- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what urgent action it is taking to address GP waiting times in NHS Grampian, in light of reports of ongoing staffing shortages, delayed discharges and critical incidents.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any contingencies that have been identified for maintaining electricity system security of supply in Scotland under any potential zonal pricing scenarios that result in lower generation margins within individual zones.
Answer
Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling. In addition, a range of impact assessments have been carried out by consultancies and industry bodies.
We met with researchers, industry and consumer organisations – as well as international electricity market experts – in December 2024 to consider the evidence and have engaged extensively with stakeholders over the past two years to understand all impacts.
This is a complex area and the Scottish Government is clear that UK Government reforms must reduce costs for Scottish consumers, ensure Scotland’s communities feel the benefit of the energy transition and protect investment in our renewables industry and supporting decarbonisation.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments made by the ScotRail managing director, Joanne Maguire, at the meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 29 April 2025, that, in relation to the ban on alcohol on ScotRail trains, ScotRail staff “cannot enforce it" and that "it is not a matter of law”, what legislation underpins the alcohol ban on ScotRail services; what statutory powers are available to enforce the ban, broken down by (a) ScotRail staff and (b) the British Transport Police; what guidance it has issued to ScotRail (i) staff and (ii) passengers on the enforcement status of the ban, and what the reasons are for its position on maintaining the ban, in light of reported concerns regarding enforcement.
Answer
On Monday 2 June the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains was lifted and replaced with new rules, allowing alcohol consumption at certain times.
The ban was upheld by Railway Byelaw 4 (2) which states that a passenger with intoxicating liquor can be prevented from entering, or be asked to leave the railway. This Byelaw will also support the new timed restrictions and intelligence-led alcohol bans.
Enforcement of the alcohol ban has always been the responsibility of the British Transport Police (BTP).Having timed alcohol restrictions and intelligence-led bans will allow BTP to target its resource to specific services and permit a more focussed enforcement.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further detail regarding the reasons why it is not planning a broader review of the statutory grounds for fatal accident inquiries, in light of the previous review of statutory grounds being undertaken nearly a decade ago and reports of growing public concern over preventable deaths outside of custody settings.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential
implications of the UK Government’s consideration of zonal electricity pricing
for any progress towards statutory net zero targets in Scotland, and whether it
will publish any underlying modelling or analytical tables.
Answer
Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling.
In addition, a range of impact assessments have been carried out by consultancies and industry bodies.
We met with researchers, industry and consumer organisations – as well as international electricity market experts – in December 2024 to consider the evidence and have engaged extensively with stakeholders over the past two years to understand all impacts.
This is a complex area and the Scottish Government is clear that UK Government reforms must reduce costs for Scottish consumers, ensure Scotland’s communities feel the benefit of the energy transition and protect investment in our renewables industry and supporting decarbonisation.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it applies when deciding whether to withhold advice under section 29(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 in relation to electricity market policy development.
Answer
The purpose of the meeting on 26 February 2025 was to update myself and the Minister for Climate Action on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements, the reform options being considered by UK Government, and the potential impact of those options for Scotland.
The briefing paper for this meeting, and list of attendees, including ministers, have already been released under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). It is standard procedure for names of officials to be redacted in all FOIs under Section 38(1)(b), due to protections around the sharing of Third Party Data, whereby personal data is exempt from disclosure if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR and in section 34(1) of the DPA 2018.
Upon review of the FOI, section 29(1)(a) was not cited as a redaction used. Information has been redacted under 30(b)(i), however, was redacted due to it relating to the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers to have space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching a settled public position.
In line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its procedure is for reviewing whether to publish advice that was initially withheld under section 29(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and how frequently such reviews are undertaken.
Answer
The Scottish Government endeavours to provide information in response to requests wherever possible. The provisions of section 29(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy) or other exemptions under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) should only be applied in order to withhold information where necessary, in the public interest.
Anyone who has made a request for information has the right to ask the Scottish Government to carry out a review if they have concerns about the handling of their request. The Scottish Government has a statutory obligation to carry out such a review and provide a further response to the requester within 20 working days. The review will be carried out by a Scottish Government official who was not involved in the decision-making process for the original request, and who can therefore consider afresh any matters of concern raised by the requester - including whether exemptions from disclosure have been appropriately applied. Following the review, the requester has the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision on their request, if they remain dissatisfied.
Outside of the statutory process for individual reviews described above, there is no requirement for the Scottish Government to proactively revisit FOI responses previously issued to see if the sensitivity of information has changed over time in a way which would mean exemptions no longer apply. As the Scottish Government responds to over 5,000 requests per year, it would be impractical to do so.
However, the Scottish Government is also committed to making information about all areas of its work proactively available, for example through its frequent planned publications on the Scottish Government website.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the potential impact of zonal electricity pricing on renewable generation projects located on island communities in the last 10 years, and what the conclusions were.
Answer
Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling.
In addition, a range of impact assessments have been carried out by consultancies and industry bodies.
We met with researchers, industry and consumer organisations – as well as international electricity market experts – in December 2024 to consider the evidence and have engaged extensively with stakeholders over the past two years to understand all impacts.
This is a complex area and the Scottish Government is clear that UK Government reforms must reduce costs for Scottish consumers, ensure Scotland’s communities feel the benefit of the energy transition and protect investment in our renewables industry and supporting decarbonisation.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a summary of the key points of the advice that was withheld under (a) section 29(1)(a) and (b) section 30(b)(i) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 in relation to FOI/202500459761.
Answer
The purpose of the meeting on 26 February 2025 was to update myself and the Minister for Climate Action on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements, the reform options being considered by UK Government, and the potential impact of those options for Scotland.
The briefing paper for this meeting, and list of attendees, including ministers, have already been released under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). It is standard procedure for names of officials to be redacted in all FOIs under Section 38(1)(b), due to protections around the sharing of Third Party Data, whereby personal data is exempt from disclosure if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR and in section 34(1) of the DPA 2018.
Upon review of the FOI, section 29(1)(a) was not cited as a redaction used. Information has been redacted under 30(b)(i), however, was redacted due to it relating to the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers to have space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching a settled public position.
In line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Ofgem regarding the interaction between zonal electricity pricing and transmission network use-of-system charges in the last three years, including the (a) date of each discussion, (b) level of representation and (c) main points raised.
Answer
We have had extensive engagement with stakeholders to ensure we understand all perspectives in this debate and represent this in our engagement with the UK Government. The Scottish Government has not had specific discussions with Ofgem on the interaction between zonal pricing and transmission network use-of-system charges. Officials have been, and will continue to, work with UK Government, Ofgem and other industry stakeholders to ensure we fully consider the impacts of potential market reforms.
