Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-00482

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage a modal shift to increase train passenger numbers and journeys.

Question reference: S6O-00484

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place for parents who experience stillbirth.

Question reference: S6W-04420

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments have been made in each year since the scheme was established.

Social Security Scotland routinely publish information as part of the quarterly Official Statistics release ‘Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods’. This includes information on the value of payments issued for Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments each month.

Number and value of Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments issued, by year

	Number of payments issued	Value of payments issued
2018-19 (10 th December to 31 st March)	10,675	£4,072,200
2019-20	15,875	£6,638,100
2020-21	16,315	£6,942,600
2021-22 (1 st April to 31 st August)	7,755	£3,238,914

*NOTE: The Pregnancy and Baby Payment provides eligible families with £606 for a first child and £303 for any subsequent children. Prior to 1 April 2021, the value of the payment was £600 for a first child and £300 for a subsequent child.

The latest Official Statistics, covering the period from 10 December 2018 to
‎ 31 August 2021, were last published on the 26 October 2021 and are available from:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/best-start-grant-and-best-start-foods-high-level-statistics-to-31-august-2021

Question reference: S6W-04357

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the pay deal reportedly agreed between the RMT trade union and Abellio ScotRail, whether it will instruct Serco Caledonian Sleeper to negotiate a pay deal for its workers that (a) provides parity with the pay deal agreed for ScotRail workers and (b) is not contingent on any efficiency measures being put in place.

The pay deal between the RMT and Abellio ScotRail was rightly negotiated between the operator and staff representatives, and the same applies to Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited (SCSL) and the RMT.

Scotland’s railway faces significant financial challenges and it is only right that discussions around efficiencies, addressing ideas both from the business and the union, should form part of the dialogue around funding a pay deal.

We understand that, following discussions, SCSL made a pay offer which RMT’s Scottish leadership had confirmed would be acceptable. It is disappointing that the pay offer was then rejected, not least because when considered with the pay increase already awarded last year, the combined rate was as good as or better than any other deal for train operating company staff in the rail industry.

Question reference: S6W-04393

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of its commitment to provide 1,000 additional staff members in primary care mental health services, including (a) which roles it expects to provide, (b) by what date recruitment for the roles is expected to begin and (c) by what date all 1,000 additional staff are expected to be in place.

The Scottish Government will hold a debate in the Scottish Parliament before the end of the year to set out its plan to deliver this commitment.

The plan will detail how every General Practice across Scotland will have access to a Mental Health and Wellbeing Service by April 2026, creating 1,000 additional dedicated staff who can help grow community mental health resilience and help direct social prescribing.

Question reference: S6W-04355

Asked by: Marie McNair, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many electric cars have been sold in each of the last five years, how the percentage of cars that are electric compared to those that use other fuels has changed over the last five years, what incentives will be put in place to encourage drivers to switch to electric cars and what (a) funding and (b) support is being provided to (i) local authorities and (ii) businesses seeking to install electric charging points.

The Department for Transport (DfT) publish annual figures on their website on the number of Electric Vehicles (EV’s) registered in the UK, a link can be found here Cars (VEH02) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . This data does not provide a breakdown of EV’s registered per region, data is only available per region on the total number of vehicles registered across all propulsion groups.

The following table which includes the total number of EV's registered in the UK over the last 5 years and the market share they represent.

Year	BEV/Unknown (Thousands)	Market Share	Non-BEV/Unknown (Thousands)	Market Share
2016	10.7	0.40%	2713.1	99.60%
2017	14.0	0.50%	2550.3	99.50%
2018	15.8	0.70%	2378.2	99.30%
2019	38.1	1.60%	2308.5	98.40%
2020	108.0	6.50%	1548.4	93.50%

BEV - Battery Electric Vehicles, Unknown - Ultra Low Emission Vehicles not Petrol/Diesel.

Since 2014 the Scottish Government has supported decarbonisation of fleets in local authorities. As part of our overall Fleets funding of almost £50 million we have provided over £30 million of funding to local authorities to enable the procurement of over 2,300 zero and ultra-low emission vehicles as well as charging and refuelling infrastructure.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government through the Energy Saving Trust (EST) have funded the Low Carbon Transport Loan (LCTL) which provides an interest free loan to support individuals and businesses across Scotland purchase new EV’s. To date this scheme have helped over 5100 individuals and businesses across Scotland make the switch to ultra-low emission vehicles by providing loan funding of over £140 million.

The Scottish Government has made grant funding available for installing Domestic (Home) Chargepoints. Since this scheme launched the Scottish Government has supported the installation of almost 12,000 domestic chargepoints to a value of almost £10 million.

The Scottish Government has made grant funding available through the Business Chargepoint Fund to support organisations install EV charging infrastructure on their premises for use by occupiers, staff and visitors. Since 2011 the Scottish Government through this fund has supported almost 1300 businesses with grants worth over £9 million to install EV chargepoints.

To further support the uptake of EV’s, the Scottish Government has invested over £50 million in the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network, which now has over 2000 publicly available chargepoints located around Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-04422

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for benefits have been rejected by Social Security Scotland, broken down by the type of benefit that was applied for.

Social Security Scotland routinely publish official statistics publications on each of the devolved benefits at:https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications

For benefits where clients can apply to Social Security Scotland, published statistics include information on the number of applications received and the outcomes of applications, including the number that have been rejected. The latest publication for each benefit can be found at:

Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods statistics to 31 August 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/best-start-grant-and-best-start-foods-high-level-statistics-to-31-august-2021

Funeral Support Payment statistics to 30 September 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/funeral-support-payment-high-level-statistics-to-30-september-2021

Young Carer Grant statistics to 31 July 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/young-carer-grant-high-level-statistics-to-31-july-2021

Job Start Payment statistics to 30 September 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/job-start-payment-high-level-statistics-to-30-september-2021

Scottish Child Payment statistics to 30 June 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/scottish-child-payment-high-level-statistics-to-30-june-2021

Question reference: S6W-04596

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will give effect to the commitment in the shared policy programme agreed by it and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group to make more use of translocation of beavers and provide financial and practical support for this.

Having been driven to extinction, beavers are now again an established part of Scotland’s wildlife, and the Scottish Government recognises that they will play an important role in restoring Scotland’s natural environment. Through their creation of wetland habitats that support a range of species including invertebrates, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals. Beaver dams can also play an important role in filtering sediment from watercourses and in mitigating flooding.

We will support trapping and translocation projects as a proactive measure to help establish beaver presence in areas of Scotland outside their current range and beyond areas where it might be expected that natural expansion would reach in the short term. As set out in the Shared Policy Programme, financial and practical support will be made available to facilitate translocation.

NatureScot have played a key role in working with stakeholders to develop our approach to beaver management and build sufficient experience enable us to take this significant step in expanding the beaver range in Scotland. NatureScot will lead on developing a national beaver strategy to direct this work as part our programme to restore and enhance biodiversity across Scotland. We will ask NatureScot to put this new policy direction into effect from the start of the new trapping season in the summer of 2022. This will mean that projects that aim to create new populations of beavers outside their current range will be considered for licenses. As is normal with these types of projects, groups proposing them would be expected to provide support on aspects such as consultation, monitoring and management. Trapping and translocation as a licensed mitigation measure will be carried out by or on behalf of NatureScot.

We will ask NatureScot to examine aspects of trapping and translocation with a view to guidance and streamlining the process. For example there may be scope for expanding the range of techniques and traps employed, as well as reducing some of the current measures and monitoring of beavers trapped and released within Scotland. We will also ask NatureScot how capacity for trapping and translocation can be increased if necessary to support additional demand.

All use of trapping and translocation will continue to be in accordance with animal welfare best practice and in accordance with the IUCN Guidelines and the Scottish Code on Conservation Translocations. Both of these documents emphasise the need for meaningful consultation and the importance of local acceptance of translocated animals. This will remain an important aspect of the Scottish Government and NatureScot’s consideration of translocation proposals.

The Scottish Government understands that through their modification of the environment, beavers can produce negative impacts on some species, on agricultural land, forestry and on infrastructure. Many of these impacts can be reduced or avoided through mitigation measures that allow beavers to remain in situ . NatureScot will continue to provide advice and financial support for such measures for as long as they are required. We will also promote the development of ideas for beaver mitigation techniques employing new technology. Lethal control will continue to be utilised as a management measure where necessary and as a last resort.

In conclusion we look forward to facilitating the expansion of beavers as part of our efforts to restore Scotland’s natural environment while supporting land managers to manage any risks this may pose. We will build on the experience of managing beavers in Scotland learned over the last twelve years or so and enabling the biodiversity and hydrological benefits to be seen over a wider area of Scotland, while continuing to ensure important economic interests can continue to be protected.

Question reference: S6W-04436

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on repairs to the entire CalMac fleet in each calendar year since 2018.

We recognise the key role that ferry services play in supporting the economic, social and cultural development of island and remote mainland communities. We continue to invest in maintenance of the current ferry fleet, alongside our programme of new build and port investments.

The maintenance costs for the CalMac fleet in the period of the request are as follows.

Contract Year	1	2	3	4	5
	Oct 16-Sept 17	Oct 17-Sept 18	Oct 18-Sept 19	Oct 19-Sept 20	Oct 20-Sept 21
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
TOTAL	14,063	18,254	15,723	18,359	17,262

The figures include all maintenance and repair costs including costs of annual dry-docks from the year 2018.

Question reference: S6W-04124

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when ScotRail’s response to the public consultation on the Fit For the Future proposals will be published.

Chamber and committees