Chamber and committees

Tables 1a, 1b, and 1c, have been placed in the Scottish Parliament information Centre under Bib No. 62441. These show the number of properties as at 1 April 2021 subject to the Basic (BPR), Intermediate (IPR), and Higher Property Rates (HPR) respectively, broken down by local authority and property class (data on industry sectors is not available). Property class is a classification used by the Scottish Assessors to describe the type of a property, and may not accurately reflect its use. For example, a property classified as a ‘shop’ may in fact be used to offer financial services. Properties across all bands may be eligible for rates reliefs which may reduce or eliminate their rates liability.

The BPR (49p) is charged on properties with a rateable value up to and including £51,000, the IPR (50.3p) on properties with a rateable value over £51,000 and up to £95,000, and the HPR (51.6p) is charged on properties with a rateable value over £95,000.

Table 2 presents the net amounts (after anticipated reliefs) expected to be raised in 2021-22 through the BPR, levied on all properties, and the additional amounts expected to be raised from the IPR and HPR. Ratepayers who have repaid or have publicly committed to repaying the equivalent of the Retail, Hospitality, Leisure and Aviation (RHLA) relief awarded in 2020-21 are assumed not to apply in 2021-22.

Table 2: Net amounts expected to be raised in 2021-22 through the BPR, IPR and HPR, by property class

Physical distancing has been an important element in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and we recognise that physical distancing has an impact on how businesses are able to operate and has an impact on the profitability of all businesses. The Scottish Government is reviewing physical distancing and an announcement on the outcome of this review will be made in June. We cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review to say what the future of physical distancing will be in coming months, however as with all restrictions we do not intend to have physical distancing for any longer than is necessary to control the virus effectively.

We have provided more than £140 million of additional funding for culture and heritage since the start of the pandemic. The £185 million business support package announced in December 2020 has allowed us to offer more support to the sector in the shape of new funds and further tranches of previous funds, including additional support for grassroots music venues, museums and galleries, and the events sector. Our support includes the £12.5 million Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund (PAVRF), £15 million for a Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund (COVRF) and £6.2 million support for Grassroots Music Venues. We have provided £17 million for creative freelancers, £5.67 million for independent cinemas and £ 4.25 million for youth arts and youth music, as well as £31.5 million for the Events sector. We have also given additional support to some of Scotland’s key theatres. In addition to this specific funding for culture and heritage, businesses in the sector have also received support from the Third Sector Resilience Fund, Pivotal Enterprises Resilience Fund and the Heritage Emergency Fund.

On 11 May the First Minister announced that we will provide additional support for the performing arts sector. This recognises the impact of physical distancing on current activity and the sector’s ability to plan for future activity. The intention is to provide top-ups to previous funds (PAVRF and COVRF) which will be administered by Creative Scotland. Creative Scotland are currently developing these schemes. It is likely that the schemes will open for applications in early June

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo announced its cancellation in 2021 on 18 May as a result of the financial risks involved in delivering an event of such scale without the backing of UK-wide commercial COVID-related insurance for events, which remains a reserved matter. The Scottish Government continues to press the UK Government for an events insurance scheme to allow for the confident recovery of the events sector.

The Scottish Government greatly values the need for adhering to commercial sensitivity on this area of public policy.

All information on supply volumes – except data that is currently published – is commercially sensitive. There was agreement between Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy( BEIS) and the Scottish Government on specific pieces of information that could be published.

See Daily Data under Vaccinations:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/

Total doses allocated and doses delivered are published once weekly. Received = administered data which is published daily.

The definitions of allocated and delivered are included under the published figures and should be included. A key reason for the difference between allocated and delivered volumes is that a proportion of stock is held centrally until it is required at Health Board level.

Hourly rates of pay for Agenda for Change Staff are published online . Bank staff participating in the programme who do not also hold contracts of employment with the host health board are paid at the grade and pay band as specified in their bank contract, relating to the role profile pursuant to which they have been deployed.

The Scottish Government has set sessional rates of £230 and £231 for independent contractors (GPs, dentists, optometrists and pharmacists) taking part in the COVID-19 vaccination programme. These rates, which cover a 3.5 hour session, reflect both the market conditions for hiring these professionals and the roles being filled in the programme.

It was a manifesto commitment of the SNP to create a register of interests for members of the judiciary to improve transparency and trust in the justice system.

Now that the new government is in place, we will start looking at ways this register can be introduced and take forward the work needed to achieve this manifesto commitment.

We have no current plans to provide further support to Nightclubs and Soft Play centres. In October 2020, the first phase of the Business Contingency Fund provided grants of up to £50,000 to eligible Nightclubs and Soft Play centres, depending on the rateable value of the business property. From November they were also eligible for Strategic Framework Business Fund grants every four weeks of either £2000 or £3000, again depending on the rateable value of the business property, and a linked top-up award for retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. Further support was provided through one-off Restart Grant payments in April of up to £19,500.

Currently there is no sectoral prioritisation of workers, other than frontline health and social care workers. We are inviting those of working age in all sectors for vaccination, in line with advice on clinical risk of severe disease and hospitalisation.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority lists represents 99% of the preventable mortality from COVID-19 and throughout the delivery of the vaccination programme. The JCVI advice is that an age-based approach is the best way to quickly protect those who have not yet had the vaccine but who are at increased risk due to occupation or other factors.

The Scottish Government has met its target to offer all of those in JCVI groups 1 to 9 an initial dose of COVID vaccine, with over 99 per cent of those aged over 50 having received their first dose. Those aged over 40 are now in the process of being invited for vaccination. Beyond that we will aim, supplies permitting, to have offered first doses to the entire adult population by end July, rather than September as previously anticipated.

The Scottish Ministerial Code outlines a code of conduct for members of the Scottish Government (the First Minister, Cabinet Secretaries and Law Officers) and junior Scottish Ministers, including on the use of personal social media accounts. No other Scottish Government guidance has been issued to Ministers in this regard.

Further information

The Scottish Ministerial Code outlines a code of conduct for members of the Scottish Government (the First Minister, Cabinet Secretaries and Law Officers) and junior Scottish Ministers.

Section 10 concerns Ministers And The Presentation Of Policy. There is reference here to the use of social media, which states:

10.10 Ministers may retain personal social media accounts (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), provided that any activity on their account is not at variance with their obligations to Parliament or their duty to observe the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility. It is Ministers’ personal responsibility to ensure that social media activity in their name does not breach these requirements or bring the Government into disrepute.

10.11 If Ministers wish to use social media for official policy communications, they should use an appropriate Government account.

The Scottish Ministerial Code can be found online at https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-ministerial-code-2018-edition

Currently 2089 single track kilometres of Scotland’s Railway are electrified. This allows some 75% of Scottish passenger journeys to be made by electric train.

Works to electrify the East Kilbride and Barrhead Routes have commenced, though electrification of these routes will not be completed within 2021. Development work for electrification of the Borders Line and Fife Circle routes is also underway.

The Scottish Government supports the development of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) as a common whole-system decarbonisation infrastructure with the flexibility to adapt over time to play a central role across the decarbonisation strategies of key sectors such as heat, industry and power. A proven technology, there are more than 50 CCUS facilities worldwide, with an estimated combined capture capacity of 96 million tonnes of CO2 per annum.

The Committee on Climate Change describes CCUS as a “necessity, not an option” to achieve net-zero emissions; indeed, the swift development of CCUS as a cornerstone of our energy transition is vital to achieving Scotland’s net zero emissions reduction targets.

Scotland is the most cost-effective place to begin CCUS in the UK, with existing oil and gas infrastructure available to repurpose for CO2 transport and storage. The development of CCUS could offer a range of transition opportunities for Scottish oil and gas firms and domestic supply chain companies.

We are already supporting efforts to deploy CCUS in Scotland, including through our Emerging Energy Technologies Fund, which will provide £80m over the next five years to support the development of CCUS and negative-emissions technologies. We have also provided funding and policy support to the Acorn CCS project in Aberdeenshire, considered the most advanced CCS project in the UK.