Chamber and committees

The contract notice for the third section of the A9 to be dualled, Tomatin to Moy, was published on the Public Contracts Scotland portal on 19 August 2021. We anticipate the contract for this section to be awarded in the second half of 2022 with construction work starting thereafter.

It is also expected that the procurement process for the A737 Improvements at Beith project will commence later in 2021-22.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update published in December 2020, a route-map will be produced by the end of 2021, assuming the pandemic has moved to a phase to allow this.

As we have done in previous years, the Scottish Government flew the Red Ensign from its main buildings on 3 September as a sign of respect and recognition of the sacrifices made by our Merchant Navy Seafarers. In addition, we issued social media via the Scottish Government’s Veterans account to raise awareness of the key role played by the men and women of the Merchant Navy both today and throughout its illustrious history.

The Scottish Government do not hold the information requested. The delivery of training by Police Scotland, in Sri Lanka, is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland.

The Covid emergency gave rise to an unprecedented number of enquiries, questions and correspondence from members of the public. These covered a broad range of topics, including issues relevant to civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights.

As announced on 24 August, the Scottish Government will establish an independent Scottish public inquiry this year to consider matters in relation to Scotland’s handling of the pandemic. The Scottish public inquiry is expected to adopt a person-centred, human rights based approach.

The Scottish Government is currently inviting views on the draft aims and principles of the public inquiry. Further information about how MSPs and other interested parties can submit their views can be found at www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-inquiry/ .

Professor Iain Docherty’s report was commissioned by Abellio ScotRail to look at the future of rail across Scotland’s railway and the challenges and options facing the railway as the industry recovers from the pandemic. The Scottish Government was therefore not required to have any discussions regarding the public release of the report as this was a decision between Abellio ScotRail and Professor Iain Docherty.

Transport Scotland remains committed to working with key industry partners to achieve, by 2026, the 20 minutes journey time saving between Aberdeen and Edinburgh (average journey time of 2 hours 10 minutes for express services). This outcome was agreed at the final meeting of the Aberdeen to Central Belt Reference Group.

The Reference Group also endorsed a service specification, previously set out in Network Rail’s 2016 Scotland Rail Study of:

1. an average journey time of 1 hour 10 minutes or less for inter-city services between Aberdeen and Dundee;

2. an average journey time of 2 hours 30 minutes or less for inter-city services between Aberdeen and Glasgow;

3. half-hourly services from local stations into Aberdeen and Dundee during peak times;

4. an hourly stopping service between Aberdeen and Dundee; and

5. new freight paths.

The Climate Change Plan sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to develop a Routemap to meet our ambitious 2025 waste and recycling targets in a way that maximises carbon saving potential. The Scottish Government is working with partner organisations to develop the Routemap.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a tax on waste incineration services. We will however consider the role of fiscal incentives, such as a waste tax, in the context of the planned Routemap and the Climate Change Plan

We have also committed to review the role incineration plays in Scotland’s waste hierarchy, taking account of all available evidence. An update will be provided to Parliament this month regarding the plans for this.

Our regulatory proposals will give local authorities powers to strike a balance between the needs and concerns of their local communities, with the wider economic and tourism benefits of short-term lets. In certain areas, achieving this balance may require a reduction in numbers of whole homes offered for short-term lets and local authorities have been given powers through the planning control area regulations to help manage activity in their area. The consultation draft Licensing Order also includes powers to manage overprovision, and licensing requirements should mean that some unsuitable operators and accommodation will also leave the market. We do not have an estimate of how many short-term lets will return to the long-term housing market as this depends on how local authorities use the powers they are being given.

There were two specific reasons for the £4.1 million reduction. The 2021-22 budget maintained all existing funding commitments. The Other Arts budget continues to maintain support for important ongoing commitments such as Scottish Screen, the Youth Music Initiative, and our major Festivals.

The first reason was that no provision was made for loans under the Financial Transactions (FT) mechanism as there was no requirement for FTs to be administered by Creative Scotland in 2021-22. This has resulted in a £1.09m decrease.

The second change was in relation to the ‘Other Arts’ line where revenue funding fell by £3.17m year on year. The decrease of £3.1 million was due to a technical change agreed with Creative Scotland, whereby Scottish Government moved £3.1 million of grant funding for Regularly Funded Organisations into 2020-21 from 2021-22. This enabled Creative Scotland to carry over the National Lottery funding in to 2021-22, therefore over the two years Scottish Government is maintaining funding. Creative Scotland confirmed in a statement on 28 January 2021 that they would honour their Regularly Funded Organisations commitment to 2021-22.