- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether any resources have been allocated (a) within its Health and Social Care directorate and (b) to NHS boards to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer in children.
Answer
The Scottish Government allocates funding to the Managed Service Network (MSN) for Children and Young People with Cancer on an annual basis for both children and teenagers and young adults services. This funding provides support for administrative and strategic roles within the MSN, and some clinical posts within NHS Boards to ensure that all children and young people in Scotland receive the right diagnosis, aligned with the right treatment, delivered by the right team in the right place.
The MSN works in partnership with charities and third sector organisations to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer in children and young adults. Examples include working with Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group on the Childhood Cancer Diagnosis Study and spearheading the Headsmart campaign with The Brain Tumour Charity.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Japanese government’s reported decision to consider building new nuclear power plants due to the Ukraine war, soaring energy costs, and to meet Japan’s target of going carbon neutral by 2050, will have an impact on Scotland and Scottish Government energy policy-making.
Answer
Japan is a key partner country to Scotland, with numerous shared interests, including renewable energy and the subsea/offshore industry. However, the Scottish Government position on nuclear power is clear – we do not support the building of new nuclear power stations in Scotland under current technologies.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to allow businesses to use red diesel for a set period of time in order to reduce the cost of electricity for them.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not have policy control over the eligibility for rebated fuels, such as red diesel. This is a reserved policy. Changes introduced by the UK Government in April 2022 restricted the eligibility for use of rebated fuels.
An emergency budget review has been announced to assess any and all opportunities to redirect additional resources to those most in need, reduce the burdens on business and stimulate the Scottish economy. More than £4.7 billion in support has been provided to businesses since the beginning of the pandemic, including around £1.6 billion in rates relief.
Ultimately, the Scottish Government believes that all tax powers should be devolved to this parliament so that we can provide the support that Scottish businesses need.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many street lights could presently be retrofitted to include electric vehicle charging points, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many street lights could presently be retrofitted to include electric vehicles charging points broken down by local authority area. Whilst electric vehicle charging technologies exists for such an application, not all street lights will be suitable for a number of reasons including their proximity to the public road.
Supporting those without access to off-street charging will require a range of approaches. We have invested almost £60m to develop a public EV network and this year announced a new £60m EV Infrastructure Fund that aims to double the size of the public charging network in the next few years. We are also taking forward legislation to ensure developers provide electric vehicle charge points in the construction of new residential and non-residential buildings, to increase both the convenience and number of charging opportunities across Scotland.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its £20 million scheme to explore ways of extending the public water networks to households that rely on a private water supply.
Answer
The initial phase of the project is nearly complete. This early work has sought to understand how we identify communities which have been affected by repeated water scarcity events, to establish the proximity to public water mains, to assess the water network capacity and estimate the costs associated with extending the mains to potentially allow those on private water supplies to make a connection. Scottish Water is completing the studies with final results expected soon.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact in Scotland of the £400 energy bill discount.
Answer
The £400 Energy Bills Discount Scheme will provide important relief for consumers. However, the Scottish Government believes that much more action is required at UK Government level to help mitigate the impact of the energy price crisis, especially for those most vulnerable. The First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister ahead of her statement in the House of Commons on 8 September, making it clear that the UK Government must target additional financial support to those most in need, over and above measures already announced. We will continue to argue this case.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will include blood cancer-specific questions as part of the next Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey, and if this is the case, whether any data collected will be broken down by cancer type to facilitate comparison between blood cancers and solid tumour cancers.
Answer
The questions used in the next Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey will be relevant to all cancer patients including those with blood cancer. The data collected will be broken down by cancer type and published as it has been in previous years.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the collection of data from local authorities on park home residential site licences.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09995 on 16 August 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provided for the Young Islanders Challenge for 2021-22.
Answer
The Scottish Government did not allocate any finance for the Young Islanders Challenge in 2021-22. However, £28,500 was allocated to our delivery partner, Youth Scotland, to support the Young Islanders Challenge in 2020-21.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to ensure that bus services are accessible to disabled people.
Answer
The legislation governing disabled access and vehicle construction is reserved to the UK Government. Since 1 January 2020 all coaches, single and double decker buses have had to be fully accessible.
However, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that transport is accessible for all. Scottish Ministers' have made clear their expectations that Scotland's transport providers and public services will continually improve their performance to help disabled people make better journeys. That is why the Scottish Government launched in 2016 Scotland's Accessible Travel Framework, which is shaped by disabled people to improve the overall journey experience and remove the barriers which prevent them travelling. The Framework sets out a 10 year plan in which 48 actions are to be delivered over the 10 year period. These include:
- Scottish Government provided £35,000 to Neatebox who have developed and trialled an app focusing on bus travel for disabled users with the primary focus on wheelchair users who require use of particular designated space when using the bus, and
- In March 2021, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation that extends the National Concessionary Travel Card to eligible disabled children under the age of five, allowing free bus travel to accompanying companion using the National Entitlement Card. This will give around 4,000 eligible disabled children across Scotland access to the same benefits as those aged five and over, helping to reduce household costs for their families.