- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that the Minister for Transport has confirmed that Amey has carried out repairs to potholes on the A90 between Fraserburgh and Peterhead and that the operating company is currently programming permanent repairs, when it expects (a) Amey to have concluded the programming of permanent repairs and (b) the permanent repairs to have been completed.
Answer
As part of the ongoing management and maintenance of the A90 trunk road, Amey Ltd (Transport Scotland’s operating company for the North East area of Scotland) prepares and delivers a 1-year programme of works, based upon the findings from their continual inspections of the network. These can include larger carriageway resurfacing schemes, more localised patching works or individual pothole patch repairs.
This 1-year programme is agreed with Transport Scotland before the start of the financial year and as with all programmes of this nature, remains under review depending on the findings of subsequent inspections and any reprioritisation.
In terms of resurfacing works on the A90, schemes at Crimond, South of Crimond and South of St Fergus were completed during the last financial year (2022-23). These schemes provided an investment of £1.2 million on the A90 between Peterhead and Fraserburgh.
Additionally, Amey has programmed the following patching schemes for delivery in 2023-24 in the A90 Fraserburgh to Peterhead area.
Route | Location | Brief Description of project | Construction Start Date | Construction End Date | Value |
A90 | Berryslacks | Machine Patching | 01-08-2023 | 30-08-2023 | £30,000 |
A90 | South of Leask | Machine Patching | 01-08-2023 | 30-08-2023 | £30,000 |
A90 | Lunderton Layby to St Fergus Cemetery | Machine Inlay Patching | 01-09-2023 | 30-09-2023 | £150,000 |
A90 | South of St Fergus | Machine Inlay Patching | 01-09-2023 | 30-09-2023 | £150,000 |
A90 | Logie Lodges to B9033 | Machine Inlay Patching | 01-09-2023 | 30-09-2023 | £150,000 |
A90 | Cortes Village | Machine Patching | 01-11-2023 | 30-11-2023 | £30,000 |
A90 | Philorth | Machine Inlay Patching | 01-11-2023 | 30-11-2023 | £60,000 |
As noted in our recent correspondence, my reply of 20 April referred to thirty Category 1 defects between Fraserburgh and Peterhead, which Amey had temporarily repaired to make safe. Since then, 9 of these were permanently repaired within the following 28 days. For the remaining defects, engineers have reviewed and determined that, on this occasion it is more effective to undertake more substantial patching at these locations. Given the proximity and nature of these locations, this approach will capture a wider area of repair than singular repairs, adding longevity but with less disruption to the travelling public.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee's meeting on 9 May 2023 and the response of the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy to whether the Scottish Government will countenance new nuclear energy generation in Scotland, that "we believe that that is expensive technology with the safety and environmental impacts that come off the back of it", whether it will set out, fully, the calculations and considerations that the cabinet secretary referred to that led him to conclude that nuclear energy generation was "expensive"; against what benchmark or comparator he was measuring this cost assumption, and whether it will set out an exhaustive list of what the cabinet secretary was referring to when he said that nuclear energy generation had (a) safety and (b) environmental impacts.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not support the building of new nuclear fission power stations in Scotland under current technologies.
Under the current Contract for Difference (CfD) awarded by the UK Government to Hinkley Point C, the electricity that will be generated will be priced at £92.50 per megawatt hour (in 2012 prices). Wind is one of the cheapest forms of electricity - electricity generated from offshore wind is priced at £37.65 per megawatt hour in CfD allocation round 4 (in 2012 prices). Additionally, Hinkley Point C’s CfD will last for a 35-year term, which is not afforded to other technologies that only receive guarantees for 15 years.
The UK Government has committed over £700 million to cover 50% of the development costs of Sizewell C – evidence that nuclear can have significant up-front costs to the public purse before construction even begins.
Nuclear power stations require nuclear material for their operation and generate radioactive waste, both of which can involve hazardous radiation and require complex and expensive handling for security as well as public health and environmental protection.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much money is allocated to its Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund; who may bid for this funding, and what the criteria are for successfully applying.
Answer
A total of £30m of Scottish Government funding is being made available through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund; with the expectation of leveraging an additional £30m from private sources. The Fund is directed at local authorities and assessment of bids will be based on criteria set out in the EV Infrastructure Fund Evaluation Template available on Scottish Future Trust’s website: www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/page/electric-vehicle-charging-network .
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it commenced work to discover an accurate statistic for Scotland's offshore wind potential as a percentage of Europe's generation, following its previously stated erroneous figure of 25%; when it expects to publish this figure, and, if it is the case that it has established a preliminary conclusion regarding this figure, whether it will state what that is.
Answer
Work commenced in December 2022 to develop alternative metrics for Scotland’s offshore wind potential and the outcome of this work will be published in due course.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an exhaustive list of which (a) companies and (b) industry bodies from the energy sector the new Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy has met with since taking on this ministerial role.
Answer
I have met with a range of stakeholders in the energy industry since taking on this ministerial role. A comprehensive list of all Ministerial engagements is routinely published online three months in arrears and in line with the Scottish Ministerial Code . It can be found at Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether the 32 winning projects of the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, announced on 18 May 2023, received their funding via the Scottish National Investment Bank, and, if not, whether it will provide the rationale for this decision.
Answer
The Hydrogen Innovation Scheme is part of the Scottish Government’s £180m Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF), which was announced by Scottish Ministers in the Climate Change Plan Update (December 2020). The EETF will support the development of the hydrogen sector and carbon capture and storage (CCS), including Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) in Scotland by providing capital support until 2026 to accelerate low carbon infrastructure projects that will be essential to deliver net zero. The fund will make £100 million available to support hydrogen projects in line with our Hydrogen Policy Statement. The funding offered to the 32 successful applicants to the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme is the first tranche of this hydrogen funding programme.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when each of the 32 projects awarded funding from the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, announced on 10 May 2023, were notified that they had received a funding award, and when they each received the funding.
Answer
The successful Hydrogen Innovation Scheme applicants were informed throughout April and May 2023. All grants are paid in arrears, and will be awarded on successful completion of key project milestones.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17502 by Kevin Stewart on 4 May 2023, regarding the commitment on page 22 of the publication, Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership – A fresh start, to have "doubled the electric charge point network to at least 6,000" by 2026, what the projected cost of achieving 6,000 electric charge points by 2026 will be to the public purse; when it will be in a position to state in which regions the charge points will be located, broken down by a proportion of the total; from which country the infrastructure will be sourced and built; what the projected extra electricity requirement will be, or, if it has not quantified the electricity demand from 6,000 charge points before making the commitment, whether it will state that fact; what its expectation is of the rapidness of charging of the 6,000 charge points will be, or, if it has not undertaken preliminary thinking on that, whether it will state that fact, and what plans it has to ensure that there are sufficient skilled maintenance contractors to provide the maintenance role.
Answer
I refer to my previous answer to S6W-17502. The Scottish Government has made £30 million of public funding available to meet the target of achieving 6,000 public charge points by 2026.
Electric vehicle strategy and infrastructure expansion plans covering all local authorities in Scotland are expected to be completed over the coming months; these will identify local and regional charge point needs, the investment requirements and best approaches to delivering collaborative investment with commercial Charge Point Operators.
The strategies and infrastructure expansion plans will be agreed by Transport Scotland prior to confirmation of any support from the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund. Transport Scotland anticipate strategy and expansion plans will be published by the end of 2023, these are expected provide details of the charging infrastructure and approach proposed within each local authority area or region.
It is important that public electric vehicle charging infrastructure is planned at the local level to best suit the needs of communities, businesses and visitors. This will influence the number and mix of charge points including their power capabilities and ‘rapidness’. Equally, this will also help identify charge points where there is likely to be market failure and a requirement for public subsidy.
The additional electricity requirements of the charge points supported through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund will be determined by the mix and power outputs of charge points; it is not possible to quantify this in advance. However, on 26 May last year Transport Scotland published a report on the zero emission energy requirements for transport, including plug-in electric vehicles, that considered a range of scenarios out to 2045. One of the key findings of this report was that the amount of electricity (and hydrogen) the transport system is expected to need is well within the limits of what the energy sector is expected to generate.
As highlighted in my previous answer, the arrangements and responsibilities for the supply and maintenance of charge points will be determined through contractual arrangements between local authorities and private Charge Point Operators, which will be subject to public procurement regulations. This may influence the countries from which charge points and ancillary equipment are sourced. The Scottish Government is aware that there are opportunities for Scottish businesses to support the maintenance and repair of charge points and these opportunities are already being realised across parts of the ChargePlace Scotland network.
Transport Scotland has considered the range of skills required for maintenance of electric vehicle charge points. Two courses exist to Institute of the Motor Industry Level 3 in Scotland already and the industry expects electricians with an additional qualification to be able to maintain electric vehicle charge points. The lack of formal recognition of qualifications is a current barrier that will be assessed as part of a review falling under the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan Update. Access to training across Scotland is critical and Transport Scotland has been investing in mobile equipment for colleges to support training in more remote areas and support a Just Transition to Net Zero.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to mitigate any negative effects of commercial forestry on farming.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2023
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it assesses "offshore wind farm economic activity", as referenced in the publication, Scotland's Marine Economic Statistics 2020, and whether Marine Scotland has concluded its investigations into how to more accurately measure such economic activity, and, if it has not yet concluded this work, when it expects to do so.
Answer
The publication, Scotland's Marine Economic Statistics provides details on the sources and calculations used to produce the offshore wind turnover and employment information. It also provides some summary information on the uncertainty present within this data as well as a link to the source, the Office for National Statistics' Low carbon and renewable energy economy survey, data which provides more details on the quality and uncertainty of this data. The Scotland's Marine Economic Statistics publication is currently an experimental statistics publication, which means it is under development. The offshore wind data is one of the areas that will undergo further work as data sources expand.
We have finished our investigation into whether it is possible to more accurately measure the offshore wind farm economic activity. We have concluded that currently there is no more accurate way to measure using existing data sources, however this will be reassessed in future. The reasons for this conclusion are:
- The main source for economic data for businesses is the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Business Survey. This uses Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes to classify businesses by main activity. There is a ‘Production of electricity’ SIC code, but the source of the electricity generation (e.g. offshore wind) is not separately identified within the SIC system.
- It is currently not possible to accurately calculate the gross value added of offshore wind using existing data or collecting it directly due to business structures. This is why the current source for the offshore wind economic activity, the low carbon and renewable energy economy survey, only estimates turnover and employment.
- Financial records at Companies House also use the same SIC codes as the ONS Annual Business Survey so it is difficult to identify relevant businesses. Even when identified their complex and interlinked business structures mean that is it not possible, using current sources, to separately calculate reliable gross value added associated specifically with offshore wind.
There is potential for future improvements in the measurement of the economic activity associated with renewables. As, for example, there is work ongoing led by the United Nations Statistics Division on a revision to the SIC codes, which were last updated in 2007. This planned update should better account for newer sectors such as renewables.
