Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Forestry Grant Scheme will remain the principal source of funding from the Scottish Government for woodland creation in the 2024-5 planting season. The scheme will continue beyond that date but no budget has been set at this stage.

The Woodland Carbon Code has been attracting additional funding for woodland creation and this is expected to rise further. The level of funding will depend on the number of carbon credits generated in future and the price paid for them.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24444 on‎ 22 January 2024. 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 Scottish Government is aware of the former railway route to Greenock Princes Pier. However, in the absence of any clearly expressed demand for this link from freight customers, the Scottish Government has no current plans to assess the feasibility of reopening the Greenock and Ayrshire Railway to the former Greenock Princes Pier railway station as a direct rail freight link to Greenock Ocean Terminal.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly, who might be able to provide this information.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many patients have been referred for CT or MRI head imaging as a result of GP direct access to diagnostic services.

The £8.7 million has been spent on a programme of design and development works for the scheme with Network Rail, who is taking this project forward on the Scottish Government’s behalf. A breakdown is retained by Network Rail and you may wish to contact Network Rail directly. However, some parts of the requested breakdown may relate to commercially sensitive information which it would be inappropriate to share before a procurement exercise for the works.

We have published a Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, which is available on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/short-term-lets-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25506 on 28 February 2024. 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 Scottish Government do not hold full details of the dues paid by CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL) to Ardrossan Harbour Company Limited (AHCL). The monthly grant subsidy paid to CalMac covers all the agreed costs of operating services across the network as per the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract. However, it is understood that harbour dues paid by CFL to AHCL in CHFS contract year seven (October 2022 to September 2023) totalled around £1.7 million. Further information on AHCL can be found through their published accounts.

As of 23 February 2024, the Energy Consents Unit have an allocation of 35 posts. Whereas, in March 2023, the Energy Consents Unit had an allocation of 30 posts.

Work to set budgets for the financial year 2024-25 is still ongoing and resourcing requirements are kept under review.

Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.