Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-28152

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was for each producer of applying for an exemption from the proposed Deposit Return Scheme before it was delayed in June 2023.

The Deposit Return Scheme requires all drinks producers to register with SEPA before their products may be sold in Scotland. There are no exemptions for producers under the scheme. Data on producer registration is held by SEPA.

Producers may choose to register product lines with less than 5000 units placed on the market each year as a ‘Low Volume Product’. Producers of Low Volume Products must still register and report the number of products placed on the market, but products will be exempt from the requirement to apply deposits. There are no legislated costs associated with registering a product line as a low volume product.

Question reference: S6W-28149

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many producers applied for an exemption from the proposed Deposit Return Scheme before it was delayed in June 2023, and what percentage of these producers used glass packaging.

The Deposit Return Scheme requires all drinks producers to register with SEPA before their products may be sold in Scotland. There are no exemptions for producers under the scheme. Data on producer registration is held by SEPA.

As an industry-run scheme, data on individual product lines were held by the private sector scheme administrator.

Producers may choose to register product lines with less than 5000 units placed on the market each year as a ‘Low Volume Product’. Producers of Low Volume Products must still register and report the number of products placed on the market, but products will be exempt from the requirement to apply deposits.

Question reference: S6W-27990

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential impact on its rail freight strategy, what discussions it has had with the UK Government to ensure that any upgrade to rail connections between Wembley and the Channel Tunnel rail freight depot would benefit rail freight transportation from Scotland to continental Europe.

The Scottish Government’s leadership in support for rail freight is outlined in our rail freight strategy and put into practice with significant investment and our first of a kind regulatory growth targets. Benefits for rail freight are included in our rail projects and we will continue to maximise these benefits in our future investment in the rail network in Scotland. Rail connections between Wembley and the Channel Tunnel have not been specifically discussed, but the Scottish Government meets the UK Government regularly to consider how to maximise the potential for rail freight growth and these discussions include the importance of sufficient capacity and power supply for cross-border rail freight services.

Question reference: S6O-03602

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that scheduled care transport provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service is accessible to all patients who need it.

Question reference: S6W-27539

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 28 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations were consulted as part of Transport Scotland’s review of the methodology of community needs assessments on routes in the (a) Clyde and Hebrides and (b) Northern Isles Ferry Services contract.

As part of the Islands Connectivity Plan, Transport Scotland plans to carry out Community Needs Assessments for the islands and peninsulas of the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles Ferry Services. These Community Needs Assessments will identify options for transport connectivity, including the existing ferry services.

A draft of the updated Community Needs Assessment methodology was shared with, and presented to, a group of the following key stakeholders and their feedback was fed into the final version:

Shetland Islands Council.
Orkney Islands Council.
Comhairle nan Eilean Sar.
Argyll and Bute Council.
North Ayrshire Council.
The Highland Council.
Shetland Regional Transport Partnership (ZetTrans).
Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS).
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).
Serco Northlink Ferries.
CalMac Ferries Ltd.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd.
Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS).
Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Ferries Community Board.
Young Islanders Network.

Question reference: S6W-27538

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the community needs assessments carried out on Cowal and Rosneath public ferry routes in the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract.

Question reference: S6W-26817

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is regarding mandatory rotation of Ukrainian refugees around hotels in Fife.

The Scottish Government has welcome accommodation across Scotland. These are managed in partnership with relevant local authorities, who advise on where guests are best placed.

We work collaboratively with local authorities such as Fife to ensure that services are person-centred and delivered in a trauma informed way, and which support effective resettlement.

In the Fife Council area there are three welcome accommodation hotels for displaced people on a temporary basis upon arrival in the country.

On arrival, Fife council will make a needs assessment and will consider the availability of council services to support displaced people in determining which hotel is most suited for presenting individuals or families,

There is no mandatory rotation of guests in Fife, or any other part of the welcome accommodation estate housing displaced people.

However, from time to time as a result of contracting, consolidation, changes in local services provision or when an accommodation provider choses to reduce or discontinue the rooms they offer, local authorities may require guests to move to new accommodation and will look to minimise disruption to guests as much as possible.

The Scottish Government remains committed, alongside our Local Authority partners, to supporting Ukrainians access longer-term, sustainable accommodation while they make Scotland their home.

Question reference: S6O-03312

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the 2024-25 Scottish Budget will have on its targets for reducing child poverty.

Question reference: S6W-26364

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the budget investment allocated for active travel was spent, in each financial year from 2020-21 to 2023-24.

The Active Travel Budget is an allocation set within the overall Transport Budget for Scotland. There has been an annual increase to the Active Travel budget each year from 2020 to 2023. This reflects our commitment to increase walking, cycling, or wheeling for everyday journeys.

Active Travel investments encounter challenges such as planning, geographical issues, and supply chain availability that can result in an underspend or a programme being adjusted midterm. Planning, forecasting, and grant management processes are utilised to mitigate the risk of underspend whenever possible. The Active Travel programme, as with many Government investments, was significantly impacted with restrictions under the COVID19 response, adaptations to projects has to be made to allow for continued delivery, and in some cases work was paused. The breakdown of allocations and spend for the years 2020-21 to 2022-23 is as follows;

Year	Allocated Budget	Allocated from Budget	Spend Achieved
2020-21	£100,500,000.00	£100,500,000.00	£75,145,156.46
2021-22	£116,761,432.82	£116,171,826.69	£88,744,213.02
2022-23	£149,977,000.00	£149,683,003.69	£139,918,607.50

2023-24 as a financial year is not complete. The following is therefore indicative and may adjust once the year end process completes.

Year	Allocated Budget	Allocated from Budget	Spend Forecast
2023-24	£189,210,000	£183,644,079.00	£173,782,079

Question reference: S6W-26366

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation process is in place to assess the spending that was allocated to active travel in each financial year between 2020-21 and 2023-24.

The Active Travel Programme is a collection of interventions aimed at people and place, and Infrastructure investments to develop safe and accessible active travel routes. Each project is subject to a disciplined Governance approach that includes quarterly and annual reporting. It is a condition of each grant that an evaluation for each project is conducted on completion.

All interventions and investments reflect the Active Travel Framework and where related to cycling, the cycling framework for Active Travel. Both are accessible on the Transport Scotland website.

Progress against Active Travel Outcomes are measured and published through a number of sources, these include;

The Walking and Cycling Index (WACI), published at a City level with Local Authorities.
The Cycling Scotland monitoring report, which is published on an annual basis.
The Scottish Household Survey, an annual cross-sectional survey.

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