- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2019
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to reports that one in 20 households that use food banks has an unstable income due to self-employment or being on a zero-hour contract.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2019
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25827 by Humza Yousaf on 15 October 2019, what assistance will be available to make homes secure once a protective barring order has been put in place.
Answer
The Scottish Government consulted on proposals to introduce protective orders for people at risk of domestic abuse earlier this year. That consultation sought views on whether breach of a protective order should be a criminal offence. In developing legislation on protective orders, we will give careful consideration to responses submitted to that consultation in determining how best to ensure that any such orders provide effective protection to people at risk of domestic abuse.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to protect heritage sites in the Highlands and Islands.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2019
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 01 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25799 by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 October 2019, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding whether the expenditure for capital projects reported in the Scottish Water annual report and accounts in each of the last three years that has been published in accordance with section 45(2) of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 represents unplanned expenditure each year above that anticipated for each listed project.
Answer
Scottish Water operates within a regulatory framework agreed with Scottish Ministers which is subject to regulatory monitoring, scrutiny and audit. Their capital programme has both planned and unplanned cost allowances for reactive interventions. Consequently, a portfolio approach is required due to the size and complexity of the investment programme. Unplanned expenditure is managed within the overall cost allowance for the investment programme and is subject to robust programme governance.
The following capital investment table reconciles investment as stated in Scottish Water’s statutory accounts (the financial statements therein are prepared in a form directed by Scottish ministers in accordance Section 45(2) of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002) with investment on a regulatory accounting basis for the three years to 31 March 2019.
| | 2018-19 £m | 2017-18 £m | 2016-17 £m |
Capital investment on a regulatory accounting basis Add PFI capital additions | 659.8 0.1 | 644.9 1.7 | 625.6 1.0 |
Total capital investment on a regulatory accounting basis | 659.9 | 646.6 | 626.6 |
Less base infrastructure maintenance included in operating costs under IAS 16 | (130.0) | (134.7) | (117.6) |
Less investment financed by infrastructure charges & contributions | (26.5) | (18.1) | (24.5) |
Company capital additions per note 9 to the financial statements | 503.4 | 493.8 | 484.5 |
In addition Scottish Water is also required to disclose, under the Scottish Water Governance Direction 2009, capital expenditure on major works including improvements to existing assets each year that are greater than £10m (for an example please see page 98 of Scottish Water’s Annual Report & Accounts for 2018-19).
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not received the clarity it needs regarding the UK Government’s Spending Review, despite our engagement with HM Treasury.
Despite previously promising a multi-year Spending Review in 2019, the UK Government has now delayed this into 2020. Instead this year the UK Government published a one-year Spending Round which does not include the economic forecasts and tax decisions needed for us to plan our spend for 2020-21 with any certainty. The UK general election in December also means that we will not know for some time when a UK Budget outlining this information will take place.
This delay and uncertainty unreasonably constrains our ability to plan future spending and the time for Scottish Parliament scrutiny.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government in what form of (a) investments and (b) other assets are the retained earnings reserve reported in the 2018-19 Scottish Water annual report held.
Answer
The retained earnings reported in the 2018-19 Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts represent the accumulated profit and loss of Scottish Water since its inception. Together with the other ‘Equity’ reported in the Balance sheet (Government Loans, Cash flow hedge reserve and Other Reserves) they explain how the net assets of the organisation have been financed.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of households there have been in each of the last five years, and what annual rate of growth in household numbers this represents.
Answer
The latest available information is given in the following table. The mid-2019 household estimates are planned for publication in June 2020.
Mid-year household estimates, Scotland, 2014–2018
Year | Estimated number of households | Percentage change on previous year |
2014 | 2,416,014 | 0.65% |
2015 | 2,429,943 | 0.58% |
2016 | 2,446,171 | 0.67% |
2017 | 2,462,736 | 0.68% |
2018 | 2,477,275 | 0.59% |
Notes:
Data on household estimates relates to the 30 th June each year.
A household refers to the people living together in a dwelling. The number of dwellings will not necessarily equal the number of households in an area, because some dwellings are vacant or second homes, and some dwellings contain more than one household. Communal establishments, such as care homes and student halls of residence, are not included in the definition of a household.
Source: Table 1 of Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2018 , published by National Records of Scotland.
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/household-estimates/2018/house-est-18-all-tabs.xlsx .
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties in each of the last five years have been subject to council tax, broken down by the proportion in each band.
Answer
The number and proportion of properties the Scottish Government has recorded as being subject to Council Tax by each band in the last five years is as follows:
Number of Chargeable Dwellings in Scotland |
Year | Band A | Band B | Band C | Band D | Band E | Band F | Band G | Band H | TOTAL |
2019 | 500,127 (20%) | 573,544 (23%) | 405,430 (16%) | 341,710 (14%) | 341,644 (14%) | 199,994 (8%) | 128,893 (5%) | 13,591 (1%) | 2,504,933 |
2018 | 503,209 (20%) | 572,175 (23%) | 401,847 (16%) | 336,392 (14%) | 337,232 (14%) | 196,377 (8%) | 126,529 (5%) | 13,340 (1%) | 2,487,101 |
2017 | 505,129 (20%) | 572,271 (23%) | 399,508 (16%) | 332,640 (13%) | 333,611 (13%) | 192,916 (8%) | 124,270 (5%) | 13,150 (1%) | 2,473,497 |
2016 | 504,715 (21%) | 571,217 (23%) | 397,023 (16%) | 328,309 (13%) | 329,682 (13%) | 189,367 (8%) | 122,158 (5%) | 12,936 (1%) | 2,455,406 |
2015 | 506,424 (21%) | 569,737 (23%) | 394,252 (16%) | 324,461 (13%) | 326,438 (13%) | 186,282 (8%) | 120,179 (5%) | 12,745 (1%) | 2,440,518 |
Note: ‘Chargeable Dwellings’ are those dwellings on the valuation roll in September of each year minus those dwellings that are exempt from Council Tax.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether the expenditure for capital projects reported in the Scottish Water annual report and accounts in each of the last three years that has been published in accordance with Section 45(2) of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 represents unplanned expenditure each year above that anticipated for each listed project.
Answer
The expenditure for capital projects reported in the Scottish Water Annual Report and Accounts in each of the last three years represents all capital expenditure in those years to support delivery of the Objectives set by Ministers under Section 56A of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 25 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23670 by Paul Wheelhouse on 7 June 2019, by what date it will publish the revised intervention area list.
Answer
As I announced to Parliament during General Questions on Thursday 10 October, BT plc were the only bidder for both the Central and South lots of the R100 procurement and, subject to due diligence and governance, we intend to proceed to contract signature with BT as soon as possible.
More than one bid was received for the North lot of the procurement, and I will announce a preferred bidder in due course.
We are conscious of the very strong interest among communities and their elected representatives as to the specific implications for them and are keen to ensure that detailed information on the intervention area to be covered under the contract is provided at the earliest opportunity, alongside information on our aligned interventions to address those properties not covered under the main procurement itself. We remain on course to sign the R100 contracts before the end of 2019, and we will make delivery timescales publicly available as soon as possible, after contracts have been signed.
