- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the proportion of new wind farm consents granted since 1 January 2022 that include legally enforceable conditions requiring (a) bird-strike monitoring, (b) adaptive management plans and (c) financial bonds for remedial action.
Answer
In respect of offshore wind farms, three consents have been issued since 1 January 2022. All three have requirements for ornithological monitoring via a condition for a Project Environmental Monitoring Programme (PEMP). In the event that further potential adverse environmental effects are identified, for which no predictions were made in the application, the Scottish Ministers may require the developer to undertake additional monitoring through the PEMP condition.
All information related to determinations made by Scottish Ministers in respect of onshore wind farm developments, including related conditions, is publicly available on our Energy Consents website: Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit - Application Search . In cases where deemed planning permission is granted, any conditions of that deemed planning permission would be discharged by the Planning Authority.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the implications are of its Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045 for the consenting and operation of wind farm developments in areas of high ornithological sensitivity.
Answer
Regarding the consenting process for new energy infrastructure, the environmental impacts of developments are examined according to provisions of the Electricity Act 1989, relevant Environmental Impact Assessment regulations, and habitats regulations, alongside relevant policy.
- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an outline of the legal advice that it received for the For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers case.
Answer
The content of any legal advice is confidential.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on city region and regional growth deals in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.
Answer
In the current parliamentary session, the Scottish Government, acting in its capacity as Accountable Officer for the wider City and Regional Growth Deal programme has provided £695 million in funding to date (by end of Q4 2024-25) to Regional Partners. It is currently forecast that over £200 million of further funding will be drawn down, resulting in over £895 million of grant funding awarded by the end of the parliamentary session.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update the Scottish seabird sensitivity map to reflect the latest population trends and collision-risk research, and, if so, when it expects the revised map to be published.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not currently have plans to update the Scottish seabird sensitivity map. The Scottish seabird sensitivity map was last published in August 2024 following updates in over 2021-2023. There are various streams of work underway through the Scottish Marine Energy Research Programme (ScotMER) that will improve relevant parameters including seabird distributions, population trends and collision risk, required to update the tool. Once this work is completed, we may revisit and update the seabird sensitivity map.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the effectiveness of turbine shutdown on demand systems in mitigating bird strikes at onshore wind farms, and what evidence it has evaluated to reach this position.
Answer
The mitigation of bird strikes at onshore wind farms is decided on a case-by-case basis. Any mitigation measures provided in the development's application documentation, specifically the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), is subject to statutory and other relevant consultees analysing the data and providing their technical expertise. If necessary, consultees will request additional ecological, ornithological and environmental data and information that will inform any decisions on mitigations.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what research it has commissioned or funded since 1 January 2020 into technological or operational measures to reduce bird collisions with wind-turbine blades, and what the total expenditure has been on any such research, broken down by project.
Answer
Scottish Government has not funded any projects into technical or operational measures to reduce bird collisions since 2020. Since 2020 Scottish Government has focussed on improving the evidence base on bird collision risk by funding research on establishing seabird flight heights and the quantification of potential collisions of seabirds with wind-turbine blades through modelling.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many post-construction ornithological monitoring reports it has received from wind farm operators in each of the last five years, and what summary findings it has identified from any such reports in relation to bird mortality.
Answer
In respect of offshore wind farms, six reports have been submitted to the Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team. Reports consider the distribution and abundance of seabirds around wind farms or protected sites and what this may mean in terms of their displacement from wind farm areas, with some reports discussing implications for collision avoidance rates used in modelling.
All information related to determinations made by Scottish Ministers in respect of onshore wind farm developments, which may include conditions such as post-construction ornithological monitoring, is publicly available on our Energy Consents website: https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationSearch.aspx.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many emergency beds were used within secure care accommodation for young people in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and 2025 to date.
Answer
The information is not available in the format requested. Information on the use of emergency beds for 2023 and 2024 can be found in Table 2 of the Children's Social Work Statistics: Secure Care 2023-24.
In December 2024, the Care Inspectorate published a protocol and procedures for secure accommodation services on the use of registered emergency beds. (Secure Emergency Bedroom Protocol November 2024.pdf).
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much public money Scottish Enterprise has distributed to companies that have export licences permitting them to sell arms and/or other military technology in each of the last five years.
Answer
In line with the Scottish Government’s policy, Scottish Enterprise does not provide support for the manufacture of munitions.
The responsibility for issuing export licenses sits with the UK Government.