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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-18281

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that NatureScot spent approximately £650,000 of its Farming with Nature budget on pay rises for its staff.

In the 2022-23 financial year, it was highlighted that the Farming with Nature programme expected an underspend.

Separately, given the significant levels of inflation we saw throughout the financial year, it was evident that public sector pay budgets were insufficient to cover the pay settlements eventually agreed.

The Scottish Government therefore agreed with NatureScot that the underspend from the Farming with Nature programme could be used to support the agreed pay settlement.

These are therefore 2 separate matters. The key elements of the planned 2022-23 activity on Farming with Nature have been carried forward to 2023-24 and will be funded from the budget allocation for this financial year.

Question reference: S6W-18252

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what research has been conducted into any barriers for young people accessing the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, and what measures have been introduced to reduce any such barriers.

The Scottish Government has listened to young people and their families about the application process and worked closely with delivery partners and local authorities to make improvements.

In light of feedback received, the Improvement Service, which runs the online portal https://getyournec.scot/nec/ made changes to the website to improve the application process and relaxed conditions on some of the proofs required.

In addition, local authorities have been working hard to support applications made offline and many have dedicated staff on hand to help those who may need additional support through the application process.

Further, towards the end of last year, the Scottish Government delivered a national marketing campaign to increase awareness and understanding of the scheme, and encourage more young people to apply.

Work is now underway on the one year evaluation study which will include questions looking at barriers to bus travel and to accessing, or using, the Young Person’s Free Bus Travel Scheme. The evaluation will collect information from children, young people and parents (both users and non-users of the scheme) about their experiences. The evaluation study will also draw on scheme cardholder data.

Question reference: S6W-18391

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it acknowledging in November 2022 that the claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe's potential offshore wind resource was inaccurate, when it plans to publish an evidenced, data-based estimate of the true figure.

As stated in my response to S6W-17912 on 25 May 20223 “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.”

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6T-01421

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to commence its Deposit Return Scheme on 1 March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-18205

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the report on electricity system stability and security of supply in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-18278

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government by what year it plans to have electrified the full extent of the East Coast Main Line between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and whether Network Rail has confirmed that it plans to deliver electrification by that year.

No date has been set for the electrification of the full extent of the East Coast Main Line between Aberdeen and Edinburgh. However, in line with the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan, this route is under consideration for future electrification by Transport Scotland, with plans at an early stage of development.

The Decarbonisation Action Plan commits to all passenger diesel trains being replaced; the order and programme in which that is done will depend on business cases and available budgets. The Plan itself is intended to be dynamic, with regular updates.

Question reference: S6W-18277

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme were (a) received and (b) successful, and what continued engagement and support has been offered to unsuccessful applications in relation to future or alternative funding streams.

The Hydrogen Innovation Scheme received a total of 74 applications with 32 successful projects offered grant funding.

Unsuccessful applicants to the scheme were directed to potential alternative sources of assistance, including available business grants and other funding calls and the SME Loan and Cashback Scheme which provides interest free loans (from £1,000 up to £100,000) to small and medium sized Scotland based businesses.

Question reference: S6W-17982

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15987 by Patrick Harvie on 23 March 2023, whether it will provide an update on when it will publish the data, in light of reports that it is already being used for policy formulation and implementation.

Question reference: S6W-17911

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many green jobs currently exist in Scotland, broken down by the region in which they are located, and what the definition is that it uses for such jobs.

Approaches to measuring green jobs are still under development and as a result estimates on how many green jobs exist differ.

A definition of green jobs was published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in March in 2023 “Green jobs” update, current and upcoming work - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) . ONS will now develop a detailed framework to underpin this definition, including the identification of appropriate activities (what the definition does and does not cover) and grouping them into useful sub-categories.

In the meantime our focus is on extracting the greatest number of job opportunities linked to the net zero transition, including via grants from the Green Jobs Fund to create new green jobs throughout Scotland and the Just Transition Fund to support people’s jobs and livelihoods in the North East.

Question reference: S6W-18256

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when Trucheck cancer-detecting blood tests, which reportedly have 92% to 93.1% accuracy, will be made available on the NHS.

Any healthcare products being used by NHS Scotland require the undertaking of due diligence to ensure the safety of everyone concerned. This involves seeking clinical advice and undertaking a full health technology assessment (HTA).

In the first instance, all health technologies must be registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before being placed on the market.

Following that, we refer enquiries around health technologies to the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG), who are part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland. SHTG undertake HTAs, providing evidence support and advice on the use of new and existing health technologies. This includes analysing the benefits, costs, ease of implementation as well as considering any unintended clinical consequences which may arise.

It is ultimately for the 14 Territorial Health Boards across Scotland to decide whether to procure and apply this intervention as part of their treatment for patients. Health Boards receive support from Healthcare Improvement Scotland and SHTG in making such decisions.

The SHTG has not provided advice on the use of Trucheck to date.