The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6W-17914

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-17876

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17169 by Neil Gray on 4 May 2023, whether it will engage directly with Liberty Steel on the potential development of an Electric Arc Furnace at (a) Dalzell and (b) Clydebridge steel works as the basis for a strategic, national, green steel-making capability.

Question reference: S6W-18065

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on tackling social isolation and loneliness in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.

a) In financial year 2021-2022, £1 million was allocated to organisations working to tackle social isolation and loneliness. This funding has supported work including helplines, befriending, and practical support.

Many of the 48 organisations funded through the Equality and Human Rights Fund also work on tackling social isolation. The Equality and Human Rights Fund will distribute up to £7 million annually for the three years from October 2021 to September 2024.

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults launched in October 2021 and has invested £21 million in supporting grass roots community groups in building resilience and tackling social isolation, loneliness and mental health inequalities made worse by the pandemic and, more recently, the cost crisis.

The Connecting Scotland digital inclusion programme delivered a Winter Support Package and two Fast Track schemes with a focus on social isolation in 2021-22. £6.8 million was spent on devices, connectivity and skills support across 32 local authorities in Scotland.

b) In 2022-23, over £1 million was provided to organisations working to tackle social isolation and loneliness and mitigate the impact of the cost crisis.

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, for which social isolation and loneliness is one of the priority areas, was funded with a further £15 million in 2022-23.

In the first two years of the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, approximately 3300 grants were made to local organisations across Scotland to a wide range of grassroots community projects including those based around peer support, physical activity, arts and crafts activities, social interaction and befriending, with a strong emphasis on the key themes of prevention and early intervention, suicide prevention and addressing social isolation.

Question reference: S6W-17985

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
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.

Question reference: S6W-18077

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed the ACORN project with the UK Government.

Question reference: S6W-18076

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what benefits the ACORN project may offer to the economy of north east Scotland.

The Acorn storage project at St. Fergus is a vitally important part of a wider Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage opportunity in Scotland. Scottish Government economic scenario analysis shows CCUS would have a positive impact on the Scottish economy. In 2045 Scottish GDP could be 1.3-2.3% (£3.8Bn-£6.7Bn) higher in scenarios with CCUS, than without. By deploying CCUS, hydrogen and direct air capture technologies in Scotland, the Scottish Cluster believes it could support an average of 15,100 jobs between 2022-2050, with a peak of 20,600 jobs in 2031.

Whilst these significant benefits will undoubtedly positively impact the North-East, the Scottish Government’s ambitions for CCUS extend Scotland-wide, and the development of strategically located CCUS infrastructure in Scotland’s industrial clusters in Grangemouth and the North-East could protect and ensure the just transition for important domestic industries into a low-carbon future, protecting jobs and utilising existing skills.

Question reference: S6W-17659

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the report, Scottish Government Pain Management Panel, for what reasons it decided that the panel should (a) be comprised of individuals who had not been part of past studies and (b) not include people who (i) were involved with previous research and (ii) carry out advocacy activities on chronic pain issues.

Previous Governance models for Scottish Government chronic pain policy have involved people with lived experience in a variety of methods – including individual representation, a wider reference group of lived experience, elected representatives and members of chronic pain or associated other condition advocacy groups. Views from these groups had therefore already been solicited to help inform the development of the Framework.

Our Equality and Impact Assessment for the Framework identified the need to amplify the voices of groups of people who may be impacted by chronic pain but typically overlooked when it comes to engagement as they are not members of organised groups associated with a condition. Therefore there was a specific requirement for participants to be recruited independently of existing groups and structures to broaden the reach of engagement and ensure diversity of experience was included.

Question reference: S6W-17100

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the real terms spending, based on current prices, was on Scottish schools, in each year since 2007.

Table 1 provides real terms expenditure based on 2021-22 prices for Scottish schools in each year since 2007. Real terms expenditure is broken down by primary, secondary, and special education.

Table 1: Real terms expenditure, 2007-08 to 2021-22 (£000)

Financial ‎ Year	Primary ‎ Education	Secondary ‎ Education	Special ‎ Education	School Education
2007-08	2,291,312	2,570,000	641,962	5,503,273
2008-09	2,266,389	2,550,632	645,280	5,462,301
2009-10	2,238,327	2,469,714	656,351	5,364,393
2010-11	2,247,021	2,441,262	648,359	5,336,642
2011-12	2,185,497	2,330,489	619,960	5,135,945
2012-13	2,157,200	2,309,964	605,403	5,072,566
2013-14	2,143,300	2,257,681	607,647	5,008,629
2014-15	2,137,097	2,225,583	614,385	4,977,065
2015-16	2,178,851	2,226,211	628,597	5,033,659
2016-17	2,210,760	2,213,670	618,241	5,042,671
2017-18	2,277,852	2,210,339	622,918	5,111,109
2018-19	2,356,577	2,304,687	645,383	5,306,647
2019-20	2,434,207	2,395,751	678,111	5,508,069
2020-21	2,395,511	2,358,155	667,672	5,421,337
2021-22	2,553,716	2,503,212	704,929	5,761,857

Figures are adjusted to exclude inter-authority transfers. Inflation adjustments are based on HM Treasury’s 31 March 2023 GDP Deflator outturn data.

Sources:

1. Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

2. GDP deflators at market prices: GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Question reference: S6O-02316

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 has assisted the police in responding to reports of coercive control and stalking behaviours from members of the public.

Question reference: S6O-02321

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on phase 3 of the learning estate investment programme, including in relation to the planned date for the announcement of the successful projects.

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