- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 30 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, as of May 2022, how many properties in Shetland are outwith the scope of the main R100 programme or commercial build plans and will be reliant on its broadband voucher scheme for a superfast internet connection.
Answer
The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) is a key strand of R100 programme delivery. As of May 2022, 1,847 properties on Shetland were eligible for a voucher worth up to £5,000 through the R100 SBVS.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07899 by Maree Todd on 3 May 2022, whether it will confirm how it is supporting the Scottish honey industry.
Answer
The honey industry and honey production is dependent on maintaining a healthy population of honey bees. The Scottish Government has a dedicated Bee Health Team, including bee health inspectors, that works in close partnership with the Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP) which is made up of stakeholders with an interest in honey bees in Scotland. The objective of the BHIP is to achieve a healthy and sustainable population of honey bees for pollination and honey production in Scotland.
Scottish Government contributes to the funding of BeeBase, a database designed for beekeepers which supports inspections and health programmes in Scotland, England and Wales and provides a range of apicultural information for beekeepers. Scottish Government Bee Inspectors also collect samples of honey from beekeepers and honey producers in Scotland for medicine residue analysis as part of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate statutory surveillance scheme .
Scottish Government have worked with the key trade bodies across the food and drink sector to develop a COVID-19 recovery plan, which was announced in November 2020. We have committed support of £10m over in 2020-2022 towards the plan which contains 50 actions to support all sectors of Scotland’s food and drink industry to recover from Covid and Brexit. The focus is on two overarching aims: stimulating more demand in key markets; and supporting businesses to capitalise on this demand. Scotland Food & Drink lead on the delivery of the recovery plan and any honey producer looking for advice or support can contact them at info@foodanddrink.scot
In addition, a new £10.2m round of the Food Processing and Marketing Cooperation (FPMC) grants scheme was launched on 9 May 2022 with applications closing on 19 June 2022. Further information on the funding round can be accessed at https://www.ruralpayments.org/publicsite/futures/topics/all-schemes/food-processing--marketing-and-co-operation/ and we would encourage any honey producers who fit the eligibility criteria to consider applying.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what biodiversity metrics will used to determine whether the National Planning Framework 4 meets the outcome of “securing positive effects for biodiversity”, as set out in the amended Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.
Answer
In response to the amended Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, Draft National Planning Framework (NPF) 4 sets out policy proposals which aim to deliver positive outcomes for biodiversity from development.
A key element for the successful implementation and delivery of NPF4 is having a robust monitoring process in place, to be actively applied through the period of the framework. The Scottish Government has committed to working with relevant stakeholders, to develop an approach to monitoring of NPF4, making links across the national, regional and local levels.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the website that is being designed with Public Health Scotland to give patients indicative waiting times, how it will work; how specific the date ranges provided will be, and whether it will provide patients with (a) average and (b) longest waiting times.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland to develop an online platform for members of the public to access information on the average waiting times for a range of treatments within their health board area. We expect the platform to be available this summer.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the new website to provide NHS patients with indicative waiting times, whether details of all NHS procedures and their indicative waiting times will be made available, and if this will not be the case, whether it can provide details of the procedures that will be included.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08571 on 30 May 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: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it anticipates the new website to provide NHS patients with indicative waiting times will go live.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08571 on 30 May 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: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to provide an update on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and Training Strategy for Scotland.
Answer
A report on the STEM Education and Training Strategy will be published on the Scottish Government website today - www.gov.scot/isbn/9781804353592
The report highlights progress made on a range of STEM-related education and training initiatives; including those areas where progress has been more challenging. Among other things the report notes recent work on responding to the Logan Review of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem, progress on the Young STEM Leader awards initiative and a new round of STEM education grants.
The report also sets out our intention to continue to operate under the current STEM strategy until 2025, and we will continue to publish annual reports until then.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many diesel buses have been replaced by zero-emission vehicles through the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB) and the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) to date.
Answer
The Scottish Government has supported bus operators acquire a total of 548 zero emission buses through the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB) and the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) combined, meaning there will be 548 fewer diesel buses on our roads. Full details are available on the Transport Scotland website at Scottish Zero Emission Bus challenge fund | Transport Scotland and Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme - completed bids | Transport Scotland .
- Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to improve recreational sea angling across Scotland.
Answer
Scottish Government maintains good relations with the angling community through its interaction with Angling Scotland. This helps in ensuring that any issues and opportunities for recreational sea angling in Scotland are brought to our attention and can be appropriately considered alongside other priorities.
Between 2016 and 2021 the Scottish Government supported the UK-wide Sea Angling Diary, which saw anglers as ‘volunteer diarists’ contributing data on recreational catches. Scottish Government, taking into account limited feedback from stakeholders, considered that the Scottish data collection was not providing good value for taxpayers’ money due to the limitations of the output, and will no longer contribute to the UK survey.
Instead, it will review its approach to sea angling data collection and examine other means by which they can be obtained in the future. Data specifically tailored towards the Scottish situation can then be made available to inform measures to promote sea angling, whilst monitoring any impacts on commercial fish stocks.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it will launch a marketing campaign to encourage people to return to using buses.
Answer
Transport Scotland is continuing to engage with operators, delivery partners and other key stakeholders on the current Scottish Government Covid-19 guidance and recommended safe behaviours to ensure that the appropriate messaging is cascaded across the transport network. This engagement, which includes promoting the Scottish Government`s National “Covid sense” campaign, is supporting passengers to return to public transport with confidence as more people begin to return to workplaces and travel for leisure purposes more often.