Daniel Johnson

25 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the impact and effectiveness of the Business Ventilation Fund will be evaluated; whether the full minutes and evidence from its expert advice group on ventilation will be made publicly available, and, once the fund closes, what assessment the Scottish Government will undertake of the…

Answer · Kate Forbes: The First Minister announced funding to support small and medium-sized businesses to improve their ventilation. The Business Ventilation Fund opened for applications on Tuesday 23rd November 2021. The impact and effectiveness of the fund is being carried out…

25 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many electric bicycles it (a) has purchased since 2007 and (b) owns.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The core Scottish Government has not purchased any electric bicycles since 2007. The Core Scottish Government does not own any electric bicycles. The Scottish Government holds cycle friendly employer status from Cycling Scotland. The Scottish Government offe…

25 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many standard bicycles it (a) has purchased since 2007 and (b) owns.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Core Scottish Government has not purchased any standard bicycles since 2007. The Core Scottish Government does not own any standard bicycles. The Scottish Government holds cycle friendly employer status from Cycling Scotland. The Scottish Government offe…

24 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many vehicles are in its vehicle fleet, broken down by (a) the purpose of the vehicle, (b) the manufacturer and model of the vehicle and (c) the year of manufacture of the vehicle.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government fleet (including Government Car Service and Transport Scotland) is currently made up of 221 vehicles. This number will reduce in the coming weeks, as new vehicles are issued and their replacements are disposed. The following table de…

24 Nov 2021 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not published information on ministerial engagements, travel and gifts since April 2021.

Answer · George Adam: Engagements and events are an essential part of official government business. Ordinarily, the Scottish Government will routinely publish this information online. However during the Covid response it has been necessary to reprioritise staff resources to suppor…

4 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the introduction of vaccine passports has had on COVID-19 transmission numbers.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04237 on 6 December 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-committ…

4 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the rate of uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination by 18- to 29-year-olds, in light of the COVID-19 vaccine passport reportedly being introduced, among other reasons, to encourage uptake of the vaccination by this age group.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We are continuing to make progress within this age cohort. With 582,135 people aged 18-29 (70%) having their second dose of the COVID -19 vaccination, and 659,241 people aged 18-29 ( 79%) having their first dose of the vaccine, as at 30 November. The latest …

4 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine passport scheme, and on the number of times the vaccine passport app has been downloaded, broken down by the age of those who have downloaded it.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We published an updated evidence paper on the Covid 19 status certification scheme on Friday 19 November 2021. Public Heath Scotland also publish a weekly COVID-19 statistical report which includes the number of times the NHS Scotland COVID Status App ha…

4 Nov 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering extending the COVID-19 vaccine passport scheme to include (a) cafes and (b) cinemas, following recent reports of public speculation by officials.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04215 on 20 December 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-commi…

26 Oct 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports of patients being given appointments for a COVID-19 booster vaccine within six months of their second dose of the vaccine and who were therefore unable to have the booster at the appointment.

20 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the announcement of the £41 million of Barnett consequentials arising from the UK Government’s new household support fund, how it plans to distribute the funding, and when it will be made available to households in need.

Answer · Shona Robison: The £41 million will be distributed as follows:£10 million for a Fuel Insecurity Fund to provide direct support with fuel costs for low income households, delivered through a range of organisations including registered social landlords, Advice Direct Scotland…

19 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that owners of electric vehicles can easily charge them in Scotland.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Since 2013 we have invested over £50 million in Chargeplace Scotland (CPS), Scotland’s public charging network, which now has more than 2000 publicly available chargepoints. Figures show that Scotland is leading the way on electric vehicle charging infrastruc…

19 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the system operator for electric vehicle charging was changed in July 2021.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) Single Framework Agreement with Charge Your Car Ltd (now named BP Pulse and previously BP Chargemaster), who ran CPS on behalf of the Scottish Government, expired in summer 2021. A new Single Framework Agreement was put out to t…

19 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) diesel or petrol-fuelled cars and (b) electric vehicles are currently included in its vehicle fleet.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The following table provides a breakdown of the fleet by fuel type. Vehicle type Diesel Petrol Hybrid Plug in Hybrid (PHEV) Electric (BEV) Range extender Total Car 36 17 5 70 23 2 153 Light Commercial (LCV) 33 0 0 9 5 3 50 Heavy Goods…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the rate of manufacture and supply is of interlinked fire alarms.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not have information of the rate of manufacture of interlinked fire alarms. We are aware that, following our successful public awareness campaign, there is significant public interest in carrying out work to comply with the new st…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken, or plans to take, any steps to regulate the sale and installation of interlinked fire alarms to avoid the fraudulent sale and installation of such alarms.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has no plans to regulate the sale or installation of interlinked fire alarms. The best way to avoid scams is to use trusted sources of information, to not deal with cold callers, and to be wary of any company that says their products o…

7 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of properties have interlinked fire alarms installed.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is not possible to determine exactly how many properties have alarms of the prescribed type installed as this information is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey.

6 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the policies and funding streams that it considers to be targeted at personal debt.

Answer · Shona Robison: The pandemic has had a detrimental impact on people's finances, particularly those in low income households. Families who were already struggling before the pandemic have been pushed further into financial insecurity. For this reason, the Scottish Government …

6 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been supported through the National Transition Training Fund since the fund was introduced.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: We continue to await final confirmed data on college and university based projects, delivery of which continued until the end of the academic year and I hope to provide an update on final anticipated figures for Year One shortly. However, to date, based on av…

6 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the policies and funding streams that it considers to be targeted at the cost of living.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government publish annual estimates of spend targeted at supporting low income households, with almost £2.5 billion invested to support low income households in 2020-21, including nearly £1 billion specifically targeted to children. Full detail …

6 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been supported through the Young Person’s Guarantee since the scheme was introduced.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Since the launch of the Young Person's Guarantee in November 2020, we have invested an additional £130 million which aims to provide at least 24,000 new and enhanced opportunities to support young people find and sustain employment. The Guarantee is not a st…

5 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund has been allocated in each year since 2017-18.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Since its introduction in 2017, the Scottish Government has allocated the following funds to the Flexible Workforce Development Fund: Year FWDF Allocation   2017-18 (Year 1) £10m 2018-19 (Year 2) £10m 2019-20 (Year 3) £10m 2020-21 (Year 4) £20m 20…

5 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund was allocated to each sector in 2020-21. 

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) administer the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) on behalf of the Scottish Government. They do not allocate funds to different sectors, as the Fund works on a first come first s…

5 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it received from the UK Government through the Apprenticeship Levy in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21, and how much it expects to receive in (i) 2021-22 and (ii) each of the next five years.  

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: As announced by HM Treasury on 14 November 2016, the Scottish Government's population-based settlement from the UK Government's Apprenticeship Levy was £221 million in 2017-18, £230 million in 2018-19 and £239 million in 2019-20. This funding was allocated as…

5 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to raise the cap on individual businesses accessing the Flexible Workforce Development Fund.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03144 on ? 28 September 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-com…

5 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how much each business sector in Scotland contributes to the Apprenticeship Levy.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Apprenticeship Levy is a tax on employers, introduced by the UK Government in 2017, and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) hold the data on what is raised through the Apprenticeship Levy. The Scottish share of Apprenticeship Levy receipts received …

5 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund has been accessed by private sector organisations contributing to the Apprenticeship Levy in each year since 2017-18.   

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The reported amount of spend by Levy Paying private sector organisations accessing the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) since 2017, as provided by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) who administer the Fund on be…

5 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses the Scottish National Investment Bank has invested in each year, broken down by how much it has invested, and how many businesses it plans to invest in in each of the next five years.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish National Investment Bank only opened in November 2020 but has so far committed over £120 million to eight businesses and projects in line with its strategic missions. Details of the each of the Bank’s investments are published on the Bank’s ‘Our …

4 Oct 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to raise public awareness of the new regulations on interlinked fire alarms, and how the new fire alarm requirements will be enforced from February 2022.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has undertaken a comprehensive awareness raising campaign across a range of channels including TV, radio and digital to ensure people are aware of the new legislation and to encourage compliance. This includes material to support third…

23 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when its new Advisory Council will publish its 10-year National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Council act in an advisory capacity to inform our National Strategy for Economic Transformation, which the Scottish Government will publish in late Autumn. The Advisory Council includes representatives from industry, trade unions and academia, and has be…