Chamber and committees

Table 1 shows the number of ATM sites in receipt of 100% rates relief through the Small Business Bonus Scheme since 2018.

Table 1: ATM sites in receipt of 100% Small Business Bonus Scheme relief

The Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan Scheme was launched in April 2020 to support landlords with the cost of installation for energy efficiency improvements, renewable systems and energy storage systems.

The funding allocated for the scheme is set out in the following table:

Three agencies have been opened outside of the Lothian region since 2007 with no relocations during this time. There is one Agency located in the West Scotland region.

There have been multiple changes to Scottish Government Directorates over the last 15 years. Available data would not provide accurate assessment of the number of Directorates relocated or opened outside of the Lothians over the period.

Directorates particularly in DG Net Zero and DG Communities continue to be located outside of the Central Belt in locations close to their stakeholders and operations.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

Responsibility for the management of the (a) police estate is for Police Scotland, which is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority; and (b) the fire estate is for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Meeting health and safety requirements across their estates continues to be a high priority for both Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The HMP Glasgow project was advertised to the market in March 2022 to commence procurement of pre-construction services as part of a two-stage procurement process in order to progress the overall delivery of the programme. The Scottish Prison Service awarded the pre-construction services contract in July 2022. Timescales for the delivery of the prison will be confirmed once the design phase is concluded.

The Royal Bank of Scotland’s Report on Jobs is one of several sources of evidence that the Scottish Government monitors, in the context of wider developments in the labour market. The Report draws on a monthly survey of recruitment agencies, and offers insights into broad trends and developments around recruitment.

The latest edition of the Report indicates reductions in staff placements, along with reduced staff availability and increased demand for permanent staff. The latest labour market data for Scotland from ONS indicates that Scotland’s employment rate remains high, while unemployment rates are at close to record lows.

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation sets out our approach to ensuring that employers have a pipeline of skilled workers and makes clear that employers must invest in the skilled employees they need to grow their businesses. We are taking forward a range of measures, including working with business organisations to promote Fair Work; providing a range of employability support to help people to enter the labour market; and developing our Talent Attraction programme and Migration Service to attract workers with the skills that Scotland needs.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Work within Inverclyde Council’s Pottery Street depot has been progressing well, although there has been some delay to starting work on the A8 itself due to other urgent utility work. For the section of work on the A8, Scottish Water’s forecast start date is at the end of June, with an anticipated completion by mid- to end-December. Information on the project is published online at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/In-Your-Area/Investments-in-Your-Area/A8-Greenock

I, and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, are always open to meeting with stakeholders to hear their views and understand their concerns. Any organisation or individual who wishes to meet on any issue that falls under our respective portfolios should contact the relevant Private Office to request whether a meeting can be arranged.

Social Security Scotland routinely releases information on payments issued for Funeral Support Payment as part of quarterly official statistics releases.

Excel tables released as part of these publications include information on the value of payments issued by local authority and financial year.

The latest statistics on Funeral Support Payment were released on 16 May 2023 covering data to 31 March 2023. These statistics can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications .

In the following table, data on all restriction of liberty orders imposed since April 2013 is provided, covering two contractual periods of the current electronic monitoring service provider (G4S Monitoring Technologies & Services). The data set out shows “status at order end”, either: completed, revoked or expired.

Compliance with a restriction of liberty order is reported back by the monitoring provider to a court, and the court then determines what actions they wish to take in relation to that order, which may include continuing or revoking that order. A restriction of liberty order can be revoked by the issuing court for a number of reasons including: on appeal, on breach of a concurrent order, because a new offence had been committed or a breach of restriction of the liberty order has occurred. The outcome of a revoked order could include actions such as imposition of a further court order or imposition of custody. A breakdown of reasons for restriction of liberty orders being revoked or outcome of revocation, by issuing court, is not held.

The category of “expired” orders, includes orders where the outcome of any court consideration may not yet be known at the point the order ends. It will also include orders that were not being actively monitored at order end. Active monitoring could cease for reasons including: absence of the monitored person without consent, householder consent to monitor at that address being withdrawn or as the individual is otherwise absent for example they are already in custody or are in hospital.