Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-29459

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what plans it has to upgrade train services.

The Scottish Government is investing in rail services across Scotland, including the rolling programme of electrification. East Kilbride line electrification is now under way and I have recently announced that ScotRail is to procure replacement trains for the current InterCity High Speed Train fleet. The work continues to develop further procurements to replace and renew the ScotRail fleet as it ages

Question reference: S6W-29458

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the Delmore passing loop will be upgraded.

The advantages for capacity and performance of a new rail loop in the Delmore area are recognised. However, the proposal for a passing loop at Delmore does not feature in the Scottish Government’s current investment programme.

Given the extremely challenging financial climate, and following last year's UK Autumn Statement, we have had to take difficult decisions in setting the budget for 2024-25. This affects our ability to fund any projects which do not yet feature in the current investment programme.

A loop at Delmore remains in consideration for future delivery alongside a number of other potentially valuable schemes.

Question reference: S6W-29379

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact in Scotland, what its response is to the most recent report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences.

Earlier this year I met with the UN Special Rapporteur and we welcome publication of the report.

Our strategic approach to challenge demand for prostitution and improve support for those with experience of it, published in February 2024, recognises that prostitution cannot be considered in isolation, and sets out the Scottish Government’s collective approach, working with stakeholders across the wider public and third sector.

Question reference: S6W-28507

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to fulfil the Scottish National Party 2021 manifesto commitment to "legislate to ensure equal rights of succession for women in agriculture, and reform trust law that enables avoidance of legal obligations like the pre-emptive right to buy for tenants".

The Scottish Government is committed to equality in agriculture, which is set out in the Agricultural Reform Route Map and in our 2023-2024 Programme for Government.

In line with the 2023-2024 Programme for Government, we are co-developing a gender strategy for agriculture. The strategy will be developed in partnership with women living and working in agriculture and through a ministerial roundtable with stakeholders. The results of these discussions will inform the development of the strategy and any future legislative needs. We are also continuing to fund training opportunities for women, new entrants, and young farmers as part of increasing business resilience, just transition, and equality of opportunity for all.

We will to bring forward a consultation on how trust law interacts with the pre-emptive right to buy for tenant farmers within the next year. This will draw on the views of the Tenant Farming Advisory Forum.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting everyone living and working in Scottish agriculture and empowering them to play their role in making our Vision for Agriculture a reality.

Question reference: S6W-28407

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) discussions it had, (b) action it took and (c) meetings were held in relation to the decision of the City of Edinburgh Council to defer the planned friendship agreement with the Taiwanese port city, Kaohsiung.

I met the Chinese Consul General Zhang Biao on 12 June at the Consul General’s request. The Consul General raised the prospect of a friendship arrangement between the City of Edinburgh Council and Kaohsiung. I made clear that the Scottish Government could not instruct, nor influence local authority decision making, regardless of the topic or issue and re-iterated that the Scottish Government policy regarding Taiwan had not changed.

The City of Edinburgh Council also approached members of the Edinburgh International Group, which includes the Scottish Government, on 14 June to ask for feedback on a final draft of the paper that was to be considered by the council.

Officials confirmed in their response that this was a decision to be made by the local authority and that this position had been communicated to the Consulate.

Question reference: S6W-28124

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) grants have been awarded to, (b) contracts have been entered into with and (c) payments have been made to Highland Rewilding by (i) it and (ii) any of its agencies; for what purpose any such funding was provided, and what due diligence was undertaken in relation to Highland Rewilding's financial status and ownership structure prior to any such funding being agreed.

The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on the grants, contract and payments made by public bodies. Contracts let by public bodies are held on public record and can be found at Public Contracts Scotland ( www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ )

Highlands Rewilding received a payment of £5,000 plus VAT on 24 February 2023 for their participation in the CivTech 8 cohort Exploration Stage after applying with a solution for CivTech Challenge 8.6. Highlands Rewilding did not progress further than the Exploration Stage and as such only received the Exploration payment of £5,000 plus VAT. This money was not grant funding and was for work carried out during the exploration stage to develop their proposal as per the contract.

Participants are selected for the Exploration Stage after an open procurement process followed by a thorough sift, selection and interview process. There is no specific financial due diligence required at this stage of the process due to the nature of the procurement.

More information on the CivTech process can be found here:

www.civtech.scot/process

More information on the CivTech Challenge 8.6 can be found here:

www.civtech.scot/civtech-8-challenge-6-simplifying-and-enabling-investment-in-scotlands-nature

Highlands Rewilding was offered a grant of £81,517 through the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) for a project entitled Beldorney Pond Creation for Biodiversity and Resilience to Climate Change. The Scottish Government does not hold information on payments made further to that offer, which would be administered by NatureScot.

Further details about the NRF, including eligibility and other criteria for applicants, can be found here: www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/scottish-government-nature-restoration-fund-nrf

Highlands Rewilding was offered a grant of £97,350 through the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) in September 2023, administered by NatureScot, with match funding of £97,350 also provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project is titled Joint Ventures for Scalable Community Benefits from Rewilding. The Scottish Government does not hold information on payments made further to that offer.

Further details about FIRNS, including eligibility and information on successful applications, can be found here: https://www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/firns-facility-investment-ready-nature-scotland

The NRF and FIRNS conform to the conditions for such schemes set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM). The SPFM is issued by Scottish Ministers and provides guidance to the Scottish Government and relevant bodies on the proper handling and reporting of public funds. It covers the relevant statutory, parliamentary and administrative requirements and promotes good practice and high standards of propriety.

Further information on the SPFM can be found here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-public-finance-manual/

Question reference: S6O-03650

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its consideration of the impact of the change in subsidised air service provider between Uist and Stornoway on access to services, including health services, for people with reduced mobility.

Question reference: S6W-27928

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 14 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take regarding reports that UHI Inverness plans to withhold 100% of pay for lecturing staff taking part in action short of strike, including any steps that are being taken to end the ongoing pay dispute, and what its position is on whether any such action by UHI is in line with fair work practices.

Operational decisions on pay, resourcing and staffing matters are for individual colleges; Scottish Ministers have no locus to intervene in these negotiations, however I meet regularly with trade unions and employers, urging both sides to continue to negotiate and reach a settlement.

On 6 February, all colleges, with the exception of New College Lanarkshire, agreed to take forward initial mitigations in the form of pay deductions for staff taking part in ASOS.

In circumstances where deductions are to be made, colleges must ensure employees are reminded in advance of their contractual obligations and advised where taking part in ASOS is considered to be a breach of contract.

EIS-FELA’s own guidance for Members acknowledges that colleges may not accept partial performance and may advise of pay deductions.

Question reference: S6W-26881

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much private finance, which involves paying returns to private investors, was (a) arranged under the support of the private finance pilot and (b) spent on (i) tree planting and (ii) peatland restoration between the launch of the £2 billion private finance pilot on 1 March 2023 and the last day of February 2024; who the private finance providers involved were; how much was invested and on which projects, and whether it considers any finance awarded by any lottery funds to be private finance.

The Nature Investment Partnership (formerly referred to as the Private Finance Pilot) has not yet invested any private finance in to projects on the ground, or delivered any return to investors.

The Partnership is focussed on building the pipeline of projects to enable that investment to flow, and engaging with a range of investors and communities to establish the best fit for each project. NatureScot have published a detailed FAQs page ( Private finance pilot for nature: FAQs | NatureScot ). The first pilot – the Wild Heart Expansion Project - has been established in the South of Scotland and is now engaging with communities and land managers to test the appetite for nature finance and design the potential investment.

We consider lottery funding to be philanthropic funding.

Question reference: S6W-27620

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 31 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will expedite protection of the Gairloch Erradale area of sea, in light of reports of the local community's discovery of a herring egg-laying site.

Protecting our marine environment is vital for both the viability of our marine industries and to halt the loss of biodiversity. Marine protected areas remain a high priority for the Scottish Government and we are putting in place the remaining fisheries management measures required to protect those and other key biodviersity areas. The area where herring spawning recently occurred near Gairloch is mostly within the proposed Port Erradale Priority Marine Feature management area and where bottom contacting mobile fishing gear would be prohibited. Therefore, in light of advice which we have actively sought on the matter from NatureScot, we are prioritising bringing in protection for these priority marine features, as part of the wider package of fisheries management measures for inshore MPAs.

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