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: S7W-00792

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to extending permitted development rights for small-scale geothermal and heat networks.

The Scottish Government last year consulted on potential new permitted development rights for the installation (and subsequent repair and maintenance) of underground pipework and associated apparatus for the purposes of connecting individual buildings to a heat network. The Scottish Government decided not to make changes to permitted development rights at that time. We have recently committed to further explore improving permitted development rights, including for small-scale renewable energy production.

Question reference: S7W-00744

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic on 2 June 2026 on phone-free classrooms, whether it plans to limit the extent of any ban to classrooms and/or formal classroom time, or whether it plans to implement a ban across the whole school day and/or campus.

We have committed to implement a national ban on smart phones in learning environments and will begin a consultation to inform this legislation in the first 100 days of this government. The consultation will gather views on the potential scope of the restrictions and will help ensure a range of views from children, young people, parents and carers, and school staff are able to shape the new law.

Our current guidance, published in 2024, is clear that headteachers and education authorities can any take steps they see fit to respond to the disruption caused by mobile phones, including up to full restrictions across the school estate and the school day. We are working with education authorities to update the current guidance to encourage schools to bring in restrictions from the start of August, in advance of the change in law. This guidance will be published this summer, in preparation for the new school year.

I confirmed during my Parliamentary statement that, in line with the government’s public health approach to online harms, my preference is for a full campus ban but that I will consider the consultation responses on this matter.

Question reference: S7W-00867

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many representations under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 it has received from (a) the public and (b) organisations regarding windfarms in each calendar year since 2021, broken down by region, and how many were (i) objections and (ii) expressions of support.

The Scottish Government does not centrally hold this information in a format that would allow it to be readily identified and categorised by type of respondent or by position (objection or support) for the full period requested.

Prior to 16 January 2026, representations were recorded within individual application records on the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) Portal and extracting this information would require a manual review of each case, which would incur disproportionate cost. The Scottish Government also does not hold information which distinguishes between representations made by members of the public and those made by organisations.

However, following the introduction of new functionality to the ECU Portal on 16 January 2026, representations relating to Section 36 wind farm applications can now be more readily categorised.

Details of representations received since 16 January 2026 are as follows, with Local Authority areas provided, as the closest available proxy for regional breakdown:

Wind Farm	ECU Reference	Local Authority	Objection	Support	Neutral
Ceislein Wind Farm	ECU00005174	Highland Council	61	0	0
Inveroykel Wind Farm	ECU00005210	Highland Council	198	0	0
Ballach Wind Farm	ECU00005219	Highland Council	3	0	0
Lynemore Wind Farm	ECU00005105	Highland Council	6	0	0
Cnoc Buidhe Wund Energy Hub	ECU00004767	Argyll and Bute Council	1	0	0
Hare Hill Wind Farm Repowering	ECU00004967	?East Ayrshire Council and ?Dumfries and Galloway Council	7	0	0
Bhlaraidh Wind Farm Extension	ECU00006176	Highland Council	10	0	0
Eredine Wind Farm	ECU00004517	Argyll and Bute Council	1	0	0
S36C Knockkippen Wind Farm	ECU00006261	East Ayrshire Council	0	0	0
Slickly Wind Farm Connection	ECU00005075	Highland Council	1	0	0
Lynemore Wind Farm (2nd Consultation)	ECU00005105	Highland Council	2	0	0

Question reference: S7W-00863

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds regarding the current inflation-adjusted strike price or equivalent guaranteed revenue support price per MWh, as relevant, for electricity generated by nuclear power stations operating or proposed within the Great Britain electricity market.

Contracts for Difference and other revenue support for generation are the responsibility of the UK Government.

The Scottish Government holds no information beyond that published by the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC). Hinkley Point C is the only nuclear power station with such a contract.

As a result of repeated delays, Hinkley Point C is not yet generating electricity and therefore this contract has not been activated.

Question reference: S7W-00882

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the total value of the ScotWind Wealth Fund to be by the end of the current parliamentary session, and whether any existing ScotWind revenue will be made available for the fund.

Question reference: S7W-00794

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00321 by Jenny Gilruth on 3 June 2026, how much (a) money was raised from the ScotWind leasing round, (b) of this money it used or has profiled to use on other portfolio commitments as well as supporting the Scottish Budget, and (c) remains and whether the entirety of what remains will be used to capitalise the proposed Scotwind Wealth Fund.

The ScotWind leasing round has secured £755m for the public purse.

Information about how ScotWind income has been drawn down or re-profiled can be found in the Budget, Autumn Budget Revision, Spring Budget Revision and Provisional Outturn publications for each financial year. The planned deployment of ScotWind funding over the Spending Review period is set out in Annex A of the Portfolio Chapters and Annex Tables Amended at Stage 2 Budget Supporting Document Supporting documents - Scottish Budget 2026 to 2027 - gov.scot.

Decisions on further allocations of ScotWind funding and the establishment of a ScotWind Wealth Fund will be taken at future fiscal events.

Question reference: S7W-01023

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers by Stephen Gethins to questions S7W-00644 and S7W-00793 on 3 and 11 June 2026 respectively, for what reason it has not provided the information that was requested regarding whether it supports the introduction of zonal pricing in the electricity market, and what specific evidence it has relied upon in forming its position; whether it will now do so, and whether it considers that the responses provided met the commitment set out in paragraph 1.7(d) of the Scottish Ministerial Code 2025 edition, which states that “Ministers should be as open as possible with the Parliament and the public, reflecting the aspirations set out in the Report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament”, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S7W-00743

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the eight Ford Ranger Ultra-Light Pumping Units, which can been used for wildfire management and cost nearly £1 million, are all operational as of 3 June 2026, in light of them being unavailable during Scotland’s worst wildfire season on record in 2025.

The procurement and safe deployment of assets is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). It is important to note that the eight Ford Ranger Ultra-Light Pumping Units are replacing legacy fire appliances. These are not dedicated wildfire appliances, but they can be called upon to provide support at a wildfire incident if required. These units are not the same appliances as the ten Ford Ranger Wildfire Units which SFRS has previously confirmed are operational for dedicated wildfire management.

As of 3 June 2026, these vehicles are not operational, however, SFRS has confirmed that operational capability at the fire stations which will be receiving these appliances has not been impacted. SFRS notes that installation of the latest pumping and communication systems in these units is complete and envisages training and delivery of all units by the end of this summer.

Question reference: S7W-00791

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 12 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage private investment in geothermal energy infrastructure.

The Scottish Government works closely with its partners to promote awareness of the tools, sub-surface data and funding available to stakeholders to support exploration of Scotland’s geothermal energy potential. Examples of this work are set out in the answer to S6W-44106 on 17 March 2026

Heat networks will form an important part of Scotland's overall heat decarbonisation programme, supplying clean heat (such as geothermal) to homes and other buildings. Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) offers capital grants to businesses and organisations in the public, private and third sectors to develop heat network projects in Scotland. The SHNF requires a minimum 50% contribution from the Grantee which helps to leverage private investment in the heat network sector and generate additional economic benefits. An expression of interest for funding can be submitted at any time.

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: S7W-00862

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 11 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00615 by Stephen Gethins on 11 June 2026, which did not address the question posed, whether it will confirm that it has not made an assessment of the impact of the anticipated closure of Torness nuclear power station on energy affordability for consumers in Scotland.