Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-00070

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00071

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6T-00055

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its preparations for Euro 2020, including the fan zone.

Question reference: S6T-00043

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by the Scottish Children and Young People’s Commissioner, which suggests that some at-risk children might have been detained unlawfully in secure accommodation.

Question reference: S6T-00044

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to increase Police Scotland's capacity to tackle online crime, in light of reports of a 6% year-on-year increase in online child sex abuse crimes.

Question reference: S6W-00307

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government at which COVID-19 protection level (a) live music and (b) dancing will be permitted at weddings.

We continue to keep all measures under close review. Live background music is currently permitted at wedding receptions operating at 1 metre physical distancing from level 2, but full live band entertainment is only permitted in settings operating under performing arts or events guidance at 2 metre physical distancing from level 2 at this time. Dancing is not permitted at this time, except for the first dance by the marrying couple and the parents of the marrying couple where they reside in the same household. Physical distancing requirements are a key factor in determining when these activities can fully return to wedding receptions and as the First Minister confirmed in the statement to Parliament on 11 May, a review of this is currently underway and will report back shortly.

Question reference: S6W-00302

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Scottish Green Party’s manifesto commitment to “oppose public investment in carbon capture and storage”, and whether it will continue to provide investment and support to carbon capture utilisation and storage projects, regardless of any future deal negotiated with the Scottish Green Party.

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 key sectors such as heat, industry and power. A proven technology, there are more than 50 CCUS facilities worldwide, with an estimated combined capture capacity of 96 million tonnes of CO2 per annum.

The Committee on Climate Change describes CCUS as a “necessity, not an option” to achieve net-zero emissions; indeed, the swift development of CCUS as a cornerstone of our energy transition is vital to achieving Scotland’s net zero emissions reduction targets.

Scotland is the most cost-effective place to begin CCUS in the UK, with existing oil and gas infrastructure available to repurpose for CO2 transport and storage. The development of CCUS could offer a range of transition opportunities for Scottish oil and gas firms and domestic supply chain companies.

We are already supporting efforts to deploy CCUS in Scotland, including through our Emerging Energy Technologies Fund, which will provide £80m over the next five years to support the development of CCUS and negative-emissions technologies. We have also provided funding and policy support to the Acorn CCS project in Aberdeenshire, considered the most advanced CCS project in the UK.

Question reference: S6W-00160

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, what action it is taking to support businesses that rely on tourism.

We are doing everything we can with the limited powers available to us to support the tourism sector.

We have extended 100% NDR relief, which is more generous than the equivalent rates reliefs available in other UK nations, for all retail, leisure and hospitality premises for all of 2021-22. In addition, Tourism businesses on Non Domestic Rates have been supported by the Strategic Framework Business Fund.

We also launched a £129 million package of business support measures over December and January as part of our short term response to the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce recommendations and followed engagement with industry to target support where it was needed the most.

We also invested £14 million in the Hotel Support Programme to secure up to 3,000 jobs in the hotel sector, and through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund we awarded over £8.9 million to hotels and other accommodation last year – there was no equivalent fund in England.

Over the past year we have worked closely with sectoral organisations like the Scottish Tourism Alliance on support for the tourism and hospitality sectors and we will continue to do so. This includes £25 million, which we announced in March, to implement the Phase 1 recommendations of the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce.

This fund will support domestic and international marketing to rebuild visitor demand, leadership and skills training, development of a net zero pathway for tourism, and social tourism and days out vouchers.

Development of phase 2 recommendations (years 2 through 5) is underway by the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group and proposals will be considered by the Scottish Government very shortly.

Question reference: S6W-00136

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further funding and support for nightclubs and softplay facilities, given that they have remained closed since March 2020.

We have no current plans to provide further support to Nightclubs and Soft Play centres. In October 2020, the first phase of the Business Contingency Fund provided grants of up to £50,000 to eligible Nightclubs and Soft Play centres, depending on the rateable value of the business property. From November they were also eligible for Strategic Framework Business Fund grants every four weeks of either £2000 or £3000, again depending on the rateable value of the business property, and a linked top-up award for retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. Further support was provided through one-off Restart Grant payments in April of up to £19,500.

Question reference: S6W-00093

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to providing COVID-19 vaccinations to UK seafarers, such as cruise ship employees, using Scottish ports while working in UK waters.

Currently there is no sectoral prioritisation of workers, other than frontline health and social care workers. We are inviting those of working age in all sectors for vaccination, in line with advice on clinical risk of severe disease and hospitalisation.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority lists represents 99% of the preventable mortality from COVID-19 and throughout the delivery of the vaccination programme. The JCVI advice is that an age-based approach is the best way to quickly protect those who have not yet had the vaccine but who are at increased risk due to occupation or other factors.

The Scottish Government has met its target to offer all of those in JCVI groups 1 to 9 an initial dose of COVID vaccine, with over 99 per cent of those aged over 50 having received their first dose. Those aged over 40 are now in the process of being invited for vaccination. Beyond that we will aim, supplies permitting, to have offered first doses to the entire adult population by end July, rather than September as previously anticipated.

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