Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17864 on 23 May 2023. 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

Information on the (a) longest, (b) average and (c) median waiting time for answered telephone calls in 2023 to date is provided in the following table.

The Scottish Government is working with key business sectors, Scottish Water, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and other stakeholders to make sure water is used efficiently.

We continue to invest in the public network, reducing leakage and increasing water efficiency which helps conserve water in the environment, and we are working to develop technologies and other approaches to enhance resilience during extended periods of water scarcity.

SEPA, applies controls on water usage through abstraction licences. It also works with stakeholders to better communicate the impacts of water scarcity, and encourage water users to develop contingency plans to minimise their impact on the environment, and make their business more resilient.

Work with Scottish Water’s non-domestic customers has been ongoing. Scottish Water encourages its customers to use water efficiently and businesses are metered, and Licensed Providers are encouraged to provide water efficiency advice to their customers so that water is saved and bills are reduced.

Leakage has reduced continually year on year since 2006. In its regulatory determination for the 2015-21 period, the water industry commission for Scotland (WICS) set a target for Scottish Water to achieve the Economic Level of Leakage (ELL) (500 Megalitres per day) by 2019-20. Scottish Water achieved this target four years early and is continuing to reduce leakage further.

The length of closures (in hours / minutes) of the A9 between Inverness and Perth due to an accident between 2018 and 2023 (to date), month by month are detailed in the following table:

Social Security Scotland routinely releases information on payments issued for Funeral Support Payment as part of quarterly official statistics releases.

Excel tables released as part of these publications include information on the value of payments issued by local authority and financial year.

The latest statistics on Funeral Support Payment were released on 16 May 2023 covering data to 31 March 2023. These statistics can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications .

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Work within Inverclyde Council’s Pottery Street depot has been progressing well, although there has been some delay to starting work on the A8 itself due to other urgent utility work. For the section of work on the A8, Scottish Water’s forecast start date is at the end of June, with an anticipated completion by mid- to end-December. Information on the project is published online at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/In-Your-Area/Investments-in-Your-Area/A8-Greenock

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy (LCREE) Survey provides estimates of employment in offshore wind across the countries of the UK.

The 2021 LCREE estimates show that 3,100 Full Time Equivalent Staff (FTE) were directly employed in offshore wind in Scotland. There is no regional breakdown of the data available.

The results in LCREE are survey-based, the data is gathered from a sample rather than the whole population. The estimates are therefore subject to uncertainty, which is expressed through the publication of confidence intervals alongside the data.

The latest version of the LCREE publication can be found here: Low carbon and renewable energy economy, UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

Scotland’s Forestry Strategy has committed to increasing forest and woodland cover from around 18% to 21% of the total area of Scotland by 2032. To achieve this the Forestry Strategy Implementation Plan and Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan both commit to increasing woodland creation to 18,000 hectares a year in 2024-25.

This commitment to increase forestry cover is an important part of Scotland’s response to the climate emergency and the international Paris Agreement, which set out Scotland’s ambition to reach net zero by 2045. The commitment sits within the range of scenarios described by the Climate Change Committee. It also contributes to Scottish Government’s pledge to plant 165,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030 as part of the international Bonn Challenge.

The following table shows the annual budget allocated to achieve the commitments on increasing tree cover, together with net spend (millions):

The CashBack for Communities fund is a unique programme that reinvests money recovered from the proceeds of crime to support young people across Scotland.

Phase 5 of the CashBack for Communities programme ran from 2020 to 2023. Twelve organisations received CashBack funding in the Highland area in 2022-23, with 11 of those organisations receiving Cashback support from organisations based elsewhere in Scotland.

Phase 6 of the CashBack programme runs from 2023 to 2026. Following a highly competitive funding round, one Highland-based organisation has been awarded CashBack funding to deliver projects over the three-year period. The project plans of three organisations out with the Highland area include plans to develop and deliver CashBack activities in partnership with Highland–based organisations.

Details of all the Phase 6 CashBack partners are available on the CashBack for Communities website: https://cashbackforcommunities.org/

The Scottish Government has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Danish Government to promote collaboration on zero emissions heat, heat networks and energy efficiency, plus onshore and offshore wind energy and hydrogen economy. As part of this, Scottish Government officials have held multiple knowledge sharing sessions with Danish Government officials in the past regarding heat in buildings and heat networks, including a session in June 2022 on heat network ownership models in Denmark, such as community models and co-operatives.