024.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase digital access for adults aged 60 and over, in light of the 2022 Scottish Household Survey finding that 44% of disabled adults and 19% of non-disabled adults aged 60 and over do not use the internet.
Answer
The Scottish Government is keenly aware of the importance of increasing digital access for all people in Scotland. Through programmes such as Connecting Scotland, the Scottish Government is taking action to improve digital access for multiple priority groups, including older people and people who are living with a long-term illness or disability.
In August 2023, the Connecting Scotland programme launched two projects to provide kit and connectivity through Device Libraries and Social Housing organisations. Over £204,000 was awarded across both projects to a range of organisations across Scotland. This funding is helping Device Libraries to expand their range of devices, to extend the number of devices available for loan and to replace devices that are coming to the end of their lives. The funding is also supporting Social Housing providers to support connectivity infrastructure projects that benefit their residents, as our research has shown that Social Housing tenants are a group particularly impacted by digital exclusion.
Social tariffs can additionally provide the means for people in need of digital access to get online by providing reduced broadband tariff rates. Connecting Scotland is working with Ofcom to improve information about social tariffs for people in Scotland. In April 2023, based on dialogue with officials, Ofcom updated their webpage to show which tariffs are available to which regions of the UK. Officials will continue dialogue with Ofcom to ensure that social tariffs are widely understood as a potential option for older people and people living with long-term illness or disability to get online.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase digital access in areas of high deprivation, in light of the 2022 Scottish Household Survey finding that 16% of households in the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland lack internet access at home and 31% of households with a net annual income of between £6,001 and £10,000 lack home internet access.
Answer
The Scottish Government is keenly aware of the importance of increasing digital access for all people in Scotland. Through programmes such as Connecting Scotland, the Scottish Government is taking action to improve digital access for multiple priority groups, including people who are living in low-income households.
In August 2023, the Connecting Scotland programme launched two projects to provide kit and connectivity through Device Libraries and Social Housing organisations. Over £204,000 was awarded across both projects to a range of organisations across Scotland. This funding is helping Device Libraries to expand their range of devices, to extend the number of devices available for loan and to replace devices that are coming to the end of their lives. The funding is also supporting Social Housing providers to support connectivity infrastructure projects that benefit their residents, as our research has shown that Social Housing tenants are a group particularly impacted by digital exclusion.
Social tariffs can additionally provide the means for people in need of digital access to get online by providing reduced broadband tariff rates. Connecting Scotland is working with Ofcom to improve information about social tariffs for people in Scotland. In April 2023, based on dialogue with officials, Ofcom updated their webpage to show which tariffs are available to which regions of the UK. Officials will continue dialogue with Ofcom to ensure that social tariffs are widely understood as a potential option for people living in low-income households to get online.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its environmental policies in Scotland, and in light of reports that the Belgian parliament has voted to criminalise ecocide in both domestic and international law, whether it has made any representations to the UK Government in relation to the potential criminalisation of ecocide in international law.
Answer
International law is a reserved matter and the Scottish Government has not had formal contact with the UK Government in relation to the potential criminalisation of ecocide in international law. However, the Scottish Government is supportive of a revision to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to include ecocide, and would support the UK Government in officially supporting and/or ratifying a new law on the criminalisation of ecocide in international law.
In terms of the domestic consideration of ecocide, the Scottish Government will carry out an assessment, in line with its policy on EU alignment, of the revised EU environmental crime directive, which has now been approved by the EU Parliament.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to any local authorities that are struggling to meet the rising costs associated with providing school transport, so that children and young people can travel to school in a safe, efficient and affordable manner.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the processing time for major planning applications in Q1 and Q2 of 2023-24 was 62.1 weeks, in light of the statutory timeframe being 16 weeks.
Answer
There can be many reasons for delays in determining applications including requests for and submission of additional information, delays with responses from statutory consultees and the requirement for a legal agreement. The specific reasons for the time taken to determine individual major planning applications would be held by the individual planning authority making the determination.
The average timescale for all major applications determined without a processing agreement was 35.2 weeks in Q1 and Q2 of 2023-24. Due to the low number of applications involved, average determination timescales are volatile and can be affected by one or two lengthy cases. In the same period, 23 of the 57 major applications not subject to processing agreements were determined within the statutory timescale, and 46 of those 57 major applications determined within the same period were determined in a time faster than the national average.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local authorities regarding their obligations under section 42 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in the last 12 months.
Answer
The statutory minimum walking distances set out in legislation are a long-standing feature of our education system and there are no plans to change them. The Scottish Government published guidance for local authorities regarding home to school transport in 2021.
The Scottish Government regularly engages with representative bodies for local government on education related matters. However, no requests have been made to discuss local authorities’ obligations under section 42 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in the last 12 months. The provision of home to school transport is responsibility of local authorities and decisions about changes to eligibility for free school transport are for local authorities to make, subject to the applicable statutory requirements.
