Chamber and committees

As set out in the answer to S6W-06070 on 25 February 2022, work to implement the recommendations of the Deer Working Group is underway. Part of this work involves considering the most appropriate method of reporting on progress and further details on this will be provided in due course.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Work to increase standardisation since the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan for Scotland 2021-22 to 2025-26 was published, can be seen in the announced Invitation to Tender (17 December 2021) for two new ferries for Islay and the continuing work as part of the Small Vessel Replacement Programme (SVRP) that will see up to 7 vessels replaced on the west coast as part of Phase 1 of the programme.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) are taking forward the SVRP and are currently working with the appointed naval architects (Navalue) who are providing consultancy services for the concept design stage as well as investigating and evaluating the feasibility of designing low emission ferries to be in line with the Scottish Government climate change and standardisation commitments.

We also continue to support the vessel resilience funding that can be spent on replacing obsolete equipment on existing vessels.

We continue to engage extensively with the Arran Ferry Committee on timetable matters through the twice yearly timetable consultation process, which has recently concluded with regard to the Winter 2022 timetable, and additionally through the Ardrossan Task Force which met most recently on 23 February 2022.

In the coming months CalMac Ferries Ltd will undertake a public consultation regarding service continuity plans for Arran ferry services when they temporarily relocate to Troon.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of incidents reported to the police. Information is held on the number of crimes recorded by the police in Scotland, including those for personation of police. This is shown in the following table, by police division, from 2013-14 to 2020-21.

Table: Number of personation of police crimes in Scotland by police division, 2013-14 to 2020-21

The Scottish Government sets out its expectation that commencement regulations will be laid in early May 2022 and come into force this summer.

The Scottish Government has been working with counterparts at both the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland to ensure any person moving to or from Scotland who is in receipt of disability benefits can do so without disruption to their benefits.

The Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021 allow a person moving from Scotland to the rest of the UK to retain their benefit entitlement for up to 13 weeks. This is to allow time for the person moving to establish a new entitlement in the country they are settling in. We understand that the intention of other UK administrations is to mirror this arrangement.

The Scottish Government is also working with DWP to ensure anyone coming to Scotland from the rest of the UK will have the Scottish equivalent of their existing benefit awarded automatically, without a need to apply. However, it is our understanding that the DWP and the Department for Communities will require anyone moving from Scotland to these administrations to submit a new application before they can be considered for award of the equivalent disability benefit in the rest of the UK.

Scottish Water Horizons Holdings limited acquired the PFI companies for £16.2m on 19 December 2018 (see note 11 to the Scottish Water’s financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2019). The value of bank debt as at 31 March 2022 will be c. £31m. Scottish Water is the only shareholder in Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd.

As set out in Scottish Water’s 2020-21 Annual Report, while thousands of projects were delivered in the 2015- 21 period there were 86 projects due by but not delivering benefits to customers at 31 March 2021. Scottish Water expects customers to be receiving the benefits of 57 of these projects by the end of the 2022-23 financial year, leaving 29 still to be completed.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06233 on 25 February 2022 . All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government has no plans at this time to review the eligibility criteria for Funeral Support Payment but we continue to monitor and evaluate all our benefits.

During the development of Funeral Support Payment we consulted and engaged with stakeholders, including people with direct personal experience of the benefits system. This work helped to inform the eligibility criteria for Funeral Support Payment. As a result, we substantially widened eligibility compared to the UK Government’s funeral payment. This has allowed us to support 40% more people, who would have received nothing from the UK Government.

Eligibility for Funeral Support Payment is based on receipt of a qualifying benefit, ensuring support is targeted at those on lowest incomes. State pension recipients who are in receipt of a qualifying benefit - for example pension credit - are therefore eligible to apply.

The Scottish Government continues to urge the UK Government to maximise take-up of Pension Credit. This is a vital support for many older people, but we know that only around 6 in 10 of those who are entitled to it actually claim it. On 12 November 2020 we joined Welsh and Northern Irish Ministers in sending a joint letter to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions urging a more strategic approach to maximising the take-up of reserved benefits. To date no response has been received.