Chamber and committees

Our draft budget includes a commitment to roll forward the Scottish Government’s contribution of £23 million in 2014-15 to continue to mitigate the estimated £40 million gap in funding from the UK Government for council tax benefit successor arrangements. COSLA Leaders have agreed that local government will again contribute £17 million. This joint commitment will enable us to maintain our support for the most vulnerable households in Scotland through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

The Scottish Government will only know the impact of the recently announced increases in fuel prices on fuel poverty once results of the 2013 Scottish House Condition Survey are known. This is because estimates of household incomes and the energy efficiency of the housing stock are required to estimate how many households will go into fuel poverty as a result of higher energy prices.

The specific information requested is not available centrally as there is no commonly agreed definition of winter seasonal illnesses. Some illnesses, such as influenza and norovirus, are relatively more prevalent during the winter period but the illnesses are prevalent all year round. A range of information is published on influenza and norovirus, on winter mortality and on emergency admissions.

General Register Office for Scotland publish an annual report on winter mortality in Scotland. This includes information on the seasonal increase in mortality in winter, by NHS board and age group. The 2012-13 report is available via the following ink.

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/winter-mortality/2012-2013/winter-mortality-2012-13.pdf

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) publish weekly information on influenza and other seasonal respiratory illnesses activity, by NHS board. This is available via the following ink.

http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/resp/influenzareports.aspx

HPS publish weekly information on the number of hospital wards affected by norovirus outbreaks and the number of positive laboratory reports, by NHS board. This is available via the following ink.

http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/norovirus/norovirussurveillance.aspx

Information Services Division (ISD) publish quarterly and annual information on emergency inpatient admissions, by NHS board. This is available in the 'Summary Statistics' section of the following ink.

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Inpatient-and-Day-Case-Activity/

ISD publish annual information emergency admissions for patients aged 75 years each quarter, by NHS board. This is available in the 'Multiple and All Emergency Admissions' section of the following ink.

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Inpatient-and-Day-Case-Activity/

The Scottish Government has invested £220 million on fuel poverty and energy efficiency programmes since 2009. That is an estimated total net saving to household incomes over the lifetime of the measures of more than £1 billion.

We will spend nearly a quarter of a billion pounds over the next three years on fuel poverty and energy efficiency. The Scottish Government has created a £200 million per year initiative, using Scottish Government funding to lever in additional investment from major energy companies to tackle fuel poverty, reduce carbon emissions and support jobs.

We need the full powers of independence to tackle all the causes of fuel poverty. If elected, in an independent Scotland this government would reduce energy prices by five per cent or around £70 per household and meet the costs of fuel poverty and energy efficiency schemes through government spending.

Our low carbon aspirations to see significant progress in the decarbonisation of road transport by 2030 are currently focussed on technology change and voluntary behaviour change, with considerable investment of around £1 billion per annum in public transport and other sustainable transport options. We envisage that innovative improvements to travel information and public transport (such as progress of the smart and integrated ticketing strategy, improved rail passenger experience in the next ScotRail franchise and enhanced bus services, standards and infrastructure delivered through the Bus Investment Fund), as well as continued investment in cycling and walking will encourage more drivers to leave their cars at home, contributing to both emissions abatement and other policy aims.

We are committed in having affordable public transport:

We will continue providing around £250 million annually to support a range of schemes including the Bus Service Operators’ Grant, the Scottish Green Bus Fund and the National Concessionary Travel Scheme.

In rail we swept away almost 1,500 ticketing anomalies benefitting circa 275,000 passenger journeys.

Off peak rail fares in Scotland will now be frozen until 2016 and peak fares capped to RPI in January 2014 and 2015. From 2016, we will be going further by ensuring regulated peak fares cannot rise above inflation and regulated off-peak fares will be restricted to RPI-1%.

Plans to create a high powered interoperable network of charging facilities are well underway, with over 500 charge points already installed through over £6.7 million of investment since 2011-12. As stated in Switched On Scotland: A Roadmap to Widespread Adoption of Plug-In Vehicles, Transport Scotland will continue to provide funding for the safe and convenient installation of domestic, workplace and en-route charge points, with this support continuing into 2014-15.

The materials used in constructing the power source for electric vehicles, the source of those materials and the associated CO2 produced will be a matter for individual manufacturers.

The measures that will be taken to achieve almost complete decarbonisation of road transport by 2050, with significant progress by 2030 through wholesale adoption of electric cars and vans, are set out in Switched On Scotland: A Roadmap to Widespread Adoption of Plug-In Vehicles:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/strategy-and-research/publications-and-consultations/j272736-00.htm, published on 12 September 2013.

The Scottish Government recognises the extent of discrimination against the Gypsy/Traveller community and the need to have a co-ordinated approach to improving outcomes and life-chances. We are developing a strategic overview and action plan building on existing work and drawing on the recommendations of the recent enquiries undertaken by the Equal Opportunities Committee. This we expect to be finalised by spring 2015.

In the meantime we are at the early stages of taking forward an awareness raising campaign as recommended in the report of the Equal Opportunities Committee. We intend to work with Gypsies/Travellers and other relevant stakeholders in its development. We will also be exploring how Gypsies/Travellers can have a voice in the matters that affect them and how best they can participate in a way which suits their living experience.

We are establishing a Gypsy/Traveller site working group to consider further issues in relation to sites raised in the Equal Opportunities Committee Report Where Gypsy/Travellers Live. There is now a Scottish social housing charter outcome relating to Gypsy/Traveller sites, that “Sites are well maintained and managed”. Site satisfaction data will be collected for the first time by the Scottish Housing Regulator in 2014 along with data on average weekly rent per pitch and total number of pitches.

We will continue with a range of projects of support such as a three year programme run by MECOPP to increase understanding around informal caring in the Gypsy/Traveller community and support for the Article 12 project about building bridges in young Gypsies/Travellers’ lives. We have commissioned Carers Scotland and MECOPP to produce a carers’ rights charter which clarifies that Gypsies/Travellers should have advice, information and support. We are also mapping the adult literacy work with the Gypsy/Traveller community and will be publishing the review of the patient record of personal health, now commonly referred to as the “hand-held record” (HHR), by the end of the year.