Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to my answer to the question S6W-12400 on 7 December 2022. 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 annual Winter Service period began on 1 October 2022 and continues through to 15 May 2023. The publicity launch for Transport Scotland’s Winter Service 2022/2023 took place on 3 November, Winter service launch 22/23 | Transport Scotland .

For the 2022-23 winter service Transport Scotland has 240 vehicles available for spreading salt and ploughing snow, typically one spreader for every 16 km of trunk road. Salt barns are full and more salt is currently in stock than was used across both Scotland’s trunk and local roads during the whole of last winter.

Enhanced patrol provision will be in place across the network and route specific snow plans have been updated. To prevent snow or ice forming, gritters also provide precautionary salt treatments to roads, depending on the forecast weather conditions.

Financial spend on delivery of winter service by Transport Scotland’s Operating Companies for 2022/23 is forecast to be £29,194,484.

The 2022-23 budget allocation for emergency road repairs (Category 1 defects) is currently £1.8M, however, this may be subject to change depending on the severity of repairs experienced throughout the period.

Energy suppliers and advice services operating in Scotland have advised us in the course of our regular engagement that electric prepayment meters have a minimum top up amount of £5. The maximum credit a traditional (non-smart) prepayment meter can hold is £255, which is also the maximum value that can be placed on a top-up key.

Gas prepayment meters have a minimum top up amount of £1 and gas meters can generally hold up to £999 credit. Unless the top-up key is already full at the moment when a customer tries to redeem the voucher, there should be no reason that they are unable to top up.

I would urge any affected consumers to contact their supplier or otherwise call Energy Advice Scotland on 0808 196 8660 or at energyadvice.scot for assistance in resolving the problem.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12496 on 5 December 2022. 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 approved funding of £10.16m for the project to repair the funicular and to undertake associated capital works on Cairngorm Mountain when it approved the business case submitted by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in 2020.

Following cost increases to the project, HIE re-considered the business case and concluded that reinstatement of the funicular was still the recommended option. Following review of the available options, the Scottish Government confirmed its continued support for the project and agreed to provide additional funding of £7m.

As part of the original business case, the Scottish Government agreed to provide funding towards the operating costs for Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL). The funding required from the Scottish Government depends on the CMSL’s income in a given year and is expected to reduce once the funicular is operational.

The Scottish Government expects all public sector bodies to undertake appropriate due diligence on companies in receipt of public money. Ultimately, it is for councils to make decisions on how best to deliver services to their communities.

I refer the member to my answer to the question S6W-12401 on 7 December 2022 . 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 

This budget provides funding for the national Childsmile programme as well as wider measures to tackle oral health inequalities in all age groups. Funds that are allocated are based on need, and final confirmation of spend will be included as part of the Scottish Government provisional outturn.

Comprehensive data on the number of people accessing alcohol treatment services are not available.

Scottish Government is working to make alcohol treatment services more accessible to those who need them. An important part of this is by tackling stigma, to that end we will be publishing a Stigma Action Plan in early 2023.

We recognise the importance of residential rehabilitation being available to everybody who wants it - and for whom it is deemed to be clinically appropriate - at the time that they ask for it in every part of the country. That is why we have made £100 million available towards residential rehabilitation services and associated aftercare over this parliamentary term.

Alcohol treatment targets are being developed alongside stage two of the drugs targets implementation in 2024. This will ensure that people with problematic alcohol use continue to receive the same quality of care as those with problematic drug use.

The cost of repairing the funicular has been met by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Scottish Government following approval of the business case by HIE’s Board and Scottish Ministers. Funding was ringfenced for this purpose and did not impact the funding available to other outdoor ski centres. Following the identification of the cost increases, additional funding has been provided by the Scottish Government to HIE in the current financial year. This has been funded by emerging underspends elsewhere across the capital budget and does not therefore impact on the funding available to other outdoor ski centres.