- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether any Scottish Ministers have ever had meetings with Uber and, if this is the case, what the purpose of any such meetings was, whether any notes were taken at the meetings, and, if this is the case, whether it will place copies of any such notes in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).
Answer
There have been no meetings between Scottish Government Ministers and Uber in the current parliamentary term. The former Minister for Transport and Islands, Mr Yousaf, met with Uber on two occasions on 20 April and 10 October 2017. Topics discussed included congestion, licensing, car-pooling, electric vehicles, and rural accessibility.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported decision by the Welsh Government to provide additional funding to
support the recovery of the bus industry in Wales, which will run until April
2023, whether it will consider similar action in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to provide financial support for bus services to keep services more extensive, and fares more affordable than would otherwise be the case. On 1 April 2022, the Network Support Grant was introduced, with up to £93.5 million allocated for 2022-23 and an additional £25.7 million is being provided to extend the Network Support Grant Plus until October of this year. The Scottish Government continues to engage with bus operators and local government to keep support under review.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the (a) use and (b) control of public subsidy in Scotland.
Answer
Scottish Government has engaged regularly with UK Government at official and ministerial level on the new subsidy control regime. Officials have participated in all engagement sessions, continuing to provide feedback and raising our concerns and those of our stakeholders.
Disappointingly many of these remain unaddressed. Nevertheless, Scottish Government will continue to engage with BEIS through the introduction of the new Subsidy Control regime as it affects Scotland. We remain particularly concerned that the Act brings further erosion of devolution through the sweeping powers granted to the Secretary of State. It undermines the long-established powers of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Ministers to act in relation to matters within devolved competence such as economic development, the environment, agriculture and fisheries.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been of any financial penalties issued by Transport Scotland to CalMac Ferries Ltd, in each year since 2007.
Answer
Under the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract, performance deductions can be applied by in certain circumstances.
The level of performance deductions by Contract Year incurred by CalMac Ferries Ltd is detailed below:
| | CHFS1 | |
CY01 | Oct 2007 - Sept 2008 | £ 35.384 |
CY02 | Oct 2008 - Sept 20009 | £ 70,705 |
CY03 | Oct 2009 - Sept 2010 | £ 60,733 |
CY04 | Oct 2010 - Sept 2011 | £ 71,219 |
CY05 | Oct 2011 - Sept 2012 | £ 119,012 |
CY06 | Oct 2012 - Sept 2013 | £ 96,241 |
CY07 | Oct 2013 - Sept 2014 | £ 126,162 |
CY08 | Oct 2014 - Sept 2015 | £ 445,524 |
CY09 | Oct 2015 - Sept 2016 | £ 338,359 |
| | CHFS2 | |
CY01 | Oct 2016 - Sept 2017 | £ 1,127,097 |
CY02 | Oct 2017 - Sept 2018 | £ 1,101,741 |
CY03 | Oct 2018 - Sept 2019 | £ 1,033,138 |
CY04 | Oct 2019 - Sept 2020 | £ 584,255 |
CY05 | Oct 2020 - Sept 2021 | £ 2,089,383 |
CY06 (to date) | Oct 2021 - Jun 2022 | £ 2,345,940 |
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have been (a) trained and (b) allocated to deal with applications for the Home
Owners' Support Fund, in each of the last six years.
Answer
The following table shows how many staff have been allocated to the Home Owners Support Fund in recent years. Staff are fully trained and highly experienced and levels have been sufficient to meet demand for the Fund.
Financial Year | Number of HOSF Staff |
2015-16 | * |
2016-17 | 6 |
2017-18 | 5 |
2018-19 | 3 |
2019-20 | 3 |
2021-22 to present day | 4 |
* No figure for this year
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether CalMac Ferries Ltd awarded any performance payments to staff
at executive level in any years in which it also received any financial
penalties by Transport Scotland, broken down by year.
Answer
Pay and performance is a matter for CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL). Scottish Ministers have no role to play in any pay negotiations. The information on performance payments to senior staff is reported and available in the David MacBrayne Limited accounts.
Years where performance deductions have been made to the CHFS Contract were set out in my answer to question S6W-10178 on 7 September 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: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) expenditure of the Home Owners' Support Fund has been in each of the past six years, broken down by the (i) Mortgage to Rent and (ii) Mortgage to Shared Equity schemes, and whether any underspend (A) has been carried forward to 2022-23 and (B) can be carried forward to 2023-24.
Answer
The following table shows Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF) budget and expenditure for each of the last six years broken down by Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE). HOSF is a demand led scheme and any difference between budget and actual spend reflects demand in that year and so there is no underspend or carry forward.
Financial Year | HOSF Budget | HOSF MTR Actual Expenditure | HOSF MTSE Actual Expenditure | Total Expenditure |
(£m) | (£m) | (£m) | (£m) |
2016-17 | 5.000 | 2.980 | 0.000 | 2.980 |
2017-18 | 3.000 | 1.127 | 0.000 | 1.127 |
2018-19 | 2.500 | 1.536 | 0.000 | 1.536 |
2019-20 | 2.500 | 1.191 | 0.000 | 1.191 |
2020-21 | 2.000 | 0.303 | 0.000 | 0.303 |
2021-22 | Figures will be published shortly |
Total (£m) | 15.000 | 7.137 | 0.000 | 7.137 |
Budget and expenditure figures for 2021-22 will be published shortly.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08749 by Shona Robison on 14 June 2022, and in light of the Bank of England increasing the base rate to 1.75%, when the review
(a) began and (b) will complete, and how it will announce the findings and
outcomes of the review.
Answer
An internal review of the Home Owners Support Fund began in the Spring and will complete later this year. If Ministers decide to make any changes to the eligibility or operational arrangements for the scheme updated guidance will be published.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of those in Scotland who signed up for the Homes for Ukraine scheme have changed their mind and decided to withdraw from the scheme.
Answer
Under current arrangements, applications to sponsor or host under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are made to the UK Government, and processed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Home Office.
The UK Government regularly publish data relating to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, but has not published data on host or sponsor applications or withdrawals. Published data is available at: Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what number of thrombectomies should a 24/7 service be able to perform, how this capacity will be achieved, and in what timescale.
Answer
We estimate that a fully functioning 24/7, Scotland-wide thrombectomy service could deliver around 800 thrombectomies per year.
Through the Thrombectomy Advisory Group (TAG), work is currently underway to establish the optimal approach to increasing the out-of-hours availability of thrombectomies, the resources required to do so and the appropriate timescales for safely increasing capacity.
As the thrombectomy service develops we will continue to work closely with NHS colleagues and stakeholders to consider how to improve the service to ensure that safe and high quality interventions are provided to patients.