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-06370

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 07 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that a homeowner cannot, for financial or practical reasons, raise the EPC rating in their property to C or above, by or after the date required to do so, (a) what it anticipates the impact will be on their ability to mortgage the property, (b) whether it anticipates they will be able to sell or rent their property, and what it anticipates the impact will be on its value and (c) whether there will be (i) a penalty for not and (ii) an incentive for complying.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce, subject to consultation, regulations requiring Scotland’s homes to meet EPC Band C equivalent, where that is technically feasible and cost effective from 2025. We plan to consult during 2022 on our proposals for such regulations, and this will include details of any exemptions including those linked to cost and availability of finance, clarity on the burden of responsibility, and matters relating to compliance and enforcement.

Question reference: S6W-06713

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 1 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that a short-term holiday let is not of an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C or better by the required date in 2025, whether it is required to immediately cease being offered as a short-term holiday let or any other tenancy, and what penalty will be applied in the event that the lessor continues to market the property as a short-term holiday let or other type of tenancy.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce, subject to consultation, regulations requiring Scotland’s homes to meet EPC Band C equivalent, where that is technically feasible and cost effective from 2025 onwards, with a range of backstop dates from 2028 to 2033. We plan to consult during 2022 on our proposals for such regulations, and this will include details of any exemptions, definitions of properties in scope, and matters relating to compliance.

Question reference: S6W-06341

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to assist the NHS board in staffing the minor injuries unit at Chalmers Hospital, Banff.

Scottish Government officials are continually engaging with NHS Boards and Health and Social Partnerships (HSCPs) to identify particular areas of concern. Aberdeenshire HSCP, which has operational responsibility for delivering services at Chalmers Hospital in Banff, advises that it is working closely with the staff group to develop a sustainable model of service delivery for the Banff community.

We have announced a substantial new investment of over £300 million in hospital and community care to support the NHS and social care system. The new funding will support a range of measures to maximise capacity in hospitals and primary care, reduce delayed discharges and ensure those in the community who need support receive effective and responsive care. NHS Grampian is receiving a share of direct workforce investments introduced through this plan including the recruitment of 1,000 additional healthcare support staff to support patients in hospitals and in community health teams.

Over and above this funding we have provided NHS Grampian with £1.1 million to support two new specialist programmes – Interface Care and Discharge without Delay – which will speed up the hospital discharge process or provide an alternative to hospital care altogether. This work is currently underway and we are working collaboratively with the Board to ensure robust actions are in place which support the reduction of long delays and improve patient care.

In addition, Grampian has received a £944K share of a further £10 million which has been allocated to Health Boards to support the delivery of timeous and optimal care. This will support Health Boards to put in place a range of measures including ensuring appropriate levels of staffing are in place across the system to facilitate efficient and effective patient care.

Question reference: S6W-06311

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how people who do not have access to online services and cannot access the NHS Scotland Covid Status app can obtain a paper copy of their vaccine certificate in advance of international travel.

Question reference: S6W-06304

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it will ensure that local authorities are resourced and supported to tackle the climate emergency.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-05390 on 25 January 2022, the Scottish Government regularly engages with local authorities and the wider public sector, including through COSLA and the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN), where current opportunities and challenges within local authority climate action are frequently discussed. Scottish Government officials also engage with the Improvement Service on the capacity needs of local authorities in delivering net zero.

For further detail on local authorities and the climate emergency, I refer the member to the answers to questions: S6W-05387 on 11 January 2022; S6W-05388, S6W-05389 and S6W-05390 on 25 January 2022; S6W-05391 on 11 January 2022; S6W-05627 on 21 January 2022; S6W-05753 on 3 February 2022; and S6W-05754 and S6W-05755 on 7 February 2022.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: Written questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website

Question reference: S6W-06334

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, when assessing ScotWind applications, what account was taken of the locations of potential carbon storage sites in any future carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) programme.

This is a matter for Crown Estate Scotland (CES) as the assessment and evaluation of the ScotWind applications was undertaken by CES. Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage activity was considered as part of the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy's Sustainability Appraisal, particularly the Social and Economic Impact Assessment and in the Regional Locational Guidance. Those documents can be found at the links below.

Social and Economic Impact Assessment: https://www.gov.scot/publications/draft-sectoral-marine-plan-social-econimic-impact-assessment/documents/

Regional Locational Guidance: https://www.gov.scot/publications/sectoral-marine-plan-regional-locational-guidance/documents/

Question reference: S6W-06459

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05508 by Michael Matheson on 4 February 2022, in light of it not being able to detail what impact the closure of Hunterston B and Torness nuclear power stations will have on consumer energy bills, whether it can state what the price of electricity generated by each of them is.

Question reference: S6W-06524

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the first supplementary to question S6O-00736 by Ben Macpherson on 9 February 2022, during which the minister referred to the "greater provision of renewable energy - which...has had a significant positive impact on the reliability of supply here in Scotland", whether it will set out in detail what this definition of “renewable energy” is; what the generation source is of the energy that has had a positive impact on reliability, and whether it will publish any data that (a) shows an increasing "reliability of supply", as opposed to an increasing amount of energy supplied, and (b) shows a correlation and direct "impact" of the greater provision of renewable energy, as defined, on the reliability of supply.

This is a reserved policy area. Responsibility for security of supply sits with National Grid ESO (the GB electricity system operator).

Renewable capacity in Scotland includes onshore and offshore wind, hydro, solar, marine technologies, bioenergy and waste. Other sources of power generation and interconnection to the rest of GB electricity system are also critical in terms of maintaining secure electricity supply, particularly at times when renewables output is low.

The UK government has now included renewables in the Capacity Market to recognise their “measurable contribution” to security of supply. Renewables sites in Scotland have been successful in securing contracts in the latest T-4 and T-1 Capacity Market Auctions.

The equivalent of 98.6% of gross electricity consumption in Scotland (around 30 GigaWatt hours, GWh) comes from renewable sources.

Question reference: S6O-00808

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with EU governments regarding the use of gene editing in agriculture.

Question reference: S6W-06257

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05501 by Michael Matheson on 31 January 2022, what its position is on the National Grid ESO's analysis in its publication, Future Energy Scenarios, that Scotland will require to use energy generated by nuclear power to achieve net zero.

Scotland has long been a net exporter of electricity. In 2020, Scotland exported 20.4 TWh, equivalent to powering every household in Scotland for 26 months.

We expect that we will maintain our position as a net exporter even as demand from electrification of heat and transport increases particularly given the recent announcement by Crown Estate Scotland to offer option agreements to support the development of 25GW of offshore wind power.

This is consistent with the forecasts from National Grid’s Electricity Ten Year Statement as well as the recently published Network Options Assessment.

National Grid ESO has also conducted a study of the effects of the earlier than expected closure of nuclear generation in Scotland which concludes that the system will remain secure.

In order to meet Net-Zero, our priority continues to be to support energy efficiency, develop Scotland’s huge renewable resource and to promote storage and flexibility.