Chamber and committees

The national frameworks for the Supply of Electricity and Supply of Natural Gas wholesale volumes are bought up to 2½ years in advance in tranches, following a proven ‘hedging’ purchasing strategy overseen by a cross-sectoral Risk Management Committee. The Committee comprises senior managers representing procurement, finance and energy management interests.

Whilst energy prices have risen to unprecedented levels because of global influences, the Scottish Government purchasing strategy has mitigated some of the increases for customers on the frameworks. However, given the substantially increased price risk that this market volatility has brought, the Risk Management Committee has temporarily suspended the on-boarding of all new customers with immediate effect in order to protect the organisations currently using the frameworks from increased costs. Organisations that are currently customers (including some third sector bodies) will remain on the framework.

The Risk Management Committee will keep that decision under regular review and when market conditions and risk profile allow, will permit new customers to join.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10637 on‎ 22 September 2022. 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

Rates of food insecurity, at household level, have been measured by the Family Resources Survey (FRS) since 2019.

The data for Scotland show that, in 2019-2020, 75% of children lived in households that were food secure; 10% lived in households that were marginally secure. The remaining 15% lived in households that were food insecure (8% ‘low’ food security and 7% 'very low' food security).

Due to the impact of COVID-19 on data collection, the quality of the data from the latest FRS (2020/2021) did not meet official statistics standards. The 2019-2020 survey is, therefore, the latest valid measure.

The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) has also measured food insecurity rates for individual adults since 2017; the data are not directly comparable to the FRS. The rate of food insecurity for SHeS respondents from households with children was 11% in 2017-2018, and 12% in 2018-2019.

Any future procurement activity to secure new rolling stock for Scotland’s Railway will be governed by the Public Procurement Regulations , as all such procurements are.

By adhering to these regulations, ScotRail Trains Ltd will ensure that the Scottish supply chain, including those which specialise in hydrogen-related equipment, is given every opportunity to engage with these opportunities.

The Scottish Government wants to see an increase in pollinator friendly gardens as opposed to hardscaping of garden space in towns and cities. We place significant value on high quality blue and greenspace and play spaces. Addressing the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss requires a ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of society’ approach. Everyone can play their part and the NatureScot ‘Make Space for Nature’ campaign provides practical tips for everyone in making space for nature, reverse nature loss and fight climate change.

Through our Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) we proposed draft new planning policies and proposals to expand blue and green infrastructure, biodiversity and natural spaces to make places greener, healthier and more resilient to climate change.

The Scottish Government has had no direct involvement in any scheme to extend the National Cycle Network (NCN) route 73 between Stranraer and Cairnryan. The NCN in Scotland is managed by Sustrans who, as custodians of the NCN, gave intentions to explore improvements to NCN 73 in the south west which are included within Sustrans’ 30 year National Cycle Network Plan. However, the Scottish Government is currently investigating the feasibility of a shared use path south of Cairnryan to the A751 junction from the new Trunk Road active travel budget.

The Scottish Government has funded Sustrans with £10.6 million in 2022-23 (increased from the £4 million award in 2021-22) to undertake National Cycle Network Plan work.

Programme for Government in 2016 and 2017 addressed potential transport issues in South West Scotland and extensive stakeholder engagement was undertaken to inform the South West Scotland Transport Study; the initial appraisal report was published in January 2020, and included 23 recommendations for consideration in Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), including one to develop the Strategic Active Travel Network in the South West of Scotland and better connect communities to key destinations with cycle paths parallel to trunk roads and improvements to the NCN. This intervention is currently subject to detailed appraisal as part of Phase 2 of STPR2.

We recognise the challenges faced by the third sector in the current cost crisis and we will ensure the sector is not excluded from any financial support made available to the public or private sectors.

We have asked the UK Government to take key actions without delay. These include freezing energy prices at their current level for households, businesses and the public and third sectors.

We are aware of the recent announcement by the UK Government around the Energy Price Guarantee for households and businesses. We await further detail but this must include all types of third sector organisations too.

While the UK Government’s long anticipated Energy Price Guarantee is welcome and may limit the impact of the energy price crisis on some organisations, this announcement has come too late for many third sector organisations across Scotland who are already struggling to pay bills.

It is vitally important that the review on identifying 'vulnerable non domestic customers' is accelerated and those in need should be offered guaranteed support past March 2023.

Scottish Canals has benefitted from significant increases in grant in aid awards in recent years. Since 2019, the Organisation’s capital grant from the Scottish Government has increased by 87% and it has received an annual uplift in resource funding since 2020. The Organisation has also received substantial additional funding support. A breakdown of the funding is attached in the following table.

The national frameworks for the Supply of Electricity and Supply of Natural Gas wholesale volumes are bought up to 2½ years in advance in tranches, following a proven ‘hedging’ purchasing strategy overseen by a cross-sectoral Risk Management Committee. The Committee comprises senior managers representing procurement, finance and energy management interests.

Whilst energy prices have risen to unprecedented levels because of global influences, the Scottish Government purchasing strategy has mitigated some of the increases. As an illustration, if we were to seek a fixed price today on the wholesale market for Electricity and Gas for 2022-2023, it would be more than double the contract prices that the Scottish Government framework currently enjoys.

LNER, Avanti, Cross Country and TransPennine Express are cross-border railway passenger operators whose contracts are specified and managed by the Department for Transport, under UK Government railway legislation which the Scottish Government does not have devolved authority to amend. Therefore the sale and consumption of alcohol on these services is currently a matter for the individual operators in accordance with applicable legislation and the policy of their franchising authority, the Department for Transport.