- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what internal correspondence it holds between the Energy Strategy and Markets Unit and the Directorate for Budget and Public Spending regarding the potential fiscal implications of zonal electricity pricing, since 1 January 2024, and whether it will publish a summary of any such correspondence.
Answer
Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the total staff (a) time commitment, expressed in full-time equivalent days and (b) cost has been for work relating to zonal electricity pricing under the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements since 1 June 2021.
Answer
All members of staff working on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements are also responsible for wider energy strategy and policy development. In line with usual practice, detailed breakdown of individual tasks carried out by civil servants in relation to each separate policy, including the number of hours spent on them, is not routinely recorded.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its latest understanding is of the timetable for UK Government decisions on zonal electricity pricing, and what preparatory work it is undertaking in response to this.
Answer
The UKG have committed to publish a decision on REMA in the summer ahead of the CfD allocation round 7 commencing.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of any additional capital cost of transmission network reinforcements required under each zonal electricity pricing scenario modelled by its officials.
Answer
Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what potential zonal boundaries for electricity pricing have been considered by its officials, and what criteria were used to define each such boundary.
Answer
We understand that no potential boundaries have been formally brought forward by the UK Government.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what economic objectives and targets it has adopted or discarded since 2015.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37351 on 14 May 2025. 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.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35302 by Gillian Martin on 12 March 2025, whether it will provide the figures for (a) minimum output and (b) tenant projections for production that were used by Crown Estate Scotland to produce the estimate of the total fees paid by the developers for the 50-year lease for the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm site.
Answer
This data is commercially confidential and therefore Crown Estate Scotland is not in a position to share it.
- Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many NHS boards are considering offering givinostat, also known as duvyzat, to people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in a fair and equitable manner.
Answer
It is a matter for Health Boards to consider the implementation of any new medicine to meet the needs of their local population. However, in response to concerns raised regarding access to givinostat in Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary has met with the four health boards who provide regional services across Scotland for children and adults with neuromuscular disorders, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). He has asked them to set out their timelines and approaches to the families who have children with DMD in the next two weeks. In addition, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has been assured that the consultants have reviewed all those who eligible to ensure fair and equitable access across Scotland.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed, or plans to review, the eligibility criteria for Funeral Support Payment.
Answer
At launch we substantially widened eligibility for Funeral Support Payment in comparison to the UK Government’s funeral payment. We recognised the complex nature of family relationships and introduced flexibility, meaning that the applicant does not have to be the closest relative of the deceased.
We regularly consider how to improve our payments and last year introduced amendment regulations to make improvements to Funeral Support Payment, further supporting bereaved people and helping people who are struggling to pay for a funeral. The changes included extending the definition of funeral to include alkaline hydrolysis, providing assistance for funerals abroad in exceptional circumstances and removing the cap for funerals outwith the deceased’s local area.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any risks posed by Scottish universities maintaining research and commercial partnerships with Chinese institutions identified by UK national security agencies as being linked to the Chinese military or state.
Answer
Although national security is reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government has continued to engage with UK Government regarding collaborations with Chinese state-linked institutions.
The Scottish Government expect universities, as autonomous bodies, to conduct due diligence on managing risks associated with international partnerships and comply with relevant legal requirements, including the National Security Act 2023, and National Security and Investment Act 2021.