- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to report to the Parliament on its evaluation of minimum unit pricing in summer 2023.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s final report on the evaluation of Minimum Unit Pricing will be published in late summer 2023 after Public Health Scotland’s report is published.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects Public Health Scotland to publish its final report on minimum unit pricing.
Answer
Public Health Scotland will publish their final report on Minimum Unit Pricing in summer 2023.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mark National Pothole Day 2023.
Answer
The Scottish Government did not mark National Pothole Day 2023 .
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions are applied, and to whom, as a result of it failing, for three consecutive years between 2017 and 2019, to meet its annual legal emissions targets, as set out in the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019.
Answer
The extremely stretching statutory emissions targets framework, set in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”) by the Scottish Parliament, places specific duties on Scottish Ministers in the case that emissions reduction targets are missed. In particular, a missed emissions target triggers a duty on Ministers to bring forward – as soon as reasonably practicable after such a target outcome has been reported - additional policies and proposals to compensate in future years for the excess emissions arising from the missed target.
Under section 36 of the 2009 Act, a statutory catch-up report in relation to the 2019 annual emissions target was laid in Parliament in October 2021 (supplementing the ambitious and transformational commitments in the updated Climate Change Plan, finalised in March 2021)which included measures to make up for the shortfall from the previously missed 2017 and 2018 annual targets.
This approach ensures that the total amount of Scottish emissions over the lifetime of the targets in the Act will remain no greater than would have been the case if all of the annual targets had been exactly met.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment of the economic impact of the reforms to the Small Business Bonus Scheme relief thresholds was carried out in advance of the publication of the draft Scottish Budget 2023-24.
Answer
The reforms of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief announced in the Scottish Budget ensure that it remains the most generous in the UK, and will continue to take 100,000 properties out of rates altogether.
We are expanding the upper eligibility threshold for the Small Business Bonus Scheme to £20,000 and making the relief more progressive by introducing a taper. To ensure that properties that lose some or all of their eligibility for SBBS or Rural rates relief do so in a phased manner we are also offering a Small Business Transitional Relief which will protect an estimated 19,000 properties in 2023-24.
Forecasted costs of SBBS over the next five years, including changes to SBBS thresholds and rates, can be found in the Scottish Fiscal Commission Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – December 2022 .
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the full cost of its advertisement, Winter Pressures Advert.
Answer
The total cost for this campaign, which was active from 4 January 2023 and is currently scheduled to end on 19 January 2023, was £226,952.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when section 50 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, prohibiting pavement parking, will come into force.
Answer
Transport Scotland is continuing to consult with Local Authorities and others to develop both the secondary legislation required to allow them to enforce the National pavement parking prohibition as well as the Parking Standards Guidance which will underpin the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.
The first of the associated regulations, which sets out the Exemption Order Procedures which local authorities must follow, was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 16 November and came into force on 9 December 2022.
My officials continue to work on the other secondary legislation which is required during the course of this year. These further regulations will ensure Local Authorities have all of the necessary tools to enforce the pavement parking prohibitions from late 2023 onwards.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to (a) promote and (b) support the implementation of the March 2019 Healthcare Improvement Scotland General Standards for Neurological Care and Support.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13692 on 23 January 2023. 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: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the reported statement by Transport Scotland, that the delay to the publication of the 2023 ferry fares for CalMac is due to the cost of living crisis, is credible.
Answer
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Transport Scotland held back the publishing of CalMac’s 2023 summer sailing timetable.
Answer
The delay was due to the necessary detailed consideration and discussions required at all levels of Government in order to find a way to mitigate the impact of an unprecedented level of CPI of 9.1%.