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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-06524

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the first supplementary to question S6O-00736 by Ben Macpherson on 9 February 2022, during which the minister referred to the "greater provision of renewable energy - which...has had a significant positive impact on the reliability of supply here in Scotland", whether it will set out in detail what this definition of “renewable energy” is; what the generation source is of the energy that has had a positive impact on reliability, and whether it will publish any data that (a) shows an increasing "reliability of supply", as opposed to an increasing amount of energy supplied, and (b) shows a correlation and direct "impact" of the greater provision of renewable energy, as defined, on the reliability of supply.

This is a reserved policy area. Responsibility for security of supply sits with National Grid ESO (the GB electricity system operator).

Renewable capacity in Scotland includes onshore and offshore wind, hydro, solar, marine technologies, bioenergy and waste. Other sources of power generation and interconnection to the rest of GB electricity system are also critical in terms of maintaining secure electricity supply, particularly at times when renewables output is low.

The UK government has now included renewables in the Capacity Market to recognise their “measurable contribution” to security of supply. Renewables sites in Scotland have been successful in securing contracts in the latest T-4 and T-1 Capacity Market Auctions.

The equivalent of 98.6% of gross electricity consumption in Scotland (around 30 GigaWatt hours, GWh) comes from renewable sources.

Question reference: S6W-06493

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider instructing Historic Environment Scotland to assess the site of HMP Barlinnie for listed status.

Question reference: S6W-06401

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent support is being given to 14 fire stations identified as having the “potential for roof collapse” by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The Scottish Government is aware of the roof issues in the 14 fire stations, which are as a result of the materials used when the buildings were constructed by Local Authorities. SFRS has confirmed that remedial action has been taken in all 14 fire stations to ensure that the buildings are safe and that there are no immediate safety concerns.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with SFRS in relation to its resource and capital funding requirements but decisions on the use of those funds is a matter for SFRS.

Question reference: S6W-06451

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when regulations will be laid to bring into force (a) section 1 (dealing with serious harm); (b) section 6 (dealing with publication on a matter of public interest), and (c) section 32 (dealing with the single publication provisions) of the Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021.

Question reference: S6W-06416

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the proposed National Public Energy Agency will be operational; how many full-time dedicated staff it will employ; what its annual budget will be, and when it anticipates that the virtual agency will move to being a standalone organisation.

As set out in the Scottish Government's A Fairer, Greener Scotland: Programme for Government 2021-22, published on 7 September 2021, we made a commitment to create a National Public Energy Company. We will work to have a virtual agency established this year, and a dedicated physical agency by September 2025. The virtual agency will be in place throughout the transition period until the standalone Agency is in place.

This is an ongoing area of work, and as a first step we launched a consultation in December 2021 which closed on 8 February to help inform development of the design of the new body. Consultation responses are currently being analysed and further details will be released as the work evolves.

Question reference: S6W-06667

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of police officer impersonation have been reported to Police Scotland in each year since 2013, broken down by police division.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of incidents reported to the police. Information is held on the number of crimes recorded by the police in Scotland, including those for personation of police. This is shown in the following table, by police division, from 2013-14 to 2020-21.

Table: Number of personation of police crimes in Scotland by police division, 2013-14 to 2020-21

Police Division	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Argyll and West Dunbartonshire	2	0	1	0	4	0	3	0
Ayrshire	4	1	0	0	0	1	2	10
Dumfries and Galloway	2	0	1	1	1	2	1	1
Edinburgh City	7	37	10	14	9	9	8	8
Fife	10	1	5	5	4	5	3	3
Forth Valley	3	4	1	4	7	4	6	10
Greater Glasgow	19	7	11	21	27	17	11	18
Highland and Islands	0	0	4	1	2	1	3	1
Lanarkshire	6	2	8	8	3	1	9	9
North East	8	7	8	4	7	5	5	12
Renfrewshire and Inverclyde	3	5	0	6	2	1	1	0
Tayside	0	4	2	2	3	1	1	0
The Lothians and Scottish Borders	3	4	5	2	3	4	5	9
Scotland	67	72	56	68	72	51	58	81

Source: Recorded crime in Scotland

Question reference: S6W-06328

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05606 by Michael Matheson on 17 January 2022, what commitment it will make to review the Water Charges Reduction Scheme, in light of the potential erosion of its value to the least affluent customers with each year that Scottish Water increases charges above the rate of inflation.

The expansion of the water charges reduction scheme (WCRS) from April 2021 is worth £86m across the 2021-27 period and it will provide support for over 470,000 households. The increase in discount from 25% to 35%, again from 2021, means that customers in receipt of the WCRS will be protected from price increases over the regulatory period. There are therefore no plans to review the scheme at this time but it will be part of the strategic review of charges ahead of the next regulatory period.

Question reference: S6W-06330

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05610 by Michael Matheson on 17 January 2022, whether Scottish Water is the only shareholder in Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd; whether Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd is the only shareholder in Scottish Water Business Stream, and whether the £10 million equity obtained in Scottish Water Business Stream by Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd was in effect a grant to strengthen the balance sheet of Scottish Water Business Stream.

Scottish Water is the only shareholder in Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd, Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd is the only shareholder in Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd and Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd is the only shareholder in Scottish Water Business Stream Ltd.

The £10m of equity invested by Scottish Water Business Stream Holdings Ltd in Scottish Water Business Stream Ltd (SWBS) was part of the precautionary funding facilities which were put in place for SWBS during 2020-2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and will be eligible to receive future dividends from Scottish Water Business Stream Ltd.

Question reference: S6W-06275

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether provision has been made in the new devolved disability benefits system to allow disabled people to relocate between nations of the UK and maintain their benefit eligibility.

The Scottish Government has been working with counterparts at both the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland to ensure any person moving to or from Scotland who is in receipt of disability benefits can do so without disruption to their benefits.

The Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021 allow a person moving from Scotland to the rest of the UK to retain their benefit entitlement for up to 13 weeks. This is to allow time for the person moving to establish a new entitlement in the country they are settling in. We understand that the intention of other UK administrations is to mirror this arrangement.

The Scottish Government is also working with DWP to ensure anyone coming to Scotland from the rest of the UK will have the Scottish equivalent of their existing benefit awarded automatically, without a need to apply. However, it is our understanding that the DWP and the Department for Communities will require anyone moving from Scotland to these administrations to submit a new application before they can be considered for award of the equivalent disability benefit in the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S6W-06324

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05612 by Michael Matheson on 17 January 2022, how much Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd paid for the PFI company referred to; how much external bank debt funding remains, and whether Scottish Water is the only shareholder in Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd.