- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any impact of local authorities continuing to use delegated powers on licensing committees, and what action it has taken in this regard.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35156 on 27 February 2025. 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 operation of licensing committees is a matter for independent Scottish local authorities.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to taxi licensing, testing and retesting, which local authorities currently require licensed taxis to be retested every year.
Answer
I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-35156 and S6W-35159 on 27 February 2025. This information is not held centrally. 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: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to taxi licensing, which local authorities currently have a requirement for taxis with tinted windows to have CCTV installed.
Answer
I refer the member to the answers given for S6W-35156 and S6W-35159 on 27 February 2025. This information is not held centrally.
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: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any impact of requiring specific MOT testing for licensed taxi (a) licensing, (b) testing and (c) retesting.
Answer
I refer the member to the answers given for S6W-35156 and S6W-35159 on 27 February 2025.
It is for independent licensing authorities to consider their own approaches on requirements for MOT testing, subject to meeting legal requirements.
Chapter 5 (vehicles) of the Scottish Government best practice guidance for local licensing authorities and taxi and private Hire Car (PHC) operators on the licensing of taxis and PHCs and their drivers, provides examples of best practice that independent licensing authorities may wish to consider in relation to MOT testing for taxis and PHCs: https://www.gov.scot/publications/taxi-private-hire-car-licensing-best-practice-licensing-authorities-taxi-private-hire-car-operators-3rd-edition/pages/7/
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: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to taxi licensing, testing and retesting, which local authorities currently use delegated powers for licensing committees.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35156 on 27 February 2025. 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 information requested is not held by the Scottish Government. These are operational matters for individual licensing authorities.
More generally, the Scottish Government continues to engage directly with local licensing authority representatives through engagement with the Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators in Scotland (SOLAR). Scottish Government participation at the SOLAR Licensing Group meetings provides a platform to discuss a variety of licensing policy issues, including the taxi and PHC licensing regime.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 27 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has provided to the Just Transition Commission to date.
Answer
The details of the budget we have provided to the Just Transition Commission to date is as follows:
Financial Year | Spend |
2022-2023 | £102,000 |
2023-2024 | £138,591 |
2024-2025 | £215,214* |
2025-2026 | |
*Final spend will be available end March 2025
The budget includes payment of a daily fee, which is set at Tier 2 by Public Sector Pay Policy as well as travel and subsistence, meeting costs and procurement of other services (such as research and website).
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32232 by Gillian Martin on 19 December 2024, which states that fisheries management measures are not a national or regional planning matter, how it will ensure that the views of environmental, recreational and commercial representatives are adequately reflected in inshore fisheries management and governance.
Answer
Our Fisheries Management and Conservation group, including its subgroups, already includes representation covering environmental, recreational and commercial interests. In addition, we currently have an open Call for Evidence to inform the development of the Inshore Fisheries Management Improvement Programme. This asks a range of questions about our current and future framework for inshore fisheries management in Scotland, including on Governance and co-management. Responses to the Call for Evidence will help to inform the development of this framework.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 30 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the carcasses of the 138,534 deer
reportedly culled in the 2022-23 season yielded meat suitable for the human
food chain.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-33200 on 21 January 2025 and S6W-33202 on 17 January 2025 which set out the information we do hold on how the carcasses of the 138,534 deer reportedly culled in the 2022-23 season were processed. 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: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 30 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the equivalent weight in (a)
pounds and (b) kilograms is of the 138,534 deer reportedly culled in the 2022-23 season.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it monitors the number of redundancies among oil and gas contractors in Scotland, and, if so, how many redundancies were made in 2023-24, and, based on asset owners' decommissioning schedules, how many it estimates will be made in each year from 2024-25 to 2029-30.
Answer
There is no obligation on private companies to inform the Scottish Government of their redundancy figures, therefore we do not hold this information centrally. However, the Scottish Government engages regularly with the oil and gas industry and the relevant trade unions and monitors company announcements.
In the unfortunate event of any employees facing redundancy, the Scottish Government will always offer and provide support through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, PACE. Through providing skills development and employability support, PACE aims to minimise the time individuals affected by redundancy are out of work.