- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 14 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.
Answer
Regular informal meetings were held with Places for People Developments and officials in More Homes Division during that period to discuss progress on the Affordable Housing Supply Programme projects they were delivering.
In addition, officials in More Homes Division regularly engage with the New Avenue Living Fund Manager for Places for People Capital. Performance Review meetings were held on 9 December 2021 and 7 February 2023 to discuss the delivery of over 1,000 homes for mid-market rent.
And on 20 September 2022, the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights met with Places for People on the topic of Heat in Buildings.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 14 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Athron Hill Development Company Limited since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no records of any meetings held with Athron Hill Development Company Limited since May 2021.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Research Data Scotland since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.
Answer
Since the establishment of Research Data Scotland (RDS) at the end of 2021 my officials have had ongoing engagement with RDS.
Regarding formal meetings, my officials hold quarterly review meetings with the CEO and senior management of RDS. The more recent ones were held respectively on 14 December 2022 and 22 March 2023.
Mr Ivor McKee, MSP and former Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise also met with the CEO of RDS on 18 January 2023.
This list is not exhaustive of engagement my officials have had with RDS.
A range of issues were discussed at these meetings, including RDS service offering, operating and workforce model, revenues streams and how RDS will support our long-term vision for data and data-led innovation.
Given the cross-cutting nature of RDS and its role in advancing research data and other data matters, there is ongoing engagement between RDS and other portfolios across Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Harper Macleod LLP since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.
Answer
Harper MacLeod are a provider of external legal services to The Scottish Government via call-off contracts under the Legal Services Framework 2019 to 2023 .
The Scottish Government Legal Directorate hold quarterly review meetings with Harper MacLeod to discuss contract performance; adherence to service levels; sustainability; community benefits and contract governance. Other ad hoc meetings will be held between Harper MacLeod and policy and legal colleagues.
The Scottish Government does not comment on legal advice or communications between itself and its legal advisors. In doing so the Scottish Government observes legal professional privilege between client and lawyer. This also maintains the Scottish Ministerial Code, paragraphs 2.38 and 2.39. Therefore, the sharing of content or outcomes of these meetings would be inappropriate.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what grant funds have been made available to local authorities in each of the last 12 months.
Answer
The annual local government finance settlement consists of both revenue and capital grants and local authorities also receive additional ring-fenced funding outside the annual settlement.
In 2022-23 the General Revenue Grant funding within the annual local government finance settlement was paid in equal instalments every Wednesday throughout the year with the General Capital Grant payments being made monthly, in or around the middle of each month. All other ring-fenced funds are paid as and when required throughout the financial year.
Details of the final 2022-23 local government finance settlement are set out in the Local Government Finance Circular 3/2023 - Local government finance circular 3/2023: settlement for 2023-24 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and the provisional funding out-with the settlement was set out in the 2022-23 Scottish Budget document Table 5.17 - Scottish Budget 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce a whisky levy.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no plans to implement a whisky tax.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with the Scotch Whisky Association to discuss decarbonisation, and what the objectives were of any such meetings.
Answer
The Scottish Government meets with the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) regularly to discuss a range of topics, including decarbonisation matters.
The Scottish Government Industrial Decarbonisation Team is due to meet the SWA by mid April 2023 to discuss their implementation of the NetZero/Sustainability Strategy and opportunities for decarbonisation by fuel switching or shifting to more energy-efficient technologies.
The Scottish Government recognises the role that the Scotch Whisky industry has in moving towards net zero and welcomes the work carried out by the sector in this area.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Advice Direct Scotland since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to meet with Advice Direct Scotland on a regular basis. The purpose of these meetings are to discuss the key issues affecting Scottish consumers and agree how we can work together to ensure we are delivering support and advice to as many people who need it as possible.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Scottish Women's Aid since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.
Answer
Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website . The spreadsheets include a wide range of information including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met along with the subject discussed.
Officials also engage with stakeholder organisations as part of the policy development process. Officials work closely with Scottish Women’s Aid as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to our Equally Safe Strategy, Scotland’s strategy to eradicate and prevent violence against women and girls. A representative from Scottish Women’s Aid also sits on at least one working group within the Scottish Government, the Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board (ES JSB) and further detail on this can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Ricardo-AEA Ltd since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.
Answer
The Scottish Government has had a number of meetings with Ricardo AEA Ltd since May 2021:
- Meetings to discuss research and analysis that Ricardo AEA Ltd has been commissioned to deliver for Scottish Government: this has involved around 20 research commissions, each with regular meetings to discuss project progress and direction, to agree method and approaches and to review and sign off outputs.
- Meetings related to working groups and advisory groups to which Ricardo provides technical expertise, for example related to air quality, either convened by Scottish Government or convened by others (eg UK Government) and in which Scottish Government is a co-participant. These meetings discuss matters such as data and evidence provision, analytical methods and research dissemination.
