- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10494 by Roseanna Cunningham on 15 August 2017, which of the 42 formal flood protection schemes or engineering works have been completed, broken down by (a) the number of properties being protected, (b) the completion date and (c) the (i) initial forecast and (ii) final cost of each.
Answer
The following formal flood protection schemes are complete.
Scheme | (a) Properties Protected | (b) Completion Date | (c)(i) Initial Cost (£ million) (1) | (c) (ii) Estimated Final Cost (£ million) (2) |
Huntly | 63 | 2017 | 4.9 | 3.8 |
Newmill | 18 | 2017 | 1.9 | 1.8 |
Dundee | 200 | 2018 | 6.2 | 6.9 |
Kirkwall | 750 | 2018 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
White Cart Water Phase 3 | 100 | 2019 | 5.9 | 7.2 |
Camlachie Burn | 410 | 2019 | 1.2 | 1.7 |
Smithton and Culloden | 129 | 2021 | 15.2 | 13.0 |
Bouvrie Burn | Not held | 2020 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Broxburn (Liggat Syke) Phase 1 | Not held | P1 2019 | Not held | Not held |
New Cumnock Phase 1 Complete Phase 2 Under construction | 95 | P1 2018 P2 July 2022 | 3.3 | 7.3 |
(1) Note: Initial costs as provided by local authorities in 2016-17.
(2) Note: Final Scheme costs are the latest estimates provided by local authorities. Differences between these latest estimates and initial cost estimates arise because flood protection schemes are put forward for prioritisation at various stages of their development to fit with Flood Risk Management Planning cycle set out in the FRM Act. Costs are revised over time as designs are finalised and more detailed investigations are carried out (e.g. site investigation, utility investigation, hydraulic modelling), and as new information emerges (e.g. new flood mapping, climate projections, new source of risk, landownership challenges). Outcomes from community engagement and changes to price and supply of materials may also require revisions to cost estimates.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ash Regan on 23 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, during court proceedings on (a) divorce and (b) child custody or arrangement cases, whether one party can be punished for making false accusations about the other party, and, if not, whether it will review existing legislation to enforce punishment should any accusation be found to be false.
Answer
The Scottish Government is not able to provide legal advice. However, the making of a false statement on oath may involve the common law offence of perjury or a contravention of a statutory offence under section 44 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 .
Conducting proceedings in a manner amounting to an abuse of process may also involve contempt of court and result in the person responsible incurring a penalty. There is provision on penalties for contempt of court in section 15 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
The Scottish Government does not intend to review existing legislation in this area at the present time.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Water will provide compensation for customers who were without supply as a consequence of Storm Arwen.
Answer
Storm Arwen was one of the most significant weather events we have experienced in decades and, unfortunately, the impact of Storm Arwen on Scottish Water’s infrastructure was very significant and widespread due to the loss of normal power supply to a substantial number of their sites as well as challenging conditions which caused delays and difficulty accessing some areas. Scottish Water worked round the clock to prepare for the storm, to restore water supplies and to support customers impacted by the storm.
Scottish Water has confirmed that they have issued apology letters, which include an offer of compensation, to those customers who had their water supply interrupted for greater than 24 hours. The payments being offered vary depending on how long a property was without water. They have also asked for feedback from these customers on the service provided during storm Arwen with a view to learning from this event and supporting future emergency responses.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it will place oil and gas workers returning from Angola, who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have a negative PCR test, on the quarantine exemption list, in line with the rest of the UK, and whether it will do this in time for the Christmas holiday season.
Answer
The COVID(O) committee met on 14 December (attended by myself, and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer) and all 4 nations agreed to remove all 11 nations (including Angola) from the red list. This came into effect from 0400 on Wednesday, 15 December. Thus there is no requirement for an exemption being arranged
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government which (a) companies and (b) sectors have taken on the largest numbers of modern apprentices in each month since April 2019.
Answer
Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has operational responsibility for our Modern Apprenticeship (MA) programme. Official MA statistics are published quarterly by SDS, including the number of starts, however a breakdown by month is not available.
The total number of MAs recruited by each occupational grouping is published at the end of each year, as recruitment of apprentices is carried out throughout the year. The MA 202-/22 Q4 (Year End) statistics are expected to be published in May 2022.
There are a large number of Small and Medium Enterprise businesses who take on smaller numbers of cohorts each year. The table below shows the top three employers who have recruited the largest number of MAs each year since 2019 and the volume of MA starts each year:
2019-20 | 2020-21 | Q2 2021-22 |
Arnold Clark – 402 | KFC – 154 | KFC - 159 |
Asda Stores – 219 | BT – 102 | BT - 141 |
BT - 214 | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service - 85 | City of Edinburgh Council - 134 |
The top two occupational groupings over the last three years have consistently been Construction and Sport, Health and Social Care. Prior to the pandemic, Hospitality & Tourism had the third highest level of starts but this has been overtaken by IT & Other Services.
The MA quarterly starts numbers are cumulative, the Q4 statistics are year-end. The tables below show MA starts each quarter since 2019, broken down by occupational grouping:
Occupational Groupings | 2019-20 Q1 | 2019-20 Q2 | 2019-20 Q3 | 2019-20 Q4 |
Administration & Related | 236 | 714 | 1170 | 1558 |
Animal Care, Land & Water Based | 11 | 101 | 197 | 238 |
Automotive | 92 | 613 | 925 | 1159 |
Chemicals & Biotechnology Related | 6 | 10 | 30 | 31 |
Construction & Related | 691 | 3737 | 5221 | 6417 |
Creative & Cultural Skills | 15 | 75 | 101 | 161 |
Engineering & Energy Related | 61 | 1031 | 1463 | 1604 |
Financial Services | 114 | 347 | 521 | 663 |
Food & Drink | 280 | 574 | 927 | 1217 |
Hospitality & Tourism | 472 | 1077 | 1692 | 2388 |
Management | 133 | 276 | 457 | 723 |
Other Manufacture | 29 | 62 | 97 | 152 |
IT & Other Services | 442 | 1038 | 1684 | 2352 |
Personal Services | 83 | 242 | 416 | 606 |
Retail & Customer Service | 369 | 819 | 1325 | 1708 |
Sport, Health & Social Care | 1031 | 2387 | 3994 | 5446 |
Transport & Logistics | 271 | 616 | 1020 | 1452 |
| | | Annual Total | 27875 |
Occupational Groupings | 2020-21 Q1 | 2020-21 Q2 | 2020-21 Q3 | 2020-21 Q4 |
Administration & Related | 28 | 93 | 253 | 581 |
Animal Care, Land & Water Based | * | 16 | 62 | 164 |
Automotive | * | 51 | 260 | 510 |
Chemicals & Biotechnology Related | - | - | 19 | 41 |
Construction & Related | 236 | 843 | 3057 | 5033 |
Creative & Cultural Skills | * | 8 | 17 | 52 |
Engineering & Energy Related | 5 | 215 | 733 | 1074 |
Financial Services | 32 | 82 | 147 | 268 |
Food & Drink | 6 | 208 | 472 | 846 |
Hospitality & Tourism | 5 | 176 | 633 | 904 |
Management | 27 | 121 | 303 | 531 |
Other Manufacture | * | 5 | 19 | 74 |
IT & Other Services | 319 | 629 | 1028 | 1783 |
Personal Services | - | 50 | 195 | 284 |
Retail & Customer Service | 7 | 69 | 288 | 520 |
Sport, Health & Social Care | 224 | 934 | 2584 | 4880 |
Transport & Logistics | 14 | 133 | 534 | 1110 |
| | | Annual Total | 18655 |
Occupational Groupings | 2021/22 Q1 | 2021/22 Q2 |
Administration & Related | 133 | 416 |
Animal Care, Land & Water Based | 14 | 85 |
Automotive | 51 | 351 |
Chemicals & Biotechnology Related | 6 | 18 |
Construction & Related | 675 | 2702 |
Creative & Cultural Skills | 7 | 24 |
Engineering & Energy Related | 48 | 748 |
Financial Services | 42 | 168 |
Food & Drink | 145 | 445 |
Hospitality & Tourism | 202 | 572 |
Management | 91 | 237 |
Other Manufacture | 16 | 52 |
IT & Other Services | 568 | 1524 |
Personal Services | 114 | 311 |
Retail & Customer Service | 183 | 396 |
Sport, Health & Social Care | 786 | 2237 |
Transport & Logistics | 309 | 773 |
Multiple Occupational Groups | 12 | 45 |
| Total at end of Q2 2021-22 | 11104 |
(Note: Starts have been marked with “*” where figures are less than 5 or where such small numbers can be identified through differencing.)
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04030 by Graeme Dey on 17 November 2021, whether it will provide the data that is illustrated in the regular feedback from Border Force that “has suggested that Scotland sees a higher number of seafarers travelling in and out of the country compared to other parts of the UK.”
Answer
Detailed data on the use of exemptions at a UK level is held by the Home Office and we are therefore unable to publically share this for other parts of the UK. However, we are able to confirm that in Scotland in the period between 26 November - 13 December there were a total of 217 people entering managed isolation after arriving from a red list country. In that same period, 123 seafarers have come to Scotland from red list countries using the seafarer exemption. This is a disproportionate number of travellers compared to the total entering managed isolation, which they are exempt from thanks to the sectoral exemption.
We continue to review our international travel restrictions and associated exemptions and health measures and will consider appropriate changes where clinical and scientific advice allow it. With the recent removal of the countries from the red list, we expect the vast majority of seafarers to be covered under the inbound vaccinated traveller scheme for the purposes of travel to Scotland for non-work related purposes.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33611 by Mairi Gougeon on 4 December 2020, whether it will provide the information for (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22 to date regarding the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953.
Answer
Information on the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 is provided in the following table.
Table 1. Offences of Protection of livestock from dogs, by local authority, 2012-13 to November 2021.
| 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | April-Nov 2021* |
Aberdeen City | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Aberdeenshire | 24 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 16 | 21 | 20 | 14 | 11 | 6 |
Angus | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Argyll & Bute | 11 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 8 |
Clackmannanshire | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 5 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 21 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 16 |
Dundee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
East Ayrshire | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 |
East Dunbartonshire | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
East Lothian | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
East Renfrewshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Edinburgh City | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
Falkirk | 8 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Fife | 9 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 2 |
Glasgow City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Highland | 15 | 10 | 15 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 16 | 8 |
Inverclyde | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Midlothian | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 2 |
Moray | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 2 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 7 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
North Ayrshire | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
North Lanarkshire | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 2 |
Orkney Islands | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Perth & Kinross | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 |
Renfrewshire | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Scottish Borders | 4 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 19 | 13 | 9 |
Shetland Islands | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
South Ayrshire | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
South Lanarkshire | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 2 |
Stirling | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
West Dunbartonshire | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
West Lothian | 3 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
Scotland | 125 | 98 | 109 | 174 | 175 | 170 | 168 | 151 | 163 | 103 |
Note:
* Data for 2012-13 to 2020-21 inclusive is sourced from the annual Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics. Data for April to November 2021 does not cover a full year and is sourced from monthly Recorded Crime in Scotland Official Statistics, and is therefore not directly comparable. The full 2021-22 reporting year will be published in 2022.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many inspections of care homes for adults have been carried out by the Care Inspectorate in each year since 2017, and how many of these were return inspections.
Answer
The relevant data is provided in the following table.
Summary of inspections completed in Care Homes for Adults since 2014-15 up to Q2 2021-22 (April 21- Sep21)
| Inspection year |
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 (Apr 21 - Sep21) |
Total number of inspections completed in Care Homes for Adults | 1372 | 1286 | 1250 | 1129 | 812 | 419 |
'Return inspections' in care homes for adults (i.e. number of second and subsequent inspections carried out) | 242 | 186 | 166 | 84 | 268 | 147 |
Source data: end of year inspection data files 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17. 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 30 September 2021 inspections completed files
Note: the return inspections are a subset of the total number of inspections completed, not in addition to the total number.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 13 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable for introducing Anne’s Law is.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to strengthening residents’ rights in adult care homes through the introduction of ‘Anne’s Law’. This will give people who live in adult care homes the right to see and spend time with those who are important to them. Our public consultations on Anne’s Law and the strengthening of health and social care standards closed in early November 2021. We have received a considerable number of responses which will be used to inform work to implement Anne’s Law. It is important that we carefully consider the views from the public and stakeholders that took the time to submit a response to our consultations. We intend, where permission has been given, to publish the consultation responses and a report summarising the consultation responses to Anne’s Law and the strengthening of health and social care standards will be published in early 2022.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2021
To ask the Scottish Government by what date children between the ages of 12 and 17 will be offered a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Answer
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that all children and young people aged 12 to 17 years will be offered a second dose of the vaccine from 8 to 12 weeks after their first dose.
As of 30 November, those aged 16 and 17 are able to schedule second appointments using the booking portal on NHS Inform, phoning the national vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013, or attending a drop-in clinic.
More information about second doses for young people aged 12 to 15 years will be available soon, and the JCVI has advised that a second dose for young people aged 12 to 15 years is advised no sooner than 12 weeks after the first dose.
However children and young people aged 12 to 17 who are at increased risk from coronavirus will be offered 2 doses of the vaccine, given 8 weeks apart. This includes those who are at increased risk from coronavirus due to underlying health conditions, live with someone with a severely weakened immune system, or are aged 16 or 17 years who are an unpaid carer or a frontline health or social care worker.
Some children and young people in these groups are eligible for a third primary dose and/or a booster dose.
Further information about second doses for children and young adults can be viewed at NHS Scotland at: Vaccinating children and young people aged 12 to 17 years | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .