- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the adequacy of GP provision in Edinburgh.
Answer
Scottish Government continues to support practices in the Edinburgh area to maintain access to GP services for residents. The General Practice Access Group is working towards developing a set of principles to share with all practices this Spring.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its announcement in June 2022 that £30 million would be spent “this financial year” to “accelerate the shift to zero emission transport”, how much of this funding it has spent to date, broken down by what it has been spent on; which geographical areas it has been spent in, and whether it has been allocated to (a) the corporate sector, (b) charitable organisations, (c) individuals and (d) others.
Answer
Of the £30 million support that was announced in June 2022, £28 million was allocated to the Low Carbon Transport Loan and the remaining £2 million was allocated to the Plugged-In Communities Schemes. Both have been fully allocated and are pending final claims being received.
Table 1 below gives a breakdown of loans paid under of the Low Carbon Transport loan by local authority area and type of recipient, reflecting payments up to 28 February 2023.
Table 1: Low Carbon Transport Loan – paid loans in financial year 22-23 to 28 February 2023 |
Local Authority Area | New Business Loan | Switched on Taxis Loan | Used Domestic Loan | Used Business Loan | Grand Total (to 28-02-23) |
Argyll and Bute | £0.00 | £0.00 | £193,983.50 | £46,800.00 | £240,783.50 |
Highland | £130,000.00 | £0.00 | £325,320.98 | £39,194.00 | £494,514.98 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | £29,495.00 | £0.00 | £38,744.00 | £0.00 | £68,239.00 |
Orkney Islands | £0.00 | £0.00 | £59,093.00 | £27,600.00 | £86,693.00 |
Aberdeen City | £58,499.00 | £150,000.00 | £521,317.56 | £109,394.00 | £839,210.56 |
Aberdeenshire | £30,000.00 | £30,000.00 | £794,529.23 | £121,936.50 | £976,465.73 |
Angus | £30,000.00 | £0.00 | £250,730.00 | £59,398.00 | £340,128.00 |
Dundee City | £53,684.56 | £28,195.00 | £513,198.20 | £28,295.00 | £623,372.76 |
Moray | £0.00 | £0.00 | £147,881.00 | £0.00 | £147,881.00 |
Perth and Kinross | £34,999.00 | £0.00 | £641,044.60 | £92,617.00 | £768,660.60 |
City of Edinburgh | £90,979.00 | £831,821.44 | £1,697,763.01 | £123,612.00 | £2,744,175.45 |
East Lothian | £0.00 | £34,093.00 | £587,197.00 | £0.00 | £621,290.00 |
Fife | £35,000.00 | £63,805.00 | £800,616.00 | £0.00 | £899,421.00 |
Midlothian | £0.00 | £121,898.20 | £432,242.00 | £0.00 | £554,140.20 |
Scottish Borders | £0.00 | £0.00 | £377,066.00 | £23,500.00 | £400,566.00 |
West Lothian | £70,000.00 | £128,473.00 | £475,531.81 | £0.00 | £674,004.81 |
Dumfries and Galloway | £0.00 | £0.00 | £285,852.00 | £11,499.00 | £297,351.00 |
East Ayrshire | £0.00 | £0.00 | £134,602.21 | £111,834.00 | £246,436.21 |
North Ayrshire | £0.00 | £0.00 | £144,256.06 | £28,437.60 | £172,693.66 |
South Ayrshire | £120,000.00 | £93,658.00 | £204,350.00 | £25,200.00 | £443,208.00 |
Clackmannanshire | £0.00 | £0.00 | £154,468.00 | £0.00 | £154,468.00 |
East Dunbartonshire | £60,000.00 | £252,771.40 | £324,659.03 | £25,198.80 | £662,629.23 |
East Renfrewshire | £0.00 | £185,751.80 | £436,581.00 | £89,498.00 | £711,830.80 |
Falkirk | £51,165.48 | £0.00 | £353,921.00 | £27,500.00 | £432,586.48 |
Glasgow City | £130,000.00 | £586,127.60 | £1,286,187.01 | £168,160.00 | £2,170,474.61 |
Inverclyde | £31,093.50 | £0.00 | £222,936.93 | £0.00 | £254,030.43 |
North Lanarkshire | £0.00 | £154,718.00 | £575,597.99 | £0.00 | £730,315.99 |
Renfrewshire | £0.00 | £148,558.00 | £273,222.00 | £67,507.30 | £489,287.30 |
South Lanarkshire | £152,629.00 | £152,001.10 | £815,437.47 | £100,186.60 | £1,220,254.17 |
Stirling | £97,000.00 | £0.00 | £790,167.00 | £22,700.00 | £909,867.00 |
West Dunbartonshire | £0.00 | £0.00 | £119,368.00 | £23,149.00 | £142,517.00 |
Grand Total | £1,204,544.54 | £2,961,871.54 | £13,977,863.59 | £1,373,216.80 | £19,517,496.47 |
Tables 2 and 3 below give a breakdown of payments under the Plugged-in Communities schemes, reflecting payments up to 28 February 2023. Table 2 reflects payments to Community Transport Organisations, and Table 3 reflects payments to car clubs.
Table 2: Plugged-in Communities, Grants to Community Transport Organisations, payments in financial year 22-23 to 28 February 2023 |
Local Authority Area | Amount Paid | Community Transport Organisation. |
Highland | £83,603.70 | Wheels in Nairnshire |
Orkney | £80,856.00 | Island of Hoy Development Trust |
Argyll and Bute | £66,638.00 | Ross of Mull and Iona Community Trust |
Highland | £67,371.40 | Transport for Tongue |
Aberdeen | £76,535.00 | Clan Cancer Support |
Dumfries and Galloway | £46,000.00 | Galloway Community Transport |
Aberdeen | £76,535.00 | Camphill School Aberdeen |
West Lothian | £41,979.80 | The Larder (West Lothian) |
Dumfries and Galloway | £71,040.00 | Annandale Community Transport |
Highland | £8,400.00 | Connect Assynt |
Total | £618,958.90 | |
Table 3: Plugged-in Communities, Grants to Car Clubs, payments in financial year 22-23 to 28 February 2023 |
Local Authority Area | Amount Paid | Car Club |
Aberdeen | £13,801.68 | Grampian Housing Association |
Renfrewshire | £3,375.00 | Linstone Housing Association |
Glasgow | £9,201.12 | Queens Cross Housing Association |
Glasgow | £15,335.14 | Glasgow Housing Association |
Aberdeen | £10,351.25 | Osprey Housing Association |
Fife | £19,584.00 | Ore Valley Housing Association |
City of Edinburgh | £39,168.00 | Blackwood Group |
Total | £110,816.19 | |
- Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a progress report from NHS Forth Valley regarding its improvement plan, including any additional (a) culture, (b) leadership and (c) integration actions, following its escalation to stage 4 of the NHS Scotland performance escalation framework on 23 November 2022.
Answer
NHS Forth Valley provide a full progress update against their published Improvement Plan to the Assurance Board on a monthly basis. Material relating to the escalation is proactively published by both the Scottish Government and NHS Forth Valley.
NHS Forth Valley recently published the latest iteration of their Improvement Plan, which included a progress update and incorporated additional actions in governance, leadership, culture and integration. A Measurement Framework has also been developed and published by NHS Forth Valley to allow them to demonstrate and evidence tangible progress. These documents can be found on NHS Forth Valley’s website: NHS Forth Valley – Escalation and HIS
The onus remains on NHS Forth Valley to deliver and evidence the required improvements in governance, leadership and culture; and, in turn, on performance. The Assurance Board will continue to monitor and scrutinise NHS Forth Valley’s progress.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of fires attended to by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service that were caused by, or suspected to have been caused by, electric (a) scooters, (b) bikes and (c) cars, in each year since 2017.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Government and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) are working with key stakeholders and partners to understand the risks that lithium-ion batteries (LIB), contained within most electric vehicles, present to communities across Scotland. A bespoke working group is focused on these risks, and its findings will strengthen SFRS’s community safety work going forward. SFRS urges users of LIB technology to take the appropriate steps when disposing of spent battery units to ensure reduced risk of fire.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of primary care provision in Gilmerton.
Answer
Scottish Government continues to support practices to maintain access to GP services for residents. The General Practice Access Group is working towards developing a set of principles to share with all practices this Spring.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what measures Transport Scotland has in place to monitor the success rates of any tree planting that it undertakes.
Answer
All new planting schemes on the trunk road network include a 5-year establishment period throughout which regular inspections are undertaken by professional landscape architects and by the landscape contractor. These inspections assess the establishment of the plants and determine any specific maintenance required, including the replacement of any failed material.
The trunk road operating companies assume responsibility after this period and are required to annually assess and report on all planting and other vegetation within their area of operation and to recommend management interventions as appropriate, such as pruning and thinning etc.
Following completion, all major road schemes are monitored and assessed through the Scottish Trunk Road Infrastructure Project Evaluation (STRIPE) procedure to determine whether the scheme objectives have been met and to assess how well the scheme has been implemented, including the planting element.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what provisions it has introduced to address train delays between East Lothian and Edinburgh.
Answer
Performance (reliability and punctuality) at Musselburgh, Wallyford, Prestonpans, Longniddry, and Drem on the North Berwick Line compare favourably with the ScotRail average, which in turn compares well with the GB average. Nonetheless, it is the responsibility of Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail to work in partnership with Network Rail in Scotland to continue to improve performance.
For Dunbar in East Lothian, many of the services are provided by LNER, Cross Country and Transpennine Express, which are UK Government train operating companies.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what provisions it has introduced to address train delays between Tweedbank and Edinburgh.
Answer
The Borders railway line between Tweedbank and Edinburgh has been affected by ongoing issues with poor performance and the availability of diesel trains in ScotRail’s fleet. Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail are working to address this via an Improvement Plan. The reliability of ScotRail trains on this route has also been impacted by the poor performance of UK Government-managed train operating companies, which interact with Tweedbank services on the East Coast Mainline closer to Edinburgh.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many families have accessed the Young Patients Family Fund in each year since it was established.
Answer
The Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) has been available since July 2021. We ask NHS Boards to report on the number of young inpatients (and therefore families) who benefit from the Fund. This data informs the funding that each Health Board receives.
In 2021-22, NHS Boards reported that 3,130 families received support under YPFF. We have yet to receive full year returns for 2022-23.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much compensation ScotRail has paid as part of its Delay Repay scheme since January 2022, broken down by month.
Answer
Abellio ScotRail was responsible for Delay Repay payments between January 2022 and March 2022. From 1 April 2022, ScotRail Trains Limited is responsible for considering and settling all new compensation claims.
It is published on the ScotRail website here: Delay Repay | Train Fare Compensation Scheme | ScotRail as per ORR Code of Practice.
Abellio ScotRail | Year | Financial Amount |
January | 2022 | £17,614.07 |
February | 2022 | £37,523.57 |
March | 2022 | £19,389.40 |
Total | | £99,963.85 |
| | | |
ScotRail Trains Ltd | Year | Financial Amount |
April | 2022 | £35,782.25 |
May | 2022 | £71,657.24 |
June | 2022 | £51,351.00 |
July | 2022 | £59,738.77 |
August | 2022 | £93,857.56 |
September | 2022 | £60,263.38 |
October | 2022 | £78,238.08 |
November | 2022 | £87,055.53 |
December | 2022 | £81,360.00 |
January | 2023 | £93,127.94 |
February | 2023 | £41,008.50 |
March | 2023 | £23,351.17 |
Total | | £776,791.42 |
