- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many acres of Scotland’s land are currently in community ownership.
Answer
The area of land in community ownership was estimated to be 191,261 hectares as of 31 December 2020. This figure has been taken from the Official Statistics publication Community Ownership in Scotland 2020 which is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/community-ownership-scotland-2020/ . The next update to this publication will be published 27 September 2022 and will include information on any further assets brought into community ownership up to
31 December 2021.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought assistance from the British Army in order to assist Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Scotland.
Answer
The welfare of all displaced Ukrainians staying across the country remains the Scottish Government’s priority.
The Scottish Government has not sought assistance from the British Army in order to assist Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Scotland.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when 4G masts in Rackwick and Stronsay in Orkney, as part of the Scottish 4G Infill Programme, will go live.
Answer
Construction of the masts at Rackwick and Stronsay is complete. Both masts are being developed in collaboration with the Home Office’s Emergency Services Network (ESN). 4G service will, ultimately, be provided on these sites by mobile network operator EE. To move these sites to activation requires the Home Office to execute a Change Request as part of their ESN programme. The Scottish Government is aware of a substantial delay in the Home Office enacting this Change Request which is preventing these masts from moving to service activation.
All efforts are being made by the Scottish Government to expedite this issue which, once resolved, will enable a number of masts including Rackwick and Stronsay proceed to activation.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of wool produced in Scotland is used in (a) Scottish and (b) other UK textile manufacturing.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold any statistical data regarding the proportion of wool produced in Scotland used in Scottish and other UK textile manufacturing.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that dental nurses, working in practices with NHS contracts, have the same terms and conditions as other NHS employees, including pension entitlements.
Answer
Where NHS dental services are provided by independent dental contractors, staff including dental nurses are employed by the practice, and not the NHS Board. Terms of service and pension arrangements are set by the practice owner(s).
Where NHS dental services are provided by the Public Dental Service, the dental team is employed by the Board on appropriate NHS terms of service.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09619 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022, whether it will (a)
compile and (b) require local authorities to compile this information to
establish (i) the progress being made to remediate buildings, and (b) how much
remediation is being conducted (A) with the support of the Scottish Government
and (B) privately.
Answer
As the programme progresses, we will gather information from our Single Building Assessments to compile a register of buildings that have been assessed through the programme. Local Authorities will be asked to provide relevant information.
We are currently working with 7 buildings to finalise assessments ahead of remediation. We have asked developers, as part of the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord, to supply data on work that is being undertaken and privately agreed between residents and developers.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09252 by Shona Robison on 21 July 22, what the expenditure has been on the (a) Cladding Remediation Unit and (b) Single Building Assessment in each year since 2017, broken down by type of spending.
Answer
The Cladding Remediation Unit was set up in June 2021 in the Local Government and Communities Directorate. The expenditure on staff whose primary role is to support the programme is:
a)
Core Scottish Government: 2021 - £241,280.00
Core Scottish Government: 2022 (until July) - £113,635.44
Interim contractors 2021 - £52,938.90
Interim contractors 2022 (until July) - £105,369.00
b) Since the start of the Single Building Assessment programme in June 2021 we have grant funded £432,613.63 to support 12 buildings who are currently undergoing assessment. We have a further £510,553 in committed spend to finish these buildings assessments and support 3 additional buildings in starting their assessments through the grant funding model. We have an additional 29 buildings where we will use procurement functions to hire fire engineers and access contractors to begin assessments.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-09248 by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022, how many buildings (a) have provided consent and details (i) by and (ii) on or since 20 July 2022 and (b) it requires to provide consent and detail before it will move to the contracting process; what the estimated timescales are for the contracting process; and, when contracting, what it plans to propose as a lead time for surveyors and fire engineers to be on site.
Answer
We have confirmed consent from 26 buildings. We have consent in principle from the homeowners from 29 additional buildings since we invited new buildings into the programme in May 2022. The timescale for the contracting process follows the standard Scottish Government procurement rules. We are aware of the supply chain constraints in this field, which is why are working closely with Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Fire Engineers to ensure an appropriate stream of qualified assessors. Time scales for the completion of Single Building Assessments are driven by the complexity of the building and are agreed as part of the normal contracting process.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how the single building assessment is designed to take account of any risk of electric vehicle
fires, whether any specific assessment protocols are included in the assessment
to respond to any such risks and, if this is the case, whether it will provide
the details of any such protocols.
Answer
A Single Building Assessment will deliver a full assessment of fire risks on a building by building basis to highlight any issues related to fire safety including, but not limited to underground car parks and charging points.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on establishing design groups to develop a new of model care for adult dentistry, including a long-term replacement for the Statement of Dental Remuneration, as part of the implementation of its Oral Health Improvement Plan.
Answer
We are committed to engaging with the profession on a reform programme for NHS dental services. As part of that commitment we have recently issued a profession-wide survey asking for comments on a list of possible treatment items for inclusion in a future NHS model.
We have also asked for nominees for a NHS dental reform advisory group to the Chief Dental Officer. NHS Boards are currently reviewing the nominations and will put forward the nominees for each Board area in due course.