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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: S5W-31673

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31438 by Fiona Hyslop on 3 September 2020, how many awards from the culture and heritage support package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been allocated in each local authority area toward each of the 13 purposes set out in the response, also broken down by the (a) largest, (b) smallest and (c) average size of award.

The funding for the purposes set out in my answer to question S5W-31438 is mostly being distributed through open funds which have been recently, are currently, or will soon be, open for applications.

£2.5 million from the £97 million was added to our £10 million Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund. On 5th August, Creative Scotland announced how the first £7.5 million of this Fund would be allocated to performing arts venues in Scotland already in receipt of its Regular Funding. The full list of awards is available on Creative Scotland’s website.

Funding was provided to 20 institutions in twelve of Scotland’s 32 local authorities. The largest awards were for £750,000, received by Aberdeen Performing Arts in Aberdeen, Eden Court Theatre and Cinema in Highland, and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company in Edinburgh. The smallest award was £75,400 to Platform (Glasgow East Arts Company) in Glasgow. The average award was just under £373,000. Decisions on the remaining £5 million in the Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund are due to be made by 24th September.

The £6 million Events Industry Support Fund which is part of the £10 million support for event organisers and their supply chains, closed to applications on 14th September. VisitScotland is currently assessing applications. Details on further funding support for the events sector will be available shortly.

The Grassroots Music Venue Stabilisation Fund was announced on 10th July. The deadline for applications was the 3rd September and the assessment panel was due to meet on 18th September to consider the applications. Applicants will be notified of decisions on the 22nd September.

Funding for Historic Environment Scotland including the £5.9 million to secure committed grants to heritage organisations, and the National Trust for Scotland will deliver benefits across Scotland. It is not possible to provide specific allocations for each local authority area.

The £270,000 awarded to the New Lanark Trust to help secure the future of the New Lanark World Heritage Site is targeted funding within the South Lanarkshire Council local authority area.

Question reference: S5W-31771

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement measures will be applied to ensure that producers that do not currently use barcodes for drinks containers adopt them for use in the deposit return scheme (DRS).

Identification and adoption of appropriate measures to identify scheme articles as part of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which could include use of a barcode, will be a decision for the businesses with responsibility for implementation of the scheme, including any scheme administrator(s). Accordingly, the DRS Regulations do not mandate that scheme articles carry a barcode nor do they create any powers to enforce use of a barcode.

Question reference: S5W-31772

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how non-refillable drinks cans, known as crowlers, will be treated under the deposit return scheme (DRS).

Question reference: S5W-31773

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how producers will be able to register products in the deposit return scheme (DRS) that have no barcodes.

The Deposit and Return Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2020 require registered producers to submit relevant information to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to support identification of scheme articles; this could include, but is not limited to, any unique codes or marks such as a barcode. SEPA is currently working with industry to design a registration process that will ensure all relevant information is captured.

Question reference: S5W-31624

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Logan Review, at what level the inter-city rail price threshold is between each of Scotland’s cities, and whether its commitment to reduce inter-city journey pricing applies to those specific thresholds, or a Scotland-wide threshold.

Question reference: S5W-31625

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Logan Review, whether (a) price controls and (b) rail operator subsidies are being considered as mechanisms to reduce inter-city rail journey pricing.

Question reference: S5W-31623

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Logan Review, whether its commitment to reduce inter-city rail journey pricing will benefit all travellers or only those working in target sectors.

Question reference: S5W-31644

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 17 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding extending the period after which taxi vehicles are required to be replaced, in light of the reported increased financial impact of COVID-19 on taxi operators.

The Scottish Government would expect independent licensing authorities to take a pragmatic and sensitive approach to licence holders during the challenges of Covid-19. It is however a matter entirely for licensing authorities to decide whether to set vehicle age limit restrictions on taxis operating within their local area and if so, what those age limits should be. Where a licensing authority does consider it appropriate to adjust their policies in this area, the Scottish Government would be supportive of any such steps where that is justified through local circumstances.

Question reference: S5O-04611

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the impact of COVID-19 on the attainment gap.

Question reference: S5W-31526

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether payment of the national living wage will be a requirement of all Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Administrator applicants.

Any scheme administrator(s) of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme will be required to comply with all relevant legal obligations, including in relation to pay and employment rights. Through our flagship Fair Work First policy, we are asking employers to go beyond their statutory duties and would strongly encourage any scheme administrator(s) to commit to Fair Work practices, including payment of the real Living Wage. The application form for a prospective scheme administrator(s), published on 22 June 2020, provides an opportunity for the applicant to do so, although the decision whether to approve or refuse an application will be based on the criteria set out in the DRS Regulations.

The application form is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-
scheme-administration-form-and-template/ .