Donald Cameron

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages international film production companies to make use of Scotland-based self-employed or freelance businesses.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government funds Screen Scotland, the dedicated public sector agency for the film and television industry in Scotland, which was formed in 2018 and sits within Creative Scotland. Screen Scotland supports the development and growth of the film and…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government who is on the shortlist to become Scotland's next Makar.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In keeping with past practice the Scottish Government has no plans to publish the names of the poets on the confidential shortlist for this role. This protects those poets who, once nominated by the expert panel, were asked and agreed, to take part in this p…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings (a) ministers, (b) its officials and (c) Transport Scotland officials have had in the last year regarding the procurement of new ferry vessels from foreign shipyards.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) is responsible for the procurement of ferries on behalf of Ministers. Neither Ministers nor officials have had any meetings in the last year, either with CMAL or with third parties, to discuss the procurement of new ferr…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have had their applications (a) approved and (b) declined for each level of subsidy in the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, also broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kate Forbes: As of 2 August 2021:(a) 1470 vouchers have been approved for the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS). We have defined this as instances where the connection has been delivered or where the voucher has been issued to a supplier but build has yet to comple…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been distributed from its Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund, broken down by (a) venue and (b) amount received.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The PAVR fund has provided much-needed support to a range of performing arts venues to help address the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on operations. In August 2020, 20 venues across Scotland were awarded a total of £7.5 million through the first rou…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date businesses will be able to apply for funding from its Creative Digital Initiative.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Creative Digital Initiative (CDI) launched on 23 March 2021, with businesses being able to register their interest to be informed when grant funding would be made available. Businesses who had registered their interest were offered the opportunity in Mid…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Convention of the Highlands and Islands will next meet.

Answer · John Swinney: The next meeting of the Convention of the Highlands and Islands is scheduled to take place on Monday 25 October 2021.

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when its Air Departure Tax (ADT) Highlands and Islands Working Group last met, and when it will next meet.

Answer · Tom Arthur: As agreed in the ADT Highlands and Islands Working Group terms of reference, the Group met three times. The last of these meetings took place on 4 February 2019 The Group offered external challenge to our consideration of options, and made a valuable contrib…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the vessels in the CalMac fleet, broken down by those that are currently (a) in and (b) out of service.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The information available is in the following table (As of 11 August 2021) Marine Vessels In Service Out of Service ARGYLL FLYER  X ALI CAT X  ARGYLE X  BUTE X  CALEDONIAN ISLES X  CARVORIA X  CATRIONA X  CHIEFTAIN x  CLANSMAN X  CORUISK…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on how it is supporting SEPA in restoring its service following the 2020 cyber-attack on its system, and how much additional funding it has provided to SEPA in relation to this.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Scottish Government officials continue to hold frequent meetings with SEPA to support them and to better understand risks, consequences and responses as they recover. SEPA’s progress is reported through their weekly service status update which is published on…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost of repairs has been for each ferry vessel operating on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service network in each year since 2016.

Answer · Graeme Dey: A table has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib Number 62617) that provides ongoing maintenance and repair costs per vessel within the Clyde and Hebrides fleet for CalMac Ferries Ltd. contract years 2016-17 to 2021-22.

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is, as it applies to Scotland, on the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund, and whether it will make similar funding available to support projects that seek to retain local amenities.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Scottish Government has a long standing commitment supporting local communities to become more resilient, sustainable, empowered and grow local wellbeing inclusive economies. This is delivered through a range of well-established programmes and funds that incl…

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) theatres, (b) music venues, (c) dance halls and (d) cinemas have permanently closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is concerned that some cultural venues have permanently closed since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions essential to helping safeguard the health and wellbeing of the country. We are aware …

28 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can confirm the date on which Scotland’s next Makar will be announced, and, if not, when it estimates the appointment process will be concluded.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The First Minister announced that Kathleen Jamie is to be Scotland’s next Makar at an event at the Scottish Poetry Library on 18 August and issued a news release which sets out all the details. This is available at: New Scots Makar - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

26 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what technical and safety checks were carried out on and (b) whether it uncovered any faults with the MV Arrow prior to it being chartered to cover the Ullapool-Stornoway ferry service.

Answer · Graeme Dey: CalMac Ferries Ltd conducted a vessel inspection prior to the time charter of the MV Arrow to operate the Ullapool – Stornoway freight service. These checks were conducted using Ship Inspection Report Programme (SIRE), an exemplar of vessel inspection, from w…

26 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the cost to charter the MV Arrow to temporarily cover the Ullapool-Stornoway ferry service.

Answer · Graeme Dey: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01651 on ? 18 August 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-commit…

26 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the contingency measures that it put in place in the event that either the MV (a) Loch Seaforth and (b) Arrow broke down.

Answer · Graeme Dey: As the operator, CalMac Ferries Ltd will determine how to deploy or cascade vessels during any period of disruption to maintain lifeline ferry services across the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) network.

5 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00644 by Kate Forbes on 28 June 2021, what the total cost was of the fibre optic undersea cable project between Ormsary and Jura, broken down by how much was met through (a) public and (b) private funding.

Answer · Kate Forbes: As per the answer to your previous question S6W-00644, it is not possible to provide an individual cost breakdown for this single piece of infrastructure built as part of the overall Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Highlands and Islands contract.

11 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of each source of funding for the fibre optic undersea cable project, between Ormsary and Jura.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Build through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Highlands and Islands contract - including the subsea cable between Ormsary and Jura - was delivered through a combination of funding from Scottish Government, UK Government, Highlands and Islands …

11 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish its three-week review of physical distancing restrictions, as announced on 11 May 2021.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government published the outcome of its review into Physical Distancing on 22nd June and it is available through the following link: Coronavirus (COVID-19): review of physical distancing in Scotland - June 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)    

19 May 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work regarding COVID-19 vaccine certification for international travel; what consideration it has given to the use of vaccine certification in the domestic economy; in what formats it expects to provide vaccine certification, and what engagement i…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-00019 on? 26 May 2021. The answer is available on the Parliament's website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament

19 May 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of vaccination doses (a) allocated to NHS Scotland, (b) delivered to NHS Scotland and (c) received by people in Scotland, and what the reasons are for the differences between these figures.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government greatly values the need for adhering to commercial sensitivity on this area of public policy. All information on supply volumes – except data that is currently published – is commercially sensitive. There was agreement between Departm…

10 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the extra £896 million allocated to the health portfolio in its budget, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Additional funding of £1.08 billion has been announced for health and care for 2021-22, to support the response to the pandemic, with £120 million allocated to ensure the delivery of our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan and £60 million invested in w…

8 Mar 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a COVID-19 economic recovery plan for the Highlands and Islands region.

3 Mar 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to offering the COVID-19 vaccine to students who will be 17 years old when they start university in September 2021.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Our work is led by JCVI and delivery is dependent on supply.

25 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its revised COVID-19 Strategic Framework, whether it has considered further reducing restrictions in Level 3 areas for island communities that have consistently low cases of COVID-19, earlier than outlined.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government regularly reviews the restrictions that are in place to ensure they are appropriate, and proportionate, to local circumstances. It is anticipated that it will be safe to return to the full local levels approach, including levels 0-2 on…

24 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has produced regarding offering hospital patients aged (a) 60 to 69, (b) 70 to 79 and (c) 80 or over a COVID-19 vaccination prior to discharge, and under what circumstances it (i) must and (ii) must not be offered.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We follow a general approach for vaccinating hospital patients who are prioritised for vaccine as per the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) advice. One of the first things we recommended and undertook when vaccination started in Decemb…

23 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reopen the Scottish Seafood Business Resilience Fund to support seafood processors who are unable to access the new Seafood Producers Resilience Fund.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Seafood Producer’s Resilience Fund is a £6.45m fund to support those parts of the Scottish Seafood sector where the evidence is strongest of hardship as a result of the public health situation, and the impact, in the short term of EU Exit. By supporting t…

17 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £4.25 million funding for domestic abuse charities that it announced in September 2020 has been extended to September 2021.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The £4.25m the member refers to was additional funding allocated to ensure organisations could respond to changes in circumstance and increased demand for services caused by the pandemic, and covers the period to ? 30 September 2021. This payment was on top o…

17 Feb 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32076 by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020, whether it will provide an update on how many of the 250 community link workers (a) have been recruited and (b) are in post.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We are on course to exceed our target of recruiting 250 Community Link Workers across Scotland by the end of the Parliament. As of March 2020 there were 217 Community Link Workers in post, all of whom have played a crucial role in supporting patients during t…