- Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported plans to develop a shooting range in Eskadalemuir, and related concerns raised over safety and noise, whether it will review the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, in order to bring the licencing of shooting ranges under the control of the Scottish Government.
Answer
Licensing of shooting ranges and gun clubs is a function of Police Scotland and is not part of the planning system.
Decisions on planning applications, including for shooting ranges, are primarily a matter for the relevant planning authority. Scottish planning policy sets out that planning decisions should be made at the most local level appropriate wherever possible. Where a planning authority were to refuse permission the applicant has the right of appeal which would be either to the Local Review Body or to Scottish Ministers.
Scottish Ministers have the power under current legislation to ‘call-in’ any application for their own determination. While Ministers exercise these powers sparingly, it is open to any individual to contact the Scottish Ministers to request call-in of any application prior to a decision being issued by the planning authority.
The Scottish Government has no plans at this time to review the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much COVID-19 relief funding it has allocated to local authorities and what information it has regarding how (a) this has been spent and (b) much remains in local authority reserves.
Answer
Scotland’s councils have been allocated an additional £1.5 billion in direct support through the local government finance settlement.
Furthermore in 2020-21, the Scottish Government replaced £972 million of Non-Domestic Rates Income for the cost of COVID-19 reliefs with additional General Revenue Grant of the same amount, effectively protecting this important income stream for local government and at the same time providing rates relief for businesses. In 2021-22 the Scottish Government replaced a further £726 million of Non-Domestic Rates Income with additional General Revenue Grant of the same amount for the same reason.
The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. Local authorities must use their resources as efficiently as possible and deliver services effectively to ensure the best possible value. Decisions on the level of reserves and how reserves are used, are also rightly the responsibility of individual councils. In light of this, how much of this additional funding local authorities have allocated and to which services is not yet available and similarly how much remains within local authority reserves is not held by the Scottish Government. All of this information will be provided in the annual Local Financial Returns (LFRs) which individual local authorities complete and return to the Scottish Government. The summary of these returns is subsequently published on the Scottish Government's website.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the justification was for purchasing Tesla electric vehicles for the Government Car Service, and for what reason it decided to purchase these over other makes of electric vehicle.
Answer
The Scottish Government is fully committed to the decarbonisation of its vehicle fleet, including vehicles used in the Government Car Service.
The 2019/20 Programme for Government outlined our commitment to phase out the need for all petrol or diesel cars in the public sector fleet by 2025 and for all other new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. Investment in ultra-low emitting and electric vehicles is necessary to meet that commitment.
Prior to procuring any replacement vehicles, evaluations and trials are conducted to identify potential future options for fleet replacement. This approach identifies vehicles that are fit for purpose, meet current and expected future business requirements and ensure that the Scottish Government continues to honour its commitment to decarbonisation.
At the time they were purchased, Tesla Model 3s had been identified as the most suitable fully electric vehicle capable of meeting operational needs. The Scottish Government will continue to investigate available options before purchasing any further vehicles for its vehicle fleet.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what changes it has made in its revised short-term let licensing order in relation to tourist (a) bed and breakfast accommodation and (b) self-catering units.
Answer
Short-term lets can offer people a flexible and cheaper travel option, and have contributed positively to Scotland’s tourism industry and local economies across the country. However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hot spots, high numbers of lets can cause problems for neighbours and make it harder for people to find homes to live in. The Scottish Government considers regulation of short term lets to be vital in balancing the needs and concerns of residents and communities that have been raised with us, alongside wider economic and tourism interests.
The revised draft Licensing Order was published for consultation on 25 June 2021. Table 1 in the consultation paper sets out details of the changes that have been made to the Licensing Order.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will put in place to support off-gas grid homes to decarbonise.
Answer
The Scottish Government, through Home Energy Scotland (HES), already provides free, impartial advice to households both on and off the gas grid on how to decarbonise the energy supply of their homes. This includes a specialist home renewables advice service.
Through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) loan and cashback scheme, we provide interest-free loans of up to £17,500 for renewable measures with an additional 75%, up to £7500 cashback for homeowners to replace fossil fuel heating systems with renewable heating systems.
All households can also access support through the Green Homes Network which allows them to learn from the experience of others who have already installed measures, and the Renewable Installer Finder Tool which helps identify installers and suppliers in their area.
Some owner-occupiers may also be eligible for support via our fully-funded national energy efficiency/fuel poverty scheme - Warmer Homes Scotland – which is providing increasing numbers of renewable heating systems particularly to off-gas grid homes.
These Scottish Government-funded advice and support schemes can be accessed through Home Energy Scotland, run by the Energy Saving Trust.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates it will cost for a typical hard-to-treat off-gas grid home rated between EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) Bands E and G to achieve EPC Band C by 2025.
Answer
Although there is no fixed definition of what a hard to treat home is, we estimate that the average cost of upgrading an off-gas grid property with an initial EPC rating between Band E and Band G to an EPC Band C could be in the region of £17,000.
As set out in our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, the cost for an individual dwelling can differ from this average depending on the building type, materials, existing levels of energy efficiency and type of heating systems being replaced.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the cost to charter the MV Arrow to temporarily cover the Ullapool-Stornoway ferry service.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01651 on
18 August 2021. 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
- Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00982 by Graeme Dey on 8 July 2021, how much of the £5 million budget referred to was spent on the platform extension project at Milngavie railway station; what the total cost was of the platform extension project, and where additional funds were sourced from.
Answer
Of the £5M budget available in FY 20-21, £4.8M was spent on the Milngavie platform works. The total cost of the works was £5.55M. The additional funding was provided by Scottish Ministers through funding allocated to Network Rail in Control Period 6.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many people with an annual income of (a) £20,000 or under, (b) £20,001 to £30,000, (c) £30,001 to £40,000, (d) £40,001 to £50,000, (e) £50,001 to £60,000, (f) £60,001 to £80,000, (g) £80,000 to £100,000 and (h) £100,001 or higher have received renewable and energy efficiency (i) grants and (ii) loans for their homes.
Answer
The figures provided are for the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Loan and Cashback scheme and relate to financial years 2017-18 to 2020/21 inclusive.
The Scottish Government launched the HES Loan scheme in 2017-18, merging the previous HEEPS Loan and Home Renewables Loan schemes. Cashback grants for energy efficiency measures were included from the beginning, and a new cashback offer for renewable/zero emissions heating was made available from October 2020.
Total Recipients of Loans and Grants from 2017-18 to 2020-21
Household Income* Band | Total Recipients of Loans claimed and committed | Total Recipients of Grants (Cashback) claimed and committed |
= £20,000 | 954 | 595 |
£20,001 to £30,000 | 1740 | 951 |
£30,001 to £40,000 | 1151 | 529 |
£40,001 to £50,000 | 856 | 386 |
£50,001 to £60,000 | 486 | 210 |
£60,001 to £80,000 | 370 | 153 |
£80,001 to £100,000 | 117 | 43 |
= £100,001 | 171 | 81 |
Totals | 5845 | 2948** |
*Information supplied by customers themselves
**All grants are provided as cashback on part of a loan, so numbers of customers receiving grants are a subset of numbers receiving loans.
- Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 August 2021
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on talks with the Scottish Green Party on a potential co-operation agreement.
Answer
As I advised Parliament on 26 May, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party committed to exploring opportunities for cooperation and joint working
I am pleased to advise Parliament that the Scottish Government has today published drafts of a joint cooperation agreement and a shared policy programme, Working together to build a greener, fairer, independent Scotland .
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-and-scottish-green-party-cooperation-agreement
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-and-scottish-green-party-shared-policy-programme
Together, these set out our plans for close cooperation and collaboration that will allow us to work together to deliver the bold policies and programmes we need for the challenges we face. We are also determined that this new approach will change the dynamic of our politics for the better and in line with the founding principles of our Parliament.