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-13725

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the report on Scottish greenhouse gas emissions for 2021 will be published.

While we can be confident that the Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics publication for 2021 will be published by early June 2023, we can not provide a precise date at this time. The reason being that the publication date is agreed by officials in the four Nations of the UK following initial quality assurance of the draft greenhouse gas inventory dataset.

The publication date will be pre-announced on the Scottish Government website during the month before publication.

Question reference: S6W-13727

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any assessments have been carried out, within the last financial year, of the contribution of all public sector bodies to achieving (a) carbon emission and (b) net zero targets.

Listed public bodies subject to climate change duties under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 are required to submit annual reports, including information on corporate carbon emissions and organisational emissions targets. The most recent analysis report was released in May 2022, based on data from reporting year 2020-21.

Emissions from heating, transport and electricity reduced by 5.8% in 2020-21 compared to the previous year, noting that at least part of this annual change will be attributable to the impact of pandemic response measures. Such emissions have decreased by 32.6% since mandatory reporting began for 2015-16.

Public bodies submitted reports for year 2021-22 in November 2022. Work to analyse these reports is underway and the annual summary analysis report is expected by the end of March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-13830

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to publish the updated guidance, Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Offshore Renewable Energy Developments.

The draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) makes clear that we encourage developers to offer community benefit and shared ownership opportunities as standard on all renewable energy projects.

As set out within the ESJTP, the Scottish Government is reviewing its Good Practice Principles for community benefits from offshore renewable energy developments.

As part of the development process, we are currently holding a series of stakeholder engagement sessions to raise awareness of the work and gather initial input, with a view to consulting on the draft guidance later this year.

Question reference: S6W-13376

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what mode(s) of transport the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights used to attend the Open Government Partnership Europe Regional Meeting in Rome on 11-12 October 2022; what the job titles were of the Scottish Government officials or employees that attended with him, and what the total costs were of attendance at this meeting.

Question reference: S6W-13620

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether another budget line was reduced in order to allocate a further £60.9 million to deliver Hulls 801 and 802 in its draft Budget, and, if so, which budget line was reduced.

Question reference: S6W-13401

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the membership of the (a) Bioenergy Policy Working Group and (b) Bioenergy Expert Panel is, and when it will publish the minutes of the meetings of these two groups.

a) The Bioenergy Policy Working Group comprises Scottish Government officials from a number of policy areas.

Agriculture Transformation for Environment and Climate Change
Bioenergy
Biodiversity
Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS)
Critical Energy Infrastructure & Commercial Projects
Domestic Climate Change
Environmental Protection - Air Quality
Environmental Quality and Circular Economy
Heat Strategy
Hydrogen
Industrial Decarbonisation
Industrial Strategy and Technologies
Just Transition
Land Use Strategy
Land Use Transformation
Natural Capital and Land Management
Office of the Chief Economic Adviser (OCEA)
Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS)
Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA)
Scottish Forestry
Sustainable Aviation
Transport - Supply Chains and Alternative Fuels
Whole Energy System

Minutes from the meetings will be published as soon as practical. However the group are still in the process of developing policy and considering options.

b) The Bioenergy Expert Panel has still to be assembled, and we are currently reviewing when and how it will be established.

Question reference: S6W-13400

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how expert parties and interested stakeholders can inform the work of its Bioenergy Expert Panel.

Question reference: S6W-13348

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the (a) selection criteria, (b) process and (c) delivery mechanism for how the £5 million in loss and damage funding, which it announced at COP27, will be allocated.

Officials are planning to undertake stakeholder engagement events early in 2023 in order to inform the delivery mechanism and selection criteria for this funding. Recommendations will then be put to Ministers in advance of any formal agreement being made with the aim of the selection process starting in Q1 of FY 23/24. Through this process, officials will deliver a participatory, co-designed programme that fully meets the needs of the communities that it seeks to serve. The minister is happy to update parliament once a ministerial decision is taken.

Question reference: S6W-13337

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12638 by Patrick Harvie on 15 December 2022, when it will publish the data, in light of it already being used for policy formulation and implementation.

Question reference: S6W-13350

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what projects will be supported by the Climate Justice Fund in financial year 2023-24.

The CJF in 2023-24 expects to fund the Climate Just Communities programme, which will operate in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia; the WEDO programme, which supports women delegates to be visible and heard during significant global negotiations; and a human rights defenders fellowship, which will support environmental fellows through the existing SG-led programme. In addition, once the selection process and delivery mechanism for the £5m funding for non-economic loss and damage is finalised, initiatives can begin to be funded through this programme.