Stephen Kerr

6 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what studies or assessments were made of the rent control system (a) previously in operation in Berlin, known as the Mietendeckel and (b) currently in operation in Ireland, ahead of its decision to include in the Programme for Government a proposal to freeze rents.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: We are considering a wide range of information and evidence on rent controls, including a bespoke research briefing from experts in the field at the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence. This research included assessment and references to previous aca…

5 Sep 2022 · Written Question

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 · John Swinney: 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 emergenc…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address leakage within locks on the Forth and Clyde Canal, in order to ensure the canal's sustainability.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: These are operational matters for Scottish Canals. Scottish Canals receives Grant in Aid for its core duties of operating and maintaining the waterways for which it is responsible as navigation authority . Scottish Canals has benefitted from significant incr…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been allocated to Scottish Canals in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Scottish Canals has benefitted from significant increases in grant in aid awards in recent years. Since 2019, the Organisation’s capital grant from the Scottish Government has increased by 87% and it has received an annual uplift in resource funding since 202…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Booking.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) aver…

Answer · Neil Gray: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10787 on 3 October 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-committe…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with ebooking.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) ave…

Answer · Neil Gray: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10787 on 3 October 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-committe…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Hotels.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) avera…

Answer · Neil Gray: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10787 on 3 October 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-committe…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Expedia.co.uk since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) av…

Answer · Neil Gray: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10787 on 3 October 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-committe…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with LateRooms.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) av…

Answer · Neil Gray: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10787 on 3 October 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-committe…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Trivago.co.uk since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) av…

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government’s absolute priority is ensuring the wellbeing and safety of displaced people from Ukraine. Our aim is to reduce overall hotel stay lengths and for people to be settled in accommodation in communities as soon as possible and for as long…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to deliver a (a) gradual and (b) flexible reintroduction of non-domestic rates to enable businesses to concentrate their resources on business re-growth.

Answer · Tom Arthur: Decisions on non-domestic rates, including the poundage and any reliefs, are generally considered in the context of the Scottish Budget in line with other government priorities. The Scottish Budget 2022-23 maintains a competitive non-domestic rates regime, d…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Ukrainian refugees are being hosted by hotels in the City of Edinburgh Council area.

Answer · Neil Gray: We are working closely with local authorities and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and doing all we can to speed up the matching process and increase the numbers of displaced people moving into host accommodation. On 22 September, th…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which cities are developing business cases for large-scale transformation of places involving buildings, transport and greenspaces to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts, blending public and private investment, and how much progress it anticipates will have been made on this by…

Answer · Michael Matheson: Many cities in Scotland have set ambitious net zero targets and are developing robust plans to deliver them. All 32 of Scotland’s Local Authorities signed Scotland’s Climate Change Declaration in 2007 and 28 Scottish Local Authorities have recognised or decla…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it is providing to ensure that a minimum of four cities develop business cases for large-scale transformation of places involving buildings, transport and greenspaces to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts, blending public and private investment.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is committed to continue working closely with cities across Scotland in tackling the global climate emergency. A number of initiatives have been driven forward to support cities in Scotland in helping them work towards net zero ambiti…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many discussions it has had since January 2019 with Scotland's Climate Emergency Response Group about making every Scottish city "vehicle emission free" by 2030.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with CERG members to discuss a range of issues on how to accelerate delivery of climate action, including how to decarbonise our transport systems and cities.

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support and advice it has given to (a) local authorities and (b) transport providers to reduce vehicle emissions in cities.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The 2022-23 local government finance settlement of almost £12.7 billion represents an increase of over £1 billion or 9.2 per cent in cash terms compared with 2021-22. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which authority pays for the cost of providing pupils with free laptops, Chromebooks and tablets.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10758 on 20 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-commi…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06242 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 February 2022, how much it estimates it will cost to "update when necessary" the laptops, Chromebooks and tablets given to every school child in Scotland.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term. This will include consideration of processes and costs to update devices when necessary.  

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which authority pays for the cost of providing a free internet connection for pupils.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: £25m digital inclusion funding was made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21 for local authorities to use to support learners, in line with their own local needs. This funding supported the provision of 14,000 internet connections and 72,000 tablets or…

30 Aug 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the expected cost of its current case in the Supreme Court regarding the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill.

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current dentist capacity is in the Central Scotland region.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally, however each NHS Board will hold information on dental practice registration capacity in their area. We remain a position of relative strength in terms of workforce numbers and capacity in Sco…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding how to ensure that investments in high street regeneration are (a) environmentally and (b) economically sustainable.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government and COSLA jointly developed and published the response to the independent report ‘A New future for Scotland’s Town Centres’. The ‘Town Centre Action Plan Review – Joint response from Scottish Government and COSLA’ sets out a new vision…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent to charter the ship MS Victoria to accommodate Ukrainian refugees for up to six months in Leith.

Answer · Neil Gray: The contract notice with Corporate Travel Management (North) Ltd, was published on 9 August 2022. The contract is to source and provide travel-related services for displaced people from Ukraine including accommodation in hotels and on the M/S Victoria I and…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what trends it has identified regarding urban rat populations over the last five years.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government is not aware of any Scotland-wide surveying or monitoring of rat populations over the last five years.

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many social workers have been employed in the Forth Valley region in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The information requested by Mr Kerr, MSP, is publicly available on the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) website. Last month, the SSSC published official statistics in the ‘ Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2021 Workforce Data’ report. This Re…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the First Minister last met a representative from the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland, and what was discussed.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The First Minister and other Scottish Government Ministers engage regularly with the Federation of Small Business (FSB) Scotland to discuss all issues affecting small businesses. The First Minister last met representatives of the FSB Scotland on 19 May 2022 …

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the First Minister last met a representative from CBI Scotland, and what was discussed.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The First Minister met Tony Danker, CBI Director General and Tracy Black, CBI Scotland, Director, on 22 March 2022.During the meeting the following points were discussed: The Chancellor’s budget statement which was due the following day;The cost of living cri…

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking with local authorities to plan for adaptation risks, in addition to flooding, in relation to potential climate change impacts in (a) 2040 and (b) 2050.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government is committed to building resilience to the locked-in impacts of climate change, as part of a just transition. The approach to planning for climate change adaptation and resilience in Scotland follows the statutory requirements of the …

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its risk, resilience and adaptation plans in relation to the potential impacts of climate change in (a) 2040 and (b) 2050 include impacts on (i) food supply, (ii) migration, (iii) housing and (iv) health.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is committed to building resilience to the locked-in impacts of climate change, as part of a just transition. The approach to planning for adaptation in Scotland follows the statutory requirements of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act …

30 Aug 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many computers it has purchased for each of its directorates in each of the last five years.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The breakdown of this information by Directorate is not held centrally and to collate this information would be at disproportionate costs. Computers have been defined as any device which has been configured for use on the SCOTS Network. The overall number for…