Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-05929

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the offences in relation to which a victim statement cannot be made.

Question reference: S6W-05791

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what feedback it received on drafts of the recently published child protection guidelines; who provided this feedback, and what action was taken on any feedback or proposed changes.

On 2 September 2021 the Scottish Government published the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021, which replaces the 2014 National Child Protection Guidance.

The revision of this guidance was undertaken through a collaborative process informed by extensive public and stakeholder engagement over a period of two and a half years. The review was overseen by a National Guidance Steering Group comprised of representatives from stakeholder organisations and other key interests.

The Scottish Government ran a formal public consultation on draft guidance between 21 October 2020 and 31 January 2021. A total of 159 consultation responses were received from a wide range of organisations and individuals. Where respondents have given their permission, responses have been published on Citizen Space . In addition to the public consultation, seven virtual stakeholder engagement events were held during November and December 2020. These events were used to engage with Child Protection Committees and practitioners, with a facilitated discussion structured around the consultation questions. An independent analysis of consultation responses was commissioned and engagement was undertaken with many respondents to better understand their views and reflect in final draft.

The key themes emerging from the engagement process were: status of the guidance and degree of local variance; ensuring an appropriate balance between the current context and direction of travel as the aspirations of The Promise are realised; clarity on the timing of the refresh of Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) and further guidance on the role of the named person; the balance of support and protection regarding poverty and neglect; accessibility and usability of the guidance; inclusion of practice notes; expectations of timescales for implementation.

Feedback and proposed changes were considered by the Steering Group at every stage of the engagement process. Where there was agreement, the drafts were updated. Feedback along with rationale for decisions was then given to those who had provided comment. On 2 September 2021 the Scottish Government published a consultation report which included the independent analysis of consultation responses and engagement activity and the Scottish Government’s response.

Question reference: S6W-05763

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its announcement of £80 million funding for the Scottish Cluster, (a) as a result of this funding, which projects, if any, will not receive or be eligible to receive, support from the Emerging Energies Technology Fund, (b) for which aspect(s) or part(s) of the Scottish Cluster is the funding to be made available, (c) what the application process will be for accessing the funding, and when the application process will open, (d) when the funding will be paid to any successful applicant(s), (e) what proportion of the funding will be available to each applicant(s), (f) what the precise definitions of "certainty" and "due status" are in the phrase "...the Scottish Cluster is given certainty of its due status within the UK sequencing process...", (g) what it has specified as the year 1 outcomes of the funding, (h) with whom has it held formal discussions regarding the decision to make the announcement of the funding, and which organisations they represented, broken down by organisations that (A) are part of the Scottish Cluster and (B) those that are not part of it, and (i) how the figure of £80 million was arrived at.

As confirmed on 14 January 2022, the Scottish Government has offered financial backing of up to £80 million from the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF) to help the Scottish Cluster project accelerate its development.

As set out in our Climate Change Plan Update 2018-2032, £80 million of funding from the EETF will be directed to projects supporting the development of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) transport and storage network that will further enable negative emissions technologies (NETs) projects to develop in Scotland. This is the basis on which the figure of up to £80 million was developed.

The Scottish Government first offered this financial backing to the UK Government in a letter dated 12 October 2021 (i.e., prior to the UK Government’s announcement of Track-1 clusters on 19 October 2021) to the UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and Her Majesty’s Treasury. Our offer was reiterated in a meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and the UK Government’s Minister for Energy, Greg Hands, on 13 January 2022.

Our offer of support was made on the basis that the Scottish Cluster is given certainty of its due status within the UK cluster sequencing process.

The Scottish Cluster demonstrated full suitability for Track-1 status based on the competition criteria, but has been designated as a ‘reserve’ cluster. Awarding the Cluster its ‘due status’ would therefore mean ensuring it can continue its development on a Track-1 timeframe.

Despite repeated requests to the UK Government from both the Cluster and Scottish Ministers, the designation of ‘reserve’ status has come with little clarity and no guarantees of future support for the Cluster. As the First Minister stated in her letter to the UK Prime Minister on 04 November 2021, this uncertainty risks delaying the delivery of crucial and strategically important projects including the decarbonisation of Scotland’s largest point industrial emitter at Grangemouth.

The Scottish Government does not hold all the necessary legislative and regulatory powers to allow us to support the Cluster alone; key levers, including access to BEIS business models, are reserved to the UK Government. Further detail on how the financial backing of up to £80 million could best be spent will therefore be determined in due course following further engagement with the UK Government on the Scottish Cluster’s status within the cluster sequencing process.

As detailed above, our offer of support has been made on multiple occasions to the UK Government. Officials also consulted with representatives of the Scottish Cluster.

Question reference: S6W-05988

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what public information campaigns it plans to introduce to encourage people to attend cultural events as COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

While the restrictions on the number of people who can attend live events have been relaxed from 24 January, I understand it will take time for audience confidence to be rebuilt.

The Scottish Government is keen to encourage audiences to return to cultural events. The First Minister held a media visit at the Scottish Opera on 2 February. The First Minister welcomed the return of live events and encouraged people to support theatres and other aspects of the arts.

The Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs & Culture is giving the opening address at the Association of British Orchestras conference on 9 February. Mr Robertson will highlight during this speech the need for audiences to feel confident in returning to cultural events.

The Scottish Government is keen to work with stakeholders, including the performing arts and live music sector, to seek opportunities to encourage audiences to return to cultural events, in line with current guidance for public places.

Question reference: S6W-05758

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to Sustainable Scotland Network in each year since 2014.

The following table sets out Scottish Government funding offered to the SSN Secretariat since 2018-19:

Financial Year	Amount £
2018-2019	Contract payments £303,988.00 excluding VAT
2019-2020	Contract payments £267,072.11 excluding VAT
2020-2021	3 grants paid totalling £118,525
2021- 2022	2 grants offered totalling £75,000

Prior to May 2018, the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) Secretariat was funded under a Scottish Government grant to Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB). In 2018-19 and 2019-20 the SSN Secretariat was funded by a Scottish Government contract won by Edinburgh University Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI). Since 2020-21 the Secretariat has been supported under a new hybrid funding model with grant from the Scottish Government, local authorities and NHS Scotland to ECCI.

Question reference: S6W-05849

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether its Fuel Poverty Strategy meets the requirements of the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) Scotland Act 2019.

Having been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our Fuel Poverty Strategy was laid in Parliament on 9th November and subsequently published on the Scottish Government's website on 23rd December.

As required by the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019, the Strategy sets out the actions we are already taking to tackle fuel poverty, as well as outlining the further measures we believe will be necessary to meet our ambitious targets for reducing fuel poverty. This includes actions to address each of the four drivers of fuel poverty: poor energy efficiency of the home; high energy costs; low household incomes; and how energy is used in the home.

Question reference: S6W-05982

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm if a judicial office holder from outwith Scotland will preside over the public inquiry into the malicious prosecutions concerning Rangers FC.

Question reference: S6W-05812

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether infrastructure spending within its 2022-23 draft Budget and the Infrastructure Investment Plan will be informed by its guidance on active carbon management.

The Scottish Budget 2022-23 sets out almost £2 billion of low carbon capital investment in Scotland’s public infrastructure, including almost £350 million to drive forward our commitment to decarbonise the heating of 1 million homes and £124 million capital investment to support high quality active travel in walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure.

The Scottish Government currently uses a taxonomy approach to provide a summary carbon assessment of the annual Capital Budget. In total, 92.7 per cent of capital expenditure is categorised as either ‘Low’ or ‘Neutral’, an increase from 91.5 per cent in 2021-22 resulting in a reduction in the percentage of High carbon investment from 8.5 per cent to 7.3 per cent. These figures demonstrate early progress against the ambitions for low carbon investment as set out in the Infrastructure Investment Plan. We are also taking forward improvements to the methodology for Carbon Assessment of Capital Investment, as part of the Joint Budget Review

Question reference: S6W-05756

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what role Audit Scotland has in ensuring that the climate emergency is included as a corporate priority in public sector organisations, and what resources and funding are allocated for the purpose of carrying out any such role.

Question reference: S6W-05753

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will produce, by September 2022, a joint net zero delivery framework with local authorities, which identifies roles, and the funding and resources required, to deliver net zero and create climate resilient places.

The Scottish Government does not have plans to produce a joint net zero delivery framework with local authorities. We continue to support public sector leadership on the climate emergency through ongoing engagement with key bodies such as the Sustainable Scotland Network, Scottish Leaders Forum, COSLA, Environment and Economy Leadership Group and the Scottish Cities Alliance.

The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plans include proposals and policies to deliver Scotland’s emissions reduction targets and the updated Climate Change Plan, published in December 2020, sets out a framework for all sectors of society to contribute to our journey to net zero including the role that local authorities and other parts of the public sector must play. This is supported by a legislative framework for local authorities delivery of net zero, where local authorities are required to report annually on their climate duties. Looking ahead, we have committed to publish our next Climate Change Plan in the first half of this Parliament.

Chamber and committees