Oliver Mundell

5 Oct 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to new parents with twins regarding rules on baby group meet-ups.

Answer · Maree Todd: Guidance on organised children’s activities has been updated on 5 October to increase the number of adults allowed to attend parent and baby groups. When all children in a group are less than 12 months old, and other health and safety criteria are met, group…

29 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its short-term let consultation document makes no reference to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has been supporting the tourism and hospitality sector through the pandemic in every way possible, given the limits of devolved power. We are planning for a recovery of the tourism sector. Regulation of short-term lets is part of ensur…

29 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its short-term let consultation will be live for four weeks and not the standard 12, and what its position is on whether this timescale will allow stakeholders to properly engage with the process.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has been working on proposals for the regulation of short-term lets since 2018. We first consulted in summer 2019 for twelve weeks, and published the results of both that consultation exercise and the independent research we commission…

29 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered piloting its proposed short-term let regulations before implementation.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We will not be piloting these proposals. We want to make progress in this Parliament to address a pressing issue for some of our communities and, to do this, we are aiming to lay secondary legislation in December. However, we will be encouraging and facilitat…

29 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will offer travel agents to help the sector during the winter period, in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31918 on 30 September 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/parliamentarybusin…

29 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a business regulatory impact assessment to accompany its plans to introduce short-term let licensing and planning control areas.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We are undertaking a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) which will be laid at the Scottish Parliament with the statutory instruments for the short-term lets licensing scheme and planning control areas.

29 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its Programme for Government advising that plans for the Transient Visitor Levy have been put on hold due to COVID-19, and that “future consideration of the levy will take account of the changed context the industry is operating in”, for what reason a similar approach was no…

Answer · Kevin Stewart: COVID-19 has exacerbated and heightened existing tensions around short-term lets in certain areas. At the heart of our licensing scheme is a set of mandatory standards which will help to protect the safety of guests and neighbours in short-term lets across Sc…

29 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to the tourism sector, in light of the impact of the revised COVID-19 household restrictions for self-catering businesses.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Controlling the pandemic has necessitated difficult decisions to save lives, including the single household rule. Our total support package now exceeds £2.3 billion, more than £40.5m of which has gone to tourism and hospitality; and almost £900 million of non…

24 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on cancelling the 2020 licensing fee for pubs and other hospitality premises, and whether it has discussed this with COSLA.

Answer · Ash Denham: Independent Licensing Boards are responsible for the day to day administration of the alcohol licensing regime as set out in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”) and associated statutory instruments. While the maximum fee levels for the annual p…

23 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of NHS Dumfries and Galloway's plans to deliver the 2020 flu vaccine.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Responsibility for delivering the Seasonal Flu Vaccine in 2020-21 rests with Health Boards and Integration Authorities with support from GP practices. The administration of vaccinations provided in General Practices will depend on each Health Board’s individu…

17 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason some routine dentist treatments are available privately but not to NHS patients.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We are actively looking at how we fully remobilise NHS dental services as soon as possible and we have been increasing the range of dental treatments available with each phase of the remobilisation plan. This has culminated in reintroducing certain aerosol ge…

15 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported concerns raised by Fisheries Management Scotland regarding tree-planting grants.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government recognises that planting more trees on riverbanks is good for water quality, good for fish and good for the climate and natural environment. High river temperatures during the summer are a pressure on wild salmon in particular, and we …

15 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has the power to disband the Nith Navigation Commission.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not have the power to disband the Nith Navigation Commission. Scottish Ministers may make Harbour Closure Orders to remove statutory powers from a harbour authority, but it is up to the authority to initiate the process while fol…

14 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of delays in processing Disclosure Scotland applications for care home staff.

Answer · Maree Todd: We are aware that the restarting of business as usual (non-COVID) disclosure services by Disclosure Scotland in early June has seen some disclosure applications taking longer than during the full lockdown period. Over the past month, the average processing t…

10 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to landlords where rental payments are not received from tenants.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The PRS Landlord (non-business) Covid19 Loan was introduced to provide a support option for smaller scale landlords that supports them to work with tenants to manage arrears during the pandemic. The loan is available to landlords not operating as a business w…

10 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the commitment in its Programme for Government to expand Scotland's national forests and land by an additional 18,000 Ha per year by 2024, what proportion of this will comprise native species.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The current target for native woodland planting is 3 - 5000 hectares a year and is set in the 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s Biodiversity. This will be reviewed when the Biodiversity Strategy is updated. In the period April 2019-2020 approximately 4,500 hectar…

10 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that jobs created in the forestry and timber supply chain are based in Scotland.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scotland is leading the UK in new woodland creation; 84% of all new woodland creation in 2019 and 65% of softwood production in 2018. All this forestry activity is based in Scotland creating jobs here. The ambitious targets to increase woodland creation and …

10 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31329 by Fergus Ewing on 3 September 2020, for what reason VisitScotland advertises the entry point to the route as near Gretna, instead of Junction 44 where the route begins.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The map and associated wording on VisitScotland.com makes clear the route begins near Carlisle: “The only tourist route that begins outside Scotland, the Borders Historic Route picks up near Carlisle before passing into the lush countryside of the Scottish Bo…

10 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to small and medium-sized forestry-related businesses.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government provides targeted grant support for small and medium forestry related businesses through the Forestry Grant Scheme Harvesting and Processing option. This provides support for activities related to woodland creation and to help business…

10 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to land managers wishing to create small-scale woodland.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government provides support to land managers wishing to create small-scale woodlands through the Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS). This includes grants for each hectare of new woodland and support for fences and gates, which are often a higher proport…

7 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-30927 by Fergus Ewing on 24 August 2020, whether it will provide a breakdown of (a) how much each farmer was fined and (b) each farmer's geographical location.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Each year approximately 200 farming businesses are selected for a cross compliance inspection. The 25 businesses that have had a penalty applied to their payments for removing hedgerows represents a very small proportion of the approximately 3000 businesses t…

3 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will confirm to farmers the level of support that it will provide to less favoured areas.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Financial support to those farming and crofting in our most fragile and remote areas is a priority for the Scottish Government. It is not possible to circumvent EU rules and reinstate payments to 2018 levels for the 2020 scheme year, which will instead be at …

3 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement by the NFU Scotland Less Favoured Area Committee Chair that "we currently don’t have clarity on what the Scottish Government’s intentions are for paying LFASS (Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme) 2020 claims".

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government have engaged with NFUS and we support their point of view in keeping the LFASS running. The passing of stage 3 of the Scottish Agriculture Bill is the first step in ensuring we have the legal powers to continue all CAP schemes. It is n…

3 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will retain 2018 levels of Less Favoured Area Support Scheme payments up until 2024.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31492 on 10 September 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/parliamentarybusin…

3 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to follow EU rules that require a reduction in the support that can be provided to less favoured area farms and crofts.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31493 on 10 September 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/parliamentarybusin…

2 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether traders and crafters have been excluded from the criteria that would allow them to access COVID-19 events sector funding.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has put in place over £2.3 billion of support for Scottish businesses across a wide range of sectors to support them during the pandemic. The Events Industry Support Fund is in place to provide support to businesses or individuals who…

2 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that COVID-19 events sector funding has been rural-proofed.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government considered a range of factors when developing the criteria for the Events Industry Support Fund. This included online forums that EventScotland hosted with geographical and sub-sectoral representation from across the events sector; an …

20 Aug 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to promote the Borders Historic Route on the A7.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Borders Historic Route on the A7 is promoted on the dedicated route section of VisitScotland’s website. This is linked into four other pages promoting the South of Scotland. In addition, the route features in VisitScotland’s blog showcasing Scotland’s fiv…

20 Aug 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31154 by Fiona Hyslop on 19 August 2020, whether the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture will meet with the member and representatives of these events.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: As I said in my reply to question S5W-31154 on 19 August 2020 I encourage the Member and these bodies to contact EventScotland regarding the £10m support package for Events and to meet with the UK Government to encourage them to sign up to the UNESCO conventi…

20 Aug 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the roll-out of fibre broadband in Mouswald will be completed.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme has delivered fibre broadband access to more than 950,000 homes across Scotland, with over 31,000 premises benefitting from that investment in Dumfriesshire constituency alone. To date, 76 premises in …