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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-09025

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the deadline for the Local Rail Development Fund in order that current grantees can complete their appraisals.

Question reference: S6W-09016

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07866 by Jenny Gilruth on 3 May 2022, whether it will provide updated figures on how many young people have now received a free bus pass through the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, broken down by local authority, based on the latest information available.

The following table shows the number of cards issued under the Young Persons Scheme (YPS) as at close of business on 20 June 2022, broken down to local authority level. This information includes number of passes collected from the Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile application held by Transport Scotland and data supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data.

Local Authority	No. of cards issued
Aberdeen City	18,603
Aberdeenshire	22,610
Angus Council	5,473
Argyll & Bute	4,413
City of Edinburgh	53,249
Clackmanmanshire	2,216
Comhairie nan Eilean Siar	1,157
Dumfries and Galloway	7,674
Dundee City	16,991
East Ayrshire	13,485
East Dunbartonshire	6,009
East Lothian	9,903
East Renfrewshire	6,687
Falkirk	7,187
Fife	30,811
Glasgow City	45,950
Highland	11,065
Inverclyde	11,615
Midlothian	7,130
Moray	5,613
North Ayrshire	11,911
North Lanarkshire	23,629
Orkney Islands	985
Perth & Kinross	10,319
Renfrewshire	15,296
Scottish Borders	7,987
Shetland Islands	1,894
South Ayrshire	4,747
South Lanarkshire	18,611
Stirling	5,233
West Dunbartonshire	9,313
West Lothian	12,955
Total	410,721

Question reference: S6O-01305

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s call for the closure of unlicensed greyhound racing tracks in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-09020

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has had with the seasonal worker employment sponsor agencies in relation to supporting Ukrainian nationals on seasonal work visas in Scotland to access the Ukraine Extension Scheme.

As immigration is reserved to the UK Government, the Home Office is responsible for the operation of visa schemes and application processing. The Home Office has been supporting approved labour providers for the Seasonal Worker Scheme to complete applications to the Ukraine Extension Scheme on behalf of Ukrainian workers, to process the visas as quickly as possible and monitor the process more effectively. The Scottish Government will continue engaging closely with the Home Office and other partners to ensure that workers displaced by the crisis in Ukraine are able to access the support they need while they are here in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-09019

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the support needs of Ukrainian nationals on seasonal work visas in Scotland following the introduction by the UK Government of the Ukraine Extension Scheme on 3 May 2022.

Agricultural workers from Ukraine are critical in the production of soft fruit and vegetables in Scotland. As a result of the conflict, there are significant concerns about the needs of these workers and JustRight Scotland's new Worker Support Centre, supported by £41,000 from the Scottish Government will provide independent outreach and legal support for seasonal workers in Scotland. The Centre follows models used around the world to offer temporary migrant workers advice and support in times of crisis. In addition, The Scottish Government also funds the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI) which has long-established connections to the wider agricultural community and related support services in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-09021

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any correspondence with the UK Government in relation to providing routes to permanent settlement for Ukrainian nationals who have arrived in Scotland with limited leave to remain, through the Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the Ukraine Extension Scheme.

The UK Government's response to the Ukraine crisis is predicated upon complex, bureaucratic, short-term visas, not humanitarian need. Inordinate time and effort has been required to patch this broken system. Scotland's super-sponsor scheme seeks to do just this. But there remain serious gaps in the UK's schemes even in the short term – in particular routes for vulnerable unaccompanied children and others left out of the existing schemes.

In my regular correspondence, I have pressed the UK government to put people before process. I have been clear that, while many displaced people will want to return to Ukraine when it is safe to do so, the UK should offer sanctuary for as long as is required, and permanently if necessary.

Question reference: S6W-09018

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of Ukrainian nationals on seasonal work visas who are currently resident in Scotland.

Agricultural workers from Ukraine are critical in the production of soft fruit and vegetables in Scotland. The seasonal worker Labour Providers have a contractual and data sharing agreement with the Home Office. Numbers relating to Seasonal Workers are only shared by labour providers with the Home Office as part of this. Following engagement with officials in the Home Office and DEFRA our best assessment of the information available is that there are approximately 500 Ukrainian Nationals on seasonal work visas currently residing in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-09023

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has had with CrossCrountry Trains in relation to the cancellation of services to and from Fife following the introduction of the operator’s new timetable on 15 May 2022.

CrossCountry is a cross-border rail operator responsible to the DfT. Whilst the Scottish Government has not had recent direct correspondence with them we are aware that six Fife station calls were removed as part of a Covid timetable ‘derogation’ process by the DfT.

Transport Scotland officials are in discussion with the DfT and have been advised that no decisions have been made about permanent changes to the timetable.

Question reference: S6W-09026

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to include project proposals from Local Rail Development Fund grantees as part of its consideration of rail infrastructure investment in Control Period 7.

Question reference: S6W-09015

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 20 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when local authorities will receive funding to support the development of Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies.

COSLA leaders and Ministers have now agreed the funding package to support the development of Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) for the 2022-23 financial year. This funding package will be treated as a redetermination of the General Revenue Grant and paid in the last 2 weeks of March 2023. This funding could be used to cover internal resourcing and/or procurement of external technical services. Scottish Government officials have already communicated the agreement of the funding to local authorities and will also provide further guarantees and details via COSLA's official channels in due course .