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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-21711

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any analysis to identify where in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland potential purchasers of Scottish carbon credits are located.

Scottish Government has not undertaken an analysis of where in the UK potential purchasers of Scottish carbon credits are located.

Voluntary carbon credits purchased from the UK’s Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code can only be used to compensate for UK-based emissions, in a UK-wide market.

Buyers who set up accounts on the Land Carbon Registry use their headquarters address when setting up their accounts, and this is checked by the Registry against the UK-wide Companies House Records. Many UK-wide companies will have a headquarters address in England, even if they operate and have emissions in Scotland. 15% of companies who have a corporate buyer account on the UK Land Carbon Registry have a registered headquarters in Scotland. The remainder are in England.

Question reference: S6W-21992

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects that a biodiversity code, which mirrors the woodland and peatland codes, will be (a) drafted, (b) consulted on and (c) ready for implementation.

The Scottish Government is not aware of a timetable in place for the drafting, consultation phase or implementation of a biodiversity code that could operate in Scotland. The Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code both operate at a UK-scale and the role of Scottish Government in developing a similar biodiversity code, alongside other administrations and public bodies, would have to be determined. There is a range of work underway that will help to inform the development of such a Code when appropriate including a Scottish Government CivTech project to develop a potential model for a biodiversity code, the publication of biodiversity metrics research commissioned by Scottish Government; and the UK-scale British Standard Institutes work on Nature Investment Standards.

Question reference: S6W-21714

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to bring forward proposals for the regulation of carbon market participation in Scotland, and what the timetable is for any such plans.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to bring forward proposals for the regulation of carbon market participation for Scotland. It is committed to developing a values-led high integrity market for responsible investment in natural capital and will publish proposals for a Natural Capital market framework to support this commitment, and to strengthen the Interim Principles on Responsible Private Investment, in 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-21715

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether carbon credits generated in Scotland can be traded outwith the UK.

Question reference: S6W-21993

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps have been taken to bring domestic abuse courts to the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S6W-21683

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-20719 and S6W-20720 by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023, and further to its meeting with Police Scotland in August 2023, whether it will provide an update on the proposed pilot National Dashcam Safety Portal, which was due to be implemented in January 2023, and when the timescale for the implementation of this road safety initiative will be known.

Police Scotland has concluded that a stand-alone portal is not the optimum route to create the capability for digital media submissions to be submitted by members of the public.

However, Police Scotland plan to utilise the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) Programme, currently in pilot in Dundee, to build on the Scottish Government’s investment and make it easier to report poor road user behaviour, in support of making Scotland’s roads safer for all – especially for pedestrians and cyclists.

Timescales will be determined by the national rollout of DESC, which is expected to be complete during 2025. My officials remain in discussion with Police Scotland on this matter, as we look to implement this important road safety initiative.

Question reference: S6W-21693

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the conclusions and recommendations in the Social Research report, Mobilising private investment in natural capital.

Question reference: S6W-21689

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what contractual relationships it or NatureScot has with (a) Palladium, (b) Lombard Odier and (c) Hampden Bank in support of mobilising private finance into nature; what payments have been made to any of those parties in the (i) last financial year and (ii) current financial year to date; what the (A) value and (B) duration is of any extant contracts, and what procurement process was followed to secure any such contractual arrangements that are in place.

Question reference: S6W-21690

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains committed to its policy of offering grant support for peatland restoration until 2030.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the restoration of 250,000 hectares of degraded Scottish peatlands by 2030. Earlier this year the First Minister’s policy prospectus ‘New Leadership - A Fresh Start’, reaffirmed this commitment with an interim target -promising to deliver up to 110,000 hectares of restored peatland by 2026.

As well as our commitment of £250 million of funding over ten years, through our Private Investment in Natural Capital programme, we are working to attract increased private investment in peatland restoration as a nature-based solution for climate change and biodiversity loss.

Question reference: S6W-21691

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the full £250 million of funding that it has committed for peatland restoration will remain available for that purpose until 2030.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving its target to restore 250,000 hectares of peatland by 2030.

The Scottish Government remains committed to funding peatland restoration and also has an obligation to balance the budget each year. Annual spending plans are based on delivery forecasts and budget requirements from our delivery partners which inform the annual Budget process. The pipeline of work changes from year to year and so, therefore, does our allocated budget.