- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has provided any financial assistance towards the ongoing maintenance and repair of wind turbines, and, if this is the case, how much it has provided in each year since 2007.
Answer
Organisations which develop and install wind projects should always allow for a sinking fund for repair and maintenance costs, or take out insurance for repairs, maintenance, breakdown and loss of earnings.
Our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) does not provide funding for continued maintenance of wind turbines. However, it has provided ad hoc support to communities looking to repair small scale wind turbines.
Local Energy Scotland has delivered CARES on our behalf since 2013. Since then, CARES has offered approximately £128,000 in funding support towards the repair of community-owned wind turbines, including associated viability studies. This is as follows;
2014: £12,362;
2016: £16,189;
2018: £20,000;
2019: £41,472;
2020: £14,375;
2021: £24,000.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent wind turbine erosion as a result of rain and hail.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12989 on 22 December 2022, it is the responsibility of the wind farm operator to properly maintain their wind turbines, in accordance with their planning permission and any conditions imposed. The Scottish Government is not responsible for taking action in this area.
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 .
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding electric vehicle (EV) charging points in the Highlands and Islands region, how (a) many there are and (b) much it has allocated for this purpose, broken down by each local authority area.
Answer
Scotland is leading the way on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, with more EV chargers per capita than the rest of the UK. The latest figures showing that Scottish electric vehicle drivers benefit from 60 public charge points per 100,000 population. This compares to the UK as a whole at 45.2, England 53, Wales 34.9 and Northern Ireland at 18.4 charge points per 100,000 population.
A) Scottish Government only holds information on charge points registered on the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network, we do not hold charge point information for the wider public charging network run by commercial operators. The total number of publicly available charge points registered on the CPS network broken down by Local Authority area in the Highlands and Islands region is shown below. These charge points are owned by councils, other public bodies, charities and businesses who received grant funding from the Scottish Government.
Local Authority Area in Highlands & Islands Region | Total Public EV Charge Points on CPS Public Network |
Argyll & Bute Council | 68 |
Highland Council | 164 |
Moray Council | 39 |
Orkney Council | 34 |
Shetland Council | 28 |
Western Isles / Eilean Siar Council | 32 |
Table A: Total public EV charge points on the CPS network in H&I Region.
B) Scottish Government has to-date awarded over £9 million of funding to local authorities and over £2 million to other public bodies, third sector organisations and private businesses in the Highlands & Islands region to support development of the ChargePlace Scotland public charging network. Table B below shows the breakdown:
Local Authority area in Highlands & Islands Region | Funding to the LA for EV Charging (£) | Funding to non-LAs for EV Charging (£) |
Argyll & Bute Council | 1,023,000 | 367,348 |
Highland Council | 4,338,00 | 1,654,954 |
Moray Council | 1,172,000 | 152,141 |
Orkney Council | 1,120,000 | 65,966 |
Shetland Council | 666,000 | 79,124 |
Western Isles / Eilean Siar Council | 773,000 | 98,668 |
Total | £9,092,000 | £2,418,202 |
Table B: Scottish Government funding for public EV charge point installation.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to teach (a) English, (b) Gaelic, (c) Scots, (d) French, (e) Spanish, (f) German, (g) Italian, (h) Urdu, (i) Mandarin and (j) Cantonese in schools in each year since 2016-17.
Answer
The Scottish Government provides local authorities with an annual local government finance settlement which in 2022-23 amounts to almost £12.7 billion. Over 93 percent of this total funding, representing £11.8 billion, is by means of a block grant. Individual local authorities can allocate this sum together with their locally raised income through council tax and fees and charges to meet local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.
The Scottish Government does not allocate education funding on a per subject basis and therefore does not hold the information requested. Statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities and schools as set out under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. This provides local authorities and schools with the autonomy and flexibility to plan their curriculum to best meet the needs of their learners and local circumstances. The setting of school budgets remains the responsibility of each local authority.
Education Scotland, Regional Improvement Collaboratives and local authorities provide direct support to schools in terms of teaching and learning across all subjects. The Scottish Government also funds other bodies direct to deliver additional support. For example, in 2022-23 we are funding the Scotland’s National Centre for Languages £570,000 to support teachers and schools in delivering high quality language learning.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to conduct a study on the impact of microplastic pollution and toxic compounds from wind turbines.
Answer
The Water Framework Directive does not currently include the requirement for the monitoring and assessment of microplastic pollution and specifically Bisphenol A in the water environment.
However, the Scottish Government continues to support active research under the current RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2022-2027 , and the Centre of Expertise on Water. Current plans include work which will further develop the understanding of sources and levels of emerging contaminants, including microplastics, in Scotland’s freshwaters and river sediments and recommend priorities and strategic approaches for future monitoring in Scotland.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many fines have been issued for failing to maintain wind turbines properly since 2007, and what the individual amounts of any fines were.
Answer
Conditions may be attached to planning permissions for wind farm developments which “require wind turbines to be constructed and operated in accordance with the approved details and maintained in the approved colour, free from external rust, staining or discolouration, until such time as the wind farm is decommissioned”.
The Scottish Government does not monitor or enforce conditions attached to planning permissions, and therefore has not issued any fines relating to the failure to maintain wind turbines. It is the relevant local planning authorities who monitor and enforce development and operational controls imposed through conditions, and who can take enforcement action up to and including requiring removal of the turbine, as well as referring matters to the Procurator Fiscal to consider prosecution.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how it currently monitors leading edge erosion on wind turbines, and whether it has any plans to increase this monitoring.
Answer
As per the answer to S6W-12989 on 22 December 2022, it is the responsibility of the wind farm operator to properly maintain their wind turbines, in accordance with their planning permission and any conditions imposed. The Scottish Government is not responsible for taking action in this area.
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
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to accelerate the reopening of historic sites managed by Historic Environment Scotland.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2023
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any plans in the next three years to construct new sewage systems in the Highlands and Islands region.
Answer
Scottish Water is currently progressing over £23 million of investment in the Highlands and Islands to improve wastewater treatment, enable growth and to maintain its wastewater assets throughout the area. This is primarily to upgrade and improve existing assets as previous investment periods were focused on building new treatment works in many areas across this region to ensure a high standard of treatment and improve environmental water quality.
Scottish Water continues to work with developers that require new sewerage infrastructure in order to extend the public sewer network, with Scottish Water making a financial contribution to a reasonable contribution level established in regulatory guidance.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many bed days were lost due to delayed discharge for each hospital in the NHS Highland area, in each year since 2017-18.
Answer
The following table shows the number of bed days occupied by people delayed in their discharge in hospitals in NHS Highland for all delay reasons over the period April 2017 to March 2022 by financial year. The hospital of delay represents the location of delay as recorded at the monthly data submission date to which all bed days within the month are assigned. The figures for 2020-21 and
2021-22 will have been impacted by the measures put in place to respond to COVID-19.
Number of delayed bed days occupied in NHS Highland hospitals, 2017-18 to 2021-22
Hospital of delay | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Argyll and Bute Hospital | 61 | - | - | - | - |
Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital | - | - | - | - | 919 |
Cowal Community Hospital | 834 | 345 | 722 | 621 | 860 |
Islay Hospital | 22 | 387 | 309 | 139 | 170 |
Victoria Hospital | 95 | 118 | 90 | 173 | 116 |
Lorn & Islands Hospital | 3,744 | 3,708 | 2,446 | 1,258 | 1,567 |
Campbeltown Hospital | 680 | 574 | 401 | 320 | 1,068 |
Dunbar Hospital | 144 | 959 | 1,276 | 1,079 | 1,125 |
Caithness General Hospital | 1,326 | 1,773 | 2,442 | 1,078 | 1,848 |
Wick Town and County Hospital | 2,288 | 1,536 | 1,356 | 1,564 | 1,558 |
Lawson Memorial Hospital | 1,253 | 1,072 | 1,431 | 1,242 | 2,210 |
RNI Community Hospital | 5,050 | 5,639 | 4,919 | 415 | 1,125 |
Raigmore Hospital | 8,823 | 8,337 | 10,925 | 6,867 | 8,713 |
Nairn Town and County Hospital | 1,615 | 2,073 | 2,623 | 1,729 | 2,582 |
Ian Charles Community Hospital | 992 | 1,066 | 798 | 657 | 84 |
St Vincent's Hospital | 392 | 271 | 261 | 582 | 282 |
Belford Hospital | 743 | 949 | 1,407 | 1,530 | 2,164 |
Mackinnon Memorial Hospital | 604 | 348 | 41 | 216 | 266 |
Portree Hospital | 829 | 807 | 217 | 544 | 329 |
Ross Memorial Hospital | 2,217 | 1,793 | 1,668 | 1,671 | 1,207 |
County Community Hospital Invergordon | 4,337 | 4,932 | 5,036 | 3,784 | 4,708 |
New Craigs Hospital | 3,238 | 4,496 | 5,803 | 4,184 | 3,333 |
Mid-Argyll Community Hospital and Integrated Care Centre | 1,529 | 2,077 | 2,252 | 1,259 | 503 |
Migdale Hospital | 2,008 | 2,044 | 1,986 | 899 | 1,688 |
Mull and Iona Community Hospital | 129 | 230 | 313 | 58 | 268 |
NHS Highland | 42,953 | 45,534 | 48,722 | 31,869 | 38,693 |
1. “-“ in a cell indicates that no data is available as the hospital had either closed or was not yet opened in that year.
2. Delayed bed days occupied represent the number of days a person spends in hospital following their ready for discharge date.
3. Bed days occupied for the following delay reasons are included: health and social care; patient and family related; and code 9 (complex) delay.
4. If a patient’s delayed discharge involved delayed bed days in more than one hospital, all bed days within the month are assigned to the hospital where the patient was located at the monthly data submission date.
