³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Tables 1a, 1b, and 1c, have been placed in the Scottish Parliament information Centre under Bib No. 62441. These show the number of properties as at 1 April 2021 subject to the Basic (BPR), Intermediate (IPR), and Higher Property Rates (HPR) respectively, broken down by local authority and property class (data on industry sectors is not available). Property class is a classification used by the Scottish Assessors to describe the type of a property, and may not accurately reflect its use. For example, a property classified as a ‘shop’ may in fact be used to offer financial services. Properties across all bands may be eligible for rates reliefs which may reduce or eliminate their rates liability.

The BPR (49p) is charged on properties with a rateable value up to and including £51,000, the IPR (50.3p) on properties with a rateable value over £51,000 and up to £95,000, and the HPR (51.6p) is charged on properties with a rateable value over £95,000.

Table 2 presents the net amounts (after anticipated reliefs) expected to be raised in 2021-22 through the BPR, levied on all properties, and the additional amounts expected to be raised from the IPR and HPR. Ratepayers who have repaid or have publicly committed to repaying the equivalent of the Retail, Hospitality, Leisure and Aviation (RHLA) relief awarded in 2020-21 are assumed not to apply in 2021-22.

Table 2: Net amounts expected to be raised in 2021-22 through the BPR, IPR and HPR, by property class

Social Security is integral to my Social Justice, Housing and Local Government portfolio . It’s importance is reflected in the fact there is both a Cabinet Secretary and a Minister with responsibilities for it.

Physical distancing has been an important element in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and we recognise that physical distancing has an impact on how businesses are able to operate and has an impact on the profitability of all businesses. The Scottish Government is reviewing physical distancing and an announcement on the outcome of this review will be made in June. We cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review to say what the future of physical distancing will be in coming months, however as with all restrictions we do not intend to have physical distancing for any longer than is necessary to control the virus effectively.

We have provided more than £140 million of additional funding for culture and heritage since the start of the pandemic. The £185 million business support package announced in December 2020 has allowed us to offer more support to the sector in the shape of new funds and further tranches of previous funds, including additional support for grassroots music venues, museums and galleries, and the events sector. Our support includes the £12.5 million Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund (PAVRF), £15 million for a Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund (COVRF) and £6.2 million support for Grassroots Music Venues. We have provided £17 million for creative freelancers, £5.67 million for independent cinemas and £ 4.25 million for youth arts and youth music, as well as £31.5 million for the Events sector. We have also given additional support to some of Scotland’s key theatres. In addition to this specific funding for culture and heritage, businesses in the sector have also received support from the Third Sector Resilience Fund, Pivotal Enterprises Resilience Fund and the Heritage Emergency Fund.

On 11 May the First Minister announced that we will provide additional support for the performing arts sector. This recognises the impact of physical distancing on current activity and the sector’s ability to plan for future activity. The intention is to provide top-ups to previous funds (PAVRF and COVRF) which will be administered by Creative Scotland. Creative Scotland are currently developing these schemes. It is likely that the schemes will open for applications in early June

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo announced its cancellation in 2021 on 18 May as a result of the financial risks involved in delivering an event of such scale without the backing of UK-wide commercial COVID-related insurance for events, which remains a reserved matter. The Scottish Government continues to press the UK Government for an events insurance scheme to allow for the confident recovery of the events sector.

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.

Early medical abortion at home and the changes adopted in March 2020 to enable women to take the first abortion drug, mifepristone, at home where this was felt to be clinically appropriate for them and where the patient wished to do so has been an important measure to ensure abortion services continued to be delivered throughout the pandemic, without delays. The ‘Pills by Post’ service is an English service, which is not provided in Scotland. While many NHS Boards in Scotland are following similar arrangements, medication is in most cases delivered or collected from a clinic, rather than being sent by post.

The Scottish Government launched a public consultation on the future arrangements for early medical abortion at home on 30 September 2020, which closed on 5 January 2021. Responses to the consultation have been published on the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space website. The future arrangements for early medical abortion at home are being considered in light of the findings from the consultation and other available evidence and the Scottish Government plans to confirm our approach this summer.

The cost for training a student in dentistry is comprised of a number of components, including costs for university training, clinical outreach, and vocational training. The university costs for Scottish-domiciled undergraduates are approximately £32,641 for Year 1 (pre-clinical) students and £42,989 for students in Years 2-5 (clinical). For students in Year 5 there are also additional clinical outreach costs of approximately £31,467. The costs for the one-year vocational training that dentists must undertake after graduation is approximately £61,201 per dentist.

Answer: As detailed in the SNP manifesto, the new administration is committed to publishing a refreshed Energy Strategy to map out Scotland’s energy transition.

Weddings, civil partnerships and funerals are recognised as life events within Scottish Government guidance. Weddings, civil partnerships and funerals are of particular importance to people and society and are protected under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Wedding receptions and funeral wakes mark the social and personal importance of these protected life events. Additionally, there are very practical reasons why funerals cannot be postponed for any length of time. Therefore, these events have been given particular exemptions within the Levels Table compared to the general guidance on other life events.

There are no specific exemptions at this time for birthday parties amongst adults, or gatherings to mark a wedding anniversary or other life event, which remain subject to the general restrictions on people gathering.

Therefore, other events such as birthday parties for adults, wedding anniversary celebrations and celebrations after a religious life event should only take place in line with the general rules for meeting others indoors and outdoors.

The full guidance on protection levels and what individuals can and cannot do at each level can be viewed here:

We recognise the unique and significant pressures that COVID-19 has placed on businesses over the past year, including the independent brewing sector. That is why we have commissioned an independent Gateway Review to assess the impact of the pandemic on the go-live date for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

We have no current plans to adopt a ‘stepped’ approach in which certain producers would initially be exempt from obligations under DRS. This would be likely to cause significant consumer confusion and jeopardise the behavioural change that DRS requires.

When householders contact Home Energy Scotland, they are advised on the range of support schemes available, including whether they may be eligible for grant funded schemes such as Warmer Homes Scotland and the Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Schemes, before being directed to the HES loan scheme.

Even if funding is not available through these schemes, Home Energy Scotland will offer free and impartial energy efficiency advice on how to keep the home warmer and more affordable to heat. Tariff advice is also offered to ensure that households are on the most cost effective tariff for their circumstances and all callers are offered a benefit check. This is to ensure that, no matter what their income, they are receiving all the support they are entitled to.

Earlier this year, we published our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy setting out our ambition to transition 1 million homes to zero emissions heating by 2030 and to ensure all buildings achieve a good level of energy efficiency by 2035. Responses to the public consultation are now being analysed.