Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government offers a range of initiatives delivered through the Energy Savings Trust (EST) to support low income households in Scotland, this will ensure all households are able to enjoy the benefits that come with making the switch to electric vehicles. More detail on these initiatives is as follows:

Plugged-in Communities (PiC)

This grant programme is aimed at housing associations, housing cooperatives and not-for-profit organisations, it aims to provide access to Electric Vehicles (EV’s) and the associated infrastructure to low-income communities across Scotland in the form of shared-use EV car clubs. To date these vehicles have covered over 100,000 pure EV miles.

Low Carbon Transport Loan (LCTL)

In September 2020, the loan was extended to offer interest free funding to individuals looking to purchase used EV’s, this removed some of the barriers attributed to the high up front cost of EV ownership, so far we have supported more than 96 individuals purchase used EV’s to a value of over £1.2m

Low Emission Zone (LEZ) support fund

For 2021-2022, £3.7m has been allocated to the LEZ support fund, this offers an incentive for low-income households within a 20km radius of a LEZ to take older, more polluting vehicles off the road, applicants can receive a cash grant of £2000 plus up to £1000 ‘travel better’ credits per household to support the uptake of sustainable travel options.

Chargeplace Scotland (CPS) network

To date we have invested over £45m in developing the CPS network for EV charging, we now have over 1700 charge points across Scotland which offers significant cost saving benefits to its users. This also ensures that households and communities across Scotland are able to enjoy a high quality charging network to support their switch to electric vehicles.

Public Transport

Bus is already one of the most climate-friendly transport choices people can make. Transitioning buses to be zero-emission increases the benefits of bus as a transport choice.

Over 2020-2021 we awarded £50.7m, and unlocked over £71m of private investment, to support 272 new battery-battery buses and associated charging infrastructure, we have also committed a further £120m to build on this progress over the coming 5 years.

Significant grant funding of over £12m has been awarded to the bus industry to help with the costs of retrofitting over 700 buses to LEZ entry standards. This will help support the affordability and accessibility of public transport for many lower income households by safeguarding bus service provision in LEZ cities.

Open with Care: supporting meaningful contact in care homes was published on 24 February and sets out how indoor and outdoor contact should gradually increase while minimising COVID-19 risks to residents, staff and visitors. We have been providing testing kits to care homes to facilitate visitor testing and the guidance sets out how visitors may be supported in being tested and that providers provide testing facilities for indoor visiting. We are currently reviewing whether the roll out of community testing now makes it possible for visitors to test prior to their visit to care homes, subject to care homes discretion.

The guidance recommends that the frequency and duration of meaningful contact should be maximised where possible. The guidance does not stipulate that visits should be restricted to 30 minutes but recommends that the frequency and duration of meaningful contact should be maximised where possible. Care homes can access advice and support from local oversight partners when considering relaxations to visits to ensure everything is safe and suitable for all.

As detailed in my Answer to Question S6W-00352 on 10 June 2021, the Open With Care National Oversight Group is monitoring implementation of the guidance, identifying any additional support that might be required, and will report on progress in due course.

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

There is no specific allocation within consequentials arising from support for large self-catering though we have ensured that they have received financial support via the Strategic Framework Business Fund, and Business Restart Grants as well as a tailored package of support to help mitigate against the impact of the single household restrictions via the large self-catering and exclusive use support funds. This is in addition to the 100% Business Rates Relief that we have provided for all businesses in the Hospitality, Retail and Leisure Sectors for both the 20/21 and 21/22 Financial Years. We also ensured businesses not on the NDR roll were eligible for equivalent Strategic Framework Business Fund support via the small accommodation providers council tax fund (SAP-CT).

The Council of Economic Advisers has met virtually on a number of occasions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members calls with officials took place on 8 June 2020, 1 September 2020 and 11 December 2020. A full meeting was held on 29 October 2020 with the attendance of the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance. A further full meeting of the Council was held on 4 March 2021, with the attendance of the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture. Minutes of these meetings will be published on the Scottish Government website.

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.

Ben Macpherson MSP, as Minister for Rural Affairs and Natural Environment, met with the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTTNPA) via Microsoft Teams on 17 February 2021. This was a meeting with the Convener (James Stuart) and Chief Executive Officer (Gordon Watson) of the LLTTNPA. The agenda covered; LLTTNPA’s background to strategic priorities, green recovery and the park authority’s future plans.

As part of this Government’s manifesto commitment, all NHS dental charges will be removed in the lifetime of this Parliament.

Currently, those in the most financial need receive their NHS dental treatment free of charge, whilst those on a low income may be entitled to help with health costs under the Low Income Scheme (LIS).

We have a record number of people registered with a NHS dentist, more than 95% of the population of Scotland.

We intend to build on this success story which is why as part of this Government’s Manifesto Commitment, all NHS dental charges will be removed in the lifetime of this Parliament.

A public consultation into the advertising and promotion of Nicotine Vapour Products (NVPs) will begin this Autumn. The consultation was postponed due to the pandemic and will cover views on potentially introducing Scotland wide restrictions on the advertising, promotion, brandsharing and sponsorship of these products.

The construction of the A77 Maybole Bypass project is progressing well and is anticipated to be complete in winter 2021 as confirmed in the Infrastructure Investment Plan update published in December 2020.

This date is subject to any further impacts of the pandemic and unforeseen circumstances such as the effects of exceptional weather.

The availability and reliability of broadband by each mode of public transport is summarised in the following table:-