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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-16431

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15870 by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023, whether the Scottish Land Commission agreed to the wording referring to it prior to the publication of the Memorandum of Understanding, and what the estimated monetary value of staff resources is that will be deployed by the Scottish Land Commission and NatureScot in support of the private wealth investments envisaged.

Not being a party to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the Scottish Land Commission did not provide comment or input into its wording. The MOU published in March incorrectly listed the Scottish Land Commission as having a decision making role on the project board, rather than correctly identifying its role as advisory. Both NatureScot and the Scottish Land Commission have since clarified the role of the SLC with the partnership.

As this partnership is at an early stage, NatureScot is currently not able to provide an estimate of the staff resource costs associated with this work. The Scottish Land Commission’s advisory role will be provided in line with its existing good practice programme.

Question reference: S6W-16435

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15873 by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023, what its position is on whether (a) there will be returns to investors from private investment in the areas covered by the Memorandum of Understanding, (b) much of that investment will (i) be from outwith the localities concerned and Scotland, (ii) involve institutional investment and (iii) result in any returns extracting wealth from those localities and Scotland; what it anticipates the average rate of return for investment will be that is offered to investors, and whether it has considered other investment models that may result in less extraction of wealth from those localities.

We expect all investment to adhere to the Interim Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital as a minimum. The ethical framework that is being developed by NatureScot and its partners to guide investments under the Memorandum of Understanding will support this.

The matters referred to cannot be determined until the ethical framework has been agreed and approved and the project design phase, which includes developing investment cases with land managers, has been completed.

Question reference: S6W-16436

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15874 by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023, what its position is on whether promoting financial gains for private investors and private banks external to local communities, or Scotland, is an effective means of achieving a just transition to net zero within Scotland.

The Climate Change Committee, an independent statutory body, published their report on Voluntary Carbon Markets and Offsetting in October 2022, concluding that high-integrity carbon credits purchased by businesses can play a small but important role in supporting the transition to net zero.

Establishing a values-led, high-integrity market for responsible private investment in natural capital is a commitment of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, and the Scottish Government is working to ensure that this is one of a number of measures used to achieve a just transition. In support of this, our Interim Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital make clear that investments should create benefits that are shared between public, private and community interests.

Question reference: S6W-16433

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15869 by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023, what the main component parts are that make up the £20 billion in the calculation of the finance gap; whether an independent assessment has been made of how accurate the £20 billion gap is for the specific circumstances of Scotland, and, if so, whether any such assessment will be published; over what period the gap is expected to be filled, and whether it anticipates that all of the gap will need to be filled by private finance.

The £20 billion finance gap figure for nature-related outcomes in Scotland was reported in research by the Green Finance Institute in 2021. The finance gap is defined as the difference between required spending and committed/planned spending to deliver desired nature-related outcomes, for 10 years from 2022. Given the complexity in determining this figure and the volume of related evidence, £20 billion is a central estimate within a range of models. Optimistic assessments of the gap suggest the figure could be £15 billion while more pessimistic models suggest it could be £27 billion. The main component costs for the central estimate include climate mitigation through bio-carbon (£9 billion) and protecting and restoring biodiversity (£8 billion). The report makes clear the assumptions made in reaching these estimates. This work and the report were steered by an independent project board comprising public, private and third sector organisations from across the UK. Scottish public sector representation was provided by NatureScot and Scottish Forestry.

The Scottish Government and relevant agencies will continue to monitor and refine estimates as natural capital markets mature and our work in this area develops.

Question reference: S6W-16434

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-15878 and S6W-15879 by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023, what steps it is taking to identify, support and advance potential community purchases of land and to encourage alternative models of ownership in the areas covered by the Memorandum of Understanding.

The partnership is actively exploring alternative models of ownership with the Scottish Land Commission and has already held two workshops to explore these opportunities. In addition, existing routes to community ownership remain open across the whole of Scotland, not just in this area, through Asset Transfer Request and Community Rights to Buy. The Scottish Government also continues to support community ownership through the Scottish Land Fund, which will be doubled to £20m by 2026.

Question reference: S6W-16430

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances were (a) sought and (b) received by NatureScot from Hampden & Co, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Palladium, in concluding the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), that any private investment deployed in Scotland as a result of the MOU would not come from entities or individuals operating from offshore jurisdictions and that any return on investment would not be paid directly or routed to individuals or entities beyond UK or Scotland tax jurisdiction.

Question reference: S6F-02011

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the First Minister what immediate action the Scottish Government will take to improve the situation regarding ferry services across the Highlands and Islands, in light of recent reports of unprecedented disruption.

Question reference: S6O-02115

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will review the NHS Scotland Patient Travel Scheme and Highlands and Islands Patient Travel Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-15876

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment NatureScot made of how the Memorandum of Understanding with Hampden & Co, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Palladium would contribute to wealth owned by the communities local to the investment areas, and whether it will publish any such assessment.

The partnership will seek to deliver direct community benefit as a result of the investment, in line with the expectations of the Scottish Government’s Interim Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital. This will include full consideration of community wealth building opportunities and exploring potential ways the investment could support more diverse land ownership, drawing on current and emerging advice from the Scottish Land Commission. No assessment has been completed at this stage as the project partners are in ongoing dialogue about how the investment model will work. However, assessments will be published after completion of the project design phase.

Question reference: S6W-15869

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what other models to achieve natural capital investment in Scotland were examined before NatureScot agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hampden & Co, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Palladium, and whether it will publish any assessment of alternative models that it undertook.

The Scottish Government has increased public investment and support in our natural capital through a variety of methods. This includes the £65 million Nature Restoration Fund, and the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) that was launched in February this year. However, the Global Biodiversity Framework that was agreed at COP15 last year identified leveraging responsible private finance as a key target, and in Scotland alone it is estimated that there is a finance gap of £20 billion to meet nature-related outcomes.

For the purposes of this agreement, NatureScot entered into discussions with Hampden & Co., Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Palladium and mutually agreed that a Memorandum of Understanding would best define the ways of working and respective roles of parties, as is commonplace.