- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in the SME sector it anticipates will cease doing business in Scotland as a result of any additional costs of compliance with the proposed Deposit Return Scheme, such as the bar code and labelling requirements.
Answer
Participation of small producers is vital to the success of the scheme and we believe we have taken their needs into consideration in designing DRS.
We have consulted extensively with businesses of all sizes that will be affected by the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. We are not aware that any producers have decided to cease doing business in Scotland, although we are aware that some have expressed concerns about whether they will continue to sell their products in Scotland.
This is one of the reasons why we have applied a de minimis for the SEPA registration fee. This will remove a cost for businesses operating below the current VAT threshold, benefiting around 1,600 of the more than 4,000 anticipated producers selling into the Scottish market
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its plans to include glass packaging in a Deposit Return Scheme, whether it has considered the impact on overall glass recycling rates of splitting glass into two waste streams for material collected manually and using reverse vending machines.
Answer
Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires those handling waste to ensure that it is handled in a fashion that promotes high-value recycling.
Return points, producers and Circularity Scotland, when handling returned scheme packaging, including glass, will therefore have an obligation to promote high-value recycling regardless of whether the glass is collected manually or by the use of reverse vending machines.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what companies are providing the laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets that are currently being given to schoolchildren.
Answer
Devices are being procured by individual local authorities to ensure they can be used in line with local digital learning strategies. We do not have detailed information on how they are currently being procured and decisions on their use and distribution are taken by councils themselves.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what companies are providing the free internet connections for schoolchildren.
Answer
Connectivity packages are being procured by individual local authorities to ensure they can be used in line with local digital learning strategies. We do not have detailed information on how they are being procured across all areas and decisions on their use and distribution are taken by councils themselves.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people registered as homeless have undergone cancer screening in each year since 1999.
Answer
I am unable to provide this information because screening systems across Scotland do not have a flag for homeless status.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address any lack of awareness among health professionals and GPs of the reported potential impact of Essure contraceptive implants on women's health.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06890 on 9 March 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
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 22 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports in Private Eye (Art News, No. 1567) that 1,577 art works are missing from Aberdeen's City Council's art collection.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of varying reports of art works missing from Aberdeen City Council’s art collection. In Scotland, local authorities operate independently of central government and therefore it is for Aberdeen City Council to carry out their own investigations.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 22 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many people aged (a) 25 to 50 and (b) 51 to 75 have been convicted of dangerous driving in each of the last five years; how many have had their licence removed, and what the average period of disqualification was.
Answer
The available information is provided in the following tables.
People aged 25-50 and 51-75, convicted for Dangerous and careless driving offences (where main crime), 2015-16 to 2019-20.
| 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
| 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 |
Dangerous driving offences | 349 | 62 | 389 | 73 | 521 | 76 | 458 | 70 | 545 | 90 |
Driving carelessly | 1,500 | 575 | 1,557 | 599 | 1,518 | 593 | 1,235 | 494 | 1,283 | 539 |
Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database
People convicted for Dangerous and careless driving offences (where main crime) receiving driving disqualification, 2015-16 to 2019-20.
| 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
| 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 |
Dangerous driving offences | 335 | 57 | 368 | 67 | 496 | 68 | 432 | 63 | 521 | 85 |
Driving carelessly | 228 | 37 | 259 | 35 | 256 | 50 | 177 | 42 | 181 | 27 |
Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database
Average period of driving disqualification (in months), received by people aged 25-50 and 51-75, convicted for Dangerous and careless driving offences (where main crime), 2015-16 to 2019-20.
| 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
| 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 | 25-50 | 51-75 |
Dangerous driving offences | 27 | 17 | 25 | 20 | 26 | 19 | 26 | 18 | 25 | 18 |
Driving carelessly | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 10 |
Average total | 19 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 20 | 14 | 20 | 16 | 20 | 16 |
Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database
Please note: Averages exclude lifetime driving bans.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide additional funding for schools that take refugee children from Ukraine.
Answer
Scotland has a proud history of welcoming displaced people and people seeking asylum. The Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities stand ready to welcome and support people with the safety and security they need to rebuild their lives.
The Government is actively working with a wide range of partners, including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, councils and the Scottish Refugee Council, to ensure effective coordination of plans to address the practical challenges of resettling those coming to Scotland.
The UK Government have committed to providing £10,500 in additional funding to local authorities for each resettled Ukrainian to support access to services. We understand that an additional sum will be provided for children of school age, and we are seeking further clarity from UK Government on the specifics of this.
- Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the percentage cumulative economic growth in Scotland, in terms of increased total GDP, was for the period from May 2007 to December 2021, and how this compares with the equivalent figure for the UK as a whole.
Answer
Monthly estimates of GDP are experimental statistics which are only available back to 2010. It is not therefore possible to provide estimates of GDP growth from May 2007. The most recent monthly GDP figures, published 23 February 2022, are available at http://www.gov.scot/publications/monthly-gdp-december-2021