Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-17283

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what contracts Transport Scotland has with external consultants that include the provision of advice on the contract specifications in the next public contract for ferry services on the Gourock-Dunoon route, and what the (a) duration and (b) value is of any such contracts.

Question reference: S5W-16796

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes it has built during the current parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government publishes statistics on affordable housing completions each quarter. The latest set of figures was published on 13 March in the Quarterly Housing statistics update, and covered activity over the time period up to end December 2017.

The published figures show that 7,280 new build affordable homes have been completed between April 2016 and December 2017. This figure includes new build homes only; rehabilitations and off-the-shelf purchases are not included.

The next quarterly update, which will cover the quarter from January to March 2018 and therefore will provide complete coverage of the 2017-18 period, is planned to be published on 12th June 2018.

Question reference: S5O-02193

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on recent changes to the terms and conditions of interpreters used by the courts service.

Question reference: S5W-16307

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the cost of studying for a diploma in legal practice.

Tuition fees for postgraduate study are not regulated by the Scottish Government and each individual higher education institution is responsible for setting their own fee rates for postgraduate courses, including the Diploma in Legal Practice.

However, the Scottish Government does provide students with loan support for postgraduate study. Following a recent review of postgraduate funding, in academic year 2017-18 we increased the maximum level of available loan support to £10,000 (comprising £5,500 for tuition fees and £4,500 for living costs).

In addition to this students who require additional support for example with housing or travel costs, can apply for Discretionary Funds. These funds are allocated by Scottish Ministers and administered by individual universities.

Question reference: S5W-16306

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to people from poorer backgrounds who are seeking to study for a degree in law.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing students with the support they need to enter and remain in Higher Education.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) funds the Access to High Demand Professions Access Programme, which helps to increase the number of applications, offers and entrants from students from disadvantaged backgrounds into high demand and competitive areas of study, including law.

One of the recommendations of the Commission on Widening Access was for the Commissioner for Fair Access to consider what further work is required to support equal access for other groups of learners and within specific degree subjects. We will highlight this issue to the Commissioner for consideration in respect of his future work plan.

In terms of financial support, for those students seeking to study an undergraduate degree in law, in addition to free tuition, our student support package provides a minimum income of £7,625, through a combination of bursaries and loans, for eligible students with a household income of less than £19,000. All Scottish domiciled students, irrespective of circumstances are eligible for a loan of up to £4,750 a year.

Eligible students undertaking postgraduate law courses, including the Diploma in Legal Practise can apply for access student loans of £10,000 (comprising £5,500 for fees and £4,500 for living costs).

Undergraduate and postgraduate students, who require additional support for example with housing or travel costs, can also apply for Discretionary Funds. These funds are allocated by Scottish Ministers and administered by individual colleges and universities.

Question reference: S5W-16341

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in dealing with the appeal from WH Malcolm regarding a proposed gasification plant in Scotstoun, which was called in by ministers in October 2016; for what reason it has not met its target of issuing a decision within three months; by what date it will announce its decision, and which ministers will be involved in reaching this.

Question reference: S5W-16349

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) private sector landlords and (b) owner-occupier households have used the Home Energy Scotland loan scheme each year.

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Loan scheme launched in May 2017 offering interest free loans of up to £32,500 per home to owner occupiers and eligible registered private sector landlords in Scotland to install energy efficiency measures, renewable systems or connection to approved district heating schemes. At the close of the scheme on 31 March 2018:

(a) 128 registered private sector landlords had been offered loans

(b) 1276 owner occupier had been offered loans

The Home Energy Scotland Loan scheme re-launched on 24 April 2018 and now offers householders up to £38,500 with additional funding now available for energy storage systems, to date no loans have been offered.

Further statistical and funding information on the HES loan scheme 2017/18 can be found at the following published Freedom of Information requests:

9 March 2018 - Home Energy Scotland Loan Scheme: FOI release - gov.scot
21 March 2018 - Applications for the Home Energy Scotland Loan: FOI release - gov.scot

The Home Energy Scotland loan replaced two separate existing loan schemes: the Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland (HEEPS) loan and the Home Energy Scotland Renewable loan.

Further information on the HEEPS loan scheme can be found at the following links:

12 December 2017 - Home Energy Efficiency Programmes loan scheme: FOI release - gov.scot
31 August 2017 - Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: summary delivery report 2015-2016 - gov.scot

Question reference: S5W-16380

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many households have received a grant from the Warm Homes Scotland scheme each year.

Warmer Homes Scotland is the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme. The contract for the scheme was awarded to Warmworks Scotland LLP in April 2015. Warmer Homes Scotland opened for applications on 1 September 2015 and was formally launched by the First Minister shortly after. Warmworks is a partnership between Everwarm, Changeworks and the Energy Saving Trust.

The following number of households had measures installed:-

In 2015-16 - 1372 (from 1 September 2015 to 31 March 2016)
In 2016-17 - 5326
In 2017-18 - 4903

Further information on the Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme can be found on the Scottish Government’s website at: http://www.greenerscotland.org/home-energy/advice-and-grants/warmer-homes-scotland

and at the following published Freedom of Information requests:

28 February 2018 - HEEPS - Warmer Homes Scotland scheme - FOI release

Question reference: S5W-16304

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16012 by Alasdair Allan on 26 April 2018, whether any of the people who identified their ethnic group as "Caribbean or Black" or "African" have approached it to (a) discuss concerns regarding the threat of possible deportation and (b) advise that they have been refused access to health care or services in Scotland and, if so, how many and what action it took.

The Scottish Government remains in contact with stakeholders and partner organisations to ascertain whether anyone in Scotland may be at risk. At the moment, no one has come forward indicating that they risk being removed from Scotland or that they have been refused access to services here as a result of this scandal.

The UK Government has announced a review of the decisions which led to the Windrush crisis. However, the Scottish Government does not believe this will fully address the root causes of the Windrush scandal – the hostile environment policy, driven by a target to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands. The Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs wrote to the new Home Secretary on 1 May setting out the Scottish Government concerns about UK immigration policy and seeking an early meeting.

Question reference: S5W-15987

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on not using the mobility test 20-metre threshold as an assessment tool for Personal Independence Payments when this benefit is devolved.

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