- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to creating a funding scheme to assist with ongoing maintenance costs of renewable heating solutions installed under the current government capital support schemes for (a) housing associations, (b) private homeowners and (c) landlords.
Answer
The purpose of the current capital support schemes is to offer applicants funding to support the installation of energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating.
We recognise that our supply chains will have to grow substantially to meet the future demand for both installation and maintenance. Our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan sets out practical steps that we will take to support the growth of the green heat sector. We continue to work in partnership with the sector to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for outward bound education visits.
Answer
As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have participated in clinical trials for haematological conditions in each year since 2017.
Answer
Data from the NHS Research Scotland Haematology Specialty Group and Cancer Research Network presented in the table below show the number of patients who have been recruited to clinical studies, including clinical trials, for non-malignant and malignant haematology conditions, respectively in each year since 2017.
Year | Non-malignant | Malignant |
2017 | 2103 | 133 |
2018 | 1849 | 238 |
2019 | 1743 | 187 |
2020 | 242 | 74 |
2021 | 214 | 108 |
2022 | 552 | 138 |
2023 (complete to 31/10-2023) | 613 | 113 |
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide (a) further information on the demographics of the 6,000 applications to the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme since its launch in August 2023 and (b) a breakdown by (i) the age of applicants, (ii) the median household income of applicants and (iii) local authority area.
Answer
The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme was launched in December 2022. The figures provided show the demographic between this launch date and the end of August 2023.
The scheme is open to all domestic owner occupied households in Scotland, and therefore data on the age and income of applicants are not collected as part of the application process. In the following table, the data requested has therefore been supplied by local authority area only.
Local Authority | Applications |
Aberdeen City | 152 |
Aberdeenshire | 457 |
Angus | 155 |
Argyll and Bute | 314 |
City of Edinburgh | 561 |
Clackmannanshire | 55 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 240 |
Dundee City | 114 |
East Ayrshire | 90 |
East Dunbartonshire | 133 |
East Lothian | 169 |
East Renfrewshire | 124 |
Falkirk | 121 |
Fife | 443 |
Glasgow City | 262 |
Highland | 440 |
Inverclyde | 43 |
Midlothian | 107 |
Moray | 191 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 43 |
North Ayrshire | 126 |
North Lanarkshire | 182 |
Orkney Islands | 72 |
Perth and Kinross | 314 |
Renfrewshire | 128 |
Scottish Borders | 232 |
Shetland Islands | 64 |
South Ayrshire | 100 |
South Lanarkshire | 294 |
Stirling | 166 |
West Dunbartonshire | 32 |
West Lothian | 217 |
Total | 6,141 |
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for medical professionals working in Scotland.
Answer
As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for children and young people.
Answer
As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the number of centres that can provide CAR T-cell therapy.
Answer
Following National Services Division (NSD)’s national review of CAR-T services, NHS Scotland Health Board Chief Executives have recently endorsed a regional service model for CAR-T cell therapy to be delivered across three centres within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Grampian and NHS Lothian.
Work is underway to progress establishing the two further centres with an aim for the regional service model to be delivered across all three centres by financial year 2024-25.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported statements from industry that current funding for energy efficiency retrofit projects needs to be more flexible and distributed from fewer sources.
Answer
The Scottish Government runs a number of targeted delivery programmes which are tailored to the needs of the specific sector they are aimed at. We continue to evolve and adapt these schemes to ensure that the outcomes delivered by the scheme can be maximised for the funding allocated to them.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prepare future supply chains for heat pump maintenance, including in relation to (a) parts and (b) labour.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer in question S6W-22666 on 16 November 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 .
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve access to clinical trials for blood cancer patients living in rural and remote areas.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office has established an Implementation Board to prioritise and take forward the recommendations of an independent report on Improving Equity of Access to Cancer Clinical Trials in Scotland that was published in February 2023: Improving equity of access to cancer clinical trials in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Implementation of recommendations is anticipated to improve access to cancer clinical trials in Scotland.