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-37364

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what its position is on any proposal to introduce zonal electricity pricing, and what evidence underpins that position.

Question reference: S6W-37381

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with consumer representative groups to assess any perceived fairness issues in relation to the potential introduction of zonal electricity pricing in Scotland, and what timeline it has set for any such engagement.

Question reference: S6W-37375

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what internal correspondence it holds between the Energy Strategy and Markets Unit and the Directorate for Budget and Public Spending regarding the potential fiscal implications of zonal electricity pricing, since 1 January 2024, and whether it will publish a summary of any such correspondence.

Question reference: S6W-37363

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of any distributional impacts of zonal electricity pricing in Scotland across (a) geographic regions, (b) income deciles and (c) protected characteristic groups, and what the findings were of any such work.

Question reference: S6W-37373

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence it has supplied to the UK Government to inform the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements on the specific circumstances of Scotland’s electricity network and generation profile.

Question reference: S6W-37242

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has undertaken of the whole-life greenhouse gas emissions arising from the combined use of marine diesel and liquefied natural gas by the MV Glen Sannox, and how these projections compare with the emissions profile of a comparable conventional diesel-only ferry operating on the same route.

Question reference: S6W-37238

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, since the MV Glen Sannox entered operational service, what information it has on the (a) total volume of (i) marine diesel and (ii) liquefied natural gas consumed and (b) number of road-tanker deliveries of liquefied natural gas made to the vessel in that period.

Question reference: S6W-37236

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Aberdeen City Council remains in compliance with conditions attached to Scottish Government grant funding for the hydrogen-bus project, and what action it can take in the event of non-compliance.

Question reference: S6W-37237

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) Aberdeen City Council and (b) hydrogen suppliers regarding securing alternative fuel supplies for the hydrogen-bus project while life-extension works are carried out at Kittybrewster and Cove, and what the outcomes were of any such discussions.

Scottish Government and Aberdeen City Council officials undertake regular engagement relating to hydrogen in Aberdeen. This has involved discussions relating to the city’s bus fleet, including in the context of the Energy Transition Fund grant to the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub project over the period 2021-22 to 2024-25. Decisions on hydrogen supply to the fleet are a matter for the Council. The Scottish Government has not engaged in any direct discussions with hydrogen suppliers for that fleet.

Question reference: S6W-37241

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) by road to the bunkering point for the MV Glen Sannox, including (a) the total CO2-equivalent emissions per tonne of LNG transported and (b) a comparison with the emissions profile of delivering an equivalent energy quantity of marine diesel.

In 2014, Transport Scotland, supported by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd and CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL), set out the case to procure two new dual-fuel vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network which included analysis of fuel emissions and estimated operating costs. In November 2023, Transport Scotland requested a report from CFL on expected carbon emissions relating to Liquified Natural Gas, including end-to-end transportation. CFL completed a detailed assessment and provided their findings to Transport Scotland in a report in January 2024. This report has been released and is available on the Scottish Government website via the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/foi-eir-release/2024/06/foi-202400412376/documents/eir-202400412376---information-released---annex-a---c/eir-202400412376---information-released---annex-a---c/govscot%3Adocument/EIR%2B202400412376%2B-%2BInformation%2Breleased%2B-%2BAnnex%2BA%2B-%2BC.pdf

CFL have set out a range of activities and actions around fuel use and emissions monitoring in their 2024 – 2027 Environmental Plan and we will continue to work with them to reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental sustainability of ferry operations in the coming years.