- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many fines (a) it and (b) its agencies have issued to (i) publicly-owned and (ii) privately-owned water companies in each of the last five years, also broken down by the total value of fines issued in each year.
Answer
We are unaware of any fines issued by the Scottish Government to Scottish Water in the last five years; there are no privately-owned water companies in Scotland.
Following referral by relevant agencies to the Procurator Fiscal, fines issued in the period are set out below:
Referral by Scottish Environment Protection Agency:
2019 - £600
2020 - £19 000
2021 - £6 700
Referral by Health & Safety Executive:
2020 - £140 000
Additionally, there has been one enforcement undertaking of £53 800 accepted by SEPA in 2021 and a direct penalty of £10,000 to Scottish Road Works Commissioner in 2023.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost would be of introducing 20mph zones across Scotland, and what analysis has been undertaken on the potential cost to the Scottish economy of introducing 20mph speed limits.
Answer
The Scottish Government have supported local road authorities with £1.4 million in funding to undertake the necessary roads assessments which will determine the number of roads affected and the financial implications of introducing the national strategy for 20mph speed limits. The findings from the road assessments will enable the multi-stakeholder 20mph Task Group to scope the next steps for implementation at their meeting in October.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it will reintroduce free COVID-19 lateral flow testing for (a) health and social care staff and (b) the general public.
Answer
Targeted testing is in place to support clinical decision making and surveillance. We are working closely with Public Health Scotland, our clinical advisors and the other UK nations to routinely review our position and the clinical advice on COVID-19 in light of new variants. Evidence to date does not support a return to widespread community testing however we will continue to monitor the situation closely.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to encourage partners in the college sector’s collective bargaining process to implement the recommendations of the report, Lessons Learned – resetting national collective bargaining in the colleges sector.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to encourage employers and trade unions to work together on all aspects of industrial relations in the sector, and this includes working collectively to ensure the collective bargaining process continues to deliver for colleges and their staff.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it became aware of the safety concerns regarding reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answer
Somerville: Officials within the Scottish Government were aware of RAAC as a safety topic in recent years, through general engagement with the construction sector and specific organisations such as the Standing Committee on Structural Safety (SCOSS, now CROSS-UK) who issued their first safety alert on RAAC in May 2019.
The topic has since achieved broader prominence, supported by the creation of a RAAC study group by the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) in June 2021 and publication of IStructE guidance on RAAC assessment in March 2022 and in April 2023.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what contractual relationships it or NatureScot has with (a) Palladium, (b) Lombard Odier and (c) Hampden Bank in support of mobilising private finance into nature; what payments have been made to any of those parties in the (i) last financial year and (ii) current financial year to date; what the (A) value and (B) duration is of any extant contracts, and what procurement process was followed to secure any such contractual arrangements that are in place.
Answer
Neither the Scottish Government nor NatureScot has contractual relationships with or has made payments to Palladium, Lombard Odier or Hampden and Co Bank in support of mobilising private finance into nature. NatureScot is a signatory of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the financial partners. Further information on the partnership is available at www.nature.scot
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what it expects the forecast income to be from the reported phased increases in fees from Crown Estate Scotland's finfish tenants from January 2023.
Answer
Crown Estate Scotland are unable to provide a forecast at this stage. The recent reinstatement of rent to 1% of turnover took effect from January 2023. The subsequent increase to 1.5% turnover from January 2026 will bring finfish operators in line with most other Scottish Crown Estate seabed tenants.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can confirm the number of (a) fatal and (b) serious road traffic accidents on the A83 between Arrochar and Campbeltown, in each year since 2018.
Answer
The following table presents the number of fatal and serious accidents for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 on the A83 between Arrochar and Campbeltown. Please note that the information on the total number of fatal and serious accidents for 2023 are only available up to the date stated in the table.
Year | Fatal | Serious |
2018 | 2 | 6 |
2019 | 0 | 16 |
2020 | 1 | 6 |
2021 | 1 | 6 |
2022 | 1 | 7 |
2023* to 06-09-2023 | 1 | 3 |
Data extracted: 20 September 2023. Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland. Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available at the time of retrieving the data from Transport Scotland’s accident manager system. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system:
- Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland.
- Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).
- Transport Scotland only holds accident information for the trunk road network.
- The accident information Transport Scotland holds is subject to change. E.g. we receive late returns from Police Scotland, who are responsible for recording details of injury accidents.
- Annual Scottish accident figures are published by Transport Scotland on a yearly basis and can be found by entering Reported Road Casualties Scotland into your search engine.
- From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious. The evidence from other police forces within the UK that introduced the same system is that this increase will be around 20%. This increase would not reflect an actual change in the severity of accidents occurring on Scottish roads, but would instead reflect more accurate recording.
- Statisticians within the Department for Transport have devised a method for adjusting the road casualty figures to ensure that they can be compared over time on a consistent basis. Transport Scotland’s Key Reported Road Casualties and Reported Road Casualties statistics publications will present both adjusted and unadjusted figures.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider extending eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations to people aged over 50.
Answer
Scotland’s vaccination programme continues to focus on protecting those most vulnerable from serious illness from COVID-19 .
Our decision-making on vaccine deployment throughout all COVID-19 vaccination programmes has been guided by the expert clinical advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). We welcome the final advice of the JCVI on the winter 2023 vaccination programme and encourage people to come forward for their appointment when called.
There are currently no plans to make COVID-19 vaccination available to groups not covered by JCVI advice this winter.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 3 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many Police Scotland vacancies have not been filled in the last year.
Answer
The Chief Constable has responsibility for the recruitment, deployment and HR issues of all police officers and staff under their control.
Around 1480 new police officers have taken the Oath of Office in the past 18 months with the latest intake of 200 recruits commencing training on 18 September. Recruitment to fill police staff vacancies took place up until 9 August 2023, when a recruitment freeze for some roles was put in place by Police Scotland.
