The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6O-04186

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the performance of enterprise agencies in supporting business growth and inward investment.

Question reference: S6O-04196

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Auditor General’s November 2024 report, Fiscal sustainability and reform in Scotland, which states that “The Scottish Government has not been sufficiently transparent with the Scottish Parliament or the public about the current fiscal situation”.

Question reference: S6O-04212

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to ScotRail ticket offices scoring one out of five in the most recent Service Quality Inspection Regime data.

Question reference: S6W-32263

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) weather conditions and (b) late delivery of a bull would qualify crofters and farmers for protection of their subsidies under the force majeure clause in the Rural Support (Improvement) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024, and in what circumstances the late delivery of artificial insemination would qualify crofters and farmers for protection under this clause.

The Force Majeure/Exceptional Circumstance (FM/EC) provision is one that has existed for a number of years and if a business has been unable to comply with the rules of a scheme because of FM/EC, they may retain the right to aid in respect of the claim. To qualify, a business must notify the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division (SGRPID) in writing of the FM/EC event along with relevant evidence from the date they are in a position to do so.

The FM/EC provision applies on a case by case basis, and decisions are taken on the basis of relevant evidence provided. The way on which the Scottish Government continue to approach cases relies on the approach set out by legislation.

Examples of force majeure or exceptional circumstances are:

1.the death of the farmer

2.the long-term professional incapacity of the farmer

3.a severe natural disaster gravely affecting the holding's agricultural land

4.the accidental destruction of livestock buildings on the holding

5.an epizootic affecting part of or all of the farmer’s livestock (for example, Foot and Mouth Disease)

This is not an exhaustive list and animal health concerns, weather conditions, bull failure or transport issues may also qualify as FM/EC.These are only examples and they are not, by themselves, sufficient to qualify as FM/EC and the applicant would still need to provide evidence in support of these events that demonstrate that calving performance has been impacted by comparison to previous years.

In August 2024, the Scottish Government posted a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to support the industry with information on the new calving interval condition being introduced to the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) from 2025. The FAQ includes detail of the FM/EC provision in the context of the SSBSS calving interval condition, including the type of evidence that would be required to support a request for it to be applied.

Question reference: S6W-32223

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-02170 by Fiona Hyslop on 5 November 2024, what its response is to reported concerns that the "redeployment of some ScotRail staff to provide more and better assistance for passengers" and a reduction in ScotRail ticket office opening hours, might affect the (a) opening hours of waiting rooms and (b) access to toilet facilities in stations.

Question reference: S6W-32217

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken across the rail network in Scotland to improve access to good quality toilet facilities for (a) drivers, (b) train crew, (c) track workers and (d) other staff.

Question reference: S6W-32090

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the lifting of the two-child benefit cap to come into force.

The 2025-26 budget commits to spending £3 million to develop the systems needed to deliver mitigation of the two-child cap, which could lift an estimated 15,000 children out of poverty in Scotland.

The detailed work of building the system and developing legislation to do that has started, however implementation requires, not just the co-operation of the UK Government, but also legislation in the UK Parliament. Officials from both governments have already met to discuss this, and myself are seeking a Ministerial meeting so that this vital policy can be progressed as a priority.

We will start paying families as early as possible in 2026.

Question reference: S6W-32282

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much Transport Scotland has spent on Project Neptune to date.

Project Neptune was commissioned in March 2021, culminating in the publication of its findings on 8 September 2022. This was followed up with community engagement, by Angus Campbell, resulting in the publication of the 'Communities Report on Future Management of Ferries' on 10 July 2023. Almost £244,000 has been spent on Project Neptune, excluding internal Transport Scotland resources.

Since publication of the reports, Scottish Ministers have been consistently clear on the need to improve delivery of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS), to ensure the requirements of ferry dependent communities are met. No immediate decisions are being made on the subject of reform of the ferries sector, though nothing is off the table. At present, the focus is on the preparation for bringing the six new major vessels into the CalMac fleet and the considerable work involved in putting arrangements in place for the direct award of the new CHFS contract next year.

Question reference: S6W-32369

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the project to reduce average rail journey times between Aberdeen and the central belt by 20 minutes by 2026, by how many minutes it now anticipates that journey times will be reduced in the timeframe allocated.

There has been no change to the scope of the Aberdeen Central Belt Service Improvements Project.

As regards project timelines, in January 2024, Ms McAllan, then Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition informed the Net Zero, Energy and Transport committee, that the time over which the commitment to deliver journey time improvements and increase capacity, between Aberdeen and the Central Belt, was under review. This remains the position.

Question reference: S6W-32264

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether illness would qualify crofters and farmers for protection of their subsidies under the force majeure clause in the Rural Support (Improvement) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024.

The Force Majeure/Exceptional Circumstance (FM/EC) provision is one that has existed for a number of years and if a business has been unable to comply with the rules of a scheme because of FM/EC, they may retain the right to aid in respect of the claim. To qualify, a business must notify the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division (SGRPID) in writing of the FM/EC event along with relevant evidence from the date they are in a position to do so.

The FM/EC provision applies on a case by case basis, and decisions are taken on the basis of relevant evidence provided. The way on which the Scottish Government continue to approach cases relies on the approach set out by legislation.

Examples of force majeure or exceptional circumstances are:

1.the death of the farmer

2.the long-term professional incapacity of the farmer

3.a severe natural disaster gravely affecting the holding's agricultural land

4.the accidental destruction of livestock buildings on the holding

5.an epizootic affecting part of or all of the farmer’s livestock (for example, Foot and Mouth Disease)

This is not an exhaustive list and animal health concerns, weather conditions, bull failure or transport issues may also qualify as FM/EC. These are only examples and they are not, by themselves, sufficient to qualify as FM/EC and the applicant would still need to provide evidence in support of these events that demonstrate that calving performance has been impacted by comparison to previous years.

In August 2024, the Scottish Government posted a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (Mainland and Islands) to support the industry with information on the new calving interval condition being introduced to the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) from 2025. The FAQ includes detail of the FM/EC provision in the context of the SSBSS calving interval condition, including the type of evidence that would be required to support a request for it to be applied.

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Question reference: S6O-04186

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