Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member the answer to question S6W-00372 on 15 June 2021.

The money we provide to NHS boards is provided to fund drug and alcohol services.

In 2018-2019 Health Boards received £53.8m to support the delivery of alcohol and drug services. In addition –

Health Boards received £17m from Programme for Government allocation.

In 2019-2020 Health Boards received £53.8m to support the delivery of alcohol and drug services. In addition -

Health Boards received £17m from Programme for Government allocation.

In 2020-2021 Health Boards received £53.8m to support the delivery of alcohol and drug services. In addition -

Health Boards received £17m from Programme for Government Allocation.

£3 million in additional funding was made available to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to support work to reduce drug deaths in Scotland.

Additional funding information will be available on the DDTF website shortly.

We have declared that a national mission is required to tackle drug-related death and have committed additional funding of £50 million per year over the next session of parliament. This is in addition to baseline funding.

Details of funding to NHS Boards can be found here - Alcohol and Drug Partnerships: funding allocations - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Details of additional funding through Local Improvement Fund can be found here –

Local Improvement Fund: allocations - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Details of Additional funding for ADPs in 2020/2021 can be found here - Alcohol and drug partnerships: additional funding 2020-2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00274 on 15 June 2021. 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.

The Scottish Government through the Energy Savings Trust (EST) delivery a number of initiatives to support local community transport groups to decarbonise, the details of schemes are as follows:

Plugged-in Communities (PiC) programme.

This programme aims to provide access to electric vehicles and the associated infrastructure to low-income communities in the form of shared-use electric vehicle car clubs.

15 organisations have been successful in obtaining grant funding to support 63 new electric vehicles, organisations were also able to apply for funding through the ChargePlace Scotland programme which provided funding to cover the cost of the charge point infrastructure, as a result 45 charge points were installed to support these electric vehicles and the communities they serve.

To date, Grant funding of over £900k to support these communities under the Plugged-in Communities fund has been provided.

The E-bike Grant Fund

This fund supports community groups to adopt e-bikes and e-cargo bikes as more sustainable alternatives to car journeys through providing grants of up to £25,000.

Since 2018 the Scottish Government through the E-bike grant fund has introduced an additional 1145 E-bikes across Scotland and awarded over £2.8m to 156 public sector organisations and community groups.

Climate Challenge Fund (CCF)

The Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) has, since 2008, provided total funding of over £111 million to support more than 1,150 community-led climate action projects across Scotland, including a significant number that have promoted active and sustainable travel.

Community Climate Asset Fund (CCAF)

The £3.2m Community Climate Asset Fund (CCAF), launched late last year, benefited 279 community-based organisations, enabling 31 to specifically purchase e-vehicles.

Through our new framework of community climate action hubs and Climate Action Towns, we will continue to support communities to make the transition to low carbon and climate resilient living.

NHS Health Boards are holding drop in clinics to target those who have not yet been vaccinated, and to make it easier for people to receive their second dose. The use of drop in clinics is not directly linked to EURO 2020 Fan Zone events, but is appropriately informed by vaccination and testing data, including surveillance data from event attendees and ongoing testing in the community.

EURO 2020 events and locations have specific on-site safety measures, including Test and Protect surveillance data measures. Those attending Fan Zones are encouraged to take a rapid lateral flow test up to 48 hours beforehand. Fan Zone safety measures are continuously monitored to ensure the safety of everyone. Attendance at the Glasgow Green Fan Zone provides an opportunity for people to gather safely, in a controlled environment, with the necessary physical distancing and hygiene measures in place.

Chargepoints on the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network are installed and owned by the respective hosts. As set out in the grant award terms and conditions, it is the hosts’ responsibility to ensure that the charge points are maintained and in a serviceable condition.

The CPS service centre, commonly referred to as the ‘back-office’ and currently operated by BP Pulse, proactively monitors the network for faults and also receives information directly from drivers to the customer services team. The initial action is to attempt to remedy the issue remotely.

If that isn’t possible, the back office will notify the charge point owner and log the fault with the charge point supplier who will send an engineer to investigate and resolve the issue on-site.

Similarly, when a fault is reported to them by drivers, a fault ticket is logged with the respective owner and engineer if it cannot be remedied remotely by the back-office.

The CPS back-office aim to log all faults with owners and suppliers within 48 hours. There is no target timescale for resolving the fault as that is a contractual agreement between the owner and the charge point supplier and therefore outside of CPS’ direct control. However, the CPS back-office actively monitors those charge points awaiting a fix, and will prompt hosts and suppliers for progress updates on a regular basis as appropriate.

There are a number of private network operator who also provide chargepoints in Scotland. Scottish Ministers have no role in monitoring these.

Driver and vehicle licensing and testing is reserved to the UK government. The UK government have advised that despite the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent disruption to practical driving tests, the validity period of theory test pass certificates will not be extended. They have advised that their reasoning is that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills need to be up to date (tested within the previous two years) when restarting driving lessons and driving tests. This is not an area that the Scottish Government has responsibility for. We are, however, in regular dialogue with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) who administer and deliver driving tests on behalf of the UK government to explore ways in which the number of practical driving tests being delivered in Scotland can be expedited. Our understanding is that the DVSA are recruiting additional driving test examiners to increase the number of practical tests that they can deliver including at weekends.

The UK government`s Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is responsible for the delivery of driving tests in Scotland, however the Scottish government works closely with the DVSA to ensure that waiting times to access a driving test are minimised as much as possible to the benefit of people in all parts of Scotland, including our rural communities. Working in collaboration with the DVSA we secured delegated authority earlier this year for some transport operators and the emergency services to undertake driving tests for their own staff, thereby reducing the numbers of people awaiting tests at DVSA test centres. In advance of driving tests resuming when Scotland moved to Protection Level 3 on 26 April 2021, we engaged with the DVSA on their remobilisation plans and the development of communications materials to ensure that candidates were “test ready” when they presented for a test. We continue to meet regularly with the DVSA to discuss ways in which we can expedite access to driving tests and are currently engaging with them on their plans to immediately increase the number of driving theory tests being offered when the rules on physical distancing within public indoor settings change.

The principal means of meeting the 2035 rail service net zero target will be to continue the Scottish Government’s rolling programme of electrification. Thanks to a programme of investment delivered by the Scottish Government consistent with this approach, some 75% of Scottish rail passenger journeys are already on electric trains. Regrettably, only 45% of rail freight movements in Scotland are electric, chiefly due to the lack of electrification to key freight terminals and ports at the English end of the freight journey.

Concerning investment in Hydrogen trains, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00852 on 1 July 2021. 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 .

The SPCB provides the staff cost provision to enable Members to employ up to the equivalent of 4 full time staff. Individual Members have flexibility to decide how to use their staffing budget, including setting staff salaries within the agreed pay ranges and overall capped provision limit set by the SPCB. It is for Members as the employer to decide how they employ their staff so long as it is within the rules of the Scheme and the job families and salary ranges set out by the SPCB. Members also set their own hours of work.

Further to the answer provided to S6W-00200 on 3 June 2021, Scottish Ministers considered all options for the future operation of ScotRail services after the current contract, which is expected to expire in March 2022. We have to work within current UK rail legislation, principally the Railways Act 1993, which neither the Scottish Ministers nor the Scottish Parliament have powers to change.

Having regard to the framework set out in the 1993 Act, the Scottish Ministers’ revised Franchising Policy Statement, the continuing uncertainty arising from the Covid 19 pandemic and the delay in publication of the UK Government’s White Paper on rail, the Scottish Ministers considered that it would not be appropriate to award a franchise agreement to any party at this time. We are therefore undertaking mobilisation arrangements for a wholly owned company of the Scottish Government (ScotRail Trains Ltd.) to provide ScotRail services when the current franchise expires. This is in line with our duty under section 30 of the 1993 Act to provide or secure the provision of passenger rail services where a franchise agreement comes to an end and no further franchise agreement has been entered into in respect of the services.

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 .