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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 2302 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-31206

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve trust in government, in light of Carnegie UK research finding that 37% of people in Scotland have low levels of trust in the Scottish Government.

We recognise that reduced levels of trust is a challenge facing governments around the world. Evidence shows that a key driver of trust is people feeling they have a say. One way we are working to improve levels of trust is through our Open Government Action Plan: providing meaningful opportunities for people to be involved in decisions that affect them and sharing information openly. This includes a fiscal transparency portal to help the public track government spend, and an AI register to show the development and use of AI in the Scottish public sector. Our commitments cover fiscal openness and transparency, health and social care, climate change, data and digital, and participation. These are all areas in which civil society and members of the public have told us the ongoing promotion of transparency, participation, inclusivity and accountability is important to them.

We are paying close attention to the impact trust has on democracy through the Democracy Matters engagement process on the future of community decision making. A key pillar of this was asking how more people can participate in local decision making. The process findings were published in September and we will now work with civil society and the wider public sector to deliver on the ambitions set out by our communities.

Question reference: S6O-04011

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of the reasons why it decided against externally reviewing the Community Right to Buy scheme.

Question reference: S6W-31147

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on timelines for future ScotWind leasing rounds.

Question reference: S6W-31148

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with Crown Estate Scotland about replicating the UK Government partnership announcement with The Crown Estate for future ScotWind leasing rounds.

The Scottish Government already has a well established partnership with the Crown Estate that was fundamental to the Scotwind and INTOG licensing rounds for offshore wind. Our current focus is not on new leasing opportunities but delivering Scotland’s strong pipeline of clean energy and supply chain opportunities.

To support this the Scottish Government and UK Government Department of Energy Security and Net Zero developed a shared objective for Great British Energy to maximise the benefits of its activities in Scotland. Through developing partnerships with existing Scottish public bodies active within the clean energy sector (Crown Estate Scotland, the Enterprise Agencies and the Scottish National Investment Bank) organisations will work together to deliver joint objectives to maximise impact and value for money from Scottish projects.

Question reference: S6W-31131

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29940 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, for what reason the National Electricity Supply Contract prohibits clients from replacing a proportion of their single supply with a proportion of locally produced renewable energy.

The National Supply of Electricity Framework does not prohibit customers from using locally produced renewable energy.

If a client wishes to use locally produced renewable energy then they can advise the Scottish Procurement Team and the Supplier. The volumes generated by the locally produced renewable energy provider would no longer be included in the overall framework volumes and the reduced demand will be taken into consideration and future demand will be reshaped accordingly. Any withdrawal of buildings/sites from the framework are subject to the terms and conditions set out in the framework agreement.

Question reference: S6W-31129

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29944 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, whether it is possible to amend the current National Electricity Supply Contract to include provision for clients to reduce their demand for electricity from the single supplier within the framework, if they choose to buy locally produced renewable electricity, in order to further community wealth building.

Question reference: S6W-31128

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29944 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, whether it will be exercising its first 12-month extension to the existing National Electricity Supply Contract.

Question reference: S6W-31134

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29941 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, whether procurement law requires the Scottish Government to treat all energy providers equally and without discrimination; if so, for what reason no power is procured from community-owned energy providers, and what its position is on whether excluding community energy providers from the National Electricity Supply Framework is discriminatory.

Yes, Scottish Government is compliant with all procurement regulations.

The electricity framework was advertised openly and fairly in Public Contracts Scotland and therefore the competition was open to all suppliers. It is up to each individual bidder to determine if they meet the requirements of the framework, and if they wish to put forward a bid. At the last procurement opportunity no bids were received from community energy providers.

Question reference: S6W-31127

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29945 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, for what reason it did not make provision for community energy suppliers to be added to the generation mix in the contract awarded to EDF, in light of its support for community wealth building, and how the policy approach adopted supports community wealth building.

The national electricity framework covers circa 300 organisations across Scotland, covering all sectors – Local Government, Central Government, NHS, Universities and colleges. Any energy supplier needs to have the capacity to supply and service all organisations by providing the ability to pre-purchase electricity and also provide a billing service.

The mix of energy used is the suppliers decision, the energy mix cannot be decided by Scottish Procurement.

The community energy element was not raised as a requirement in the scoping of the procurement strategy which is developed by the framework users, who are representatives from across the public sector.

Question reference: S6W-31146

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the Local Power Plan, and whether it will provide support for local authorities in Scotland to take advantage of any potential opportunities as a result of the plan.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to continue to grow the community and local energy sector and ensure the delivery of renewable energy comes with benefits for people in Scotland.

On 17 October the Scottish Government signed a Joint Vision Statement with the UK Government which set out a commitment to work together to explore opportunities for GB Energy to support community and local energy in Scotland. This includes considering the role of the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).

In line with this Vision Statement, the Scottish Government continues to work with the UK Government to explore opportunities, including for local authorities in Scotland, offered by the Local Power Plan. The Scottish Government looks forward to working with local authorities to ensure that opportunities arising from the Local Power Plan are maximised for local communities.