Maurice Golden

7 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many apprentices (a) were due to be recruited in 2020, (b) were actually recruited in 2020 and (c) it plans to recruit in 2021 as part of the Young Person's Guarantee.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has operational responsibility for our apprenticeships programmes and administers them on behalf of the Scottish Government. SDS provide regular statistical breakdowns which can be located on the SDS website here and the ye…

7 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many devices have been delivered by the Connecting Scotland programme since the progamme was launched in May 2020.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Since the Connecting Scotland programme launched in May 2020, 20,076 devices have been delivered. Phase of Connecting Scotland Programme No. of devices delivered to organisations Pilot Schemes 426 Phase 1 8082 Phase 2 Round 1 10685 Winter Support …

7 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been delivered to the Connecting Scotland programme from the Winter Support Fund to date, and how many devices have been delivered as a result of that funding to older, disabled and socially isolated people.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Winter Support Fund was announced on 30 November 2020. This included funding to extend the Connecting Scotland programme to 5,000 socially isolated older or disabled people. Applications are made by organisations who apply on behalf of usually a number o…

7 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32185 by John Swinney on 20 October 2020, whether it will provide an update on how many digital devices for school pupils funded by the £25 million announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 23 June 2020 have been (a) ordered, (b…

Answer · John Swinney: Local authorities are responsible for securing and distributing devices. The following table details devices that have been ordered, received and distributed by end-December 2020, as reported by local authorities: Local Authority Devices ordered but not yet…

7 Jan 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown for the first round of applications to Phase 2 of the Connecting Scotland programme indicating how many applications were (a) received and (b) approved, and how many devices have been delivered to recipients to date.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: 699 applications were received for Phase 2 Round 1. Of these applications 529 were successful, amounting to a total of 17,452 devices. Delivery of devices awarded through Phase 2 of the programme began in December 2020. To date 10,685 devices have been deliv…

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects planning decisions to be made on the nine remaining incineration facility plans held by SEPA that have not yet received a decision.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: SEPA do not hold any planning applications. The primary responsibility for dealing with planning applications and local planning matters rests with local planning authorities (councils and National Park authorities). SEPA is consulted on planning applications…

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has given to the Building Scotland Fund in each year since it went live.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Scottish Government (SG) announced in the 2018-19 Budget the £150 million Building Scotland Fund (BSF). £70 million was made available in 2018-19, £50 million in 2019-20 and £30 million in 2020-21.  

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out each year from the Digital Growth Fund, also broken down by how many businesses have received support.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Details are as follows: Year Amount Paid out How many businesses have received support 2018-2019 £854,229 21 2019-2020 £1,806,984 43 2020-2021 £3,452,995 57 Total £6,114,208 121   Phase Amount Paid Out How many businesses have received supp…

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) Highlands and Islands Enterprise and (b) Scottish Enterprise has spent on agency staff in each year since 2007-08.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This is an operational matter for the enterprise agencies and I have therefore asked them to respond to you directly.  

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish National Investment Bank received (a) in pre-bank investment and (b) from it in (i) 2018-19 and (ii) 2019-20, and how much it will receive in 2020-21.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The full budget allocation for investment related to the Scottish National Investment Bank over 2018-21 is £490 million. This comprises £150 million for the Building Scotland Fund and £340 million for other pre-cursor investment over the 3 year period. This w…

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates the Scottish National Investment Bank will receive overall in (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The budget provision for the overall Scottish National Investment Bank programme and Directorate was £280 million in the 2020-21 budget settlement. The amount that the Scottish National Bank plc and its group directly receives this financial year will be conf…

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out each year from the Scottish Growth Scheme, also broken down by how many businesses have received support.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: To 30 November 2020, under the Scottish Growth Scheme, £296.5 million of investment has been unlocked for 509 companies, in the form of debt and equity. The following table contains a breakdown by year of this funding, and the number of businesses that have …

23 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) Highlands and Islands Enterprise and (b) Scottish Enterprise has spent on staff overtime in each year since 2007-08.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This is an operational matter for the enterprise agencies and I have therefore asked them to respond to you directly.  

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to re-opening gyms in Level 4 areas, in light of Europe-wide figures from safeACTIVE, which recorded 487 COVID-19-positive cases from 62 million visits and Public Health Scotland figures suggesting that exercising in gyms accounted for less than 4% of new …

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We currently have no plans to allow gyms to open in Tier 4. Level 4 is intended to apply for short periods of time to bring transmission down and under control. Given that the situation with the virus remains fragile – with many cases and continuing pressure …

22 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32943 by Paul Wheelhouse on 16 November 2020, whether it will provide an update on the number of applications that have been made to the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund, and how many have been (a) approved and (b) declined to date.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The £20 million Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund closed to applications on 18 December 2020. As of this date, 13 applications for support were received with a total application value of £22.5 million. All applications are now being reviewed in line with our …

20 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its report, The climate change impacts of burning municipal waste in Scotland, what its response is to the comment by the Environmental Services Association that "the assumptions used to calculate the carbon intensity of energy recovery compared with landfill were incorrect […

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Zero Waste Scotland has welcomed feedback from a variety of sources, including from the waste industry, non-governmental organisations and local authorities, on their report, ‘The climate change impacts of burning municipal waste in Scotland’ . Zero Waste Sco…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33603 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 December 2020, when the enforcement sub-group of the Litter Managers Network was set up, and on what dates it has met.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The enforcement sub-group of the Litter Managers Network was set up in 2018 and has met six times (August 2018, October 2018, January 2019, June 2019, September 2019 and December 2019). The meeting scheduled for March 2020 had to be cancelled due to the Covid…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33603 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 December 2020, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how often it has engaged with (a) each local authority and (b) other statutory bodies since 2014 to better understand the impact o…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Since 2014, the Scottish Government has engaged with local authorities and other key partners on litter issues through various mechanisms, including the Litter Managers’ Network, which meets regularly. Enforcement practices have been further discussed in the …

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33142 by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 November 2020, whether it will confirm the five local authorities that were selected to provide the compositional household waste data.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The UK waste compositional study referred to in S5W-33142 was conducted by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Information on the five local authorities that were selected is not held by Scottish Government. However, Zero Waste Scotland expect to…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32941 by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020, what proportion of the £70 million will be committed specifically to target local authorities showing a decline in recycling rates.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The £70 million recycling fund provides a significant opportunity to improve local authority recycling collection infrastructure in order to drive further progress towards Scotland’s ambitious waste and recycling targets. Through the joint Scottish Governmen…

16 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32571 by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020, in light of the Zero Waste Scotland report, The climate change impacts of burning municipal waste in Scotland, whether SEPA is in discussions with energy from waste (EfW) plant operators regarding co…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: SEPA already collects a range of data from Energy from Waste operators including on waste throughput, energy production and stack emissions. SEPA has not requested any additional data in light of the Zero Waste Scotland report. We will continue to work with …

15 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32908 by Fiona Hyslop on 9 November 2020, whether it will provide an update on the COVID-19 Restrictions Fund, including details of how many applications have been received for each of the funds, broken down by local authority area, and how many of …

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Details on the applications and payments made through the Covid-19 Restrictions fund were published on the Scottish Government website on the 18 December and can be found here .  

15 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32339 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 November 2020, how many people saw its 2018-19 Food Waste Gone Bad campaign, and what the size of the target audience was.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Food Waste Gone Bad campaign included television, radio and digital campaigns. The TV element was showed on STV, C4 and ITV breakfast Scotland and the following table shows how many times all adults in Scotland will have seen the advert one (1+ reach), th…

10 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its decision that football clubs in local authority areas that are subject to Level 2 restrictions and above are not permitted to allow fans into their grounds.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: With the increase of transmissions in Scotland and the new strain, there are no current plans to review this decision. We keep the content of the Strategic Framework under regular review.  

10 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-32552 and S5W-33181 by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 and 25 November 2020 respectively, whether it will provide the information requested regarding when it last met representatives of the (a) Scottish Football Association, (b) Scottish Professional Footba…

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government last met with the: Scottish Football Association on 16 December 2020 Scottish Professional Football League on 10 December 2020 Scottish Amateur Football Association on 4 December 2020 Scottish Football Supporters Association on 25 …

10 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the sources from whom it has received advice on the potential risks of allowing fans to return to stadium football matches; when that advice was last received, and when it will next seek to update it.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Our approach and principles remain those we set out in our Framework for Decision-Making , based on clinical evidence, expert advice, and a balanced assessment of the risks. Ministers, clinicians and officials regularly consider the latest advice and informa…

10 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether evidence from the epidemiologist, Professor Gary Macfarlane, who backed Aberdeen FC’s request for 2,000 supporters to be allowed into Pittodrie stadium, will be considered as part of fans returning to football stadia.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Ministers, clinicians and officials regularly consider the latest advice and information and reflect this in the decisions we take in managing the return of spectators.    

10 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can confirm that all community payback orders put on hold during the current pandemic will be fulfilled, and what targeted support will be provided to local authorities to allow them to clear any backlogs.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The difficulties faced by justice social work in delivering community orders during the coronavirus pandemic were acknowledged by the Scottish Parliament through the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020, which extended timescales for completion of unpaid work and …

10 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the number of pets and other animals being abandoned.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of pets and other animals being abandoned.  

10 Dec 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has provided to animal rescue shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government has not provided direct financial support to animal rescue shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the unprecedented demands on the Scottish Government's budget as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is, unfortunately, no sco…