Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-25393

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24661 by Graeme Dey on 6 February 2024, whether it will confirm whether a specific impact assessment was conducted regarding the £1 million reduction to the “Community Learning & Development” budget.

Question reference: S6W-25378

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24644 by Patrick Harvie on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £9.3 million reduction to the total "Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation" budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Question reference: S6W-25390

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24658 by Graeme Dey on 6 February 2024, whether it will confirm whether a specific impact assessment was conducted regarding the £4.1 million reduction to Skills Development Scotland’s budget.

The impact assessments for the E&S portfolio were prepared collectively and reflected in the Education and Skills portfolio analysis section in Annex B of the Equality and Fairer Scotland statement available at this link .

Ministers have been clear that they expect SDS to prioritise the careers service and maximise apprenticeship opportunities from within their budget allocation. This will also be set out in their annual Letter of Guidance for 2024-25.

SDS have their own internal budget processes and have clear focus on equalities and relevant expertise on their board.

Question reference: S6W-25384

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24650 by Mairi McAllan on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £6.7 million reduction to the "Central Government Grants to Local Authorities" budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.

The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23 and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years. Furthermore, the Spring Budget includes no new capital funding.

A significant proportion of the expenditure in the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced our room for manoeuvre.

It is within these challenging circumstances that we have had to make difficult decisions to achieve a fiscally sustainable budget.

As Miri McAllan MSP indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.

Question reference: S6W-25421

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24652 by Mairi McAllan on 7 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £37.8 million, or 75.6%, reduction to the Just Transition Fund in its Budget 2024-25, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Question reference: S6W-25391

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24659 by Graeme Dey on 6 February 2024, whether it will confirm whether a specific impact assessment was conducted regarding the £9.3 million reduction to the “Skills Programmes” budget.

Question reference: S6W-25353

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 6 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24668 by Fiona Hyslop on 2 February 2024, what information it holds on how the resource funding from the Community Bus Fund was spent, and how the impact of such spending is being evaluated.

The Community Bus fund was launched on 22 September 2023, with the £0.75 million resource funding available to local transport authorities for pathfinder style projects aimed at supporting them to complete initial feasibility and preparatory work required to consider the bus powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, including franchising, formal partnerships and local authority run bus services. Projects are still in progress, therefore the Scottish Government will not have information on how the resource funding was spent until the end of the financial year 2023-24.

From the bids received, 10 projects are being taken forward in 2023-24 pending compliance with Fair Work First requirements. These include projects to review local bus networks to develop local transport/bus strategies, and projects to complete options appraisals with a view to developing business cases. The majority of local authorities are still in the early stages of exploring the options within the Transport Act 2019, with most projects aimed at commencing work to determine which option, if any, is most appropriate for their areas. A full evaluation will be carried out following the completion of projects throughout 2024.

Question reference: S6T-01835

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported claims by the director of Shelter Scotland that it is "gaslighting" the country on housing when its budget "condemns 10,000 children to lives trapped in the homelessness system".

Question reference: S6W-25376

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24642 by Mairi McAllan on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the reported £29.3 million real-terms reduction to the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.

The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23 and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years.

The Scottish Government has prioritised funding for front line services in the 2024-25 Scottish Budget and this has required making difficult decisions. Despite these challenges, the Budget will increase frontline NHS investment by over half a billion pounds, uprate benefits by over £1 billion and to spend almost £2.5 billion on our public transport network. The total budget for the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio increased by £47.7 million in 2024-25, which is a £27.9 million (0.6%) reduction in real terms using GDP deflators published in November 2023

A significant proportion of the expenditure in the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced our room for manoeuvre.

As Miri McAllan MSP indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.

Question reference: S6W-25385

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24651 by Mairi McAllan on 2 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the removal of all funding from the "Regional Transport Partnership" budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.

The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23 and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years.

A significant proportion of the expenditure in the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced scope and value of transport spend.

It is within these challenging circumstances that we have had to make difficult decisions to achieve a fiscally sustainable budget. Officials continue to engage with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) on the implications of the budget decision along with the impact on future spending plans, and SPT have been invited to advise Transport Scotland on any impacts of budget decisions on risk to service provision.

As Miri McAllan MSP indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.

��˿��

Chamber and committees