Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold the specific information you have asked for. However, information about Circularity Scotland Limited’s (CSL) creditors is available on Companies House at the following link CIRCULARITY SCOTLAND LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (company-information.service.gov.uk) .

The UK Government’s 11th hour decision to undermine DRS in Scotland will have affected businesses across Scotland that were preparing for the launch of the Scottish scheme. We wrote to the UK Government on 16 May, 19 May and 23 May 2023 to inform them of the potential impact a delayed decision on the Internal Market Act exclusion, or not providing an exclusion, would have on businesses. In our letter dated 2 June 2023, we specifically highlighted our concerns about the impact this would have on CSL.

Monitoring compliance with conditions attached to planning permissions is a matter for the relevant planning authority. Planning authorities have a range of enforcement powers, and a general discretion under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to take enforcement action against any breach of planning control if they consider such action to be in the public interest and proportionate to the scale of the breach, having regard to the provisions of the development plan and any other material considerations. The Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers have no remit under planning legislation to intervene in or comment on individual cases.

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation sets out the need to strengthen Scotland’s position in new markets and industries, generating new, well-paid jobs through a just transition to net zero and a highly skilled workforce is critical to the delivery of that ambition.

Our No One Left Behind approach will support a growing number of green jobs and innovation activity by offering all-age employability support to all who require it with a focus on helping those furthest from the labour market with the most complex barriers to gaining and sustaining fair work, such as carers, single parents, and those on low incomes.

The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) awards a range of loans, bursaries and living-cost grants to eligible students to assist with their expenses while studying. This can include providing support with living costs for those who have had to reduce their working hours in order to undergo training and upskilling. Detailed information for specific groups can be found on the SAAS website including grants for lone parents and undergraduate students with the lowest household incomes - Student Awards Agency Scotland - SAAS - Funding Your Future .

As of 28 July 2023, a total of 65,602 properties in Scotland remain eligible for a voucher worth up to £5,000 through the R100 SBVS. That total is broken down by R100 contract area as follows:

North – 31,104

Central – 29,550

South – 4,948

The R100 SBVS remains the most generous broadband voucher currently available and we continue to publicise its availability via the press, social media, and through continued stakeholder engagement activity across Scotland. Suppliers registered to deliver connections through the R100 SBVS provide a range of superfast capable technologies including fibre, fixed wireless, 4G and satellite. The R100 SBVS can also be combined with the UK Government’s Gigabit Voucher, where applicable, to provide up to £9,500 to secure a gigabit capable broadband connection.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested, as responsibility for managing Police Scotland’s call handling system, including for non-emergency 101 calls, rests with the Chief Constable.

Police Scotland publish performance data, including for the non-emergency 101 service, on their website at Call Handling Reports 2023 - Police Scotland . The average wait time for non-emergency 101 calls in the last 6 months is below.

Police Scotland has advised that when there is a surge in 999 calls they will re-prioritise Advisors from non-emergency (101) calls and emails as they aim to answer 999 calls under 10 seconds. Therefore there is a direct link between increase in 999 volumes and the average speed of answer for 101 non-emergency calls performance. As shown below, the months where there has been a notable increase in Police Scotland’s average answer times for 101 is as a direct consequence of aiming to achieve an average speed of answer of under 10 seconds for 999 calls. The average speed of answer for 999 calls for the same period is also below.

There has been a significant change in the contact volume profile (999, 101, Other Emergency Service calls and Contactus E-Mails) being experienced by the Police Scotland Service Centre following the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes sustained annual growth in 999 call volumes which have risen by 34% since 2018. This year there has been an increase of 18% in January to June when compared to 2022; with May and June increases of 25% and 37% respectively in 999 calls compared with the same month the previous year.

101 average speed of answer – Jan to July 2023

This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Public transport operators undertook detailed planning for the UCI Cycling World Championships.

With regards to the rail network, ScotRail ensured it was capable of meeting the demands of both competitors and spectators alike during the period of the Championships.

Specifically for the Argyle Line, many services were strengthened from 3 to 6 carriages, serving Dalmarnock for the Velodrome, Scotstounhill for the BMX venue and for general travel across Glasgow. Additionally, to take account of events at the Velodrome, on 6 and 13 August, all train services before 1000 hours and after 1800 hours made an additional stop at Dalmarnock Station.

Under planning legislation a failure to comply with a condition of planning consent constitutes a breach of planning control. Monitoring compliance with conditions attached to planning permissions is a matter for the relevant planning authority.

Planning authorities have a range of enforcement powers, and a general discretion under planning legislation to take enforcement action against any breach of planning control if they consider such action to be in the public interest and proportionate to the scale of the breach, having regard to the provisions of the development plan and any other material considerations.

The Scottish Government published both the National Low Emission Framework, and Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Guidance to assist any local authority wishing to introduce a LEZ to improve air quality.

Substantial grant funding has also been provided to assist local authorities in establishing and enforcing their LEZ.

Scottish Government also provides grant funding to support lower income households and smaller businesses to adapt to LEZs via the LEZ Support Fund.

Through the Bus Partnership Fund, Transport Scotland has awarded an initial £26.47m of funding to Bus Partnerships to develop and deliver bus priority measures on both local and trunk roads. The Scottish Government remains committed to providing further funding for bus priority once Partnerships have identified further projects supported by completed business cases.

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) will inform the Scottish Government’s transport investment programme over the next 20 years and help to deliver the National Transport Strategy. STPR2 recommends bus priority is implemented in Scotland’s cities and towns where congestion is highest, many of which are being progressed though BPF. In the case of the motorway network, Transport Scotland would progress plans for the M8, M77 and M80, which includes looking at actively managed hard shoulders for buses like those already operating on the M90/M9 Queensferry Corridor and on the M8 eastbound approach to Hermiston Gait.

All these measures are aimed at reducing the negative impacts of congestion on bus services for passengers and addressing the decline in bus patronage.