- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any implications for Scotland of the potential awarding of the fourth National Lottery licence to Allwyn, in light of its reported links to Russia and its potential role in raising funds to be distributed to charities and local community groups in Scotland and the rest of the UK through Good Causes funding.
Answer
The National Lottery is reserved to the UK Government.
The Scottish Government were advised that the Gambling Commission’s board had named Allwyn Entertainment Ltd as the preferred applicant in March 2022.
In accordance with relevant legislation, this decision has been made by the Gambling Commission’s Board.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether people arriving in Scotland from Ukraine under its Super Sponsor scheme are consulted on their preference for which part of the country they are to be resettled, and, if so, how their wishes are taken into account.
Answer
The Super Sponsor scheme is designed to provide a quick and safe route for displaced people from Ukraine to come to a place of sanctuary by removing the need for applicants to be matched to an individual sponsor prior to being given permission to travel to the UK.
Once people have arrived, a national matching service, delivered by COSLA, will match those settling here with longer-term accommodation across Scotland.
Displaced people from Ukraine are asked to complete a short questionnaire that captures key information and preferences. This information is then used to find suitable longer-term accommodation, which will be offered as a choice.
All 32 of our local authorities are taking part in this programme, and hosts have offered up their homes right across the country. The national matching service will ensure that people are offered settlement opportunities across Scotland, recognising that people will have different preferences and available housing is limited in some local authorities.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether people arriving from Ukraine under its Super Sponsor scheme, who have expressed a preference for a particular area of Scotland, are being actively matched with households in that area who have offered to host.
Answer
The Super Sponsor scheme is designed to provide a quick and safe route for displaced people from Ukraine to come to a place of sanctuary by removing the need for applicants to be matched to an individual sponsor prior to being given permission to travel to the UK.
Once people have arrived, a national matching service, delivered by COSLA, will match those settling here with longer-term accommodation across Scotland.
Displaced people from Ukraine are asked to complete a short questionnaire that captures key information and preferences. This information is then used to find suitable longer-term accommodation, which will be offered as a choice.
All 32 of our local authorities are taking part in this programme, and hosts have offered up their homes right across the country. The national matching service will ensure that people are offered settlement opportunities across Scotland, recognising that people will have different preferences and available housing is limited in some local authorities.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the recommendations in the report of Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland it has already adopted, and how many it is planning to adopt.
Answer
We are carefully considering the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy. We will set out our initial response to the recommendations in June 2022.
- Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the (a) £349 million spare room subsidy and (b) £80.4 million welfare reforms mitigation has been allocated to Dundee City in each year from 2017-18 to 2022-23.
Answer
Scotland has budgeted £429.4 million in total for Discretionary Housing Payments since DHPs were devolved in 2017 to the 2022-23 financial year. This is broken down into £349 million for mitigation of the bedroom tax and £80.4 million for mitigating the impact of other welfare reforms. From that national figure, £16,369,752 has been allocated to Dundee City in total for DHPs which includes (a) £13,407,801 for bedroom tax and (b) £2,961,950 for “Other DHP”, used to mitigate welfare reforms.
SG funding for DHPs for Dundee City 2017-18 to 2022-23
Year | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | Total |
Bedroom Tax Budget | £1,890,097 | £1,997,619 | £1,962,771 | £2,220,151 | £2,758,235 | £2,578,928 | £13,407,801 |
Other DHPs | £444,520 | £420,079 | £427,962 | £813,391 1 | £427,185 | £428,813 2 | £2,961,950 |
Full Budget | £2,334,617 | £2,417,698 | £2,390,733 | £3,033,542 | £3,185,421 | £3,007,741 | £16,369,752 |
Note: These figures do not include administration funding
1. Figure includes a share of additional £8m of Covid-support funds
2. Figure does not yet include additional support committed for benefit cap mitigation in 2022-23.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ash Regan on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to prevent so-called pimping websites, which profit from advertising individuals for prostitution, from operating in Scotland.
Answer
There are a range of factors which must be considered as part of our developing model for Scotland to effectively tackle and challenge men’s demand for prostitution, including online aspects, such as “online pimping”.
The regulation of internet and online service providers is a reserved matter and we are continuing to liaise closely with the UK Government and Ofcom on the UK Online Safety Bill.
Procuring for the purposes of prostitution is still an offence if committed online and Police Scotland will actively investigate all reports of sexual exploitation, including online sexual exploitation.
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ash Regan on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the short life working group, which it has tasked with helping to design the fundamental principles of a new model to challenge men’s demand for prostitution.
Answer
The final formal meeting of the short life working group was held on 19 April 2022. The insights from the group and it’s reference group are being taken into account in the drafting of the fundamental principles, with further targeted stakeholder engagement planned prior to their finalisation, including further discussion with the short life working group planned for later this month. The principles will be published later this year.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to (a) raise awareness of hepatitis C and (b) encourage people at risk to access testing and treatment, and what specific action it is taking in prisons on these matters.
Answer
Eliminating Hepatitis C in Scotland by 2024 remains a priority target for the Scottish Government. The Scottish Health Protection Hepatitis C Network is made up of clinical leads and HCV co-ordinators, local health protection organisations and third sector agencies works to promote and support a ‘once for Scotland approach’. A key principle of the Network is to target specific populations, particularly those most at risk.
Following a recommendation in the last iteration of the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework to introduce opt-out BBV testing within the Scottish Prison Establishment. Specific guidance was produced to support the delivery and monitoring of opt-out BBV testing within prison which is in line with the National guidelines and public health policies. We will continue to build on this progress as we develop the next iteration of the Framework.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help local authorities ensure that they have a solution to waste management, in light of its plans to ban all non-household biodegradable waste from entering landfill by 2025.
Answer
Scottish Ministers have committed to ending the practice of landfilling biodegradable municipal waste by 2025. In the update to our Climate Change Plan, we also committed to extend the ban to include biodegradable non-municipal waste, subject to appropriate consultation and work to provide assurance around some specific waste streams..
The Scottish Government, working with Zero Waste Scotland and local government partners, is providing centrally co-ordinated procurement support for local authorities without a solution in place in preparation for the ban coming into force in 2025. As part of this collaborative procurement programme, we are funding the provision of expert procurement, legal and technical support to local authorities to enable them to secure alternative solutions for their residual waste.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08230 by Lorna Slater on 11 May 2022, whether it will provide a further list of any reports commissioned that were never made, or have ceased to be made, publicly available by Zero Waste Scotland.
Answer
ZWS commissions research and policy reports for a variety of reasons. In some cases ZWS commissions reports which are intentionally aimed at wider public audiences, and in other cases, ZWS commissions reports to inform the development of programmes and interventions, or of Scottish Government policy.
In addition to the reports listed in my answer to S6W-08230, ZWS may have commissioned additional work that was not intended for publication. This includes commercially sensitive work that was undertaken specifically for individual organisations, work solely undertaken in-house by Zero Waste Scotland staff, and data generated to inform input to further published reports or to assist Zero Waste Scotland’s Strategic development.