Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-04416

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will announce a timetable for improvement works on the A96 north of Inverurie, following the publication of its corridor review consultation report.

Question reference: S6O-05111

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the current threshold of 50MW for approval by its Energy Consents Unit of onshore electricity generating stations, to allow more decisions to be taken by local planning authorities.

Question reference: S6O-05058

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the potential impact on regional economies and employment, what assessment it has made of the extent to which projected transmission-related job opportunities are dependent on the consenting outcome for proposed overhead line projects within the current network upgrade programme.

Question reference: S6W-40916

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 21 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had since 1 January 2024 with accommodation providers contracted by the UK Government, regarding the accommodation in Scotland of people seeking asylum, including those providing floating accommodation, broken down by the (a) name of provider and (b) dates of engagement.

Scottish Government officials attend regular meetings of the Asylum and Refugee Partnership Board (ARPB) and associated Delivery and Procurement Group, at which representatives of Mears Group are generally also present. Mears Group is the current UK Government asylum accommodation contract holder for Scotland.

Asylum is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum accommodation to people who require it while awaiting the outcome of their asylum application. The Scottish Government has no control of asylum accommodation and support.

The Minister for Housing and the I met with the Managing Director of Mears Group on 19 June 2024 regarding asylum accommodation in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-40772

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what outputs and success indicators were set in advance of the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy’s travel to (a) Japan and (b) New York in September 2025, and what any post-event evaluation shows against any such indicators, including any further actions, with timelines.

Question reference: S6W-40762

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagements the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy undertook (a) in Japan and (b) at Climate Week NYC in September 2025, and whether it will provide the (a) dates, (b) minutes, (c) purpose, (d) intended outcomes and (e) organisations met for each meeting.

Between 15 and 19 September, I led a trade delegation from Scotland’s world-leading offshore wind sector to Japan to support Scotland’s participation at Expo Osaka, participate in Wind Expo, and lead a programme of key business and Government engagements. To support the Expo programme overall a set of key objectives were agreed focusing on:

transforming our diplomatic and business connections with Japan;
ensuring Scotland is seen as a place to do business, trade and invest with;
showcasing Scottish businesses and their innovation in key sectors aligned to Scotland and Japan’s global priorities.

My overseas travel in September 2025 was approved in line with ministerial travel policy.

Planning, development and delivery of Scotland’s presence at the Expo Osaka was led by the Directorate for International Trade and Investment. For the September visit specifically, officials in the Offshore Wind Directorate provided required briefing, programme and Ministerial support. Planning, development and delivery of my visit to New York Climate week was led by officials in the Directorate for Culture and External Affairs. Both programmes were one element of officials’ wider roles day to day therefore it’s not possible to attribute total staff time to the planning and delivery of my overseas engagements in September 2025.

I was supported in Japan by three Scottish Government officials and the SDI sector team based in Northeast Asia. SDI officials also provided support for the accompanying trade delegation and delivery of the Expo event in the UK Pavilion. Scottish Government officials provided required policy support to myself at all inward investment engagement meetings, the signing of the MoU between EMEC and FLOWRA, hosted panel sessions with myself and members of the trade delegation in both Tokyo and Osaka, presented to delegates at Wind Expo as well as further developing key stakeholder relationships.

My visit promoted Scotland’s Offshore Wind sector and supported Scottish companies with proven capabilities in offshore wind to connect with Japanese stakeholders actively seeking international partners. The mission delegation consisted of leading supply chain companies and energy supply chain projects ready for engagement, investment and partnership:

Enerfloat,
Eodex
OEG Renewables
James Fisher Renewables
The Energy Transition Zone
Eyemouth Harbour,
Fraserburgh Harbour,
Highland Deephaven
Orkney Harbour.

I also undertook key engagements with:

SSE Pacifico
Mitsubishi Electric
Marubeni Itochu Steel
Marubeni
Musubi
TEPCO
Eurus Energy
Hitachi

Some of the companies listed have planning applications currently under consideration. As it is inappropriate for a Minister to engage on a live planning application I did not engage in any way on applications of any description. Due to commercial sensitivities, we are unable to provide fuller details of those applications at this time.

Growing Scotland’s offshore wind sector presents enormous economic opportunities for our country. The trade mission was an opportunity to deepen our relations with Japanese investors and innovators in renewable energy, giving the potential to create thousands of well-paid, green jobs, contribute to lower energy bills over time and accelerate our journey to net zero. During the visit, Hitachi Energy announced Glasgow will be the home of their new UK Engineering Centre of Excellence which will create high-value jobs and support a significant investment in Scotland of over £3m. Outcomes from the September visit will be published in a full evaluation of Scotland’s Expo programme. However early feedback from the first two Activations in April and June suggest planned export sales for participating companies of more than £23.5m. My impact in terms of investment will be analysed and quantified.

From September 20-24 I took part in events at and around Climate Week NYC and the UN General Assembly. My programme included leading events with networks that Scotland has leadership roles in: the Regions4 network, of which Scotland is President, and the Under2 Coalition, of which Scotland is European co-chair. Individual meetings with Ministers and representatives from Quebec, Catalunya, South Australia, Western Cape, Lombardy and California were also facilitated in the Climate Week programme. Attendance at these meetings positively demonstrated Scotland’s commitment to climate action and drove forward our collaboration with international counterparts. Climate Week NYC is not a hybrid event, so remote participation is not possible.

I also met with climate justice partners from a range of countries, including Kenyan climate leader Elizabeth Wathuti where she announced Scotland’s contribution to the Green Generation Initiative; and with businesses including Apple and Clean Energy Terminals to discuss investment opportunities in Scotland. I was also invited to speak and contribute to UN side events on climate adaptation, human rights and the environment, including with the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change and the Brazilian COP30 CEO and High Level Champion. These opportunities strengthened Scotland’s reputation and standing – leading to a deeper level of engagement and ensuring future opportunities at COP and other multilateral forums will be offered to Scotland.

The following objectives were determined for the trip, which are linked to the Programme for Government:

Strengthen Scotland’s climate finance and justice leadership through meaningful engagement and advocacy in order to maximise Scotland’s potential reach and impact at COP30;
Position Scotland as a leader in the just transition to net zero and renewables by exploiting opportunities to showcase Scottish ambition and expertise to international audiences;
Build recognition of and strengthen the voice of devolved, state, and regional governments within international climate policies and processes, by convening stakeholders and agreeing shared positions;
Enhance Scotland’s diplomatic and economic standing by engaging in meaningful dialogue with strategic partners and agreeing on concrete actions and next steps.

Further information on the engagements that delivered these objectives will be released via ministerial proactive release in due course.

Parliamentary Business and costs:

All Parliamentary coverage required for the Climate Action and Energy portfolio is formally recorded in the Scottish Parliament’s Official Report, including details of the minister leading the proceedings.

Associated costs and details of all Ministerial engagements and expenses are proactively published by the Scottish Government, including the costs of travel and accommodation. The proactive release covering September 2025 will be published in due course. Associated costs for supporting officials in both Japan and New York were:

Flights	X6 Officials - £16,760.88
Accommodation	X6 Officials - £12,498.6
Subsistence and travel	X6 Officials - £862

Any business flights taken by Scottish Government ministers and employees are offset by a carbon levy. The levy is used to fund carbon reduction projects that compensate for the carbon emissions generated.

Question reference: S6W-40773

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the cost of the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy’s in-person attendance at the official engagements in (a) Japan and (b) New York in September 2025 compares with the most cost-effective remote participation option available, and what assumptions were made in any such comparison.

Question reference: S6W-40765

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the outcomes delivered by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy’s travel to (a) Japan and (b) New York in September 2025, including any agreements reached or follow-up actions, including timelines and how success of these will be measured.

Question reference: S6W-40768

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy’s overseas travel in September 2025 was approved in line with ministerial travel policy, and what criteria were applied in the decision making.

Question reference: S6W-40766

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements were put in place to maintain ministerial cover for the Climate Action and Energy portfolio during the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy’s absences while on official business in September 2025, including which ministers undertook (a) chamber and (b) committee responsibilities during those periods.

Chamber and committees