- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been received to the Just Transition Fund to date; whether it will provide the full list of locations for advertising the fund; when the application process for the first £20 million closes, and when the first £20 million will be awarded to successful applicants.
Answer
The application window for the first year of the Just Transition Fund closed on 15 July 2022, with a total of 102 proposals received.
The Fund was advertised through the Scottish Government’s website and social media platforms, as well as through local partners, including: Aberdeenshire Council, Moray Council; Aberdeen City Council; Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce; Moray Chamber of Commerce; and the Just Transition Partnership. The Fund was also advertised through the ‘Find Business Support’ portal.
Applicants were notified about the outcome of their proposals on 6 September 2022, but the full list of projects won’t be published until after the mourning period following the passing of Her Majesty The Queen.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10026 by Richard Lochhead on 22 August 2022, who or which body will judge whether a bidding organisation is “headquartered, or demonstrate[s] a strong connection to at least one of Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City or Moray"; what its written definition is of “a strong connection”; whether Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and/or Moray local authorities are able to bid into the fund, and, if so, whether they count as the partner that “must be based or have majority of operations in one of the regions”.
Answer
Scottish Government officials assess whether each bidding organisation to the Just Transition Fund is “headquartered, or demonstrate[s] a strong connection to at least one of Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City or Moray". Only proposals that meet this criteria are considered for funding.
Aberdeenshire Council, Moray Council and Aberdeen City Council were all able to bid into the fund. They can count as the partner that is based or has operations in the region, however that is not mandatory and any private organisation can be considered as the local partner organisation.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether funding has continued for Action Against Stalking further to the initial investment of £55,000 in the 2019-20 victim/witness support budget.
Answer
We have continued to increase our funding to Action Against Stalking since 2019. In 2020-21 we provided almost £115,000 in funding and in 2021-22 we provided £100,000.
In March 2022 we announced funding of £495,000 over the period 2022-25 from the new Victim Centred Approach Fund to enable Action Against Stalking to deliver expert support to victims, and continue their work to improve the understanding of, and response to, stalking behaviours.
We are also providing up to £230,000 a year through the Scottish Legal Aid budget, and £384,000 in 2022-23 from the Justice portfolio, to the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre to offer free legal information and advice to women experiencing gender based violence, including stalking and harassment.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what specific investment it has provided to Police Scotland in support of tackling stalking and harassment offences in (a) Scotland and (b) Aberdeen in each year from 2018-19 to 2022-23.
Answer
The Scottish Government provides grant in aid funding to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), as outlined in the Annual Budget Bills. In 2022-23 this funding totals over £1.3 billion. It is for the SPA and the Chief Constable to allocate this funding to policing priorities at a national and local level, and to also support the delivery of the Joint Strategy on Policing.
The Scottish Government has not provided any additional funding to Police Scotland specifically in support of stalking and harassment offences in the time period 2018-19 to 2022-23.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis has been undertaken in the last five years of the effectiveness of its plans to tackle stalking and harassment.
Answer
A refresh of the Equally Safe Delivery Plan outlining the joint commitment of the Scottish Government and COSLA to preventing and eradicating all forms of violence against women and girls, which includes stalking and sexual harassment, and tackling underpinning attitudes that perpetuate it, was published in June 2022. The Scottish Government also regularly monitors the effectiveness of legislation and the funding it provides to relevant support services, such as Action Against Stalking and the Scottish Women's Rights Centre.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many successful prosecutions for stalking and harassment offences there have been in (a) Scotland and (b) Aberdeen in each year from 2018-19 to 2022-23 to date.
Answer
The latest available information on the number of people convicted for ‘stalking offences’ is provided in the following table.
Number of people proceeded and convicted for stalking offences (where main crime) in Scottish courts, 2018-19 to 2020-21.
| | Scotland | Aberdeen |
Total prosecuted | Total Convicted | Total prosecuted | Total Convicted |
2018-19 | 620 | 531 | 57 | 44 |
2019-20 | 562 | 496 | 33 | 25 |
2020-21 | 249 | 219 | 11 | 9 |
Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database
Please note: Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in 2023.
We are unable to provide data on harassment. There is no specific crime of harassment and harassment can conform to a wide range of both criminal offences and civil matters. As such there are no meaningful data we can provide.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on transport infrastructure improvements in the north east.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-08649, S6W-09452 and S6W-09553 by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June and 28 July 2022, whether it can provide a breakdown of the figures provided in response to each of three questions for the North East region.
Answer
ScotRail does not record passenger complaints data by region, but by rail route. The following below table shows ScotRail’s complaints data for routes which serve the North East region.
Complaint Type | April | May | June |
1st Class | 14 | 21 | 28 |
Assisted Travel | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Capacity | 8 | 17 | 26 |
Contact Centre | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Customer Provisions | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Cycles | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Environment | 6 | 3 | 2 |
Policy And Product | 5 | 2 | 6 |
Staff | 5 | 3 | 3 |
Timetable | 0 | 5 | 2 |
Train Service Performance | 1 | 20 | 19 |
TOTAL | 42 | 78 | 88 |
ScotRail has confirmed that the routes detailed below were included in this data. The member should note that the data reflects complaints which may have occurred at any point on the route:
- Aberdeen-Edinburgh
- Aberdeen-Glasgow
- Aberdeen-Inverness
- Dundee-Glasgow
- Edinburgh-Arbroath
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any schemes in place to reduce the number of seagulls, particularly herring gulls, nesting in residential areas.
Answer
The responsibility for dealing with nuisance gulls on private property lies with the property owner, although local authorities can provide advice and assistance, and have powers under environmental protection legislation to tackle nuisances.
Local authorities are expected to respond to statutory nuisance complaints on council owned property, such as where the deposit of bird droppings may have an effect on public health.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints were received by ScotRail from (a) passengers and (b) staff between 1 and 31 July 2022, broken down by the reason for the complaint.
Answer
The number of passenger complaints received by ScotRail, through their official complaints process, is set out on the following table for the period 1 July to 31 July 2022. The complaints may involve incidents that occurred before 1 July 2022.
The figure for 1 July to 31 July 2022 is 1192. This complaints figure is likely to reflect the point in time when several services were impacted due to driver shortages and the subsequent reduction in services as a result of the temporary timetable in place from 23 May to 20 July 2022. In this period there was also a GB-wide strike by Network Rail staff on 27 July which significantly impacted services in Scotland, with ScotRail only able to run a very limited service as a result.
The temporary timetable that was in place until 20 July 2022 aimed to provide the best available service to as many passengers as possible.
Complaints from staff are not included in figures due to these being customer relation figures. However, ScotRail do have a system in place to record staff grievances within their HR team.
Complaint Categories | 01-31 Jul 2022 |
Policy And Product | 260 |
Staff | 224 |
Train Service Performance | 136 |
Capacity | 110 |
Timetable | 107 |
Environment | 102 |
1st Class | 62 |
Assisted Travel | 25 |
Customer Provisions | 25 |
Ticket Buying Facilities | 22 |
Safety & Security | 20 |
Information Provision | 18 |
Contact Centre | 18 |
Smartcard | 15 |
Promotions | 13 |
Station Facilities | 13 |
Cycles | 9 |
Rail Replacement | 8 |
Double Debit | 5 |
Total | 1192 |
