- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13349 by Mairi McAllan on 10 January 2023, whether it is the case that it can now confirm how much funding will be allocated to the Climate Justice Fund in financial year 2023-24, and, if it is not the case, whether it will provide a draft figure, prior to final budget allocations being made, of how it expects to allocate for this purpose.
Answer
I can confirm that budget for the Climate Justice Fund is currently expected to be £6m for Financial Year 2023-24 subject to parliamentary approval of the budget.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many potholes there are on the road network.
Answer
Transport Scotland, through its Trunk Road Operating Companies and Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. Repair of potholes on all other roads is the responsibility of the local authorities.
The Scottish Government fully funds the inspection and repair of all potholes that present, or could present, an immediate hazard to trunk road users. These are defined as Category 1 defects within the term maintenance contract, which also sets out strict timescales for their repair. Following identification of Category 1 pothole defects, the Operating Companies are required to make the defect safe by 6am the following morning, preferably by completing a permanent repair. Where this is not possible then a temporary repair is required within the same timescale with permanent repairs required 28 days. The number of Category 1 potholes identified and awaiting repair changes daily in response to ongoing inspections and repair work.
The following table shows the number of Category 1 potholes identified and repaired in each of the last five whole years.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how much it has spent on developing a fully interactive "Front Door" for health and care services.
Answer
Spend on the digital front door will come from the Digital Health and Care budget, which is £99.6m for 2022-23. Further details can be found in the answer to question S6W-13979 on 30 January 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: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the availability of suitably qualified (a) engineers and (b) technicians able to provide maintenance and repair services for reverse vending machines, as part of the delivery of the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14291 on 7 February 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: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13230 by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022, according to the modelling done by Zero Waste Scotland, how long on average after the initial investments would local authorities expect to experience a net financial benefit.
Answer
The modelling followed the legislative timeframe of achieving 90% capture of single use drinks containers by 2025. The full benefits would be realised at that time. An indication at 80% performance was also provided to enable mapping of the scheme performance by local authority.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the suitability of available skills training pathways to enable reverse vending machine maintenance and repair services to employ suitably qualified (a) engineers and (b) technicians, including (i) formal education and (ii) apprenticeships routes.
Answer
The Deposit Return Scheme is an industry-led scheme, delivered by industry, led by the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd. The Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations were laid in 2020 and businesses have now had three years to prepare for the launch of the scheme. It is not the role of Government to carry out such assessments.
There are many companies providing these services in Scotland, and an assessment is not considered to be necessary or appropriate for Government to carry out.
- Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the annual operating cost of the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy in each of the final three years in which it ran.
Answer
The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) was an annual sample survey which monitored national performance of school children at P4, P7 and S2 in literacy and numeracy in alternate years. Operating costs are set out in the following table and are broken down by element of spend. As Support Assessors were funded to facilitate group discussions between pupils as part of the Listening and Talking assessment, these costs are only associated with the years that the literacy survey took place.
| | £000s | £000s | £000s |
| | 2014 (Literacy survey) | 2015 (Numeracy survey) | 2016 (Literacy survey) |
SQA grant funding | 615 | 774 | 682 |
Support Assessors | 117 | - | 117 |
SG analytical staff costs | 175 | 210 | 210 |
Cost of compliance | 398 | 460 | 394 |
Total | 1,305 | 1,444 | 1,403 |
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in the paper, Transforming Nursing, Midwifery and Health Professions’ Roles: Review of Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Practitioner Roles within Scotland, whether advanced clinical nurse specialists have been included within the Advanced Practice Academies.
Answer
Advanced Practice Academies do not currently include Advanced Clinical Nurse Specialists. However NHS Education for Scotland has confirmed they will be included when work on the implementation of the paper’s recommendations has concluded.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in securing a long-term reliable bus service between Dumfries and Edinburgh.
Answer
My officials have been in contact with the relevant local transport authorities in respect of bus services between Dumfries and Edinburgh. Regarding the 101/102 service, Houston's Coaches have had a bid approved by SPT, Scottish Borders Council and Swestrans for 3 years with a start date of 1 April 2023. SPT are currently working with Houston's to finalise the contract. Scottish Ministers, however, do not have the power to intervene directly in the provision of bus services due to the de-regulated bus market, which has operated across the United Kingdom since the 1980s.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of what Architecture and Design Scotland’s budget is allocated to.
Answer
The following table sets out a breakdown of Architecture and Design Scotland budget allocations for 2022-23.
Item | Cost (£) |
Salaries | 1,481,427 |
Board Remuneration | 47,868 |
Accommodation (inc. rent, rates, insurance, utilities, maintenance) | 113,780 |
Employment costs | 49,870 |
Travel and Subsistence | 5,000 |
Administration | 29,750 |
Professional services | 22,300 |
IT | 87,900 |
Project Expenditure | 252,105 |
TOTAL | 2,090,000 |