Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-22782

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for school, college and university trips.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Question reference: S6W-22797

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many consultations it has undertaken in each year since 1999.

There is no single central record of consultations undertaken by the Scottish Government since 1999.

This answer has therefore been compiled from data from the Scottish Government’s online consultation platform – consult.gov.scot - and from a search of archives of the Scottish Government and Scottish Executive websites since 1999.

Whilst these figures therefore only cover official consultations that had a presence on the Scottish Government or Scottish Executive websites, they represent the most accurate available figure for consultation activity during that period. They do not, however, include consultations that did not have an online presence or electronic element.

The numbers provided are based on the closing date of each consultation.

1999 - 18
2000 - 57
2001 - 101
2002 - 121
2003 - 157
2004 - 166
2005 - 79
2006 - 125
2007 - 119
2008 - 154
2009 - 88
2010 - 124
2011 - 91
2012 - 112
2013 - 93
2014 - 79
2015 - 91
2016 - 89
2017 - 102
2018 - 113
2019 - 126
2020 - 70
2021 - 93
2022 - 123
2023 - 61 closed and 26 currently open

Question reference: S6W-22789

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for refugees staying in temporary accommodation in Scotland.

The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill defines overnight accommodation as a room, space, or other accommodation at a type of premises that is provided for residential purposes other than as the individual's only or usual place of residence. Refugees who are staying in overnight accommodation as their only or main residence will therefore not be liable to pay a visitor levy, if a local authority chooses to introduce one. The Bill provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place as it believes are appropriate, informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Question reference: S6W-22781

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for workers and business travellers.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Question reference: S6W-22779

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for people undertaking respite breaks.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Question reference: S6W-22787

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for medical professionals working in Scotland.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Question reference: S6W-22610

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have participated in clinical trials for haematological conditions in each year since 2017.

Data from the NHS Research Scotland Haematology Specialty Group and Cancer Research Network presented in the table below show the number of patients who have been recruited to clinical studies, including clinical trials, for non-malignant and malignant haematology conditions, respectively in each year since 2017.

Year	Non-malignant	Malignant
2017	2103	133
2018	1849	238
2019	1743	187
2020	242	74
2021	214	108
2022	552	138
2023 (complete to 31/10-2023)	613	113

Question reference: S6W-22612

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the number of centres that can provide CAR T-cell therapy.

Following National Services Division (NSD)’s national review of CAR-T services, NHS Scotland Health Board Chief Executives have recently endorsed a regional service model for CAR-T cell therapy to be delivered across three centres within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Grampian and NHS Lothian.

Work is underway to progress establishing the two further centres with an aim for the regional service model to be delivered across all three centres by financial year 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-22792

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been secured for key workers as a result of the £25 million of additional funding that it provided for housing for key workers in rural areas.

The Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund was announced in the First Minister’s Policy Prospectus in April 2023, with further details included in the Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan, published on 13 October 2023.

To date no homes have been secured through funding from the Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund. Local Authorities have been made aware of the demand-led fund and we expect those with rural communities to be considering and developing proposals to access the fund as part of their annual Strategic Housing Investment Plan process.

Question reference: S6W-22785

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to provide for exemption schemes in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill for people resident in the local authority area where a visitor levy is in place.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

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