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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-39608

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the potential role of (a) bio-derived heating oil and (b) renewable or bio-liquefied petroleum gas (BioLPG) as transitional fuels for rural off-gas-grid properties, and what its position is on promoting the uptake of such fuels.

While not appropriate for most homes, bioenergy, including renewable liquid biofuels, is a low carbon, renewable energy source which may prove the best solution to decarbonising heating in some rural communities. We intend to ensure that sustainable bioenergy and biofuels remain an option for these communities, Heat in Buildings policy takes a technology-neutral approach so that building owners are able to choose the technology which is right for them.

We are currently consulting on proposals for a Heat and Energy Efficiency Technical Suitability Assessment (HEETSA). The consultation will remain open until 29 August 2025. The HEETSA will include a technical suitability assessment methodology that allows for the comparative assessment of different clean heat options in a property and provide information on when the installation of a system would not be suitable.

Question reference: S6W-39604

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on levels of fuel poverty in rural communities of the recent price trends of (a) heating oil and (b) liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and what measures it has identified to mitigate any such impact.

The Scottish Government's most recent fuel poverty scenario modelling is for the July to September 2025 period under an Ofgem price cap of £1,720 for the typical dual fuel household. This analysis estimated a national fuel poverty rate of 32% (820,000 households) and an extreme fuel poverty rate of 17% (420,000 households).

When broken down by 6 fold rural urban classification 33% of rural households (140,000) were estimated to be in fuel poverty. Table 1 below breaks down the fuel poverty rate by 6 fold rural urban classification for all scenario modelling periods from January 2024 to present, as well as the 2022 and 2023 SHCS key findings figures. However, this modelling does not fully account for recent changes in the prices of alternative fuels such as LPG.

The Scottish Government has no powers over energy pricing which is reserved to the UK Government.

We are concerned that many rural consumers, who rely on unregulated alternative fuels to heat their homes and power their businesses, are not protected from price shocks and market volatility. That is why we continue to call on the UK Government to deliver a social tariff in the form of an automatic and targeted discount - including for those using alternative fuels - to address unaffordable bills at source. We have written to the UK Government sharing our Social Tariff Working Group’s recommendations and seeking urgent delivery of this crucial policy. The powers to implement this remain with the UK Government and we are committed to working closely with them, Ofgem, suppliers and consumer organisations, to advocate for the delivery of a social tariff across Great Britain.

Table 1: Fuel poverty rates by rural urban classification

Urban/Rural Classification	2022 SHCS	2023 SHCS	Jan to Mar 24	Apr to Jun 24	Jul to Sep 24	Oct to Dec 24	Jan to Mar 25	Apr to Jun 25	Jul to Sep 25
Large urban areas	31	33	33	32	30	32	33	34	32
Other urban areas	28	35	34	32	30	33	33	34	33
Accessible small towns	34	32	30	25	23	28	28	31	28
Remote small towns	34	41	43	40	38	41	41	42	41
Urban Subtotal	30	34	34	31	29	32	33	34	32
Accessible rural	30	31	29	27	26	28	28	28	28
Remote rural	47	44	44	43	42	43	43	44	43
Rural Subtotal	47	35	36	33	31	33	33	33	33
All	31	34	34	32	30	32	33	34	32

Notes

1.The SHCS is a sample survey and therefore all figures are estimates which lie at the midpoint of a confidence interval which depends primarily on sample size.

Question reference: S6W-39596

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has made to the UK Government regarding the security of supply and future operation of the Mossmorran natural gas liquids plant since 1 January 2020, and what the outcomes were of any such representations.

Question reference: S6W-39594

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on the national gas transmission system of any unplanned shutdown at the Mossmorran natural gas liquids plant, and what contingencies it has identified to mitigate any such disruption.

Question reference: S6W-39600

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement notices or other regulatory actions the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued in relation to the Mossmorran natural gas liquids plant since 1 January 2022, and what remedial steps were required in each case.

Question reference: S6W-39599

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has received from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) on (a) the number of flaring events and their cumulative duration and (b) the causes of flaring at the Mossmorran natural gas liquids plant in each of the last three calendar years.

Question reference: S6W-39607

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency arrangements it has in place to support households that are reliant on (a) heating oil and (b) liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the event of supply disruptions during winter 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-39603

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many domestic properties rely on (a) heating oil and (b) liquefied petroleum gas as their primary heating fuel, broken down by local authority area.

The most recently available Local Authority analysis from the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) is from 2017 to 2019

Table 1 shows the estimated number of dwellings that use heating oil, or LPG as their primary heating fuel, broken down by Local Authority.

Table 1: Estimated number of households using LPG and Oil as primary heating fuel 2017-19.

	LPG	Oil	Total Households
Aberdeen City	*	[c]	108,000
Aberdeenshire	3,000	26,000	111,000
Angus	2,000	5,000	54,000
Argyll and Bute	2,000	6,000	42,000
Clackmannanshire	*	0	24,000
Dumfries and Galloway	2,000	13,000	70,000
Dundee City	[c]	[c]	70,000
East Ayrshire	[c]	2,000	55,000
East Dunbartonshire	*	*	46,000
East Lothian	*	2,000	46,000
East Renfrewshire	[c]	*	39,000
Edinburgh, City of	[c]	1,000	236,000
Na h-Eileanan Siar	1,000	6,000	13,000
Falkirk	*	1,000	72,000
Fife	*	4,000	168,000
Glasgow City	[c]	[c]	293,000
Highland	3,000	26,000	109,000
Inverclyde	1,000	[c]	38,000
Midlothian	1,000	1,000	39,000
Moray	1,000	7,000	43,000
North Ayrshire	*	1,000	64,000
North Lanarkshire	[c]	2,000	152,000
Orkney Islands	[c]	4,000	10,000
Perth and Kinross	2,000	9,000	68,000
Renfrewshire	[c]	[c]	86,000
Scottish Borders	1,000	7,000	54,000
Shetland Islands	*	3,000	10,000
South Ayrshire	1,000	4,000	52,000
South Lanarkshire	1,000	6,000	146,000
Stirling	1,000	2,000	39,000
West Dunbartonshire	*	*	43,000
West Lothian	*	1,000	78,000
Scotland	25,000	139,000	2,479,000

Notes

1.The SHCS is a sample survey and therefore all figures are estimates which lie at the midpoint of a confidence interval which depends primarily on sample size.

2.A * indicates suppression has been applied where the base sample is too small to report (below 30 cases) or the estimate represents 2 or fewer sampled households.

3.A [c] indicates 0 sampled cases.

4.Figures may not sum due to rounding.

The Scottish Government publishes local authority analysis using a three-year pooled data set from the SHCS, to ensure sufficient sample sizes. As set out in the Scottish House Condition Survey 2023 Key Findings Report (available at Scottish House Condition Survey: 2023 Key Findings - gov.scot) the lack of SHCS data for 2020 and the enforced changes for 2021 means that the next set of local authority estimates will be for the 2022 to 2024 period, scheduled for publication in early 2026.

Question reference: S6W-38835

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many tonnes of waste it has directly generated in each of the last five financial years; how many tonnes of this waste were sent to landfill; how many tonnes it estimates it will generate in 2026, and how many tonnes of this waste it estimates will be sent to England from January 2026.

The Core Scottish Government reports the following figures for waste generated by its operations across premises over the past five financial years:

2019-2020: 1,497 tonnes total waste , includes 92.76 tonnes of landfilled waste
2020-2021: 867 tonnes total waste, includes 128.94 tonnes of landfilled waste
2021-2022: 1,648 tonnes total waste, includes 136.72. tonnes of landfilled waste
2022-2023: 1,760 tonnes total waste, includes 69.28 tonnes of landfilled waste
2023-2024: 1,127 tonnes total waste , includes 58.61 tonnes of landfilled waste

No landfilled waste was sent to England during this period.

The Core Scottish Government does not forecast future waste generation. Waste data is reported retrospectively after the end of each financial year.

The Core Scottish Government remains committed to reducing all forms of waste across its operations and continues to implement measures to improve sustainability and resource efficiency.

Question reference: S6W-38832

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 16 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much waste generated by the Scottish Parliament will be transported to England once the Scottish Government's landfill ban comes into effect at the end of 2025, and what excess carbon dioxide will be generated as a result.

Currently no waste generated by the Scottish Parliament is sent to landfill. General waste is sent to the Viridor Energy Recovery Centre in Dunbar and food waste is sent to the Anaerobic digestion centre at Millerhill. Other materials such as paper and glass are recycled. We expect this to remain the same when the Scottish Government's landfill ban comes into effect at the end of 2025. Carbon emissions from all waste processing including recycling are included in our Sustainable Development Annual Report.

	2024	2023	2022
No of Flaring Events	238	275	202
Total Duration (hours)	1244	1934	502