- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether IVF treatment services can continue under the current COVID-19 restrictions and, if so, to what extent.
Answer
The 4 NHS IVF Centres in Scotland remain open and will be guided by the Scottish Government’s Winter 2020/21 plan for Fertility Services in Scotland.
Coronavirus (COVID-19): fertility services - winter 2020/2021 preparation plans - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
All Centres continue to provide the full range of treatments at present and this will be reviewed regularly due to the evolving COVID-19 situation.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 January 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32711 by Jeane Freeman on 9 November 2020, whether a timetable has been agreed for the publication of the report by the Junior Doctors' 48-hour Expert Working Group.
Answer
No timetable for publication has been agreed at present. The ongoing response to the Covid-19 pandemic is the focus of our activity, and we have agreed with BMA Scotland that the final report and its important recommendations will be released when it has been fully considered.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 January 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 25 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the latest COVID-19 restrictions, what new support it plans to provide to betting shops and the betting sector.
Answer
The Strategic Framework Business Fund provides grants of up to £3,000 every 4 weeks for businesses that are required by law to close or alter their operations in response to regulations introduced to control the spread of COVID-19. The financial support available to businesses through this fund is responsive to the needs of businesses based on the restrictions in place in their local authority area. Betting shops are required to close in Level 4 and are therefore eligible for support through this fund, and the recently announced one-off top-up grants of £6,000 or £9,000. Businesses have to claim the Strategic Business Fund through their Local Authority to be paid that top-up. This is in addition to the Non-Domestic Rates Relief that we extended to all rate-paying businesses across Scotland at the outset of the pandemic in March. Through our Local Authority Discretionary Fund, councils can target additional support to where they feel this is needed within the context of their local economy and business community and have the option to further support betting shops in their area.
Information on available support can be found on the Find Business Support website. The website is regularly updated with information on any new support packages or changes to existing ones.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) wholesale bakeries and (b) food manufacturers have accessed support from the Scottish Food and Drink Wholesale Resilience Fund.
Answer
To be eligible for support through the Scottish Wholesale Food and Drink Resilience Fund, food and drink wholesale must be the main part of the business and was defined for the purpose of this fund as being a route to market in the consolidation and distribution of multi-supplier stocks. While wholesaling may be the route to market for finished products, if a business’ main activity (or representing over 20% of the business) is the production, manufacture, repackaging or processing (primary or secondary) of food & drink, or any other activity which is not wholesaling food and drink as per the definition above, then they are not eligible for this specific fund.
A business whose main activity is a) baking or b) food manufacture was therefore not eligible for this fund.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government which business support funds are available for wholesale bakeries that are dependent on the hospitality and tourism supply chains.
Answer
The £30 million discretionary funding has been provided to local authorities to provide additional support for businesses where they consider that necessary or justified.
The aim of this fund is to mitigate the short term financial challenges being experienced by businesses adversely impacted by restrictions and regulations introduced since October to control the spread of COVID-19. It enables individual local authorities to direct additional financial support to specific groups, sectors or businesses within their local business communities who are experiencing immediate financial challenges as a result of current restrictions and regulations, including supply chain businesses.
Local authorities can use this fund at their discretion, and will undertake their own assessment of need and develop application processes accordingly.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that bakeries in the hospitality and tourism supply chains have received no business support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
We recognise that this is an extremely difficult time for businesses of all kinds across Scotland, including the hospitality and tourism supply chains. We have allocated almost £3 billion to support businesses, including those in the hospitality and tourism supply chains, in response to COVID-19.
The £30 million discretionary fund introduced in November 2020 targets businesses which are affected by COVID-19 restrictions but do not meet the criteria for other funds. The fund allows local authorities to allocate grants at their discretion to support businesses including those in the supply chain.
To help businesses deal with the impact of coronavirus, the Scottish Government introduced extra rates reliefs for non-domestic properties from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. This includes 100% relief for properties in the hospitality sectors where the property is wholly or mainly used for a purpose, or purposes, set out in Schedule 1 of the Non-Domestic Rates (Coronavirus Reliefs) (Scotland) Regulations 2020.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to mainland Scotland moving from Level 4 restrictions to a temporary lockdown, and in anticipation of potential measures from the UK Government to restrict international travel, whether it plans to reassess its position on providing financial support for aviation-related businesses, such as short and long-term stay airport car parking businesses, which are currently not captured by the Non-Domestic Rates (Coronavirus Reliefs) (Scotland) Regulations 2020.
Answer
We recognise the scale of the global challenge affecting the aviation sector, including the wider supply chain, which continues to be impacted by Covid-19. All non-domestic properties are benefiting from a 1.6% universal Non-Domestic Rates relief in 2020-21 and airports and ground handling service providers in Scotland are being granted 100% relief.
The Scottish Government does not intend to further amend The Non-Domestic Rates (Coronavirus Reliefs) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 in 2020-21. However, we are working with airports on route recovery, to help rebuild connectivity for business and tourism. The re-establishment of previously operated routes, and the return of the passengers who use these, once we are able to safely lift travel restrictions, will help support the wider aviation supply chain.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 December 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33904 by Ben Macpherson on 22 December 2020, how many betting shops received support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic from the (a) small business grant and (b) 100% rates relief that was referred to.
Answer
The Small Business Grants were administered by local authorities and the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on awards. The Scottish Government does however publish statistics on the number of awards granted and the value of these awards which is available at following link: Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support fund grant statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
The Scottish Government is not able to reliably identify betting offices on the Valuation Roll, and therefore cannot confirm the number of properties operating in this sector that are in receipt of rates relief.
All non-domestic properties including betting shops will automatically benefit from a 1.6% relief in 2020-21. Betting shops may further have been eligible for other reliefs such as the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) and Empty Property Relief (EPR).
Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Relief further provides 100% relief for properties that are used wholly or mainly for the qualifying purposes set out in Schedule 1 of the Non-Domestic Rates (Coronavirus Reliefs) (Scotland) Regulations 2020. ‘Betting shops’ are not specifically listed in this schedule.
Rates reliefs awards are made by local authorities who administer the non-domestic system. It is for them to determine eligibility based on the legislation.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33505 by Jeane Freeman on 10 December 2020, whether it has taken over responsibility for any Hospedia contracts that previously had been agreed between NHS boards and that company since May 2016 and, if so, how many and for what reason, also broken down by the date of the contract takeover and the average (a) length and (b) cost of each contract.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not taken over responsibility for any Hospedia contract since May 2016.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support flood prevention measures in Lothian.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2021
