Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-00307

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to NHS boards that are currently experiencing pressures ahead of winter.

Question reference: S6F-00287

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021

To ask the First Minister what steps are being taken to ensure that women who have endometriosis are diagnosed within a year.

Question reference: S6W-02268

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to close any railway ticket offices, and, if so, which ones.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail and any changes to ticket office provision should follow an appropriate consultation process.

It is worth noting that the last review of ScotRail ticket office opening hours took place around 30 years ago in 1991. Since then how and where people buy tickets has changed hugely, for example through the provision of smart and mobile phone ticketing which many passengers prefer.

Question reference: S6W-02267

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards delivering road equivalent tariff (RET) on the Scrabster-Stromness ferry route, and what the timeframe is for implementing this.

Question reference: S6O-00133

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the legislation on commercial sexual exploitation during the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6O-00129

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to increase capacity on the ferries on the west coast routes.

Question reference: S6W-01794

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 31 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Scottish Land Fund has remained unspent at the end of each of the last five financial years.

The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) has had a budget of £10 million per annum over the last five financial years - being a total of £50m.

The programme is managed so as to achieve an annual outturn figure that is as near as possible to budget in each financial year. Actual spend in any given financial year depends on the date that assets are acquired (as opposed to when funding is approved). The length of time from approval of award to completion of sale and drawdown of funds varies. This means that, at the time an award is made, it is not possible to know with certainty when drawdown will happen, making it very challenging to exactly match actual spend to the annual budget.

The Fund has a two-stage application process. It offers grants of between £2000 and £30,000 at Stage 1 to help with project development, and between £10,000 and £1 million for acquisition at Stage 2. It is demand-led.

To be successful, applicants need to be suitably constituted, geographically-based voluntary/community organisations who can demonstrate that their project will be well managed and financially sustainable. They must show that their proposals:

are supported by the local community
represent value for money and
will achieve more sustainable economic, social and/or environmental development through the ownership of land and/or buildings

Applicants are supported throughout the application process by experienced Scottish Land Fund advisers. The Fund is managed by the National Lottery Community Fund. An independent Committee oversees the SLF and scrutinises applications for funding for acquisition.

Figures for funds unspent in the Scottish Land Fund at the end of each of the last five financial years are as follows:

2016-17 £4,813,355*

2017-18 £0*

2018-19 £1,127,500

2019-20 £12,189

2020-21 £254,336

*Awards made in 2016-17 included a grant of £4.4 million to the North West Mull Community Group for the acquisition of the island of Ulva. This grant was paid out when the transaction settled in June 2017, bringing the outturn for 2017-18 for the Scottish Land Fund to £11,701,431.

Question reference: S6W-01796

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 27 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Scottish Land Fund have been rejected in each of the last five financial years.

The Scottish Land Fund supports urban and rural communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets.

It has a two-stage application process. At Stage 1 groups are asked for basic information about their project and organisation. At Stage 2 groups are asked to complete a full application form for funding for the acquisition of the asset.

At both stages, groups can reapply if they are unsuccessful, so the numbers of 'unsuccessful' applications shown in the table below includes some groups who have applied several times. The 'unsuccessful' category could include multiple applications by the same applicant who may subsequently have submitted a successful application.

The following table sets out figures for applications received and awards made for both stages.

1. Stage 1 Applications received, and awards made

		Applications	Approved	Unsuccessful
Totals 2016-21	2016 17	108	87	21
	2017-18	91	68	23
	2018-19	110	81	29
	2019-20	121	95	26
	2020-21	89	74	15

		519	405	114

2. Stage 2 Applications received, and awards made

		Applications	Awards	Withdrew	Unsuccessful
Totals 2016-21	2016 17	35	32	3	0
	2017-18	40	38	3	2
	2018-19	61	53	1	8
	2019-20	57	46	1	11
	2020-21	71	63	2	8

		264	232	10	29

Question reference: S6W-01795

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been made to the Scottish Land Fund in each of the last five financial years.

The Scottish Land Fund supports urban and rural communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets.

It has a two-stage application process. At Stage 1 groups are asked for basic information about their project and organisation. At Stage 2 groups are asked to complete a full application form for funding for the acquisition of the asset.

The following table sets out figures for applications received for both stages.

1. Stage One Applications received

		Applications
Totals 2016-21	2016 17	108
	2017-18	91
	2018-19	110
	2019-20	121
	2020-21	89

		519

2. Stage 2 Applications received

		Applications
Totals 2016-21	2016 17	35
	2017-18	40
	2018-19	61
	2019-20	57
	2020-21	71

		264

Question reference: S6W-01827

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 24 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of households in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority it estimates will access superfast broadband through its voucher scheme.

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of properties across all 32 Scottish local authorities that are eligible for vouchers through the Reaching 100% (R100) Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) as at 22 July 2021 ( these figures are subject to change, depending on ongoing R100 contract and commercial build ).

We cannot provide a breakdown between residential and SME properties. However, the breakdown does show percentages for both the main voucher ( MVS – worth up to £5,000 ) and the interim voucher ( IVS – worth up to £400 ).

Properties eligible for SBVS - Data as at 22nd July 2021
Local Authority	IVS	IVS % Per LA	MVS	MVS % Per LA	Grand Total	Total Voucher % Per LA
Aberdeen City	5,974	5.3%	2,064	2.2%	8,038	3.8%
Aberdeenshire	13,012	11.5%	10,369	10.9%	23,381	11.2%
Angus	5,668	5.0%	3,148	3.3%	8,816	4.2%
Argyll and Bute	7,319	6.5%	4,860	5.1%	12,179	5.8%
City of Edinburgh	3,025	2.7%	4,456	4.7%	7,481	3.6%
Clackmannanshire	840	0.7%	466	0.5%	1,306	0.6%
Dumfries and Galloway	7,310	6.4%	3,396	3.6%	10,706	5.1%
Dundee City	749	0.7%	808	0.8%	1,557	0.7%
East Ayrshire	2,197	1.9%	1,498	1.6%	3,695	1.8%
East Dunbartonshire	421	0.4%	1,520	1.6%	1,941	0.9%
East Lothian	783	0.7%	1,396	1.5%	2,179	1.0%
East Renfrewshire	345	0.3%	1,401	1.5%	1,746	0.8%
Falkirk	1,532	1.4%	1,491	1.6%	3,023	1.4%
Fife	5,035	4.4%	3,920	4.1%	8,955	4.3%
Glasgow City	1,170	1.0%	10,869	11.4%	12,039	5.8%
Highland	12,866	11.3%	12,787	13.4%	25,653	12.3%
Inverclyde	951	0.8%	405	0.4%	1,356	0.6%
Midlothian	1,053	0.9%	1,504	1.6%	2,557	1.2%
Moray	4,185	3.7%	3,878	4.1%	8,063	3.9%
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	1,892	1.7%	2,201	2.3%	4,093	2.0%
North Ayrshire	2,196	1.9%	1,651	1.7%	3,847	1.8%
North Lanarkshire	1,935	1.7%	1,486	1.6%	3,421	1.6%
Orkney Islands	2,036	1.8%	2,589	2.7%	4,625	2.2%
Perth and Kinross	8,431	7.4%	4,367	4.6%	12,798	6.1%
Renfrewshire	1,995	1.8%	2,024	2.1%	4,019	1.9%
Scottish Borders	6,551	5.8%	2,391	2.5%	8,942	4.3%
Shetland Islands	2,434	2.1%	1,814	1.9%	4,248	2.0%
South Ayrshire	1,138	1.0%	1,013	1.1%	2,151	1.0%
South Lanarkshire	5,095	4.5%	2,372	2.5%	7,467	3.6%
Stirling	3,193	2.8%	1,699	1.8%	4,892	2.3%
West Dunbartonshire	725	0.6%	358	0.4%	1,083	0.5%
West Lothian	1,413	1.2%	1,234	1.3%	2,647	1.3%
Grand Total	113,469		95,435		208,904

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