Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-10849

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the budget is for the Redress Scotland Scheme.

As required under Rule 9.3.2 of the Parliament’s Standing Orders, the Financial Memorandum was published to accompany the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill, introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 13 August 2020. This outlines the projected and anticipated costs of the scheme.

Although there is an appropriate level of scrutiny on administration costs of the scheme, managed through the Redress, Relations and Response Division of Scottish Government, it is important to note that, as outlined in the Statement of Principles , there is no fixed budget or limit to the number or amount of redress payments which will be paid by the Scottish Government. We are committed to giving financial redress to survivors, regardless of the financial contributions received, because it is the right thing to do.

Redress Scotland is an independent body, which is not part of Scottish Government and is monitored by the Redress Scotland Sponsorship Team, within the Children’s Rights, Protection and Justice Division.

Question reference: S6W-10878

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many Safe to School initiatives there currently are in Scotland that help children to safely cycle or walk to and from school in the morning and at home time.

There are numerous initiatives currently in operation across the country that enable children to walk, wheel and cycle to and from school, through our Active Travel Delivery Partners (ATDPs).

Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel event in April of this year had 360 schools across Scotland take part. The Sustrans' Ibike project sees dedicated officers provide a programme of classroom-based and outdoor learning, aligned to the Curriculumn for Excellence, tailored to the schools needs and reflecting the local area.

Cycling Scotland's Bikeability Scotland Cycling Training Scheme is available to all schools in all 32 Scottish local authorities. This training provides lifelong learning skills from how to balance on a bike to tackling roundabouts and junctions, where awareness of other road users and road position is crucial.

Living Streets coordinates the "WOW" project which encourages school children to walk once a week to school and provides schools, with both online and physical resources to encourage more walking, through an inter school competition. Over 130 schools took part in the WOW event at the end of the 2021-22 academic year.

However, it is the responsibility of the local roads authority to ensure that all road users are able to travel safely to their destination. To help deliver this, the Scottish Government is investing record levels of funding for active travel, and as part of our £150 million investment this year, £35 million goes directly to local authorities for Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes projects. Local authorities are also able to bid for further funding through our ATDPs, mainly Sustrans, for infrastructure projects, such as segregated walking, wheeling and cycling paths, including routes to schools .

Question reference: S6W-10879

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many Safe to School initiatives have been established in the last year.

In the last year our active travel delivery partners have focussed on building on established projects within schools and early education settings, as part of the continued efforts to promote walking and cycling as modes of travel for getting to and from school.

Living Streets coordinates the "WOW" project which encourages school children to walk once a week to school and provides schools, with both online and physical resources to encourage more walking, through an inter school competition. Over 130 schools took part in the WOW event at the end of the 2021-22 academic year. For 2022-23, Living Streets have established Walk to School Week (May), which saw 70 schools take part in the inaugural event, and Walk to School month (October), which it is currently preparing for. Further activity is underway with 6 secondary schools to support school travel planning, and 15 nurseries to deliver the Little Feet walking initiative.

Cycling Scotland's Bikeability Scotland Cycling Training Scheme continues to be available to all schools in all 32 Scottish local authorities. This training provides lifelong learning skills from how to balance on a bike to tackling roundabouts and junctions, where awareness of other road users and road position is crucial.

We fund Sustrans to deliver behaviour change programmes, including £745K for the successful Ibike project in schools in 2022-23. This project empowers children, parents and teachers to walk and cycle together through activities such as cycle and scooter training, led rides, and road safety awareness sessions. In 2022-23 this programme will work with at least 10 LAs and target 16,000 pupils.

Question reference: S6W-10857

Asked by: Siobhian Brown, MSP for Ayr, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether data from the Review of Children (Scotland) Act 1995 consultation: analysis was used to prioritise the work that it committed to undertake as set out in the 2019 Family Justice Modernisation Strategy, and if this is the case, what data was used, and in what ways it informed the 2019 Family Justice Modernisation Strategy.

The Family Justice Modernisation Strategy (available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/family-justice-modernisation-strategy/pages/1/ ), published in September 2019, is a result of the 2018 consultation on potential changes to Part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and related matters. We remain committed to the continued implementation of the Strategy’s actions.

As I stated in my foreword, the Strategy sets out work that was ongoing at the time of publication, work to be implemented through secondary legislation and improved guidance, areas that were subsequently covered by the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, and policy areas that require longer-term development. The Scottish Government is preparing an update to the Strategy, which will outline the actions that have been completed, the actions that have been superseded, and the actions which remain to be taken forward. We will publish this update in due course.

Question reference: S6W-10517

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent analysis it has undertaken of local authority capacity to scrutinise and process large-scale windfarm proposals.

Scottish Ministers determine windfarm proposals exceeding 50 megawatts under the Electricity Act (1989) which is reserved to UK Government.

Local planning authorities are statutory consultees under the Electricity Act and their capacity to scrutinise large scale windfarm proposals varies across planning authorities. The Scottish Government is working with planning authorities to understand where capacity needs to be bolstered and is supporting planning authorities to increase capacity where it is needed most. As such, there has been no formal analysis of capacity across all planning authorities.

Question reference: S6F-01364

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the One Parent Families Scotland report, Living Without a Lifeline – Single Parenting and the Cost of Living.

Question reference: S6F-01360

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to support the transition to net zero heating in rural homes.

Question reference: S6F-01353

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will announce the outcome of its review into the pausing of the Super Sponsor scheme for Ukrainian refugees coming to Scotland.

Question reference: S6F-01351

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on the Scottish Government's support for the people of Pakistan as they face ongoing devastation following severe monsoon flash flooding.

Question reference: S6F-01349

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Chamber and committees