- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of non-domestic rates receipts for each of the last five
years, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The non-domestic rates income figures for each year, broken down by local authority, are available in Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics, at https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics . The figures can be found in the respective annual publications, in Table 1.15 for 2016-17 and 2017-18, Table 1.14a for 2018-19 and 2019-20, and Table 2.14 for 2020-21.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has estimated how many retail, hospitality and leisure premises are entitled to 50% relief on non-domestic rates for the first three months of 2022-23.
Answer
At the time of the Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government estimated that up to 30,000 properties would potentially be eligible to claim the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure relief in 2022-23, subject to a business-level cap on the value of relief.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many premises in (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire currently receive relief
through the Small Business Bonus scheme and, of those, how many are
receiving the 100% relief rate.
Answer
The most recent figures, as of 1 June 2021, are available in Table 6 of the Non-Domestic Rates Relief Statistics 2021 publication, at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2021/ .
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the measures that Social Security Scotland has introduced to ensure that assessors (a) understand the specific issues that people with a neurological condition may experience and (b) are able to make accurate assessments about eligibility for Adult Disability Payment for people with neurological conditions.
Answer
We have engaged extensively with people with neurological conditions, and organisations which represent them, throughout the development of Adult Disability Payment. Also, during the process of passing the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, it was decided that private sector health assessments would not take place in the devolved social security system. Social Security Scotland makes entitlement decisions based on the individual’s account of the impact of their disability or condition and other supporting information. This includes information from people’s wider support network, in order to understand the full range of needs someone with a neurological condition has over a period of time.
Social Security Scotland do not carry out any functional examinations because they do not provide reliable information, particularly in relation to neurological conditions as needs can fluctuate over time. Instead, consultations are a conversation between the practitioner and the client, starting from a position of trust.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many organisations have (a) applied for and (b) successfully received funding from its Scotland on Tour fund, and what the total amount of funding allocated was.
Answer
The Scottish Government committed £750,000 to developing the Scotland on Tour Fund in response to the impacts felt by the sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In total, the fund received 270 applications from individual artists, musicians, bands, organisations and independent promoters. These were assessed by a panel of representatives from the music industry, as well as Creative Scotland. Of those, 217 applicants were successful. Work is ongoing throughout the year to convert these successful applications into concerts.
Currently Scotland on Tour is on track to deliver 360 performances and concerts in over 100 venues across Scotland during 2022 and into early 2023.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with GFG Alliance and its representatives in 2022.
Answer
The Scottish Government engages regularly with representatives of the GFG Alliance at official and Ministerial level.
Officials hold quarterly meetings to monitor performance in respect of the Scottish Government guarantee and maintain regular engagement at local and group level on business operations.
Four Ministerial meetings have been held with the GFG Alliance in 2022. These meetings involving the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism & Enterprise took place on 24 January, 18 February, 29 March and 1 April.
The Scottish Government will continue to publish details of all Ministerial engagements via its website (https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/).
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many prisons there are and what percentage of those have dedicated mental health professionals; and how many (a) additional mental health professionals in prisons have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and (b) mental health professionals in total are based in prisons, as of 1 April 2022.
Answer
There are 15 prisons located throughout Scotland, 2 of which are managed privately.
Responsibility for providing prison healthcare was transferred from Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to NHS in 2011, and as such the Scottish Government does not hold data on the mental health workforce.
Data such as the number of staff in post or vacancies is collected on specific job roles but not within specific settings such as prisons.
While the Scottish Government provides funding for recruitment under Action 15, workforce and service planning is conducted by Integration Authorities according to the needs of their populations.
Under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27, 54.4 whole time equivalent (WTE) mental health posts have been recruited to in our prisons.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many A&E departments there are and what percentage of those have dedicated mental health professionals; and how many (a) additional mental health professionals in A&E departments have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and (b) mental health professionals in total are based in A&E departments, as of 1 April 2022.
Answer
There are 91 locations providing A&E services across Scotland. Of these, 30 are classed as Emergency Departments - larger A&E services that typically provide a 24 hour consultant led service.
The requested data on the number of mental health workers in A&E departments is not centrally collected. Data such as the number of staff in post or vacancies is collected for specific mental health professional groups in the NHS, but cannot be broken down by settings such as A&E.
Under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27, an additional 179.2 whole time equivalent mental health posts have been created in A&E departments.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 9 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are being made to enable those with an energy-limiting condition to apply for Adult Disability Payment.
Answer
We have undertaken significant engagement with people who have lived experience of energy limiting conditions and organisations which represent them. Adult Disability Payment has been designed to be inclusive and accessible for people with energy-limiting conditions. Applications can be made through a choice of channels and the questions are relevant to people with fatigue and fluctuating conditions. Social Security Scotland makes entitlement decisions based on the individual’s account of the impact of their disability or condition and other supporting information, including from people’s wider support network. This is particularly helpful for people who may have difficulty accessing a diagnosis or treatment.
Consultations between a client and a health and social care practitioner employed by Social Security Scotland will only be held when necessary. Examinations, such as asking clients to touch their toes, will not be used as they do not provide reliable information, especially in relation to energy-limiting conditions. Social Security Scotland case managers also stringently apply the reliability criteria. This means that entitlement decisions must take into account the full impact fatigue has on individuals when completing activities, including any recovery time needed afterwards.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Clare Haughey on 9 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what regular formal engagement has been established with the private early learning and childcare sector in developing the curriculum for children up to the age of three and other operational matters.
Answer
Regular open and constructive engagement with the early learning and childcare sector continues to be a vital part of our approach to policy development. This includes engagement with the sector representative bodies, and through the Childcare Sector Working Group, which last met on 16 June 2022.
Scottish Government and Education Scotland’s ‘Realising the Ambition – Being Me’, the national practice guidance on supporting young children’s learning, was published in 2020. Private providers contributed to its development via sector representative bodies and through a series of consultation events held across Scotland in order to seek the views of practitioners working in the public, private, third and childminding sectors.