Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-02239

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has conducted to ascertain the public’s perception of the frequency of police patrols in their local area.

Question reference: S6O-02230

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering replacing any retained EU law.

Question reference: S6O-02248

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote modern apprenticeships to constituents in Motherwell and Wishaw.

Question reference: S6O-02246

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to better support teachers and educators who work with learners with ADHD.

Question reference: S6O-02243

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Court of Session's ruling that a so-called nil cap for sexual entertainment venues under provisions in the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 is unlawful.

Question reference: S6W-17553

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13913 by Michael Matheson on 25 January 2023, whether it has considered requiring this data to be collected in future years.

We do not require our Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF) delivery partners to collect data regarding the physical condition of dwellings, unless this is considered relevant to an individual’s application. This is because, as in previous years, the overarching goal that we set for FIF delivery partners is to provide support to households who are at risk of self-rationing their energy use, or self-disconnecting entirely.

FIF payments are provided on the basis of an holistic assessment of individual circumstances to ascertain their need for emergency support towards the cost of their energy. In some cases issues with damp or mould may be raised as part of this assessment, but they are unlikely to be core factors in determining whether a household should receive assistance.

The annual Scottish House Condition Survey includes information on issues affecting the physical condition of people’s homes, such as damp and mould. The results of the 2021 survey are due to be published on 30 May.

Question reference: S6W-17365

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to any appeals under the High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013 considered by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals from January to March 2023, how many were (a) dismissed as "no remit" and (b) decided upon and (i) referred to the 2019 guidance and its requirement to consider spacing, maintenance and intention in arriving at a decision that trees and shrubs in a row did not form a hedge and (ii) excluded deciduous trees from high hedge notices issued by local authorities.

High hedge appeals are delegated to appointed reporters to make decisions on Scottish Ministers behalf.

DPEA received 8 high hedge appeals from January to March 2023, of which 2 were dismissed as "no remit" and 6 were decided upon by independent reporters.

Within these decisions, 2 referred to the 2019 guidance and its requirement to consider spacing, maintenance and intention in arriving at a decision that trees and shrubs in a row did not form a hedge and 2 excluded deciduous trees from high hedge notices issued by local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-17381

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided to support sporting activities on Scotland's islands in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) island group and (b) government body providing the funding.

The Scottish Government understand the importance of sport and physical activity and the positive impact that it has on physical, mental, and social health. We want to create and provide every opportunity for participation in sport and physical activity for everyone in Scotland.

As part of The National Islands Plan Implementation Route Map, which can be viewed here , the Scottish Government have committed to support relevant local authorities to plan and develop sports facilities on the islands that respond to the needs of communities.

As the national agency for sport , sport scotland invests Scottish Government and National Lottery resources to help the people of Scotland get the most from the sporting system. sport scotland works in partnerships with Scottish Governing Bodies of sport (SGBs), local authorities, leisure trusts, sports clubs and community organisations, schools, colleges, and universities to provide greater opportunities for all to participate in sport.

The table below details sport scotland’s investment in each island local authority area, in each year, since 2013-14 (10-year period). This data covers investment by sport scotland, in both the local authority and other organisations in the local authority area, including investment for Active Schools, Community Sport Hubs, Sport Facilities Fund, National and Regional Facilities, Cycling Facilities Fund, Cashback for Communities, Active Places Fund, National Lottery Awards for All, Direct Club Investment, and Get Into Summer.

Table 1:

Local Authority area	Investment Period (financial year)											Total Investment by Local Authority area
Local Authority area	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	£220,328	£311,448	£226,959	£208,100	£196,100	£187,611	£206,871	£197,689	£235,894	£274,032	£2,265,032
Orkney Council	£210,664	£257,114	£176,580	£175,614	£172,114	£194,259	£182,444	£207,043	£230,966	£173,485	£1,980,283
Shetland Council	£370,030	£258,998	£684,669	£237,775	£223,678	£228,178	£226,134	£254,780	£259,549	£264,274	£3,008,065

sport scoltand also invest into the following three local authorities who geographically cover Island communities. The investment covers the whole local authority area and do not hold information on the investment breakdown on the individual islands.

Table 2:

Local Authority area	Investment Period (financial year)										Total Investment by Local Authority area
Local Authority area	2013-14	2014-25	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Argyll & Bute Council	£653,987	£691,752	£441,988	£411,779	£414,673	£334,104	£327,772	£580,282	£357,992	£349,922	£4,564,251
Highland Council	£1,559,566	£1,901,298	£2,423,568	£1,332,407	£1,197,435	£1,448,482	£1,224,698	£1,245,138	£1,748,235	£1,796,204	£15,877,031
North Ayrshire Council	£536,834	£13,274,320	£487,661	£788,037	£400,950	£588,507	£457,305	£631,365	£490,963	£794,331	£18,450,273

Notes for table 1 and 2

1. Investment is recorded in the year of award, and it is the level of award that is reported.

2. The investment is a mix of revenue and capital spend.

3. The investment is a mix of recurring investment in long-term programmes (e.g. Active Schools) and one-off investments through open application processes (e.g. National Lottery Awards for All).

4. The data does not include investment into national organisations. (e.g. sport scotland invests in around 50 Scottish Governing Bodies of sport. This investment is excluded from the table rather than being recorded against the local authority in which the head office of the organisation is based.)

5. The data does not include direct awards to individuals. (e.g. sport scotland Personal Awards to high performance athletes).

Further investment in supporting sporting activities is included in The Islands Programme for financial year 2021-22. This includes three project strands which are being delivered in collaboration with Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), Inspiring Scotland, HIE and other key partners:

o The Islands Infrastructure Fund (IIF)

o The Island Communities Fund (ICF)

o The Healthy Islands Fund (HIF)

£523,782 of IIF investment contributed to projects that developed sporting and physical activities. Geographically this is broken down as follows:

Orkney Islands - £443,782; and
Argyll and Bute Islands - £80,000.

£233,738 of ICF investment contributed to projects that developed sporting and physical activities. Geographically this is broken down as follows:

Argyll and Bute Islands - £75,600.00;
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) - £80,920.00;
Orkney Islands - £7,477.48; and
North Ayrshire Islands - £69,741.00.

£1,122,954 of HIF contributed to projects that developed sports and physical activities. Geographically this is broken down as follows:

Argyll and Bute Islands – £34,052;
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) - £392,961;
Highland Council Islands – £108,067;
North Ayrshire Islands - £100,690;
Orkney Islands - £359,567; and
Shetland Islands - £127,615.

In addition the £230 million ‘Restart the Economy’ capital stimulus package was announced by the then Cabinet Secretary for Finance on 16 June 2020. As part of the capital stimulus package, the £2 million Islands Green Recovery Programme (IGRP) launched on 13 September 2020.

£333,289 of IGRP investment contributed to projects that developed sporting and physical activities. Geographically this is broken down as follows:

Argyll and Bute Islands - £92,161; and
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) - £241,128.

Question reference: S6W-17411

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any explicit legal duties fall on (a) it and (b) its agencies to (i) protect endangered species and (ii) increase species abundance, or whether any action on this matter is a matter of policy rather than law.

There is a wide range of legislation which applies to the Scottish Government to protect Scotland’s wildlife and habitats, including specific duties which fall on individual authorities to protect, conserve and restore the protected habitats and species of European sites.

NatureScot’s role as set out in the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991 includes securing the conservation and enhancement of the natural heritage of Scotland. All public bodies have a duty under Section 1 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 to further the conservation of biodiversity when carrying out their work, where appropriate and in line with the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity.

Furthermore, for Scotland’s terrestrial and marine environments, the requirements of in the Habitats Directive and the Wild Birds Directive apply, setting out the rules for the protections and management of certain habitats and species, including wild bird species, to ensure their long term conservation.

For example, under Regulation 3A of the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994, Scottish Ministers and NatureScot must take steps in the exercise of their functions to preserve, maintain and re-establish sufficient diversity and area of habitat for wild birds in Scotland.

While there is no explicit legal duty on the Scottish Ministers or its agencies to increase species abundance, this does form one of the key outcomes envisaged in the draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-biodiversity-strategy-2045-tackling-nature-emergency-scotland/ . The protected areas networks on land and sea includes sites for nature conservation, protection of biodiversity, demonstrating sustainable management and protecting our heritage. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Special Ares of Protection (SPAs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) are just a few examples of the protected areas designated under retained European Law, UK and Scottish legislation by Scottish Ministers which go to form a network of protected sites. These sites ensure protection for some of the most vulnerable species and habitats within Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-17471

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether its Programme for Government 2021-22 commitment to increase the number of employee-owned businesses to 500 by 2030 relates to businesses operating in Scotland, or businesses based in Scotland.

Research has shown that employee-owned businesses and other inclusive ownership models are fairer, more inclusive places to work and as a result enjoy greater financial and social resilience.

The Scottish Government’s commitment to increase the number of employee owned businesses seeks to widen the benefits of employee ownership to as many businesses and as many employee-owners as possible across Scotland. For this reason the number relates to businesses operating in and based in Scotland.

Chamber and committees