- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what recent (a) discussions it has had on and (b) consideration it has given to improving lifeline interisland services in Orkney.
Answer
I met with Orkney Islands Council on 8 th August during my visit to the Northern Isles, where we discussed a range of issues including inter-island connectivity.
The Scottish Government recognises the challenges for local authorities with responsibility for ferries and has provided more than £136m over the last 5 years through the Local Government settlement and Specific Grant. A total of £33.095m has been made available for local authorities in 2022-23, including £13.402m for Orkney, which fully funds the Council to operate inter-island ferry services.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many computers it has purchased for each of its directorates in each of the last five years.
Answer
The breakdown of this information by Directorate is not held centrally and to collate this information would be at disproportionate costs. Computers have been defined as any device which has been configured for use on the SCOTS Network. The overall number for Scottish Government over the past 5 years are
Year | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 |
Number of Computers | 1523 | 6030 | 4070 | 3569 | NIL to date |
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings from the 2021 Scottish House Condition Survey.
Answer
The Scottish Government intends to publish the key findings from the 2021 Scottish House Condition Survey in February 2023. This was communicated to users through a ScotStat email and is published on forthcoming publications and Scottish Household Survey webpages on the Scottish Government website.
Any changes to this date will be communicated to users, in line with the code of practice for statistics .
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of its aviation strategy, particularly in relation to improving lifeline services and island connectivity.
Answer
The online public consultation on developing a Scottish Government aviation strategy ran from 18 October 2021 until 21 January 2022. 93 responses were received, 38 from individuals and 55 from a broad range of stakeholder organisations. Officials also ran a series of online stakeholder workshops each of which focused on a particular area of the consultation document, namely international connectivity and airfreight; transition to low and zero-emission aviation; domestic connectivity; and governance arrangements in the Highlands and Islands.
On 6 April we published an independent analysis of the consultation responses, including summaries of the main points from the workshops noted above, and those responses where consent to publish was provided.
Work is ongoing across government to develop the aviation strategy, including in relation to Highlands and Islands connectivity, building on the suggestions from the consultation and relevant Scottish Government strategies and polices. The aviation strategy will also inform the development of the Islands Connectivity Plan.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timeline for the introduction of its Public Health Bill.
Answer
The Public Health (Restriction of Promotions) Bill will be introduced this parliamentary year.
As set out in Programme for Government 2022-23, as a first legislative step in this session to meeting wider public health commitments, the Bill will include provisions for restricting food and drink promotions to protect public health.
- Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Angus Robertson on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the costs associated with the production and publication of the paper, Independence in the modern world. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland.
Answer
The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a new Scotland paper, 'Independence in the modern world. Wealthier, happier, fairer: why not Scotland?', are set out in the following table.
Costs |
Task | VAT % | VAT | Net Price |
Overall Prospectus Design | 20.0 | 883.35 | 4,416.74 |
Formatting and Online Publication (including HTML Web Conversation) | 20.0 | 1,130.50 | 5,652.49 |
Printed Copies | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2,124.12 |
Summary Document | 20.0 | 114.58 | 572.91 |
Summary Document – Language Translations | 20.0 | 415.85 | 2,079.24 |
Summary Document – BSL Translation | 20.0 | 108.85 | 544.24 |
Summary Document – Audio Translation | 20.0 | 14.84 | 74.22 |
Summary Document – Easy Read Version | 20.0 | 143.47 | 717.37 |
Total (GBP) | £2,811.44 | £16,181.33 |
Total including VAT (GBP) | £18,992.76 |
Papers in the Building a New Scotland prospectus series are available at the following link: www.gov.scot/newscotland .
- Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Angus Robertson on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the costs associated with the production and publication of the paper, Renewing Democracy through Independence.
Answer
The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a new Scotland paper, ‘Renewing democracy through independence', are set out in the following table.
Costs |
Task | VAT % | VAT | Net Price |
Formatting and Online Publication (including HTML Web Conversation) | 20.0 | 589.97 | 2,949.85 |
Printed Copies | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1,782.59 |
Summary Document | 20.0 | 57.28 | 286.38 |
Summary Document – Language Translations | 20.0 | 482.73 | 2,413.64 |
Summary Document – BSL Translation | 20.0 | 137.85 | 689.24 |
Summary Document – Audio Translation | 20.0 | 14.16 | 70.81 |
Summary Document – Easy Read Version | 20.0 | 93.24 | 466.22 |
Total (GBP) | £1,375.23 | £8,658.73 |
Total including VAT (GBP) | £10,033.95 |
Papers in the Building a New Scotland prospectus series are available at the following link: www.gov.scot/newscotland.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what research it will undertake into the potential impacts that the three Shetland ScotWind projects, announced on 22 August 2022, could have on haddock nursery grounds and saithe spawning sites.
Answer
The Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy(SMP-OWE) has already carried out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA). The SEA and HRA assessed the potential for impact on nursery and spawning locations from the SMP-OWE and at an individual Plan Option scale.
Developers’ stated ambitions from ScotWind awards have surpassed the SMP-OWE assessment assumptions and the potential for greater impact from larger capacity projects will now be considered in the SMP-OWE Iterative Plan Review (IPR). Where the now known ScotWind projects overlap with spawning and nursery grounds the potential for impact will be considered again.
In addition, the Scottish Marine Energy Research programme (ScotMER) has a specific receptor group focused on fish and fisheries-related evidence needs. This group, which includes fisheries representatives, has been updating the evidence map to ensure that the evidence needs reflect the results of ScotWind and capture a consideration of wider strategic monitoring to determine the potential for impacts on the physical environment that may influence spawning grounds. The potential sensitivity of spawning grounds to noise and vibrations has also been identified. This work can feed into the development of strategic research and project-level Environmental Impact Assessments.
Ongoing work to explore the mapping of essential fish habitats will also help better identify spawning and nursery ground locations.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been allocated to Scottish Canals in each of the last five years.
Answer
Scottish Canals has benefitted from significant increases in grant in aid awards in recent years. Since 2019, the Organisation’s capital grant from the Scottish Government has increased by 87% and it has received an annual uplift in resource funding since 2020. The Organisation has also received substantial additional funding support. A breakdown of the funding is attached in the following table.
Year | Grant allocation | Capital funding | Revenue funding | Additional funding | Total funding |
22-23 | £22.7m | £12.2m | £10.5m | | |
21-22 | £21.9m | £12.2m | £9.7m | £662k (rev) Covid consequential funding. £2.4m in additional funding. (cap) | £14.6m (cap) £10.4m (rev) £22.6m(total) |
20-21 | £20.7m | £12.2m | £8.5m | £1m (cap) Dredging Caledonian and Crinan. £545k(cap) Weedcutter. £6.5m (cap) Union Canal Breach. £1.1m (rev) Covid funding £2.8m in additional funding. (cap) | £20.2m (cap) £12.4m (rev) £32.6m (total) |
19-20 | £15m | £6.5m | £8.5m | £262k (rev) Bowling works. | £6.5m (cap) £8.8m (rev) £15.3m (total) |
18-19 | £11.6m | £3.5m | £8.1m | £1.625m (cap) Twechar, Bonnybridge and Ardrishaig. £5.350m (cap) Cullochy Lock Gates and Fort Augustus. | £10.475m (cap) £8.100m (rev) £18.575m (total) |
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 22 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the electricity and natural gas framework agreements offered via its procurement contracts directory will be affected by any ongoing escalation in energy prices.
Answer
The national frameworks for the Supply of Electricity and Supply of Natural Gas wholesale volumes are bought up to 2½ years in advance in tranches, following a proven ‘hedging’ purchasing strategy overseen by a cross-sectoral Risk Management Committee. The Committee comprises senior managers representing procurement, finance and energy management interests.
Whilst energy prices have risen to unprecedented levels because of global influences, the Scottish Government purchasing strategy has mitigated some of the increases. As an illustration, if we were to seek a fixed price today on the wholesale market for Electricity and Gas for 2022-2023, it would be more than double the contract prices that the Scottish Government framework currently enjoys.
