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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-12753

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 16 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of time for Social Security Scotland to process applications for Adult Disability Payment has been since it was introduced, and (a) how many and (b) what percentage of applications for Adult Disability Payment have taken more than 10 weeks to be processed.

Official Statistics on Adult Disability Payment were published on 13 December 2022 and provided information on processing times up to 31 October 2022. This publication is available from: https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#benefitsforcarersanddisabilityassistance.

Information on average processing time and the profile of processing times is available in Table 9 of the accompanying Excel tables.

Question reference: S6W-12959

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12259 by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2022, on what specific dates repayments of the loan should have been made by Liberty Steel Dalzell Ltd; when the last repayment was made, and what its position is regarding the length of time that long debt forbearance would usually be tolerated by a lender.

The detail requested around loan repayments made by Liberty Steel Dalzell Ltd is commercially sensitive and therefore confidential.

The length of the time that long debt forbearance will be tolerated varies significantly from lender to lender and from case to case. In this instance, it is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise as the lender and therefore a matter for discussion between them and the company.

Question reference: S6O-01686

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on support for Liberty Steel Dalzell.

Question reference: S6W-12334

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-00960 by Lorna Slater on 15 November 2022, which potential offshore wind developments were included in the figure in the statement that Scotland has “over 40GW of potential offshore wind developments already in the pipeline”.

The offshore wind developments included in the estimate of 40GW of potential offshore wind developments in the pipeline, subject to planning and consenting decisions, and finding a route to market, included:

3.8 gigawatts of projects currently under construction or awaiting construction [1]

Seagreen
Inch Cape
Moray West
Neart na Gaoithe

4.2 gigawatts of projects with lease options [2]

Berwick Bank
Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm
5.7 gigawatts of estimated capacity for targeted oil and gas decarbonisation projects under the INTOG leasing round [3]
0.5 gigawatts of estimated capacity for Innovation projects under the INTOG leasing round [4]
27.6 gigawatts from 20 ScotWind projects [5]

[1] Scottish Energy Statistics Hub - Pipeline renewable capacity by planning stage

Scotland, 2022 Q2
‎ Scottish Energy Statistics Hub (shinyapps.io)

[2] Marine Scotland – Marine Projects

Marine Projects | Marine Scotland Information

[3] Scottish Government, Sectoral marine plan – offshore wind for innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation: initial plan framework

Supporting documents - Sectoral marine plan - offshore wind for innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation: initial plan framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

[4] Scottish Government, Sectoral marine plan – offshore wind for innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation: initial plan framework

Supporting documents - Sectoral marine plan - offshore wind for innovation and targeted oil and gas decarbonisation: initial plan framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

[5] Crown Estate Scotland, “ScotWind Awards with Project Partners November 2022” https://www.crownestatescotland.com/resources/documents/scotwind-awards-with-project-partners-november-2022

Question reference: S6W-12335

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-00960 by Lorna Slater on 15 November 2022, whether the figure in the statement that Scotland has “over 40GW of potential offshore wind developments already in the pipeline” includes (a) currently operational offshore wind developments and (b) potential Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) offshore wind developments.

Question reference: S6W-12333

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-00960 by Lorna Slater on 15 November 2022, what figure it used for the gigawatt value of potential offshore wind developments associated with ScotWind for the purposes of producing the figure in the statement that Scotland has “over 40GW of potential offshore wind developments already in the pipeline”.

The figure used for the gigawatt value of ScotWind in the statement that Scotland has over 40GW of potential offshore wind developments in the pipeline, subject to planning and consenting decisions, and finding a route to market, was 27.6 gigawatts. This gigawatt value is based on each of the developers’ proposed project capacity in their applications to Crown Estate Scotland in the ScotWind leasing round.

Question reference: S6W-12259

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism on 24 March 2021, what the £7 million loan from the Scottish National Investment Bank to Liberty Steel Dalzell Ltd was for; what the terms of this loan were; how much of this loan has been paid back; whether repayments of the loan were made on time, and when the full amount of the loan is due to be paid back by Liberty Steel Dalzell Ltd.

The £7m loan provided to Liberty Steel Dalzell Ltd in March 2017 was in fact provided by the Scottish Investment Bank. This was a Scottish Enterprise scheme that pre-dated the launch of the Scottish National Investment Bank (November 2020). I have written to the Presiding Officer to highlight this error and request an amendment to the Official Report.

The terms of the loan provided are commercially sensitive and therefore confidential. However, I can confirm that the loan was provided to cover general working capital.

Repayments of the loan have not been made on time, however debt forbearance is not uncommon in the current market and the company is meeting the current interest payments. The current capital balance owed on the loan is £7 million and Scottish Enterprise remains in negotiation with the company over repayment.

Question reference: S6W-11554

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to bring forward legislation to (a) raise the school starting age to six and (b) implement a universal play-based kindergarten stage for children aged three to six, by the end of this parliamentary session.

Since 2014 we have undertaken one of the most significant reforms to public services in a generation by almost doubling the entitlement to high quality, funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) from 600 to 1140 hours per year, for all eligible children.

The early level of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) purposely spans early learning and childcare (ELC) and primary schooling. It is designed to support the implementation of a responsive, continuous, play-based curriculum for children from age three until the end of P1 (for most children). Key messages on the use of child-centred play pedagogy across the early level and beyond have most recently been confirmed and strengthened in 'Realising the Ambition: Being Me' (2020), the evidence-based and internationally recognised national practice guidance for the early years in Scotland.

Education Scotland is taking forward a range of activity to support the consistent and effective implementation of the ‘Realising the Ambition’ guidance, including through hosting webinars and supporting practice at regional and local levels tailored to local needs. We are aware that many Scottish Local Authorities have, or have immediate plans to implement, programmes of professional learning on play pedagogy for practitioners working in the early years of primary school.

From August 2023, all children who defer will automatically be entitled to an additional year of funded ELC.

Raising the school starting age and introducing a ‘kindergarten stage’ would represent a fundamental change in the scope of early years’ education in Scotland and a significant structural change to the provision of education, and was not part of the Scottish National Party’s manifesto for this current Parliamentary term.

The priority for this parliamentary term must be to fulfil the commitments on which this Scottish Government was elected, including building a system of school age childcare and a new early learning and childcare offer for one- and two-year olds, starting with those who need it most. These priorities are outlined in ‘Best Start: Strategic early learning and school age childcare plan for Scotland, 2022-26’, published on 6 October 2022.

While the Scottish Government does not have plans to change the age at which children start school in Scotland in this Parliament, we welcome an active debate on these issues as part of our ongoing National Discussion on Education.

Question reference: S6W-12095

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the role of Confucius Institutes in Scottish higher education.

Our universities are autonomous institutions and the alliances they forge across global academic networks are a matter for them and their governing bodies.

However, we expect all universities to understand and manage the reputational, ethical and security risks associated with international partnerships. This includes conducting appropriate due diligence before entering into new international partnerships and monitoring existing partnerships. Guidance to support universities has been published by Universities UK.

Following the Minister of State for Security, Tom Tugendhat's statement in the House of Commons on 1 November 2022 reiterating UKG's pledge to close all Confucius Institutes, my officials have increased their engagement with UK officials in order to understand the impact that this policy shift will have for Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12097

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the number of any attacks that have taken place in Scotland on former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland by members of the Chinese Communist Party.