- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 15 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the funding allocated to the East Kilbride line electrification and upgrade project will be reallocated, in light of its reported decision not to proceed with double-tracking between Busby and East Kilbride railway stations.
Answer
I am pleased to confirm that, notwithstanding the severe financial pressures caused by the Covid Pandemic, sufficient funding can be made available to complete fully the preferred option for the electrification and significant enhancement of both the East Kilbride and Barrhead routes.
This preferred option was recommended by and agreed with rail industry partners Network Rail and ScotRail following detailed consideration of a wide range of options, the business case appraisal of which has followed appropriate Scottish Government processes
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 15 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that designers and planners, who should be using and following the new guidance Cycling By Design, published on 17 September 2021, receive any professional training needed to implement it.
Answer
The Steering Group, comprising Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS), Sustrans and Transport Scotland, who have overseen delivery of the document are currently progressing plans for the development and delivery of training material. Transport Scotland has committed to provide training for staff and designers working on trunk road schemes, and it is a matter for local authorities to consider what training they will require.
- Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 15 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to strengthen policy on ancient woodland and veteran tree protection in National Planning Framework 4.
Answer
Our draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) sets out how our approach to planning and development will help to achieve a net zero, sustainable Scotland by 2045. This includes draft planning policy on Trees, Woodland and Forestry, which states that development proposals should not be supported where they would result in; any loss of ancient woodlands, ancient and veteran trees, or adverse impact on their ecological condition.
Views are currently being invited on the draft NPF4 alongside parliamentary scrutiny, following which we anticipate producing a final version for approval and adoption around summer 2022.
The draft NPF4 is available to view on the Scottish Government website at: Scotland 2045 - fourth National Planning Framework: draft - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether people living in Scotland and travelling abroad are experiencing difficulty accessing French QR codes to prove COVID-19 vaccination status and, if so, what action it is taking to resolve any reported issues.
Answer
The Scottish Government have been working with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and the Border Force to ensure countries that require QR codes would accept ours. Scottish Government officials became aware on 8 September 2021 that French authorities were seeking additional verification to our QR codes only for their domestic certification purposes, and that information was issued the same day. The issue was therefore resolved on 9 September 2021.
French authorities have not experienced any further issues in accessing the QR codes of people living in Scotland.
- Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects people who have received one of their COVID-19 vaccine doses in Northern Ireland to be able to access their vaccination status through the (a) online PDF process and (b) COVID-19 Vaccination Status Helpline.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working closely with colleagues within the Northern Ireland Executive to establish data feeds that will allow for the automatic exchange of vaccination information between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
People can request proof of the dose or doses received from Northern Ireland. Work is underway to enable people to upload evidence of their doses to NHS Inform and access a vaccine certificate. This upload was completed on 30 September 2021.
People can now update their record of vaccination in Scotland with Covid-19 vaccinations received out-with Scotland, but within the Common Travel Area. More information on how to do this can be found at Request an update to your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination record | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .
For the purpose of vaccine certification, we accept proof of vaccination from Northern Ireland.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to any plans it has to support businesses to reduce their carbon footprint by installing solar panels, what the timetable is for these plans; whether support will be provided to incentivise such installation, and whether non-domestic rates relief will be provided to businesses with systems that generate 50kW or more.
Answer
Scottish businesses are currently able to access an interest free loan for solar PV through the SME Loan scheme, managed by the Energy Saving Trust. Eligible organisations are able to access free advice and an energy audit of their premises through the Energy Efficient Business Support service, which provides small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with information on energy efficiency and/or renewables installations that are most suited to their premises.
The Scottish Government provides the most generous non-domestic rates relief package for renewable energy producers in the UK, including a number of incentives for energy efficiency and low carbon heating. This includes the non-domestic rates exemption for renewables with a capacity of up to 50kW.
As with all of our non-domestic rates policies, we will keep these under review. Decisions on any non-domestic rates policies will be set out in the Scottish budget alongside other government priorities in light of affordability.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government which (a) cabinet secretaries and (b) ministers no longer routinely answer correspondence from MSPs and, in the event that any no longer do so, what the reasons for this are.
Answer
Correspondence from MSPs should routinely be answered by Scottish Government Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers. The Health and Social Care portfolio has experienced a huge and unprecedented increase in correspondence over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has impacted particularly on the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and the Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport. The pandemic saw a 2700% increase in volume of correspondence for these portfolios and the two portfolios combined currently deal with 49% of all correspondence across the Scottish Government.
To enable MSPs to receive timely responses in these exceptional circumstances, much of the correspondence previously signed by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport is being reviewed on their behalf by Scottish Government Deputy Directors. This arrangement is under continuous review and Ministerial Responses will resume as soon as volume and circumstances allow. The Scottish Government will keep MSPs informed of any further changes to this process.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons the Rolls Royce Working Group was reportedly disbanded, and on which date this was communicated to task force members.
Answer
Following the decision by the Rolls-Royce workforce to accept a Memorandum of Understanding that guaranteed manufacturing at the Inchinnan facility for at least the next five years, the Rolls-Royce Working Group membership took the joint decision at a meeting in 11 March 2021 to transition toward a new strategic relationship between Scotland and Rolls-Royce. This would enable the business and the Scottish Government to consider potential opportunity areas in line with our shared ambitions.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of the Aerospace Response Group.
Answer
Following agreement by members at a meeting of the Aerospace Response Group (ARG) on 15 March 2021, the ARG transitioned into a new, industry-led body, the Aerospace and Defence Industry Group. This group absorbed the remaining work of the ARG and continues to meet regularly.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 12 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03555 by Lorna Slater on 25 October 2021, whether it will provide the information requested, and whether it plans to introduce domestic targets for waste that are based on the carbon metric rather than on weight, as set out in Scotland's Zero Waste Plan.
Answer
The Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland introduced a Carbon Metric for waste from 2011, making Scotland the first country to measure the carbon impact of its waste in this way, and delivering on our commitment set out in Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan. The metric measures the whole-life carbon impacts of Scotland’s waste, and is a vital tool in our work to address the climate emergency.
Greenhouse Gas emissions from managing Scotland’s waste have reduced by more than 30% between 2011-2019. As set out in our update to the Climate Change Plan, our aim is to reduce these emissions further to 1.2 megatonnes by 2025, and 0.8 megatonnes by 2030.
As previously set out, we are working with industry, local government and environmental groups to develop a route map to deliver our waste and recycling targets for 2025. This work will be critical in determining how the waste and resources sector will contribute towards lower carbon emissions in the period to 2030 and beyond, including the approach to evaluating progress against our goal to reduce emissions.