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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: S5W-31506

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what involvement it has with Project Birch, which is a unit that has been established by the UK Government to assess requests by companies for support during the COVID-19 pandemic; whether it will place details of any discussions it has had with the unit in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), and what information it has regarding how many companies with a presence in Scotland have requested support through this route.

I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 8 June 2020 on economic matters. The letter was copied to the Chancellor. In relation to Project Birch, it specifically asked for engagement “on the businesses you are working with that have a footprint in Scotland, so that we can bring our collective energy to addressing issues that these businesses might face.” Despite this, there has been no engagement or discussion on Project Birch and Scottish Government holds no information on how many companies with a presence in Scotland have requested support through this route.

Question reference: S5W-31507

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it applies conditions regarding (a) environmental standards and (b) reducing emissions to any funding provided to companies seeking support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our immediate attention has been on health and on ensuring that our businesses remain intact. However, in our response to the recent Advisory Group on Economic Recovery, we set out our commitment to work in partnership with businesses to best align COVID support with our long-term climate, environmental, economic and social goals.

This response flagged that we will continue to explore bespoke approaches that link business support with climate change objectives, building on our experience with Fair Work and emphasising the need to work in partnership with businesses.

The issue of conditionality of business support can be challenging, but we are committed to looking at how we can use all our levers to support a recovery to a greener, fairer, more equal country. For example, we would expect any support for large emitters to be contingent on having credible, robust transition plans that align with Scotland’s climate change ambition.

We are listening to stakeholders calling for a green recovery and calls for “green strings” to be applied to government support, and would encourage these organisations to propose how this would be done in practice.

Question reference: S5F-04353

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 September 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-04331

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 31 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-04305

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 August 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-04280

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-30362

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 14 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in light of Scottish Renewables' call to unlock the benefits of shovel-ready renewable energy projects as part of the recovery to the COVID-19 crisis; what discussions it has had with the UK Government about progressing this, and what projects it has identified.

Renewable projects provide us with a major investment opportunity which can support a green economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. Ensuring that shovel ready projects are able to deliver quickly will also help us make progress towards our vital net zero commitment. We have identified that as of March 2020, there was 1.3 GW of renewable generation capacity in construction, 7.7 GW of capacity awaiting construction (with planning permission or consent granted), and an additional 4.5 GW in the planning system.

Along with Scottish Renewables, the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery has also highlighted the importance of renewable projects in Scotland’s response to Covid. Our response to its report, published on 5 August, laid out a wide range of actions that we will take to support a green recovery. This includes reviewing aspects of the planning process and examining the scope for changes to regulations in order to build capacity and deal more quickly with complex applications. It also details the funding available through a range of mechanisms to support green infrastructure, including the launch of our Green Investment Portfolio, which identifies £3 billion of investable projects over the coming three years.

We continue to engage with the UK Government and other UK-wide institutions to ensure that, in areas where devolved and reserved powers interact, that they act to support our ambition. For example, we are working with Scotland’s energy network owners to ensure that we have a clear, evidence-based set of regulatory requirements for the development of those networks which will be essential to the connection and operation of shovel ready projects. We will also continue to engage with UK Government and Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, to ensure that these can be delivered.

Question reference: S5F-04262

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 August 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-30441

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what account it took of its commitments under the Paris climate change agreement prior to signing its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Heathrow Airport in 2016 and, in light of the ruling by the Court of Appeal on 27 February 2020 that the UK Government had failed to carry out an assessment of its environmental commitments under the agreement with regard to the proposed expansion of the airport, what its position is on the validity of MoU.

Our approach to appraising transport investment in Scotland quantifies the potential impact of projects on the environment. It is for the UK Government to do the same for transport investments in England.

The Court of Appeal ruling has no bearing on the validity of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Various sections of the MoU have already been delivered and others will be realised during the construction phase and after Heathrow has been expanded. The MoU ensures Scotland will benefit from this major infrastructure project which will bring significant job creation and investment opportunities to Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30443

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5F-00381 by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 October 2016 (Official Report, c 16), in light of the First Minister's comment that "the Scottish Government has shown global leadership by including domestic and international aviation in our emissions reduction targets", what action it has taken to reduced emissions in each of the last four years, also broken down by its performance in meeting each emissions reduction target

Over the four most recent years for which greenhouse gas emissions data is available (2015 to 2018), Scotland’s total emissions fell by 10%. Over this same period, emissions from aviation (both domestic and international) rose by 11% reflecting the positive growth in our international connectivity over this time. Scotland’s statutory emissions reduction targets are set at the level of the economy as a whole, reflecting the importance of a joined up approach that supports the delivery of overall reductions. The annual emissions targets for 2015 and 2016 were met, but those for 2017 and 2018 were missed.

The update to our Climate Change Plan, recast as part of a green recovery from COVID-19, will set out a pathway towards meeting Scotland’s economy-wide emissions reduction targets out to 2032 and which also makes up for the excess emissions arising from the missed annual targets in 2017 and 2018. An example of a policy towards meeting these targets is our plan to create the world’s first zero emission aviation region and trial low and zero emission aircraft in Scotland.