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The Scottish Government has been working with counterparts at both the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland to ensure any person moving to or from Scotland who is in receipt of disability benefits can do so without disruption to their benefits.

The Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021 allow a person moving from Scotland to the rest of the UK to retain their benefit entitlement for up to 13 weeks. This is to allow time for the person moving to establish a new entitlement in the country they are settling in. We understand that the intention of other UK administrations is to mirror this arrangement.

The Scottish Government is also working with DWP to ensure anyone coming to Scotland from the rest of the UK will have the Scottish equivalent of their existing benefit awarded automatically, without a need to apply. However, it is our understanding that the DWP and the Department for Communities will require anyone moving from Scotland to these administrations to submit a new application before they can be considered for award of the equivalent disability benefit in the rest of the UK.

Scottish Water Horizons Holdings limited acquired the PFI companies for £16.2m on 19 December 2018 (see note 11 to the Scottish Water’s financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2019). The value of bank debt as at 31 March 2022 will be c. £31m. Scottish Water is the only shareholder in Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd.

As set out in Scottish Water’s 2020-21 Annual Report, while thousands of projects were delivered in the 2015- 21 period there were 86 projects due by but not delivering benefits to customers at 31 March 2021. Scottish Water expects customers to be receiving the benefits of 57 of these projects by the end of the 2022-23 financial year, leaving 29 still to be completed.

It is possible for Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd to pay dividends to Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd and this has been done in the past. It is not possible for Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd to pay a dividend to Scottish Water as Scottish Water is not a direct shareholder and this has not happened in the past.

It is possible for Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd to pay dividends to Scottish Water but this has not happened to date.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06233 on 25 February 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06233 on 25 February 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 2016 Consultation on Social Security in Scotland asked correspondents if the new Scottish social security system should continue to support access to the Motability scheme. Of the 200 respondents, 97% answered 'Yes'. During the subsequent consultation on Disability Assistance in 2019, the Government confirmed that a scheme equivalent to the Motability scheme would be put in place in advance of the delivery of Disability Assistance.

The Scottish Government believes that giving disabled people a range of suppliers to choose from will encourage value and promote choice. When the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme was launched in 2019, we therefore set out an intention to invite further applicants at regular intervals. Work to re-open further accreditation rounds will begin later this year.

Any future accreditation of providers under the Scheme will not affect people who have already leased a vehicle under the scheme.

Work towards a draft bill to provide local authorities with a discretionary power to apply a visitor levy, including a series of roundtable stakeholder events and formal consultation, was at an advanced stage but was necessarily paused at the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic in March 2020.

Our Budget confirmed that we would re-commence this work. Given the continuing impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector in Scotland, we consider it prudent to carefully review the work done to date and undertake further stakeholder engagement before making a firm decision on the next steps.

The Scottish Government plans on beginning work to re-open further accreditation rounds later this year and will make an announcement in due course. As this is an administrative exercise rather than a procurement exercise, there will be no new costs and all costs will be met within the existing social security portfolio budget envelope.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06233 on 25 February 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 .