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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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Question reference: S6W-20817

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of any meetings that it has held with original equipment manufacturers of electric vehicle batteries in the past three years to explore opportunities to site manufacturing and/or reprocessing facilities in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-21063

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has budgeted for the establishment of a new Small Business Unit, as proposed in its Programme for Government 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-21045

Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 12 September 2023

Question reference: S6W-20994

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total (a) number and (b) value is of contracts that it has awarded to consulting companies in each of the last five fiscal years.

A full breakdown of the total number and value of contracts awarded to consulting companies covering the last five fiscal years for the Scottish Government only, is provided in the following table.

Fiscal Years	No of Awards to Consultant Suppliers ‎ (in period)	Total Contract Award Value
2017-18	66	£ 3,256,129
2018-19	57	£ 6,051,465
2019-20	93	£ 12,790,879
2020-21	65	£ 1,900,295
2021-22	89	£ 30,127,792
Total	370	£ 54,126,560

Question reference: S6W-21048

Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mitigate any risks posed by the reported removal of four fire appliances in Fife.

Question reference: S6W-20796

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total tonnage is of waste resulting from the decommissioning of (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines that has been sent to landfill sites between 2014 and 2022.

Question reference: S6W-20719

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to join the National Dash Cam Safety Portal.

The project to introduce a pilot National Dashcam Safety Portal in Scotland is in the initial business case stage, with Police Scotland currently looking at the internal processing, handling and storage of digital images and how that best fits with current and projected processes. The initial implementation date for the project pilot was indicated as January 2023, however, Police Scotland has now stated that they are reviewing the project’s timings as part of their wider planning for 2023-24 and beyond.

My officials remain in discussion with Police Scotland on this matter and will meet with them again later in August as we look to progress this important road safety initiative.

Question reference: S6W-20692

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide funding for bridges, in light of the closure of the Local Bridge Maintenance Fund.

The Scottish Government has no additional plans to provide specific funding for local road bridges. However, an additional £793 million cash funding has been provided to local government in 2023-24. It is the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Scottish Ministers are responsible for trunk road bridges and structures and plan to invest £85 million in 2023-24 on maintenance and the operations of trunk road structures.

Question reference: S6W-20795

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines are due to be decommissioned in the next five years.

The Scottish Government does not hold or collate any information relating to the future decommissioning of onshore wind turbines.

In respect of offshore wind turbines, none are due to be decommissioned in the next five years.

Zero Waste Scotland published a report in April 2021 titled ‘ The future of onshore wind decommissioning in Scotland’ . The report provides projections for the number of onshore wind turbines in Scotland that will be decommissioned up to 2050.

Question reference: S6W-20818

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of electric vehicle batteries reaching the end of their first life it expects to be caught by domestic reprocessing options by (a) 2035 and (b) 2050.

Research published in 2020 (commissioned by Zero Waste Scotland in partnership with Transport Scotland and Scottish Enterprise) assessed the current and future use of batteries in Scotland across the entire length of the battery supply chain, from chemicals to end of life. This research is published and is available here: Battery use in Scotland now and in the future | Zero Waste Scotland. This research suggests that by 2030 there could be up to 16000 tonnes of vehicle batteries available in Scotland for second life purposes.

Due to the novelty of batteries being used in their second life the market opportunities and business models for their use or disposal are not currently certain. Current UK Extended Producer Responsibility legislation dictates that the battery manufacturer remains responsible for the collection, recycling and disposal of the battery, meaning that it will be at the manufacturer’s discretion whether they use a domestic reprocessing facility located in Scotland or the UK