Seòmar agus comataidhean

As set out in Scottish Water’s 2020-21 Annual Report, while thousands of projects were delivered in the 2015- 21 period there were 86 projects due by but not delivering benefits to customers at 31 March 2021. Scottish Water expects customers to be receiving the benefits of 57 of these projects by the end of the 2022-23 financial year, leaving 29 still to be completed.

It is possible for Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd to pay dividends to Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd and this has been done in the past. It is not possible for Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd to pay a dividend to Scottish Water as Scottish Water is not a direct shareholder and this has not happened in the past.

It is possible for Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd to pay dividends to Scottish Water but this has not happened to date.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06233 on 25 February 2022. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06233 on 25 February 2022 . 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 .

The 2016 Consultation on Social Security in Scotland asked correspondents if the new Scottish social security system should continue to support access to the Motability scheme. Of the 200 respondents, 97% answered 'Yes'. During the subsequent consultation on Disability Assistance in 2019, the Government confirmed that a scheme equivalent to the Motability scheme would be put in place in advance of the delivery of Disability Assistance.

The Scottish Government believes that giving disabled people a range of suppliers to choose from will encourage value and promote choice. When the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme was launched in 2019, we therefore set out an intention to invite further applicants at regular intervals. Work to re-open further accreditation rounds will begin later this year.

Any future accreditation of providers under the Scheme will not affect people who have already leased a vehicle under the scheme.

Work towards a draft bill to provide local authorities with a discretionary power to apply a visitor levy, including a series of roundtable stakeholder events and formal consultation, was at an advanced stage but was necessarily paused at the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic in March 2020.

Our Budget confirmed that we would re-commence this work. Given the continuing impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector in Scotland, we consider it prudent to carefully review the work done to date and undertake further stakeholder engagement before making a firm decision on the next steps.

The Scottish Government plans on beginning work to re-open further accreditation rounds later this year and will make an announcement in due course. As this is an administrative exercise rather than a procurement exercise, there will be no new costs and all costs will be met within the existing social security portfolio budget envelope.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06233 on 25 February 2022. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06233 on 25 February 2022. 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 .

Universal Credit (UC) is reserved to the UK Government. The Scotland Act 2016 enables the Scottish Parliament to legislate to allow for specific flexibilities in the way Universal Credit is delivered to clients in Scotland, with agreement from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

The Scottish Government works with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in relation to those specific UC flexibilities set out in the 2016 Act. This does not cover feedback or complaints from the DWP service users in Scotland, their preference for channels used in accessing UC, or information regarding DWP staff in Scotland. The DWP does not routinely share information with the Scottish Government regarding any of these issues. They do, however, publish data on the number of overall complaints handled by their staff and the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) on a yearly basis at www.gov.uk/government/collections/complaints-about-the-department-for-work-and-pensions .