Chamber and committees

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-19074

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is regarding the implications for people in Scotland of Energy UK’s estimate that consumer energy debt across the UK is between £3.5 and £3.6 billion.

The Scottish Government is fully aware of the impact that high energy prices are having upon many Scottish consumers. We estimate that from July to September 2023 there will be around 850,000 fuel poor households in Scotland which equates to 34% of all households.

While energy markets policy remain reserved to the UK Government, there are severe limits on the actions that we can take to help those facing the most serious impacts. However, we are taking measures where we can.

For example, we have tripled our Fuel Insecurity Fund to £30 million for this year and replaced DWP’s Cold Weather Payment with our new Winter Heating Payment, which will help around 400,000 low-income individuals.

I will also be chairing three working groups over the summer to discuss the impact of high energy prices on Scottish energy consumers. These will focus on the challenges facing those living in vulnerable circumstances, in the more rural areas of Scotland, and non-domestic consumers. The groups will identify collaborative action that we and our partners can continue to take, as well as maintaining a consensus on those areas where the UK Government must bring its reserved powers to bear.

I recently met the UK Government Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability and repeated our call for further action to support and protect those who have been most affected by the ending of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

The fact that the energy price cap from July to September is lower than the Energy Price Guarantee means that the UK Government now has greater scope to support those most in need. This includes introducing a much needed social tariff for vulnerable consumers, which should be funded through taxing significant windfall gains rather than passing the cost on to taxpayers.

Question reference: S6O-02424

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how the latest Building a New Scotland paper advances its prospectus for independence.

Question reference: S6W-19212

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on ScotRail fares for 2023.

The Scottish Government rightly made the decision to freeze fares as part of its response to the cost of living crisis. While this has now remained in place for around 18 months, it is simply no longer sustainable.

From 3 July 2023, ScotRail fares will increase by 4.8%, compared to 5.9% fares rise across the rest of Great Britain, current RPI of 8.7% and the August 2022 RPI rate of 12.3%. This fares rise does not include season tickets and flexi-passes which will remain frozen at current prices, ensuring those who use rail frequently are not discouraged from continuing to do so.

This below inflation increase means fares remain, on average, lower than across the rest of Great Britain.

We know that any increase is unwelcome for passengers, therefore we have kept the rise as low as possible to maintain the attractiveness and affordability of rail as a travel option. The change also comes as we pilot other ways to make rail travel more attractive and affordable. For example, someone currently using a peak return ticket travelling between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley will pay £1.30 more after 3 July but will save £14.00 during the ScotRail peak fares removal pilot which launches in October 2023.

For over a decade the Scottish Government has kept fares increases down by ensuring they are in line with RPI, or even lower in the case of off-peak fares.

Question reference: S6W-19203

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 15 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the 2022-23 official woodland creation statistics, to be published on 15 June 2023.

The statistics released today show that last year Scotland created 8,190 hectares of new woodland, with England creating 3,130, Wales 1,190 and Northern Ireland 450 hectares respectively. Throughout the whole of the UK, Scotland is outstripping other countries and creating around 63% of all new woodland.

Scotland has by far the most ambitious woodland creation targets in the UK and despite the challenges of Brexit, Covid and winter storms, landowners have created around 51,000 hectares of new woodland in the past five years or around 102 million trees.

The current planting levels are disappointing and the Scottish Government announced an action plan earlier this week designed to speed up the woodland creation application process and encourage more landowners to get trees in the ground.

A Scottish Forestry Summit, with industry leaders and land management bodies, will be held later in the year to secure agreement on getting planting levels back on track.

Woodland creation targets are set in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan and are rising year on year, rising to 18,000 hectares a year by 2024-25.

Question reference: S6O-02342

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how secondary school pupils in Aberdeen will be supported through the launch of ABZ Campus.

Question reference: S6W-17923

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to improve access to clinical trials for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

The NHS Research Scotland (NRS) Cancer Network is funded by the Scottish Government to increase, support and sustain clinical trial activity in cancer care within NHS Scotland. The fundamental aim of NRS Cancer is to support the recruitment of cancer patients into clinical research and to thereby contribute to improving the quality of cancer care for patients across Scotland, including those diagnosed with ovarian cancer. https://nhsresearchscotland.org.uk/research-areas/cancer

The Scottish Government also works with Cancer Research UK to support the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMC's) in Glasgow and Scotland. These are part of a UK-wide ECMC Network of 18 adult centres and 11 paediatric locations https://www.ecmcnetwork.org.uk/ Glasgow’s Adult ECMC and Paediatric ECMC, together with Edinburgh’s Adult ECMC receive around £1 million annually to help doctors and scientists develop the cancer treatments of the future for both adults and children, including in ovarian cancer. The funding is split 50:50 Scottish Government / Cancer Research UK

On 13 February 2023 we published an Independent Report on Improving Equity of Access to Cancer Clinical Trials. We will be working closely with the cancer research community here to prioritise the report’s recommendations.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/improving-equity-access-cancer-clinical-trials-scotland/

Question reference: S6W-18077

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed the ACORN project with the UK Government.

Question reference: S6W-18076

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what benefits the ACORN project may offer to the economy of north east Scotland.

The Acorn storage project at St. Fergus is a vitally important part of a wider Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage opportunity in Scotland. Scottish Government economic scenario analysis shows CCUS would have a positive impact on the Scottish economy. In 2045 Scottish GDP could be 1.3-2.3% (£3.8Bn-£6.7Bn) higher in scenarios with CCUS, than without. By deploying CCUS, hydrogen and direct air capture technologies in Scotland, the Scottish Cluster believes it could support an average of 15,100 jobs between 2022-2050, with a peak of 20,600 jobs in 2031.

Whilst these significant benefits will undoubtedly positively impact the North-East, the Scottish Government’s ambitions for CCUS extend Scotland-wide, and the development of strategically located CCUS infrastructure in Scotland’s industrial clusters in Grangemouth and the North-East could protect and ensure the just transition for important domestic industries into a low-carbon future, protecting jobs and utilising existing skills.

Question reference: S6O-02295

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers and crofters it has supported this year through the Single Application Form.

Question reference: S6O-02278

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the role that it anticipates that the low carbon and renewables sector will play in the transition to net zero, including on any relevant discussions that took place at the recent All-Energy conference in Glasgow.