Sarah Boyack

19 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it is having with unpaid carers directly, and not through carers' organisations, to help ensure that their experience of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic helps inform the recovery from it.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Scottish Government Ministers and officials regularly attend meetings and sessions with unpaid carers to ensure they are properly involved in COVID-19 response and recovery planning. The former Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, Joe FitzPatrick…

19 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 18 January 2021, Extra funding to support unpaid carers, whether the £750,000 allocated to unpaid carers is new money and, if not, from which budget stream it has been sourced.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: I can confirm that the extra £750,000 as detailed in the 18 January press release is new funding. I refer the member to the answer to S5W-34671 on 29 January 2021 for further information on other additional funding investment in the Time to Live fund, wider …

15 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Conditions Survey will be updated to include a question regarding the tolerable standards of people’s homes so that compliance with the updated regulations on fire and heat alarms can be monitored.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish House Condition Survey collects data on all elements of the tolerable standard, this will include compliance with the new fire and smoke standard when it is in force.

15 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to monitor the inclusion of compliance with fire alarm standards in home reports.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government intends to publish proposals for changes to the Home Report, including recommendations from the Home Report review and other matters raised by stakeholders. We will include a proposed additional question in the Property Questionnaire o…

15 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support and other assistance it will offer people on low incomes to help them comply with its updated regulations on fire and heat alarms.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We are considering how householders can best be supported to comply with the updated regulations and will provide an update to Parliament in due course. While it will be the responsibility of the homeowner to meet the new fire and carbon monoxide alarm standa…

11 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many carers have (a) applied for and (b) been awarded the £500 "thank you" bonus to date.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The payment process for third, voluntary, charitable or private sector providers opened on 1 February. There are approximately 170,000 people working for 1,200 employers, plus personal assistants in adult social care. Whilst this means some complexity, we a…

15 Dec 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on giving financial recognition to people working in local government during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as agreed at the recent COSLA Leaders meeting.

10 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment in the recently-published Scottish House Condition Survey that (a) before taking account the impact of COVID-19, one in four households live in fuel poverty, (b) progress in tackling fuel poverty is too slow and (c) there has been an increase in fuel p…

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government remains committed to ending fuel poverty entirely and fully implementing our ambitious Fuel Poverty Act. The Scottish House Condition Survey results show that fuel poverty rates have remained similar overall, but increases to energy p…

9 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a support programme for rural home owners, particularly in off-gas areas, to ensure that they are not adversely affected by the costs of moving to low-carbon heat.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government already supports rural homeowners with the costs of reducing and eliminating emissions associated with their heating. Support is available through our existing energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation schemes including Warmer Homes S…

9 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will guarantee that the costs of moving to low-carbon heat will be fully met for households that are living in fuel poverty.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government does not have direct responsibility for the regulation of energy markets and, through them, regulation of the prices that consumers pay, which remain a ‘reserved’ responsibility of UK Ministers under the provisions of the Scotland Act …

9 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the work toward achieving net-zero emissions does not lead to more households facing fuel poverty. 

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: We are committed to ensuring our approach to heat decarbonisation neither increases the fuel poverty rate nor increases the depth of fuel poverty. It is imperative that our actions help to deliver both our statutory fuel poverty and climate targets. Over the…

2 Dec 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its importance to the tourist industry, what additional support it plans to provide to the hospitality sector.

25 Nov 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will put in place to allow older people to be visited by their family during the winter period.

10 Nov 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to encourage an increase in the use of bus services following the COVID-19 pandemic.

9 Nov 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance last met (a) the STUC, (b) Unite the Union, (c) UNISON and (d) the GMB and what was discussed, and what future meetings are planned, also broken down by the expected agenda items.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Details are as follows: Union Last Meeting Date Topics Discussed Next Meeting Date Agenda Items STUC 4 November 2020 Approach to Tax in 2021-22 Budget; Support for Business Recovery; Local Government Funding and Non-Domestic Rates. 1 December 2020 …

2 Nov 2020 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the new five-tier restrictions come with greater funding for local government in areas where more businesses must close.

29 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32867 by Jeane Freeman on 29 October 2020, whether it will publish (a) the full set of papers produced by the COVID-19 Advisory Group and (b) any papers produced by members of the Group that have been considered at its meetings.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Meeting papers produced by the Scottish Government Covid-19 Advisory Group or by individual Group members for the purpose of the Group’s meetings will continue to be published on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/groups/scottish-govern…

27 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the full minutes and records of the Scottish Government COVID-19 Advisory Group.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Minutes of the COVID-19 Advisory Group’s meetings, papers considered by the group at their meetings and the group’s full remit and membership are published on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/groups/scottish-government-covid-19-advisor…

26 Oct 2020 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the impact of the most recent restrictions on both health and the economy.

15 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when funding allocated through the Families and Communities Fund will be distributed to applicants.

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-32575 on 5 November 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…

15 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the applicants that will receive funding from the Families and Communities Fund.

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-32575 on 5 November 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…

15 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when applicants to the Families and Communities Fund will be informed of whether they will receive funding.

Answer · Maree Todd: The applicants to the Families and Communities Fund were informed on 2 October 2020 that, in light of the uncertainties associated with the continuing pandemic and the need for stability, Ministers had decided not to run the new Fund in the financial year 202…

15 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding allocated to third sector organisations through the Families and Communities Fund.

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-32575 on 5 November 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…

2 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost is of providing non-domestic rates relief for Scotland's airports.

Answer · Ben Macpherson: Upon introduction it was estimated that the total cost of the COVID 19 non-domestic rates relief to the aviation industry would be £18.3 million in 2020-21 .

2 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it received funding from the UK Government for the Self-Isolation Support Grant.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The UK Government recently confirmed an additional £700m guaranteed consequential funding for Scotland, but has not provided a breakdown of how any of the consequentials provided so far relate to particular announcements in England. We will continue to press …

2 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities have received funding for the Self-Isolation Support Grant and, if not, by what date they will receive this.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-32252 on 21 October 2020. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…

2 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to each local authority to fund the Self-Isolation Support Grant.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government will reimburse local authorities for the cost of the payments, as well as additional administration funding to manage the scheme. The distribution methodology is currently being considered by the joint Scottish Government and COSLA Set…

2 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has received from the UK Government to fund the Self-Isolation Support Grant.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The UK Government recently confirmed an additional £700m guaranteed consequential funding for Scotland, but has not provided a breakdown of how any of the consequentials provided so far relate to particular announcements in England. We will continue to press …

2 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates will claim the Self-Isolation Support Grant.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: This type of scheme is demand led, and it is difficult to estimate the number of people eligible for the scheme. Based on our modelling of the number of people who might be asked to self-isolate, our current estimate of costs is upwards of £11m for the remain…

29 Sep 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it is providing for frontline policing, in light of the impact of reduced income streams from areas such as football and airports.