Questions and answers

Question reference: S5F-04733

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 January 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-34561

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether dog walking businesses are allowed to operate under the current COVID-19 restrictions.

Professional dog walkers may continue to carry out their business under the current Covid-19 restrictions.

The Scottish Government issued Guidance for Animal Owners on 11 January 2021 which permits this to take place within the requirements of the guidance on physical distancing and good hygiene. This guidance is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-animal-owners/ .

Question reference: S5W-34210

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 18 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many contacts have been traced by Test and Protect (a) overall and (b) using only SMS messages in each week since 1 September 2020.

a) Test and Protect information is published weekly as part of the Public Health Scotland COVID-19 statistical report. The latest data (published 13 January) shows that between 28 May to 10 January 2021:

130,719 individuals were recorded in the contact tracing software,
from which 489,311 contacts have been traced
of which 347,910 were unique.

More information can be found within the publication: https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/

b) Since October 2020 some contacts will receive a single SMS only, providing isolation information and signposting. This allows contacts to be traced and isolate quickly. The majority of contacts traced receive a phone call from either local health protection teams or the National Contact Tracing Centre. Information on proportion of contacts traced using the single SMS is not currently published by Public Health Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-34183

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33789 by John Swinney on 14 December 2020, on what dates since December 2017 it has met Police Scotland to discuss the policy on harassment complaints, and who attended.

There was one meeting held on 6 December 2017. This was a generic meeting about addressing sexual harassment using a person centred approach and did not include reference to any specific concerns, complaints or individuals. The meeting was attended by Judith Mackinnon, Scottish Government Head of People Advice and three police officers from Public Protection Specialist Crime Division of Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-34184

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33789 by John Swinney on 14 December 2020, what the job title was of the person it made contact with in the Public Protection Specialist Crime Division of Police Scotland.

I refer the member to the written and oral evidence provided to the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints and related correspondence. Following Ms Mackinnon’s appearance at the Committee on 27 October she followed up a number of points in writing to the Committee Convenor. This included confirmation that any request for details of Police Scotland contacts should be made to Police Scotland for consideration under its personal data obligations. I note that the Convenor has subsequently requested this information from Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-34129

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 12 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Financial Transactions money will be in the 2021-22 Budget, and where it will be deployed.

Question reference: S5W-34117

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 12 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the role of the Water Industry Commission is in monitoring and regulating any anti-competitive arrangements within the competitive water market in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-34116

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 11 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the terms of any loan and repayment requirements given to Business Stream by its parent company, Scottish Water, in respect of support through difficult trading arrangements arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Any loan provided to Business Stream will be made by Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings (SWBSH) on arms-length commercial terms, consistent with the Market Economy Investor Principle (“MEIP”) test, based on independent expert advice and benchmarking. The key terms of the loan facility are:

New funding of £59m - £10m of equity, first tranche £24m debt, and second tranche £25m debt.
The first tranche debt will attract an interest cost of SONIA (Sterling Overnight Index Average) +3%
The second tranche debt will attract an interest cost of SONIA +9%
First tranche debt would be provided before second tranche debt.
All debt is to be repaid within 5 years. The debt is secured by a floating charge over the assets of Business Stream, granted in favour of the lender.

Question reference: S5W-34086

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 11 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of the final determination of charges by the Water Industry Commission, whether there is any flexibility in the expectation of the level of income to be raised in 2026-27, and whether any expectation is a formal part of the regulatory settlement for the period.

Question reference: S5W-34085

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 11 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of the final determination of charges by the Water Industry Commission, what the actual split between domestic and business customers of Scottish Water’s income has been in each of the last 10 years.

	Domestic (£m)	Non-domestic wholesale charges (£m)
2010-11	743.493	302.404
2011-12	745.563	294.706
2012-13	750.885	296.663
2013-14	778.809	293.633
2014-15	800.774	289.206
2015-16	820.677	291.502
2016-17	840.021	298.273
2017-18	860.866	320.476
2018-19	881.697	323.568
2019-20	903.673	338.242

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