Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is currently progressing a programme of reform of Scotland’s planning system, including implementation of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019.

The right to appeal certain planning decisions made by local planning authorities is a long-established and important part of the planning system, recently supported by the Scottish Parliament in passing the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. In the vast majority of appeals independent reporters from the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) are appointed to decide the appeal. In all cases the reporter is required by statute to make the final decision on the planning merits of the case, in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The reporter takes full account of submissions made by all parties involved in the appeal, including those made by members of the local community.

Since 1 January 2018 reporters have made the final decision on 8 planning appeals in East Dunbartonshire Council area - refusing the appeal on six occasions and allowing the appeal and granting planning permission on two occasions. One of the proposals granted planning permission was an extension to the Bearsden Golf Club and the other for residential development in Bishopbriggs. In both appeals the reporter found that the proposal conformed with the Development Plan.

Arrangements are being put in place to establish the new Council for Economic Transformation, which will shape and drive our 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation. We have already publicly committed to do this within the our first 100 days and we will update with regard to progress, including how it interacts with other advisory groups such as the Council for Economic Advisers, shortly.

A copy of all local authority returns and an analysis of the returns was published in May 2021. The material was published as part of a Freedom of Information release and the local authority returns and analysis can be found in parts 1 and 2 of the released documentation at: Correspondence relating to counsellors within schools: FOI Release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Network Rails Contractor, SPL, is undertaking on-site activities between Muirhouse South Junction and Busby Junction as part of the East Kilbride / Barrhead Enhancements project. This includes piling and the construction of steelwork foundations to support future electrification.

This demonstrates that positive progress is being made with early construction activities whilst the necessary development work for the complete project is progressed.

Future updates can be sourced via the dedicated project pages in the Scotland’s Railway website:-

https://scotlandsrailway.com/projects/east-kilbride-enhancements

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00514 on 16 June 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

As of 28 May, £3,028,000 has been paid through Exclusive Use and Large Self Catering Grants to 1,434 businesses. Please see the most recent business support management information: Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support management information - 11 June 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . While this figure does not currently allow breakdown of the exclusive use and large self-catering grants, the most recent figures from 30 April, when £2.89 million had been paid though Exclusive Use and Large Self Catering Grants showed that the majority of this sum had been allocated to large self-catering properties £2.69 million, while the remainder went to exclusive use properties £0.2 million). Please see - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Strategic Framework: Business Support Funding Statistics (Tranche 6) and other local authority support schemes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We understand that household meeting restrictions to mitigate transmission risks continue to pose challenges for many businesses across Scotland. The Scottish Government sought to help businesses build greater resilience by making available Restart Grants. On 22 March recipients of support under the Strategic Framework Business Fund received a final 4 week payment, followed by a combined final payment of a further 2 weeks closure support and a one off restart grant. Hospitality and leisure businesses in receipt of the Fund were eligible for grants up to £19,500 based on their rateable value. The restart grant was also awarded to small accommodation providers paying the council tax fund, already registered for support payments under SPA-CTF.

In addition, the Scottish Government will provide 100% rates relief for retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation businesses for entirety of this financial year.

We understand that a proportion of self-catering businesses, which are larger (7+) and rely on multiple households sharing continue to face challenges in trading due to household restrictions. We worked closely with the sector in order to produce tailored grant support for large self-catering businesses and exclusive use properties as well as targeted support for businesses who pay council tax via the small accommodation providers council tax fund. We have engaged regularly with the sector throughout the pandemic to understand operating conditions and to develop support to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. We have regular dialogue with the STA, the ASSC and STERG and will continue to review areas that may need further support on an ongoing basis as we progress through the levels framework, in particular to those sectors which are subject to greater constraint.

Network Rail is on track to meet our innovative growth target for rail freight. Despite the health pandemic, rail freight demand has held up well and 216 new freight trains ran on the network in Scotland in the past 12 months. Supported by Scottish Government and third party investment more new freight services in Scotland are planned in the next 18 months, in addition to new cross border express logistics services. Modal shift to rail will play a key part in decarbonising the overall transport network to meet our ambitious climate change targets.

COVID-19 is first and foremost a public health crisis, and the measures to combat it have been necessary to save lives. But those measures also cause harm, including for our Faith and Belief Communities.

We know that the virus spreads between people and we’re particularly concerned when it spreads between members of different households. Over time, the virus has mutated to spread more quickly. The Delta variant is even more transmissible than previous variants.

In order to reduce transmission of the virus, we have to reduce opportunities for the virus to spread. There have been varying degrees of restrictions implemented and adjusted as the pandemic has progressed and our understanding has developed. Ministers are obliged to keep these restrictions under regular review to ensure that they remain necessary and proportionate in responding to the pandemic, This is particularly important given that many restrictions significantly interfere with fundamental rights as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (e.g. Article 9 - freedom of religion, Article 8 - right to private and family life., Article 2 protocol 1 - right to education, Article 1, protocol 1 – right to property, and to the peaceful enjoyment of possessions – which protects every type of business).

The Scottish Government considers a wide range of evidence when making assessments to inform decisions on restrictions. Details of impacts from economic, general wellbeing, mental health and anxiety and other non-Covid related health harms can be found in the four harms dashboard which is updated weekly and can be found at https://data.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/ . Further information about the Scottish Government’s decision-making framework can be found in the paper published on 11 December 2020: Coronavirus (COVID-19): framework for decision making - assessing the four harms. This paper provides an overview of key analysis and evidence (and links to more detailed evidence) in support of decisions on how best to limit the effects of COVID-19. In this document, we describe how the four harms approach works in practice and present evidence under each of the harms to illustrate how we used the four harms to make decisions about levels, activities and restrictions.

Protective measures, or non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), are a critical tool in the management of the epidemic. Our levels system is a crucial aspect of this and it works by limiting members of different households from interacting in different settings and activities. Decisions must be made about which activities and settings to restrict in order to achieve the required suppression of the virus. When different restrictions would have similar effects on transmission, difficult decisions must be made about which restrictions to apply, informed by the impacts on the four harms of the different options, as well as impacts on particular groups in society, including those with protected characteristics.

We understand that different sectors or interest groups will often want the restrictions that affect them, and their fundamental rights, to be eased more quickly and will perhaps argue that there is little or no evidence of transmission in that particular setting or activity, or that it is less risky than other comparable settings or activities facing lesser restrictions. Although we do take the transmission risk of different settings and activities very much into account, we take a broader view across all four harms in order to make judgements about the sequencing of any easing. As an example, the importance placed on the education and wellbeing of children led to a decision on the opening of schools as a priority.

The easing of restrictions, has to be balanced with the need to keep the virus suppressed. If we opened everything and lifted all restrictions too early, the virus would resurge. Notwithstanding the positive impact of the vaccination programme, this could lead to exponential growth in hospital admissions and serious health harm. So at this stage, with all adults yet to be offered both doses of the vaccine, we still need to keep some restrictions in place.

As the First Minister set out on 1 June, we do have cause for optimism. Emerging evidence is providing us with a firm basis to believe that in the next phase of the pandemic, expected during summer 2021, we will be able to deal with the virus differently and less restrictively. There should be much less need for legal restrictions on different settings and activities and more scope for people to apply personal judgement as the risk of harm from COVID recedes and much greater normality is restored to our lives.

The Scottish Government is reviewing physical distancing including the impact on places of worship, who are subject to physical distancing based capacity, and an announcement expected in the near future. The review will consider the faster spreading Delta variant as well as the effectiveness of the vaccination roll out. Sectoral guidance will be further updated to reflect the outcome of the review, including proposals for as clear a route as possible to the reduction/removal of physical distancing, enabling people and organisations to plan effectively for a full reopening. We continue to regularly engage with Faith and Belief Communities regarding the scope for further easing.

We continually review the financial support that we provide to businesses to ensure that we direct funding to businesses impacted by COVID-19 while recognising that are simply unable to make up for all of the losses incurred by businesses. As part of this process we have provided additional funding to self-catering properties, alongside other accommodation providers in Glasgow and Moray impacted by the decision to retain Tier 3 Restrictions for an additional period in these areas. With no new consequentials made available by the UK Government with which to support businesses we are having to make difficult decisions about which businesses to prioritise for support, particularly those in areas which have experienced recent Covid-19 outbreaks and face continued closure. We will keep making the case to the UK Government for more funding to make additional financial support available to businesses that require further assistance and to transfer the fiscal levers required to enable us to respond fully to the needs of Scottish businesses.