- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been carried out through the National Improvement Framework regarding the allocation of money from pupil equity funding to Police Scotland for police officers in schools.
Answer
This information does not fall within the scope of data gathered through the National Improvement Framework. The 11 key NIF measures assess progress towards closing the attainment gap using indicators from pre-school to school leavers. These are supplemented by 15 sub-measures that reflect the key stages of the learner journey and the breadth of issues that can impact on attainment. Together these provide a wide range of measures covering school leaver attainment and literacy and numeracy but also other, broader, measures such as health and wellbeing, school attendance rates and school leaver destinations.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of those in Scotland who signed up for the Homes for Ukraine scheme have changed their mind and decided to withdraw from the scheme.
Answer
Under current arrangements, applications to sponsor or host under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are made to the UK Government, and processed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Home Office.
The UK Government regularly publish data relating to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, but has not published data on host or sponsor applications or withdrawals. Published data is available at: Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has attempted to recoup money from any bus operators that were in receipt of
COVID-19 recovery funding but have since been unable to deliver services and,
if this is the case, whether it will provide details, broken down by bus
operator.
Answer
COVID-19 recovery funding is provided via the Network Support Grant Plus and paid as a pence per kilometre rate for each kilometre actually run. Funding is provided by advance payment on forecasts and then payment is adjusted after the scheme ends in October to ensure the final payment reflects actual services operated. This will include recovery of any funding paid to operators for services that did not operate. The scheme has not yet ended so no reconciliation or payment recovery from operators has yet taken place.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether any Scottish Ministers have ever had meetings with Uber and, if this is the case, what the purpose of any such meetings was, whether any notes were taken at the meetings, and, if this is the case, whether it will place copies of any such notes in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).
Answer
There have been no meetings between Scottish Government Ministers and Uber in the current parliamentary term. The former Minister for Transport and Islands, Mr Yousaf, met with Uber on two occasions on 20 April and 10 October 2017. Topics discussed included congestion, licensing, car-pooling, electric vehicles, and rural accessibility.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it last updated the HOSFGN/002: Property Thresholds Guidance for the Home Owners' Support Fund.
Answer
HOSFGN/002 was published in April 2017. The Home Owners Support Fund property threshold guidance is being considered as part of the current review and will be updated if required.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Home Owners’ Support Fund, what (a) written or electronic (i) promotional
materials (ii) briefings and (iii) training and (b) promotional meetings it has
provided or offered to (A) money advisers acting on behalf of applicants (B)
social landlords who are part of the Mortgage to Rent scheme (C) trustees
acting on behalf of applicants (D) UK lenders and (E) others, in the last 12
months.
Answer
Guidance documents for each participant are available at Support for homeowners at risk of homelessness - Homelessness - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). HOSF officials regularly provide support and information to applicants, Money Advisers, Social Landlords, Trustees and Lenders on individual applications.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported decision by the Welsh Government to provide additional funding to
support the recovery of the bus industry in Wales, which will run until April
2023, whether it will consider similar action in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to provide financial support for bus services to keep services more extensive, and fares more affordable than would otherwise be the case. On 1 April 2022, the Network Support Grant was introduced, with up to £93.5 million allocated for 2022-23 and an additional £25.7 million is being provided to extend the Network Support Grant Plus until October of this year. The Scottish Government continues to engage with bus operators and local government to keep support under review.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have been (a) trained and (b) allocated to deal with applications for the Home
Owners' Support Fund, in each of the last six years.
Answer
The following table shows how many staff have been allocated to the Home Owners Support Fund in recent years. Staff are fully trained and highly experienced and levels have been sufficient to meet demand for the Fund.
Financial Year | Number of HOSF Staff |
2015-16 | * |
2016-17 | 6 |
2017-18 | 5 |
2018-19 | 3 |
2019-20 | 3 |
2021-22 to present day | 4 |
* No figure for this year
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the (a) use and (b) control of public subsidy in Scotland.
Answer
Scottish Government has engaged regularly with UK Government at official and ministerial level on the new subsidy control regime. Officials have participated in all engagement sessions, continuing to provide feedback and raising our concerns and those of our stakeholders.
Disappointingly many of these remain unaddressed. Nevertheless, Scottish Government will continue to engage with BEIS through the introduction of the new Subsidy Control regime as it affects Scotland. We remain particularly concerned that the Act brings further erosion of devolution through the sweeping powers granted to the Secretary of State. It undermines the long-established powers of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Ministers to act in relation to matters within devolved competence such as economic development, the environment, agriculture and fisheries.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to pursue the recommendations of the Business Purpose Commission for Scotland's report, Now is the Time for Purpose.
Answer
The Scottish Government has made a commitment in our National Strategy for Economic Transformation to “Build on the findings from the Business Purpose Commission Report, to inform how businesses can deliver positive impacts on prosperity, wellbeing – including tackling child poverty – and environmental sustainability. ”
The Business Purpose Commission for Scotland launched its report Now is the time for purpose: Putting purpose at the heart of Scottish business on 28 June 2022. The report is comprehensive, and makes recommendations for a range of stakeholders across business, governments, and tertiary education and training organisations. We are considering the recommendations carefully, with particular focus on the two recommendations for Scottish Government to lead. This requires significant cross- government engagement and we look forward to sharing our response when complete.