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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-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-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-31527

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 Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Administrator will be required to support better accessibility of collection points in economically deprived areas.

As set out in the application form for a prospective scheme administrator(s) of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) (p15), published on 22 June 2020, to be approved an applicant must demonstrate how they will meet the collection targets set out in the DRS Regulations. This could include establishing, or supporting the establishment of, additional return points where necessary.

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

Question reference: S5W-31530

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

To ask the Scottish Government what the tonnage capacity for incinerators has been in each year since 2007, and what the projected annual capacity is for the period to 2024.

The following table shows the permitted incineration capacity, which is higher than the actual throughput, for each year since 2007. The total waste incineration capacity includes waste incineration facilities for clinical, municipal, biomass (e.g. wood waste), tyre and poultry litter wastes.

Several potential municipal and biomass facilities with an environmental permit are at different stages of development. Not all permitted facilities will reach financial close and construction. The permitted capacity of municipal waste incineration facilities in the commissioning or construction stages of development is around 0.5 million tonnes. The permitted capacity of waste incineration facilities where construction has not started is 0.8 million tonnes for municipal waste and 42,000 tonnes for biomass.

Permit start (Year)	Total permitted waste incineration capacity (million tonnes)	Biomass permitted incineration capacity (million tonnes)	Municipal waste incineration capacity (million tonnes)
2007	1.1	0.9	0.2
2008	1.1	0.9	0.2
2009	1.1	0.9	0.2
2010	1.1	0.9	0.2
2011	1.4	0.9	0.5
2012	2.0	1.4	0.5
2013	2.0	1.4	0.5
2014	2.2	1.4	0.7
2015	2.4	1.4	0.7
2016	2.8	1.4	1.1
2017	2.8	1.4	1.1
2018	3.0	1.4	1.4
2019	3.6	1.4	1.9
2020	3.9	1.4	2.1

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/ .

Question reference: S5W-31528

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 what extra weighting it will grant to Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Administrator applicants that commit to measures that aim to ensure fairness between SMEs and larger businesses across the retail and production sectors.

As set out in the application form for a prospective scheme administrator(s) of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (p14), published on 22 June 2020, we would expect an applicant to demonstrate how they intend to take into account the needs of all market participants, both large and small.

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

Question reference: S5W-31532

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

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of waste that could have been recycled or recovered by some other means has been recovered via an incinerator in each year since 2007.

It is not possible to determine the percentage of waste that could have been recycled, or recovered by other means, that has been recovered via incineration each year since 2007 as compositional data for mixed residual waste from household and commercial sources is not collected on an annual basis.

Under the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, materials collected for recycling, including plastics, cannot be incinerated; however, mixed residual waste from households and commercial sources may contain recyclable materials.

Question reference: S5W-31529

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

To ask the Scottish Government what the most recent information it has regarding the percentage of (a) household and (b) commercial food waste that is (i) landfilled and (ii) incinerated, and what capacity there is for all waste to be recovered.

The exact percentages requested are not available.

Our Food Waste Reduction Action Plan sets out measures that will drive delivery against our target to reduce food waste by 33% by 2025. The 2013 baseline for this target is estimated to be 987,890 tonnes from all sources.

A waste composition study carried out in 2015 estimated that 23% of the residual household bin was food waste, the equivalent of 330,000 tonnes. Compared with a similar study in 2009, this represented a 21% reduction in the amount of household food waste sent for incineration or landfill.

A detailed breakdown of waste and waste destinations is not available for commercial waste. However, the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, which came into force on 1 January 2014, mean that almost all businesses are required to have separate food waste collections and this will ensure the continued removal of food waste from the commercial residual waste stream. Since their introduction there has been a 40% increase in food waste recycling.

The two primary methods used to treat food waste are anaerobic digestion (AD) and in vessel composting (IVC), SEPA analysis of the AD and IVC sites in Scotland indicate that there is up to 200,000 tonnes of spare capacity to treat food waste at existing facilities.