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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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Displaying 2015 questions Show Answers

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Question reference: S6W-11865

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider a phased approach to the introduction of the New Build Heat Standard for off-gas-grid homes and businesses.

The Scottish Government intends the New Build Heat Standard to apply to all new buildings, applying for a building warrant, from 1 April 2024 onwards.

This is in direct response to the recommendation of the Committee on Climate Change on how to meet the net zero legal obligations legislated for by the Scottish Parliament.

The timescale reflects the need to act to reduce the emissions associated with heating our homes and businesses, and the introduction of the New Build Heat Standard will ensure that these buildings are future-proofed - avoiding any potentially disruptive retrofit works as we progress towards the decarbonisation of our remaining building stock in line with our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-11870

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider introducing an exemption to allow off-gas-grid (a) home and (b) business owners to use low carbon direct emissions heating systems after 1 April 2024.

The New Build Heat Standard (NBHS) is our proposed new standard that will prohibit the use of direct emissions heating systems (DEH) in new builds warranted from 1 April 2024.

Independent analysis of the responses received to the recently closed Part II New Build Heat Standard consultation is currently underway.

As part of this consultation process, the Scottish Government sought evidence on whether there any limited, specific situations where the use of direct emissions heating systems would be required in new buildings.

We will publish our report into the consultation prior to bringing forward the regulations.

Question reference: S6W-11867

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that tens of millions of pounds of renewable energy investment in Scotland is being put at risk and that there is a low rate of installation of public electric vehicle (EV) charging points as a result of delays in connecting vehicle charging hubs to power supplies.

Electricity policy, including regulation of Great Britain’s electricity networks, is an area reserved to the UK Government.

In order to meet our net zero targets both increased renewable generation and network investment will be required. We are working to expand our renewable generation capabilities through our continued support for renewable technologies.

The Scottish Government, however, does not have the power to ensure that sufficient network investment will be taken forward. We have repeatedly called on Ofgem and BEIS to ensure that network companies can invest to ready the network for the requirements of transitioning to net zero.

The Scottish Government has also invested over £65 million in ChargePlace Scotland, Scotland’s public charging network, which now has more than 2300 publicly available charge points meaning that, by population, Scotland has the most EV charge points outside of London and the most rapid charge points anywhere in the UK.

Question reference: S6W-11866

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the timescale required between the point that a decision is made by a local authority to site a public electric vehicle (EV) charger in a certain place and for that charger to become operational.

The time between a decision by a local authority on the location for a public electric vehicle charge point and that charge point then going into operation will be influenced by a number of factors outwith the remit or control of Scottish Ministers. This includes, for example, the location of the site and its accessibility, the ease of connection to the electricity grid, planning permission, environmental considerations, the approach to procurement as well as wayleaves and land rights. The Scottish Government continues to provide advice and support to local authorities to assist with these and other aspects of delivering of electric vehicle infrastructure projects.

Question reference: S6T-00960

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that its claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe’s offshore wind potential lacks evidence and that it knew that there was no basis for it.

Question reference: S6W-11582

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of any unsuccessful applicants to its Just Transition Fund: year one projects, and whether unsuccessful applicants are permitted to apply for the next round of funding.

Question reference: S6W-11832

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish the reported 926 responses received to the energy workers survey that was carried out in August 2022 as part of engagement regarding the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, and, if so, within what timescale.

Question reference: S6T-00914

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, due to legal aid fees agreed in 1999 only increasing by 10%, there is a lack of legal provision across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-11242

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10964 by Jenny Gilruth on 26 September 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding what assessment it has made of any impact of not having published its 10-year islands connectivity plan on people in remote and island communities, particularly in relation to the adequacy of ferry services; for what reason it did not provide details of any such assessment in its answer, and, if no such assessment has been made, whether it will state this.

Question reference: S6W-11136

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority has spent on installing electric vehicle charging points in each of the last three years.

Over the past decade the Scottish Government has invested more than £55 million in electrical vehicle charging. ChargePlace Scotland (CPS), a publicly available network, now consists of over 2,300 charge points across Scotland.

Scotland benefits from the most public charging points outside of London, and the most rapid charge points anywhere in the UK. We now want to see greater private sector investment and involvement in line with our vision for Scotland’s public EV charging network – delivering more infrastructure faster and in way that is more accessible than ever before.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how much each Local Authority has spent on installing electric vehicle charging points, we can only advise how much funding they have received from us.

In the last three years, we have invested over £30m across all local authorities, as shown in the table. Investment has been awarded through a range of initiatives, including innovation projects such as the £5.3m Project Pace in North and South Lanarkshire.

	19-20 ‎ £ (000s)	20-21 ‎ £ (000s)	21-22 ‎ £ (000s)	Total ‎ £ (000s)
Aberdeen city	300	152	75	527
Aberdeenshire	355	122	50	527
Angus	270	130	74	474
Argyll & Bute	150	100	62	312
Clackmannanshire	150	107	89	346
Dumfries & Galloway	250	206	249	705
Dundee city	452	75	698	1,225
East Ayrshire	300	208	162	670
East Dunbartonshire	250	110	26	386
East Lothian	200	500	293	993
East Renfrewshire	150	132	46	328
City of Edinburgh	1,187	747	814	2,748
Falkirk	676	416	892	1,984
Fife	597	140	50	787
Glasgow City	371	524	2,286	3,181
Highland	800	175	368	1,343
Inverclyde	150	104	66	320
Midlothian	160	206	75	441
Moray	150	109	80	339
Na h-Eileanan Siar	150	76	49	275
North Ayrshire	250	778	155	1,183
North Lanarkshire	225	2,708	83	3,016
Orkney	180	82	50	312
Perth & Kinross	250	177	57	484
Renfrewshire	310	566	98	974
Scottish Borders	250	99	66	415
Shetland	150	100	53	303
South Ayrshire	250	135	143	528
South Lanarkshire	500	2,771	47	3,318
Stirling	437	297	262	996
West Dunbartonshire	170	79	44	293
West Lothian	320	190	100	610