Parliamentary questions
Maurice Golden
1,697 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33605 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 December 2020, whether it will provide an update on the work to establish the new Litter Monitoring System, and by what date it expects the system to go live.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Zero Waste Scotland is continuing to work with Keep Scotland Beautiful, Association for Public Service Excellence, Local Authorities, the Improvement Service and SOLACE to implement a new Litter Monitoring System. Zero Waste Scotland have been have been prov…
27 May 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether support for the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage will continue regardless of any formal support arrangement that ministers agree with the Scottish Green Party.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government supports the development of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) as a common whole-system decarbonisation infrastructure with the flexibility to adapt over time to play a central role across the decarbonisation strategies of…
20 May 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will carry out the independent gateway review on the implementation date of its Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), and whether it still anticipates launching its DRS on 1 July 2022.
Answer · Michael Matheson: We intend to carry out the Gateway Review into the go-live date for DRS by the end of the summer and provide an update to Parliament following summer recess. While industry has made good progress towards implementing DRS, we recognise the unique and signific…
20 May 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will carry out its review of the role that incineration plays; what the remit of the review will be, and whether it will issue a moratorium on incinerator applications while it is underway.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Our commitment to tackling the climate emergency and transitioning to a net-zero society by 2045 is unwavering. In 2019, the whole-life carbon impact of Scotland’s household waste reached its lowest level since official recording began. To help achieve this,…
20 May 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will introduce the Circular Economy Bill.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is committed to bringing forward a Circular Economy Bill to advance Scotland's ambitions to promote an economy where materials remain in use for as long as possible, rather than being thrown away. Legislative plans will be set out in f…
9 Mar 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government further to the answer to question S5W-35780 by Ben Macpherson on 8 March 2021, when the independent gateway review into the go-live date for the deposit return scheme will commence, and when it is expected to report by.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We are engaging with industry regarding dates for the independent Gateway Review into the go-live date for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme and will confirm these in due course.
23 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34397 by Aileen Campbell on 10 February 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many devices have been delivered to (a) older, (b) disabled and (c) socially-isolated people, and when it expects to deliver all 5,000 devices.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Winter Support Package will provide devices to up to 5,000 individuals at risk of social isolation who are older or disabled. As the target groups are not mutually exclusive, and not all organisations received the full amount of devices requested, it is…
23 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34398 by Aileen Campbell on 5 February 2021, whether it will provide an update on devices distributed as part of Phase 2 Round 2.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Since the answer provided on 5 February, a further 4855 devices have been scheduled for delivery with 241 organisations. This brings the total number of devices delivered through the Connecting Scotland programme to 35,326.
23 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34219 by Paul Wheelhouse on 18 January 2021, whether it will provide (a) a breakdown of the application decisions made, (b) the projected number of social homes in (i) rural and (ii) non-rural settings to be covered by low-carbon heating work as a r…
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund closed to applications on 18 December 2020. Of the 13 applications received, 12 are being considered for support. It is projected that to up 1,377 rural households and 510 urban households will benefit from affordable, lo…
22 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34562 by Paul Wheelhouse on 1 February 2021, when it will bring forward further plans for a publicly-owned energy company, and whether such a company will be established in 2021, as was announced in October 2017.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: As you will be aware from my answer to the referenced Parliamentary Question and my update of 13 November to the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee, work on the public energy company, such as engagement on the findings of the Outline Business Case, was a…
22 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings of the Council of Economic Advisors have been held since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, broken down by (a) how many and (b) the dates on which the (i) First Minister, (ii) Cabinet Secretary for Finance and (iii) Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair…
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Council of Economic Advisers has held two meetings and three conference calls since March 2020 (as of 2 March 2021). Unlike council meetings, conference calls are typically only attended by council members and officials. They are used to provide members …
22 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of each of the business support funding streams it has announced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, broken down by how much has been paid out by each stream since March 2020.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Since the start of the pandemic, our support for business and the economy totals more than £3 billion. Statistics and management information on the Covid-19 business support funding streams, including how much has been paid out to businesses, are published on…
22 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on administration and legal costs, in relation to its investment in Ferguson Marine.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: In the following table a breakdown of the administrative costs and legal costs incurred in respect of the Scottish Government’s acquisition of Ferguson Marine in 2019 is provided. Legal and Administrative Costs Category Financial year Net amount Professi…
22 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on administration and legal costs, in relation to its investment in Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab).
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: In the following table a breakdown of the administrative costs and legal costs incurred since the Scottish Government’s initial intervention with BiFab in 2017-18 is provided. Legal and Administrative Costs Category Financial Year Net Amount Professional…
22 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which companies have received investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35144 on 25 February 2021. 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/parliamentarybusine…
22 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34297 by Kate Forbes on 18 January 2021, whether it will provide an update on (a) how much has been paid out of the Digital Growth Fund, (b) how many businesses have received funding to date and (c) how much funding it has directly funded.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Digital Growth Fund has paid out a total of £6,406,093.50 and 129 businesses have directly received funding.
22 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34298 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 January 2021, whether it will provide an update on (a) how much has been paid out of the Scottish Growth scheme, (b) how many businesses have received funding to date and (c) how much funding it has directly funded.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: As at 31 January 2021, the Scottish Growth Scheme, which of course is demand led, has: (a) provided some £333.5 million of debt and equity investment to businesses; (b) 560 businesses have directly benefitted from this investment; and (c) The Scottish Governm…
3 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to supporting circular economy textiles in each year since 2014.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Work relating to circular economy and textiles is delivered by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS). It is not possible to provide exact funding figures as textiles is a cross-cutting workstream and does not have a separate budget heading. However, the following textile…
3 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what resourcing and funding have been allocated to encourage the sustainable purchasing of clothes by consumers in each year since 2014.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) leads on a number of initiatives and events encouraging the sustainable purchasing of clothes by consumers. It is not possible to provide exact resourcing and funding figures as this area of work is often part of wider waste preventi…
3 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent work has been conducted to explore the possibility of nettle fibre production.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In 2015 Scottish Enterprise conducted “Research into the Viability and Commercial Opportunities of Growing and Using Nettle Fibres in Scotland” which was published on the Textiles Scotland website www.textilescotland.com . The report did not generate signif…
3 Feb 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent work has been conducted to develop textiles fibre processing.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Zero Waste Scotland recently commissioned research into textiles reprocessing in Scotland which will be published on its website in due course. The report will provide quantitative and qualitative evidence of the extent of current waste textile processing act…
31 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-12276 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 November 2017, by what date Zero Waste Scotland will publish the report, (a) Residual waste treatment analysis, (b) Quantifying liquid food waste from food and drink manufacture, (c) Insight into consumer food was…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The position in relation to each part of the question is as follows: ? (a) Residual waste treatment analysis Zero Waste Scotland’s 2017 work on residual waste treatment analysis did not ultimately result in a published report. However, Zero Waste Scotland’s…
24 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to apply the Higher Property Rate to retail, hospitality and leisure ratepayers in 2021-22.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Budget 2021-22 delivers an unprecedented reduction in the Basic Property Rate (poundage) mid-revaluation to 49p, the lowest poundage in the UK. All properties with rateable values over £51,000, and £95,000, respectively are liable for a supplemen…
19 Jan 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the distribution of COVID-19 business support funding.
18 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been able to access training each year as a result of support from the Digital Growth Fund.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Digital Development Loan is demand led and allows individual businesses to determine where best to focus their investment. In the Phase 1 pilot, 21 businesses applied for a loan which resulted in digital skills training for 83 of their staff. In the curre…
18 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government who approved the marketing guidance for the Scotland is Now campaign.
Answer · Michael Russell: The process for the creation of creative content for Brand Scotland campaigns is undertaken within the Scottish Government Communications Division and then approved by all Brand Scotland partners and the relevant portfolio Ministers. Brand Scotland partners a…
18 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on video production targeted at EU countries as part of the Scotland is Now campaign.
Answer · Michael Russell: The total production budget for the Scotland is Here, Scotland Is Now campaign film was £82,000.
18 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on promoting the Scotland is Now campaign in (a) Scotland, (b) the rest of the UK and (c) overseas.
Answer · Michael Russell: No money has been spent promoting the Scotland Is Here, Scotland is Now Brand Scotland campaign within Scotland, or the rest of the UK. The campaign is not yet complete, however, £308,000 was allocated by Scottish Government and £765,000 was allocated by Scot…
18 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many members of the GlobalScot network have shared content from the Scotland is Now campaign through social media.
Answer · Michael Russell: Brand Scotland recently launched a digital marketing campaign, targeting audiences in Europe, to communicate Scotland's continued commitment to Europe and to encourage European partners to help keep Scotland at the front of people’s minds as a place to live, …
7 Jan 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27457 by Mairi Gougeon on 19 February 2020, whether it can confirm that it will publish its review of the effectiveness of the Guidance on Dog Training Aids, including an analysis of responses to its stakeholder survey.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: In reply to question S5W-32433, on 26 October 2020 the Scottish Government stated it expected to publish its review of the effectiveness of the Guidance on Dog Training Aids, including an analysis of responses to its stakeholder survey, before the end of the …