Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34452

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 14 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it and (b) its educational bodies have spent on consultants in each year since 1999.

a) Under the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, the Scottish Government published information relating to consultancy spend. The return specifies how consultancy spend is defined and returns dating back to 2015-16 can be found on the Scottish Government’s website at.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/government-expenditure-2016-to-2023/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/government-expenditure/pages/2023-to-2024

Previous PQ’s (S4W-26410 on 11 August 2015 and S4W-02171 on 14 September 2011) requesting this information contain the Consultancy figures for years 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, and 2014-15

Unfortunately, data is not held for the year 2011-12, nor years prior to 2009-10 on a comparable basis.

b) Please see the following figures relating to consultancy costs from Education Scotland, Disclosure Scotland and SAAS from 2011.

Money spent on consultancy fees is included in the annual accounting reports for each organisation. This information is publicly available on organisational websites but is reproduced below for information.

	Consultancy Fees (to the nearest £1,000)
Financial Year	Education Scotland	Disclosure Scotland	SAAS
2011-12	-	64,000	24,000
2012-13	2,000	112,000	30,000
2013-14	2,000	549,000	5,000
2014-15	1,000	300,000	41,000
2015-16	5,000	142,000	20,000
2016-17	0	77,000	6,000
2017-18	26,000	33,000	0
2018-19	21,000	25,000	0
2019-20	1,000	3,000	0
2020-21	0	9,000	0
2021-22	0	8,000	0
2022-23	0	0	2,000
2023-24	0	0	3,300

Education Scotland was established in July 2011 and as such full year accounts are only available from 2012/13

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

Question reference: S6W-34030

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 14 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33252 by Alasdair Allan on 23 January 2025, who attended each meeting; whether it will publish any formal minutes that were taken, and what plans there are to next meet.

Please find below a table with a list of who attended each meeting. Any formal minutes will be published on the Scottish Government’s website and at the time of writing, there are no meetings with SSEN scheduled in ministerial calendars.

Any meetings that Ministers have with Transmission Owners as part of expected engagement with industry cover a range of subjects relevant to grid management with no discussion of specific developments, in accordance with Section 8 of the Scottish Ministerial Code.

Minister	Date	What	Attendees
Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work	31-01-2024	Meeting with DNOs (SPEN and SSEN)	Minister for Energy and the Environment Head of Market Development and Commercial, SPEN Head of Connections, Policy & Performance, SSEN SG Officials
First Minister	22-02-2024	Meeting with SSE CEO	First Minister CEO, SSE Head of Public Affairs, SSE SG Officials
Minister for Housing	27-02-2024	Meeting with SSEN	Minister for Housing Managing Director, SSEN Head of Corporate Affairs, SSEN SSEN Official SG Officials
Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work	07-03-2024	Meeting with SSEN	Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work Managing Director, SSEN Head of Corporate Affairs, SSEN SG Officials
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy, Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work	21-03-2024	Meeting with ESO, SSEN and SPEN	Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work Director of Networks, NESO Corporate Affairs Director, NESO Network Planning & Regulation Director, SPEN SPEN Official Chair of SSEN Transmission Head of System Planning and Investment, SSEN Head of Corporate Affairs, SSEN SG Officials
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy, Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work	07-05-2024	Meeting with SSEN, NGET and the NESO	Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work Managing Director, SSEN Head of Corporate Affairs, SSEN President, UK Strategic Infrastructure, NGET Head of Corporate Affairs, UK Strategic Infrastructure, NGET Director of Networks, NESO NESO Official SG Officials
Minister for Climate Action	16-07-2024	Meeting with SSEN	Minister for Climate Action Managing Director, SSEN Director of Customers and Stakeholders, SSEN SG Officials
Minister for Climate Action	17-07-2024	Meeting with SSEN and SPEN	Minister for Climate Action Network Planning & Regulation Director, SPEN SPEN Official Managing Director, SSEN SSEN Official Head of Corporate Affairs, SSEN SG Officials
Minister for Housing and Minister for Employment and Investment	25-07-2024	Joint Housing and Economy Roundtable Discussion	Minister for Housing Minister for Employment and Investment Highlands and Islands Enterprise South of Scotland Enterprise Communities Housing Trust South of Scotland Community Housing Highland Council SSEN Prosper Crerar Hotels Salmon Scotland ASSC Scottish Land and Estates North Ayrshire Council SG Officials
First Minister	24-04-2024	Scottish Energy Advisory Board (SEAB)	Attendees and minutes available on SG website: Scottish Energy Advisory Board - gov.scot
First Minister	20-09-2024	Scottish Energy Advisory Board (SEAB)	Attendees and minutes available on SG website: Scottish Energy Advisory Board - gov.scot
Minister for Housing	23-10-2024	Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan Summit	Minister for Housing Scottish Land and Estates Scottish Empty Homes Partnership Highland Council Perth & Kinross Council Argyll & Bute Council Highlands & Islands Enterprise South of Scotland Enterprise North Ayrshire Council Rural and Islands Housing Association Forum Scottish Land Commission South of Scotland Community Housing Communities Housing Trust SSEN Scottish Federation of Housing Associations Prosper Community Land Scotland Crown Estate Scotland Shapinsay Development Trust Shetland Islands Council Dumfries & Galloway Council Aberdeenshire Council Moray Council East Lothian Council South Lanarkshire Council Stirling Council Comhairle nan Eilean Siar East Ayrshire Council Scottish Islands Federation North Ronaldsay Trust Mull & Iona Community Trust Harris Forum Homes for Scotland SG Officials
Minister for Climate Action	21-11-2024	Transmission Roundtable – Session 1	Minister for Climate Action Head of Transmission Stakeholder Engagement & Communications, SPEN SPEN Official SPEN Independent Net Zero Advisory Committee Member, Head (CEO) of Fuel Bank Head of Corporate Affairs, SSEN Ofgem COSLA Community Energy Scotland-Scottish Coalition of Community Energy Development Trust Association Scotland- Scottish Coalition of Community Energy Local Energy Scotland Foundation Scotland Shetland Community Benefit Fund Farr North Community Development Trust Finderne Development Trust The Cabrach Trust East Lammermuir Community Council The 9CC Group Solway Firth Partnership Newcastleton & District Community Trust Glenkens & District Trust CEO, Consumer Scotland Director of Enterprise & Community Support, Highland & Islands Enterprise Head of Energy Transition, South of Scotland Enterprise SG Officials
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy	28-11-2024	Meeting with SSEN	Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Director of Offshore Delivery, SSEN Head of Corporate Affairs, SSEN SSEN Official SG Officials
Minister for Climate Action	03-12-2024	Transmission Roundtable – Session 2	Minister for Climate Action Head of Transmission Stakeholder Engagement & Communications, SPEN SPEN Official Head (CEO) of Fuel Bank, SPEN Independent Net Zero Advisory Committee Member Energy Consumers Commission Head of Corporate Affairs, SSEN SSE Ofgem COSLA Community Energy Scotland-Scottish Coalition of Community Energy Development Trust Association Scotland- Scottish Coalition of Community Energy Local Energy Scotland Foundation Scotland Shetland Community Benefit Fund Farr North Community Development Trust Finderne Development Trust The Cabrach Trust East Lammermuir Community Council The 9CC Group Solway Firth Partnership Newcastleton & District Community Trust Glenkens & District Trust CEO, Consumer Scotland Director of Enterprise & Community Support, HIE Head of Energy Transition, SOSE Scottish Enterprise

Question reference: S6W-34082

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy had with international energy firms in Berlin regarding investment opportunities in Scotland’s offshore wind, green hydrogen, and carbon capture sectors.

Question reference: S6W-34085

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions took place during the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy’s recent visit to Berlin regarding collaboration between Scotland and Germany on achieving net zero targets.

Question reference: S6W-34077

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the True North survey’s reported findings regarding public attitudes toward managing the transition away from oil and gas while protecting jobs and investment.

Question reference: S6W-34095

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will build on the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy’s recent discussions at the Handelsblatt Energy Summit to improve energy interconnectivity between Scotland and Europe.

Question reference: S6W-34092

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific areas of renewable energy innovation were discussed during the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy’s recent engagements at the Handelsblatt Energy Summit.

Question reference: S6W-34934

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 13 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the report of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce will be published.

The Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce was established to build on efforts to make Scotland the best place for nurses and midwives to come and work. The Taskforce brought together a number of stakeholders to work collaboratively, focusing on recruitment as well as the retention of the existing workforce.

A key priority for the Taskforce was to ensure that the voice of nursing and midwifery staff and students was heard to identify what was important for them. This was achieved through the Listening Project, which held extensive engagement with staff across Scotland.

The Listening Project report will be published on 13 February 2025 on the Scottish Government website here: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836912637

The voice of nursing and midwifery staff heard through the Listening Project informed the 44 recommended actions agreed by the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce. The recommended actions focus on improving workplace culture, practice, flexibility, recruitment, and retention, as well as diversifying education and training pathways to support long-term workforce sustainability.

The full report of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce will be published on 13 February 2025 on the Scottish Government website here: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836913290

The next phase of the taskforce will focus on implementation. A ministerially chaired implementation group will oversee development of a workplan detailing activities and timelines for delivering the recommended actions.

Question reference: S6W-34353

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 13 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans to reduce the speed limit on most urban roads to 20mph.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that 20 mph speed limits are implemented on all appropriate roads by the end of 2025.

All local authorities are committed to meeting the 2025 deadline and have developed their own plans designating their own streets and £4m has been provided to 21 local authorities this financial year to aid implementation. Transport Scotland has issued national guidance to support local authorities with the roll-out of 20mph speed limits on appropriate roads.

Early feedback from Borders and Highland Councils, as early adopters, has been positive with a recognition by local communities that this initiative can significantly reduce road casualties, encourage sustainable travel, and foster safer, more vibrant communities.

Question reference: S6W-33834

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 13 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the Subsidy Advice Unit Report on the proposed subsidy to CalMac Ferries Limited on 17 December 2024 by the Competition and Markets Authority, whether Transport Scotland will undertake any further diligence work to ensure that the direct award of the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Service to CalMac satisfies all of the areas for improvement identified within the report.

We welcome the publication of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report, which is advisory in nature. Transport Scotland officials are considering the report in detail and will then take forward the recommendations where required. Scottish Minsters have been clear on the operational, resilience, value for money and efficiency benefits of operating the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Service (CHFS) network as a whole, and this remains the intent.

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