Chamber and committees

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 .

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 plans on beginning work to re-open further accreditation rounds later this year and will make an announcement in due course. As this is an administrative exercise rather than a procurement exercise, there will be no new costs and all costs will be met within the existing social security portfolio budget envelope.

We encourage any owner of a traditional building to explore the best available methods of repair and maintenance for their properties, including shop-owners and we welcome local shopfront improvement schemes which seek to increase the attractiveness and conserve the distinctiveness of high streets.

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) recognises the importance of our historic environment in defining the character of our places, and in promoting a sense of place, belonging and cultural identity.

Draft NPF4 also encourages Distinctive Places. Universal Policy 6, on Design, Quality and Place, sets out the six qualities of successful places. One of these is ‘distinctive’ which refers to attention to local architectural styles, with designs reinforcing identity, by drawing on historic environment assets, as well as examining building types, colours and materials and acknowledging the sense of place, heritage and identity.

Shopfront requirements around design, colour and materials are more appropriately covered in local guidance, to reflect and reinforce local styles and character of places.

Local planning authorities are best placed to advise property owners regarding the necessary consents for any restoration or renovation. It is important to ensure these consents remain appropriate and not unnecessarily restrictive. This maximises the ability of the local economy to flourish, while we continue to carefully preserve the distinctive characteristics of local spaces.

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

Work towards a draft bill to provide local authorities with a discretionary power to apply a visitor levy, including a series of roundtable stakeholder events and formal consultation, was at an advanced stage but was necessarily paused at the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic in March 2020.

Our Budget confirmed that we would re-commence this work. Given the continuing impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector in Scotland, we consider it prudent to carefully review the work done to date and undertake further stakeholder engagement before making a firm decision on the next steps.

The 2016 Consultation on Social Security in Scotland asked correspondents if the new Scottish social security system should continue to support access to the Motability scheme. Of the 200 respondents, 97% answered 'Yes'. During the subsequent consultation on Disability Assistance in 2019, the Government confirmed that a scheme equivalent to the Motability scheme would be put in place in advance of the delivery of Disability Assistance.

The Scottish Government believes that giving disabled people a range of suppliers to choose from will encourage value and promote choice. When the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme was launched in 2019, we therefore set out an intention to invite further applicants at regular intervals. Work to re-open further accreditation rounds will begin later this year.

Any future accreditation of providers under the Scheme will not affect people who have already leased a vehicle under the scheme.

NatureScot, in their role as Scotland’s deer authority, gather and publish data on annual deer cull returns.

Formal cull return requests are now being issued for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. The requests were delayed due to difficulties in sending out cull return requests as a result of Covid-19 measures. Once those completed returns have been received annual deer cull returns will then be published.

As the 2021-22 season is ongoing, cull return requests for this year have not yet been issued.

The Scottish Government recognises the difficulties facing Scotland’s cities and businesses as a result of the global pandemic as highlighted in the Centre for Cities report. The Scottish Government has provided more than £4.4 billion of business support since March 2020. This includes COVID-19 non-domestic rates reliefs which have saved businesses around £1.6bn in reduced rates bills since 1 April 2020. In addition last year, we awarded £2m directly to our cities through the City Centre Recovery Fund, to kick-start their recovery.

The Omicron variant in late 2021 further impacted on city centre recovery and has exacerbated the economic challenges faced by our city centres and their businesses. As such, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance announced an additional £3m of funding this financial year through the City Centre Recovery Fund on 10 February. These monies will support all seven cities build sustainable recovery for their centres and their businesses and will take forward the priorities of the City Centre Recovery Task Force.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the price of energy generated by Hunterston B and Torness nuclear power stations. This information is of a commercial nature and shared only between the contract holders and the customer.