- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether companies contracted under ScotWind development projects are required to recognise collective bargaining arrangements, and, if they are not, whether it will commit to encouraging such companies to implement fair work practices.
Answer
ScotWind leasing is administered by Crown Estate Scotland who have confirmed that all companies that have a ScotWind seabed agreement with Crown Estate Scotland are required to comply with all applicable laws including meeting their obligations under employment legislation. Therefore, if those companies have a statutorily recognised trade union, they would be required to comply with their legal requirements in respect of collective bargaining arrangements.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of wool produced in Scotland is used in (a) Scottish and (b) other UK textile manufacturing.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold any statistical data regarding the proportion of wool produced in Scotland used in Scottish and other UK textile manufacturing.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to streamline funding for textiles projects to avoid any unnecessary duplication between public bodies and agencies.
Answer
Scottish textiles businesses can access a wide range of support through our enterprise agencies, including grants (e.g. Business Innovation and Growth Grants), other funding, advice, help and events.
The Find Business Support webpage, available at https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/ , directs businesses to Scotland's public sector support in a single location.
In addition, the £2m Circular Textiles Fund (CTF), administered by Zero Waste Scotland and backed by the Scottish Government was launched on 24 June 2022. This support is designed to help reduce the environmental impact of textiles and throwaway culture, and to support the development of circular supply chains in Scotland. The CTF provides opportunities for public, private and third-sector organisations of all sizes to develop and deliver solutions to reduce the waste and carbon impacts of all textiles.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when 4G masts in Rackwick and Stronsay in Orkney, as part of the Scottish 4G Infill Programme, will go live.
Answer
Construction of the masts at Rackwick and Stronsay is complete. Both masts are being developed in collaboration with the Home Office’s Emergency Services Network (ESN). 4G service will, ultimately, be provided on these sites by mobile network operator EE. To move these sites to activation requires the Home Office to execute a Change Request as part of their ESN programme. The Scottish Government is aware of a substantial delay in the Home Office enacting this Change Request which is preventing these masts from moving to service activation.
All efforts are being made by the Scottish Government to expedite this issue which, once resolved, will enable a number of masts including Rackwick and Stronsay proceed to activation.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many appeals to the R100 programme have been received from people who live in the North East Scotland region and how this number compares to any received from other areas of Scotland.
Answer
For the purpose of this question, we have defined ‘appeals’ as data disputes in which either members of the public or suppliers registered to the Reaching 100% Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) have contacted us to raise a data dispute – when they believe that the data we hold on a property’s current connection speed and/or potential voucher eligibility is incorrect.
The broadband connectivity status of the 2.8 million properties in Scotland is reported on our online address checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com . This uses data submitted by broadband infrastructure providers through regular updates known as a rolling Open Market Review. The accuracy of this data is wholly dependent on broadband providers submitting accurate data returns.
In 2021, officials received a total of 459 data disputes. In 2022, as of 24 August, officials have received 282 data disputes. These numbers represent a total for the whole of Scotland and, unfortunately, we are unable to break this down by Scottish Parliamentary region.
- Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much agricultural land has been lost in Scotland to house building developments in the last decade.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information relating to the amount of land that has changed from agricultural use to homes.
In our draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) we proposed national planning policy which included that development proposals on prime agricultural land would not be supported except in certain limited circumstances. We will lay a finalised NPF4 in the Scottish Parliament for approval in the autumn.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what approach it is taking to the monitoring of giardiasis, so-called beaver fever, in light of reports of various international examples of the disease negatively impacting public health and tourism.
Answer
We do not routinely monitor for giardiasis in beavers. A 2021 report on health screening of wild beavers found no animals testing positive in Britain for Giardia. However, NatureScot continue to collect beavers reported to have been found dead in the wild or killed as part of licensed control and conduct screening on these carcasses for a range of diseases and pathogens as an ongoing programme of disease surveillance in beavers.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to use an advertising campaign to encourage individual sponsors to house Ukrainian refugees.
Answer
The Scottish Government is extremely thankful for the generosity of all those who have expressed an interest in hosting people displaced by the current conflict.
Scotland is now providing a place of safety to more displaced people per head of population than any other part of the UK. The Scottish Government is providing accommodation that is safe and sustainable whilst people are waiting to be matched suitable longer term accommodation. Significant action is underway to increase the temporary accommodation capacity as well as boost the matching system to maximise the number of people who can be placed with volunteer hosts who have completed the necessary safeguarding checks.
We want Scotland to be a safe, secure home for as long as people need and thank the people of Scotland for their continued offers of support to help us in that aim. Those homes offered are still very much needed. We are keen to see more people in Scotland volunteer as hosts if they think that they can provide a welcoming home for a displaced person or family.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09619 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022, whether it will (a)
compile and (b) require local authorities to compile this information to
establish (i) the progress being made to remediate buildings, and (b) how much
remediation is being conducted (A) with the support of the Scottish Government
and (B) privately.
Answer
As the programme progresses, we will gather information from our Single Building Assessments to compile a register of buildings that have been assessed through the programme. Local Authorities will be asked to provide relevant information.
We are currently working with 7 buildings to finalise assessments ahead of remediation. We have asked developers, as part of the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord, to supply data on work that is being undertaken and privately agreed between residents and developers.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6W-09248 by Shona Robison on 20 July 2022, how many buildings (a) have provided consent and details (i) by and (ii) on or since 20 July 2022 and (b) it requires to provide consent and detail before it will move to the contracting process; what the estimated timescales are for the contracting process; and, when contracting, what it plans to propose as a lead time for surveyors and fire engineers to be on site.
Answer
We have confirmed consent from 26 buildings. We have consent in principle from the homeowners from 29 additional buildings since we invited new buildings into the programme in May 2022. The timescale for the contracting process follows the standard Scottish Government procurement rules. We are aware of the supply chain constraints in this field, which is why are working closely with Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Fire Engineers to ensure an appropriate stream of qualified assessors. Time scales for the completion of Single Building Assessments are driven by the complexity of the building and are agreed as part of the normal contracting process.