- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a National Reuse Charter.
Answer
The existing Scottish Household Recycling Charter has been designed to cover and encourage reuse. As set out in the Programme for Government, we are committed to evaluate the Household Recycling Charter with COSLA, and review its Code of Practice to ensure it reflects current best practice and makes it easier for households to recycle and reuse
Work to develop a waste route map to 2025 and beyond is also considering how to further support reuse given its importance within the waste hierarchy.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider providing grants to support taxi drivers to upgrade their cars to sustainable, low-emissions vehicles.
Answer
The Scottish Government currently offers a number of funding schemes, through Transport Scotland, to support businesses (including taxi owners) make the shift to low and zero-emission vehicles. Applications for these funds can be made through the Energy Saving Trust who administer the schemes on our behalf.
Available support includes:
- the Switched-on Taxi Loan scheme which offers an interest free loan up to £120,000 to enable taxi owners and operators to replace their current vehicle with an eligible ultra-low emission vehicle.
- the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Retrofit Fund for taxi owners operating within LEZs. This provides up to 80% grant funding to replace existing diesel engines to meet the Euro 6 standard for driving within a LEZ. The grant provides up to £10,000 per wheelchair accessible taxi installing re-powering technology, or £5,000 per taxi installing exhaust after-treatment systems.
- the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Support Fund, which is available to eligible microbusinesses and sole traders (including taxi operators), operating within a 20km radius of Scotland’s LEZs. The fund provides a £2,500 grant towards the safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles as an incentive to take older, more polluting vehicles off the road.
We acknowledge that working together is crucial, because we know that Scotland’s world-leading and legally binding net-zero target cannot be met by Government alone and a partnership approach between businesses, local authorities and communities will continue to be required to respond to the climate emergency and improve the air quality within our cities.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to extend free bus travel to (a) people (i) on a low-income and (ii) in receipt of benefits and (b) all young people under the age of 25.
Answer
We have no current plans to extend free bus travel beyond the existing older and disabled persons scheme and the new young persons scheme for people under the age of 22.
Our Fair Fares Review, which is currently in its planning stages, will consider the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry, as well as the cost and availability of services.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the failures identified by the British Academy of Audiology independent clinical audit and governance review into NHS Lothian Paediatric Audiology Services affect patients from other NHS board areas.
Answer
In December 2021, we wrote to NHS Board Chief Executives about the systemic failures highlighted in the British Academy of Audiology (BAA) reports. NHS Chief Executives have been asked to examine their services, provide us with assurance on quality of care and also advise of any specific actions being taken in light of the reports. We have also asked Chief Executives to confirm a Lead Director and single point of contact in the service for continued engagement on this matter.
We met with the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) on 16 December 2021 to discuss the recommendations they have proposed which could promote public confidence in the service. This includes a review of quality standards and training for audiologists. A follow up meeting will take place with them in the new year.
Our future focus is on ensuring that where improvements need to be made to national and local practice, as part of the learning from the Lothian Review, these are taken forward in partnership with Health Boards, NDCS and the BAA.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent RSPB publication, Birds of Conservation Concern 5, whether it plans to (a) review the list of game species and (b) remove species that have now been red-listed, including ptarmigan and woodcock, from the list of game species.
Answer
Birds of Conservation Concern, often referred to as the UK Red List for Birds, is published by the British Trust for Ornithology. The report, which reviews the status of all regularly occurring birds in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, is compiled by a coalition of bird conservation and monitoring organisations from across the UK, including RSPB.
All bird species in Scotland are protected through the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Schedule 2 of the 1981 Act sets out the quarry species, i.e. those species that may be killed or taken outside of the closed season.
There are a range of reasons that may be responsible for a decline in a species’ population or a contraction of the species’ range leading to them being listed as a species of conservation concern. Where there is evidence that quarry species status is causing or exacerbating conservation concerns we will take steps to remove the species from Schedule 2 in accordance with the procedure set out in section 26(3) of the 1981 Act.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 6 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when VoiceAbility will begin providing advocacy services in relation to the devolved social security benefits system, and when the roll-out of services will be fully operational.
Answer
VoiceAbility will begin providing advocacy services for those who require support to access Social Security Scotland assistance from 31 January 2022. VoiceAbility will continue to build capacity in the service after that date to ensure the service scales up proportionally as more benefits become available.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring is in place to ensure that cafes, bars and restaurants record the contact details of those who use their premises.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to promote the requirement for hospitality businesses to collect contact details from visitors to their premises, in line with regulations and guidance, to support the work of local Health Protection teams. Use of the Check In Scotland app, by premises or the public, is not a legal requirement; it is a tool to support settings to more easily comply with regulations and public health guidance.
In terms of monitoring the collection of contact details by settings covered by regulations, Environmental Health Teams within Local Authorities, as part of ongoing engagement with premises or in response to members of the public notifying them of non-compliance, encourage compliance within settings, and take any enforcement action deemed necessary.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of hospitality businesses are using the (a) Check-in Scotland and (b) Test and Protect systems, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
It is not currently possible to identify the number of hospitality businesses nor the proportion of hospitality businesses that use the Check-in Scotland service. Whilst the collecting of customers contact details is a legal requirement, use of the Check-in Scotland service is entirely voluntary and can be used by many different types of business and venues, not just in hospitality. It is also possible to register different parts of a single venue so that they have different check-in locations (e.g. a bar with a separate address in a cinema complex could have a different check-in code to the cinema itself) and a single business may register multiple venues meaning that total figure does not equate to the number of businesses that may be using the service. Further details can be found at www.checkin.scot .
Other than the Check-in Scotland service, hospitality businesses may also use the NHS Scotland Covid Check app to verify a customers Covid Status. No personally identifiable or venue information is collected by the Covid Check App so it is it not possible to identify the number of businesses using the Covid Check app. Further details can be found at www.covidcheck.scot.
No businesses have access to any other Test & Protect systems.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to allowing NHS boards to take over the running of any community pharmacies that are struggling to remain open.
Answer
The Scottish Government is not considering the possibility of allowing Health Boards to take over the running of community pharmacies that are struggling to remain open. Community pharmacies, along with other primary care contractors, are wholly independent private entities providing NHS services on behalf the Health Board. Any challenges faced by community pharmacy contractors in delivering existing pharmaceutical care services should be discussed with the Health Boards who will be able to consider actions to support service provision.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 5 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will clarify the details of its aim to reduce the kilometres, or miles, travelled by car by 20% by a target date; whether the target date remains 2030; whether the aim has changed to a (a) quantity of miles or (b) target date of 2032; if so, for what reason, and, if not, for what reason the Minister for Transport stated otherwise on social media on 10 December 2021.
Answer
The commitment to reduce car kms by 20% by 2030 (against a 2019 baseline) as set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update (CCPu) published in December 2020 remains unchanged, either in terms of measurement or time scale.
An incorrect graphic was posted on social media on the 10 th of December. As soon as the error was noticed, the post was removed at the earliest opportunity to avoid further confusion, and we remain fully committed to reducing car km driven in Scotland by 20% by the year 2030.