Seòmar agus comataidhean

Since my answer to question S6W-03274, a further £24.5 million has been provided from the £120 million Recovery and Renewal Fund, bringing total allocations to date to over £74.5 million, including:

• £40 million for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to address waiting times this year, increase access to and enhance services, including for those with complex needs;
• £15 million to grass roots community groups via a Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund to help tackle the impact of social isolation, loneliness and mental health inequalities;
• £5 million to address Psychological Therapies waiting times this year;
• £5 million to implement the recommendations of the Eating Disorders Review;
• Almost £2 million to roll out digital innovations, including online access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

The following table provides a breakdown of allocations by the key themes in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, as well as funding provided for key dementia, learning disability and autism priorities.

Pension Credit is reserved to the UK Government and, therefore, the Scottish Government has not corresponded with local authorities or COSLA in relation to raising awareness about claiming pension credit or supporting people to do so.

The Scottish Government funds the Citizens Advice Network in Scotland to deliver the Money Talk Team Income Maximisation Service. This is a money advice service that includes advice about all benefits, including pension credit. We have undertaken three national marketing campaigns to make people aware of the service.

Flu and COVID-19 are completely different diseases caused by different viruses and is why there are different recommendations for those who are eligible for flu vaccination and those who should be offered both COVID-19 and flu vaccination.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation (JCVI) is a scientific committee and they give advice based on scientific evidence, with a number of in-depth considerations and recommendations made on COVID-19 published recently.

The evidence is clear that people with asthma are at a higher risk of flu related complications but this is not true for COVID-19 unless they are on repeated courses of oral steroid medication. This means that the vast majority of asthmatics are not at a higher risk of COVID-19 disease or its complications.

The Scottish Government’s draft Heat in Buildings Strategy proposed that any regulations requiring the installation of zero emissions heating systems would be phased in, with all building owners being required to comply by 2045.

The draft Strategy specified that it may be appropriate to require earlier compliance from, for example, those using high emissions fuels like heating oil or coal (which are more prevalent in off-gas grid areas).

The draft Strategy was subject to consultation from 5 February to 30 April 2021, and questions 48 and 49 specifically asked for views on the regulatory actions and timescales proposed.

An analysis of the consultation responses can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802014464 .

As set out in our final Heat in Buildings Strategy, published on 7 October 2021, the Scottish Government will consult in further detail on our commitment to phase out the installation of fossil fuel heating systems during 2022.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) is the statutory advisory body to the Scottish Ministers in respect of meeting their duties under climate change legislation.

The CCC has stated that, with respect to the decarbonisation of heat, our short-term priorities should be a reduction in demand through improved energy efficiency and the installation of renewable heating systems in off-gas buildings where the carbon intensity of displaced fuel is greater than on-gas areas.

This advice is set out in the CCC’s ‘Next Steps for UK Heat Policy’ publication, which can be found at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/next-steps-for-uk-heat-policy/ . This advice has informed our proposed approach to heat decarbonisation set out in our final Heat in Buildings Strategy, published on 7 October 2021.

ScotRail, when proposing the May 2022 timetable, has examined in detail previous, current and expected passenger demand. ScotRail has developed a proposed timetable that offers an increase in the number of services compared to current service levels as well as service patterns that meet demand, with scope for growth, while recognising the need for financial and environmental sustainability as we work towards Net Zero.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03384 on 27 October 2021. 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 has met all four Rail unions on a number of occasions recently, but union representatives have not chosen to use those meetings to discuss ScotRail’s Fit for the Future document.

The valuation of all non-domestic property is a matter for the independent assessors, who follow applicable statute and case law in making their decisions on non-domestic property valuations. The 2020 Supreme Court ruling for England and Wales is not binding in Scots law, although I am aware that dialogue is ongoing between assessors and agents regarding the rating of ATM sites following that decision.

The Scottish Government provides the most generous non-domestic rates regime in the UK, and in 2021-22 delivered an unprecedented reduction in the poundage mid-revaluation; returning it to pre-COVID levels, which saves Scottish Businesses over £120 million compared with a standard inflationary increase.

The Scottish Government have continued to ensure that the sites of standalone ATMs in rural areas are exempt from rating. Other ATMs may benefit from as much as a 100% rates relief through the Small Business Bonus Scheme.

Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, each local Council has wide-raging powers to create rates reliefs to reflect local needs. This may apply to a sole business, sector or area. The relief may be an adaptation of an existing national relief scheme or a unique standalone scheme.

There will be a) a positive impact with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as we decarbonise our rail network and reduce the number of diesel trains operating on the network and b) & c) with ScotRail’s proposed May 2022 timetable we will see around 44,000 additional seats daily between today’s timetable and May 2022 encouraging passengers to consider train as an alternative means of transport thus, supporting modal shift.