- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish National Investment Bank will have a collaborative role in the development of any national infrastructure company.
Answer
Although guided by its missions, which are set by Scottish Ministers, and the legislation within the Scottish National Investment Bank Act 2020, the Bank operates independently. So, any potential future investment roles or opportunities would be a matter for the Bank to decide.
Work is ongoing to develop our infrastructure improvement programme. As part of that improvement work we have been engaging across government and, at this stage, with the Scottish Futures Trust to understand some of the issues that have affected previous capital investment projects and how we can best take action to improve delivery, as part of our work to develop options for a national infrastructure company.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what actions it has taken to encourage and support local authorities to systematically assess the implications of using private finance ahead of any new infrastructure projects.
Answer
Local authorities determine their own programmes for capital investment and are required by legislation to comply with The Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities, which was developed by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). The Prudential Code requires local authorities to ensure that all capital investment decisions are prudent, affordable and sustainable.
The Scottish Government have no plans to propose the use of private finance for any new local authority led infrastructure projects. As a government however, we are committed to ensuring that existing private finance contractual obligations are delivered and that contracts are affordable. That is why we have asked the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) to work with public bodies to realise contract management improvements including re-scoping services, sharing in insurance cost savings, and optimising the risk transfer in contracts. SFT have published several guidance notes in relation to operational contract management which are available from their website at the following link www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/operational-ppp
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve documentation and reporting on the use of private finance in infrastructure projects.
Answer
The Scottish Government annually update and publish information relating to Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) contracts which is available from the following link www.gov.scot/npd/pfi .
In addition, the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) have published several guidance notes relating to the operational management of these contracts which are available from their website at the following link www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/operational-ppp
The Scottish Government also has a transparent approach to the delivery of infrastructure projects that reports on the progress of major projects every six months to Parliament. Our major projects reporting shows how projects progress from proposal to detailed design and costing to procurement and subsequent delivery. Our major projects reporting is published and available from the following link www.gov.scot/infrastructure/projects
The NPD model replaced the PFI model in 2010 and although not used for new projects since 2018, NPD improved documentation as unlike PFI, most commercial information in NPD contracts was published two years after the asset was completed rather than the twenty-five years that older PFI contracts envisaged. NPD standard contracts were also more flexible than PFI allowing public bodies to make small changes or use agreed contracted rates to price changes. Further information on NPD contracts is available from the SFT’s website at the following link www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/contracts
The only private finance approach currently available is the Mutual Investment Model (MIM), which will be restricted to deployment by the Scottish Government, its agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies. This route was identified by SFT in response to the request to identify a profit sharing, privately financed infrastructure investment route that could be added to the range of public sector funding and financing routes. SFT published the Options Appraisal on the use of MIM which is available from their website at the following link www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/mim .
The deployment of MIM is currently being explored by the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide the Scottish National Investment Bank with a dispensation to lend to the public sector and issue bonds.
Answer
The Scottish National Investment Bank’s investment portfolio is funded directly by the Scottish Government through the use of Financial Transactions. Financial Transactions (FTs) are loans from HMT with interest and repayable over an agreed period. They must go ‘beyond the public sector boundary’ and are used for by a variety of Scottish Government portfolios, such as Higher Education, Enterprise bodies, Transport, Energy, Housing and Digital, etc. Due to the structure of these transactions, the Bank currently cannot lend to any aspect of the public sector.
There are no immediate plans to alter from the existing model operated by the Bank towards either investing into the public sector or issuing bonds.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of upskirting were received by Police Scotland in the most recent year for which data is available, broken down by the number that (a) were investigated, (b) resulted in prosecution and (c) resulted in conviction.
Answer
The amendment to Section 9 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 provided for offences of 'upskirting' to be prosecuted under subsections (4A) and (4B). The Scottish Government does not hold information on investigations (question (a)). The answer to questions (b) and (c) is provided in the following table.
Please note that the latest available data is for the financial year 2020-21. Data for 2021-22 are expected in Summer 2023 following publication of the 'Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2021-22' statistical bulletin.
Table 1. People prosecuted and convicted in Scottish courts under Section 9(4A) and (4B) of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, where main charge, 2011-12 to 2020-21.
Financial year | People prosecuted | People convicted |
2011-12 | 2 | 2 |
2012-13 | 2 | 2 |
2013-14 | 4 | 4 |
2014-15 | 1 | 1 |
2015-16 | 4 | 4 |
2016-17 | 3 | 3 |
2017-18 | 3 | 3 |
2018-19 | 4 | 4 |
2019-20 | 4 | 4 |
2020-21 | 5 | 4 |
Data for 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and may not be reflective of long term trend.
Source: Criminal Proceedings database
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the current estimated total cost, including design, contract management, construction, legal, and administrative costs, is for the upgrading of the ferry terminal at Uig to allow its use by Hull 802, and what percentage of the total cost will be funded by (a) it and (b) other bodies.
Answer
The works at each of the ports as part of the Skye Triangle Infrastructure Programme (Tarbert, Lochmaddy & Uig) are aimed at replacing life expired infrastructure, improving resilience and increasing the range of vessels that can use the ports. The Uig project is estimated to cost £64million. Our response to the Freedom of Information request: 2022/00297832 published in July 2022 outlined that we have offered a capital funding contribution of up to £38million with the remaining contribution to be met by the Highland Council as statutory harbour authority.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, before an order was placed for Hull 802, whether an alternative option of ordering two smaller vessels to serve on the Uig to Lochmaddy and Uig to Tarbert ferry routes was considered, and, if it was the case, for what reason any such alternative option was rejected, and, if it was not the case, for what reason such an alternative option was not considered.
Answer
The proposal for the procurement of what became vessels 801 and 802 was set out in the Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan (VRDP) Annual Report 2014 vrdp-annual-report-2014.pdf (transport.gov.scot)
The recently published Ferries Plan 2013-2022 had concluded that the level of services then in place on the Uig-Tarbert/Lochmaddy routes met identified community needs. Vessel 802 was earmarked for initial deployment to those services, to bring additional vehicle deck capacity; noting that the deployment plan would be reviewed prior to delivery.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the current estimated total cost, including design, contract management, construction, legal, and administrative costs, is for the upgrading of the ferry terminal at Tarbert to allow its use by Hull 802, and what percentage of the total cost will be funded by (a) it and (b) other bodies.
Answer
The works at each of the ports as part of the Skye Triangle Infrastructure programme (Tarbert, Lochmaddy & Uig) are aimed at replacing life expired infrastructure, improving resilience and increasing the range of vessels that can use the ports. The Tarbert (Harris) project is estimated to cost £23million. Our response to the Freedom of Information Request 2022-00297832 published in July 2022 outlined that we have offered a capital funding contribution of up to £19.599million with the remaining contribution to be met by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) as statutory harbour authority.
- Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government from which existing portfolios it has funded the Family Wellbeing Fund in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
Answer
The Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) requires a collaborative approach. A cross portfolio ministerial group oversees the programme at a high level, whilst Governance is provided by the Programme Board which consists of Directors from across the relevant portfolios as well as key external stakeholders.
WFWF is funded by the Education and Justice portfolio for financial year 2022-23 and will again be funded through this portfolio in the financial year 2023-24 as set out in the Scottish Budget.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government on what date it (a) will publish the results of its survey into an International Culture Strategy, launched on 2 February 2023, and (b) plans to launch the finalised International Culture Strategy.
Answer
We will aim to publish a report on the analysis of consultation responses, along with responses that responders have given their consent to share, within 12 weeks of the survey’s closing date. The survey is due to close on 26 April.
A final publication date for the strategy will be determined by the level of returns we receive to the survey, the analytical requirements of processing them and the drafting process.