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The Scottish Government has announced £65 million of additional funding support for the culture and events sectors that were impacted by the additional Covid-19 restrictions introduced in December 2021. This is in addition to the £175m of emergency funding provided to the culture, heritage and events since the start of the pandemic.

Eligible events which have previously received support through the Event Industry Support Funds or the Pivotal Event Businesses Fund will receive top-up payments from this funding. Payments have begun to be made and EventScotland is seeking to make these as swiftly as possible.

Creative Scotland’s Freelancers Cancellation Fund closed for applications on 24 January, and the Cancellation fund for Cultural Organisations closed on 2 February. Assessments are ongoing and award payments are already being made. We encourage any organisation that applies to the Creative Scotland Cultural Organisations cancellation fund to use any funding they receive to pay all staff that they employ.

Work is continuing at pace to determine the best way of distributing the remaining funding to support to those event and cultural businesses continuing to experience cancellation or postponements in February and March, or who may have previously not had access to COVID-19 funding support.

The Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme is being delivered through the National Entitlement Card (NEC) in the same way as the long standing Older and Disabled Persons’ Scheme. The Improvement Service is the accountable body for the NEC Scheme. People applying for an NEC or Young Scot NEC are asked to provide proof of person and proof of address.

Young people aged 16 and over apply for the new NEC card themselves, whilst parents, guardians or carers apply on behalf of children aged 5-15 and are required to provide proof that they hold that role in relation to that child. Full details of the acceptable proofs are listed on the NEC website .

In relation to asylum seekers and refugees, the Improvement Service issued updated guidance to local authorities in September 2021. One proof of specific relevance to asylum seekers and refugees is the Application Registration Card (ARC), issued by the Home Office. Under the UK Proof of Age Scheme (PASS), the ARC cannot be used to establish evidence of identification and so cannot be used online to verify parental responsibility of a young person under 16 years. It may however be used when applying offline and in conjunction with other information or evidence available to a council, a school or a dedicated staff member within a Local Authority assigned to help asylum seekers and refugees. This will enable the official to vouch for an applicant or a parent acting on their behalf by considering other information, evidence or context not available to the online application process.

As part of a Transportation Noise Action Plan, five soundproofing barriers were constructed in 2020 at priority areas for noise management. We are currently developing proposals for further barriers where practicable at noise management areas on the network. This includes locations on the M8 such as Riddrie, where the next step is to complete environmental investigations.

Transport Scotland has also engaged extensively with Glasgow City Council’s consultants on proposals to cover the M8 between Junctions 17 and 19. The level difference between the M8 and adjacent roads varies significantly due to the M8 crossing the railway near Charing Cross Station. The Council’s proposal was for a cover to be constructed at the same level as the adjacent roads; however, for the majority of the section there is insufficient headroom. Transport Scotland will continue to participate in discussions regarding this section of the M8, both on the feasibility of proposed solutions and how the desired outcomes would contribute to shared objectives.

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is reserved to the UK Government. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes an estimate of ESA and other income-related benefits every six months, at a UK-wide level only. The latest figures published (covering 2018-2019) show that 94% of the total amount of Income Support or Income-related ESA that could have been claimed was claimed. On 8 July 2021 the DWP published their final update on cases that were potentially affected by underpayments of Employment and Support Allowance on transition from Incapacity Benefit. This information is also at UK-wide level, and shows that the UK Government has paid £613 million to those affected by the move from Incapacity Benefit to ESA.

The Scottish Government has no functions in relation to the Help to Buy ISA

The Scottish Government has engaged extensively with local authorities and with a number of organisations representing the taxi sector including Unite the Union, the App Drivers and Couriers Union, the Scottish Association of Private Hire Operator and the Scottish Taxi Federation. Previously the Scottish Government provided £79.3 million directly to taxi and private hire drivers and operators in response to the pandemic. Further support of up to £28 million was announced on 5 January 2022 from within the £375 million package of funding announced on 21 December 2021, bringing total support for the sector to over £107 million. The Scottish Government is also calling on the UK Government to re-introduce schemes such as the Self-Employment Income Support Grant in order to make further support available. We recognise the pandemic’s impact on the economy and businesses across a wide range of sectors.

We recognise the pandemic’s impact on the economy and businesses across a wide range of sectors. So far, the Scottish Government has provided £79.3 million directly to taxi and private hire drivers and operators in response to the pandemic. Further support of up to £28 million was announced on 5 January 2022 from within the £375 million package of funding announced on 21 December 2021, bringing total support for the sector to over £107 million. The Scottish Government is also calling on the UK Government to re-introduce schemes such as the Self-Employment Income Support Grant in order to make further support available.

The taxi and private-hire sector is one of a number of sectors experiencing labour market challenges arising from the pandemic, and is exacerbated by this being a largely self-employed sector. We are aware that Glasgow City Council, who are the independent licensing authority responsible for administration of the taxi-licensing regime, have held constructive talks with the trade to ascertain how the licensing authority can streamline the licensing process.

The Scottish Government currently offers a number of funding schemes, through Transport Scotland, to support businesses (including taxi owners) make the shift to low and zero-emission vehicles. Applications for these funds can be made through the Energy Saving Trust who administer the schemes on our behalf.

Available support includes:

• the Switched-on Taxi Loan scheme which offers an interest free loan up to £120,000 to enable taxi owners and operators to replace their current vehicle with an eligible ultra-low emission vehicle.
• the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Retrofit Fund for taxi owners operating within LEZs. This provides up to 80% grant funding to replace existing diesel engines to meet the Euro 6 standard for driving within a LEZ. The grant provides up to £10,000 per wheelchair accessible taxi installing re-powering technology, or £5,000 per taxi installing exhaust after-treatment systems.
• the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Support Fund, which is available to eligible microbusinesses and sole traders (including taxi operators), operating within a 20km radius of Scotland’s LEZs. The fund provides a £2,500 grant towards the safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles as an incentive to take older, more polluting vehicles off the road.

We acknowledge that working together is crucial, because we know that Scotland’s world-leading and legally binding net-zero target cannot be met by Government alone and a partnership approach between businesses, local authorities and communities will continue to be required to respond to the climate emergency and improve the air quality within our cities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04301 on 6 December 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