Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with Creative Scotland on a wide range of subjects including developments around the Youth Music Initiative which allows young people to take part in music in and outside of school in all 32 local authorities.

The Scottish Government will ensure that all local authorities and schools are aware of the eligibility and award criteria for school clothing grants following discussions with COSLA. Guidance will be provided as appropriate.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions on a wide range of subjects with Creative Scotland but has not recently discussed specific support for contemporary musicians. Occasionally musicians write to the Scottish Government about opportunities for support for them and they are directed to Creative Scotland's advice service.

<>The Scottish Government does not intend to introduce a fee for homeowners to apply to the Homeowner Housing Panel.

The Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 requires Scottish Ministers, when determining whether a property factor is fit and proper, to consider whether the factor, or any relevant person connected with the factor:

has been convicted of any offence involving fraud or other dishonesty, violence or drugs;

has any court or tribunal judgments against them under the Equalities Act 2010, the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Religion Or Belief) Regulations 2003;

has contravened any provision of the law relating to tenements, property or debt.

As the Act does not give Scottish Ministers specific investigatory powers their ability to monitor the effectiveness of the fit and proper test is limited. Within those limits, Scottish Ministers consider any relevant information provided by the property factor or a third party and will take steps to review an entry on the register if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that information provided is, or has become, inaccurate. They may also require the person to provide a criminal conviction certificate as evidence to support the information provided in the application.

<>The Homeowner Housing Panel (HoHP) is an independent tribunal established under the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 (the Act) to deal with disputes between homeowners and property factors. The Act came into force on 1 October 2012.

Information on the number of property factor enforcement orders issued each year by the HoHP is included in its annual report which is laid before the Scottish Parliament. The reports are published at: https://hohp.scotland.gov.uk/who-we-are-hohp/annual-reports.

As part of numerous industry forums, both current (Rutherglen junction) and planned (Carstairs junction) enhancements to the west coast main line are regularly discussed with operators.

Indeed, the working group and board of the Scotland route study, at which both transport Scotland and cross-border train operating companies are represented, has regularly looked at future demand projections and potential investment for each of the main corridors in Scotland, including the west coast main line.

The Scottish Government’s aspiration for Inter City West Coast cross-border rail services is clear: safe, fast, frequent, reliable, punctual services connecting Scotland to London and intermediate locations with on board facilities and fares that attract passengers.

Transport Scotland met with Virgin Trains to make clear the Scottish Government's preference to maintain shorter journey times.

The Scottish Government is therefore disappointed that the previous 4 hour 8 minute fast Virgin Trains service between London Euston and Glasgow now makes five extra stops before it reaches Scotland, and takes an additional 22 minutes.

The Inter City West Coast re-franchising consultation is underway and the Scottish Government will be making representations to the Department for Transport conveying clear aspirations for cross-border rail services: faster journey times between Scotland and London, as well as safe, frequent, reliable, punctual services connecting Scotland to London and intermediate locations.

This is an operational matter for the Police Service of Scotland.