Chamber and committees

The Low Carbon Transport Loan (LCTL) is administered by Energy Saving Trust (EST) on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The scheme’s terms and conditions require the loan to be repaid over a term of up to 6 years (depending on the loan applied for). EST can recycle loan repayments to fund further loans in order to maximise the value and impact of the loan funding in supporting Scottish drivers make the transition to EVs.

The funding to support the loan for 2023-2024 is fully allocated. Currently Transport Scotland officials are considering future levels of funding together with the terms and conditions that support these schemes, with the intention to re-open subject to final considerations. Individuals and businesses can register their interest on the EST website to receive further information - Used Electric Vehicle Loan - Energy Saving Trust .

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS have completed the first stage of a review of Talk To Me, our suicide prevention strategy which was gathering the evidence base. This has included a literature review, User Voice interviews, staff focus groups, an NHS survey and a workshop for families. The next step is to analyse this evidence and formulate recommendations.

Once this is complete, recommendations will be presented to the SPS lead National Suicide Prevention Management Group for consideration and ratification. This group includes a number of experts in the field such as third sector, NHS and Public Health Scotland.

The policy will be aligned with the Scottish Government Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Any death of an individual whilst in the care of the SPS is a tragedy, irrespective of the cause. Unfortunately, there have been 34 deaths in custody between month 2019 and month 2023 confirmed as drug related, either by postmortem or by a Medical Certificate Cause of Death. This is approximately 16% of deaths in custody. SPS do not record drug category or categories implicated in deaths.

All deaths in custody are subject to a Fatal Accident Enquiry, the findings of which are published on the Scottish Courts website.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The complex characteristics of our prison population requires SPS to adopt an individualised approach to establishment regimes. Due to these variances, SPS does not record this information.

The Scottish Government and NatureScot do not use the term rewilding, since it encompasses such a wide range of activities and can be interpreted in many different ways. The type of information requested is not, in any case, held centrally since individual land-holding public bodies are responsible for the management of their holdings.

Public bodies that own or manage land are encouraged to do so positively for biodiversity, and the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 places a statutory duty on all public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity when exercising their functions.

The Used Electric Vehicle Loan Scheme (‘The Low Carbon Transport Loan’) is administered on behalf of Scottish Ministers by Energy Saving Trust, who are an independent organisation working to address the climate emergency. Funding has been provided to EST to administer this service on an annual basis and since the scheme launched over a decade ago it has successfully supported over 7,400 individuals and businesses across Scotland make the transition to EVs and ultra-low emission vehicles by providing interest free loans worth over £207M.

Due to high demand, the LCTL has closed for 2023-2024 as the full budget has been allocated. Currently this scheme is being evaluated and reviewed by Transport Scotland to ensure the scheme continues to meet its intended objectives. The Scottish Budget is set on an annual basis and is impacted by the UK Budget setting process and funding consequentials received from the UK Government. These are unprecedented times with significant pressures on financial resources and difficult decisions had to be taken when setting the 2024-25 Scottish Budget. Currently no budget has been confirmed to continue this scheme in 2024-25 and officials are currently working on forward business plans for review by senior management within Transport Scotland. Individuals and businesses can register their interest on the EST website for further information on the loan - Used Electric Vehicle Loan - Energy Saving Trust .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23651 on 7 December 2023 as advised in the answer, the Scottish Government understands that the rule that a marriage is voidable by reason of permanent and incurable impotency is little used.

The available civil justice statistics indicate that between 2012-13 and 2021-22, five court actions were raised seeking a declarator of nullity of marriage and the courts disposed of six actions in the same period. These figures will include actions raised on the basis that the marriage was void (of no effect) from the outset, for example because one of the parties was incapable of consenting to marriage, as well as any such actions raised on the ground of impotency.

The answer to S6W-23651 also referred the member to the then Scottish Executive’s 2000 White Paper Parents and Children . On the issue of whether to abolish the rule, paragraph 10.9 states “a majority of the few respondents to Improving Scottish Family Law that focussed on this issue (7 out of 11) suggested that the existing situation should be maintained. In one response, it was pointed out that impotency is recognised as a ground for declaration of nullity by the Roman Catholic Marriage Tribunals and that the concept of a voidable marriage on this ground in civil law would provide a solution to couples who would otherwise be required to seek divorce, against their religious beliefs.”

If a change was in contemplation, we would need to consult carefully with a broad range of potentially interested religious and other bodies. However, as my response to S6W-23748 advised, we have no plans to consult in this area.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government has not made any projections for any inflation-based losses incurred on the interest-free loan. In response to the maturing EV market as well as the current cost of living crisis we have reduced the amount of funds provided per vehicle slightly to maximise value for money and impact of loan funding. We regularly review the loan to ensure it benefits as many people as possible. This included opening up the loan eligibility to support the used EV market in 2020.

Funding provided to Energy Saving Trust (EST) to deliver the Low Carbon Transport Loan needs to be spent each year to deliver Scottish Government policy, therefore, it is not possible for the Scottish Government to hold onto funding to accrue interest.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Energy Saving Trust (EST) who are an independent organisation looking to address the climate emergency, EST then delivery the Low Carbon Transport Loan on behalf of Scottish Ministers.

Since the scheme launched in 2011, EST have paid out (i) £176.5 million in loans for new vehicles and (ii) £46.2 millions in loans for used vehicles. (A) To date £101.5 million has been paid back for new vehicle loans and £7.8 million for used vehicle loans. (B) The scheme’s terms and conditions require the loan to be repaid over a term of up to 6 years (5 years for the used EV loan). EST can recycle loan repayments to fund further loans in order to maximise the value and impact of the scheme.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Energy Saving Trust (EST) who are an independent organisation working to address the climate emergency, EST then deliver the Used Electric Vehicle Loan on behalf of Scottish Minister.

Since the used electric loan scheme launched in September 2020 we have (i) received 3,885 applications and (ii) approved and paid 2,207 claims. Information on the value of loans paid each month is detailed in the following table: