Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-36337

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated total income to Scotland is from the proposed network reinforcement of the energy grid to meet the energy demands of the rest of the UK.

The Scottish Government has no role in the design or regulation of electricity infrastructure, aside from its statutory planning and consenting processes.

The electricity network in Scotland is physically and economically integrated with the rest of Great Britain. Supply and demand across the network needs to be carefully balanced.

Independent analysis commissioned by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) indicates that by 2035 their recommendations for a decarbonised electricity system could add up to £15 billion each year to the UK economy and support an average of 20,000 jobs each year. It is estimated that a third of these benefits are likely to be in Scotland, contributing £5.2 billion to our economy and supporting over 6,000 jobs per year.

The report can be viewed here – https://www.neso.energy/publications/beyond-2030

Question reference: S6W-36334

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any long-term implications of large-scale energy projects in the Scottish Borders.

Where new energy developments come forward, applications are subject to site-specific assessments by the decision maker. Our Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) policy 11 (energy) requires that project design and mitigation demonstrate how impacts on communities, landscape, biodiversity and other receptors, including cumulative impacts, are addressed. It also encourages development to maximise net economic impact, including local and community socio-economic benefits.

When an application is ready to be determined, the Scottish Ministers will consider all relevant material available to them before making any decision on an application. The merits of each proposal are considered on a case-by-case basis, and a careful balance must be struck between the potential impacts of the proposed development and the associated environmental, economic, renewable energy and climate change benefits.

Question reference: S6W-36327

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its Freedom of Information response of 28 February 2025 stating that there has been a threefold increase in renewable energy applications since 2020, what its position is on whether such an increase is necessary to meet the energy demands of the Scottish Borders.

The Scottish Government has no powers to influence grid management in Scotland as legislation and regulations relating to gas and electricity networks are reserved to the UK Government. The independent system operator, National Energy System Operator (NESO), is responsible for strategic planning and the day-to-day operation to balance the supply and demand of the electricity network, working with all network companies across Great Britain.

Question reference: S6W-36341

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how local communities living in the vicinity of the proposed Cross Border Connection development by SP Energy Networks are being involved in the decision-making process.

Currently no application for the Cross Border Connection has been submitted to Scottish Ministers by SP Energy Networks (SPEN), and it is important to note that proposals can change significantly during the development phase. As such, it is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on potential projects, so as not to interfere with or prejudice any decisions on projects that may come before Scottish Ministers for determination.

It is the responsibility of the Transmission Owner, in this case SPEN, to analyse the impact of their proposals and ensure the views of local communities and the relevant statutory and local bodies are fully considered as the plans develop. I would encourage anyone with views on the proposals to submit them to SPEN directly as part of this process.

Any proposals that do come forward will be subject to robust planning and consenting processes. Scotland has some of the most stringent environmental impact assessment regulations anywhere in the world, and our planning and consenting systems ensure that local communities can have their say. Our fourth National Planning Framework ensures that potential impacts on communities, nature and cultural heritage, including cumulative effects, are important considerations in the decision-making process.

Question reference: S6W-36326

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the criteria for approving or rejecting renewable energy applications, in light of its Freedom of Information response of 28 February 2025 stating that 100% of proposals between 2020 and 2025 have been approved.

It is not accurate to state that 100% of proposals between 2020 and 2025 have been approved.

To clarify, the Environment Information Request response of 28 February 2025 to which the question referred, noted that, of the 7 renewable energy applications received by the Energy Consents Unit in the Scottish Borders local authority area, all were approved.

Other applications for developments located elsewhere in Scotland have been rejected during this time.

The decision whether to grant consent is taken only after careful consideration of environmental information, consultee responses and public representations.

Question reference: S6O-04552

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for its work on tackling rural crime and preventing the theft and resale of machinery in Scotland, when it was first made aware of the proposals for the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which applies to England and Wales.

Question reference: S6W-36167

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update its 2021 guidance for public bodies on data collection and publication of sex, gender identity and trans status.

The Office of the Chief Statistician published guidance for public bodies in Scotland on the collection of data on sex and gender in 2021. This guidance recommends that statistics producers should collect data that best serves the needs of users in their specific context, an approach with aligns with the guidance published by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2024.

The Sullivan Review specifically recommends that the Scottish Government reviews its guidance in light of its recommendations. The Scottish Government has previously committed to reviewing its guidance on collecting data on sex and gender by the end of 2026 as part of the Non-Binary Equality Action Plan.

Ahead of this review, the Office of the Chief Statistician is engaged with wider-UK work on this topic. The Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Team is currently developing harmonised standards for collecting data on sex and gender identity. The Office of the Chief Statistician is contributing to this work, and will consider its outputs as part of its review of the Chief Statistician’s guidance.

Question reference: S6W-36165

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 16 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, Review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender [the Sullivan review]; whether it will implement the recommendations in the review, and what plans it has to meet Professor Alice Sullivan to discuss the findings.

The Office of the Chief Statistician published guidance for public bodies in Scotland on the collection of data on sex and gender in 2021. This guidance recommends that statistics producers should collect data that best serves the needs of users in their specific context, an approach with aligns with the guidance published by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2024.

The Sullivan Review specifically recommends that the Scottish Government reviews its guidance in light of its recommendations. The Scottish Government has previously committed to reviewing its guidance on collecting data on sex and gender by the end of 2026 as part of the Non-Binary Equality Action Plan.

Ahead of this review, the Office of the Chief Statistician is engaged with wider-UK work on this topic. The Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Team is currently developing harmonised standards for collecting data on sex and gender identity. The Office of the Chief Statistician is contributing to this work, and will consider its outputs as part of its review of the Chief Statistician’s guidance.

There are currently no plans to meet with Alice Sullivan directly, however the Scottish Government will be attending upcoming events to engage with a range of stakeholders to hear wider views on this topic.

Question reference: S6W-36281

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 10 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work is being undertaken to understand the potential impact of NHS waiting times on health inequalities.

Reducing health inequalities and supporting people to live longer, healthy and fulfilling lives remains a clear ambition for this Government.

Health inequalities in Scotland have widened in recent years in part due to the impact of austerity, Brexit, COVID and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis.

In order to tackle this mounting challenge, Scottish Government and COSLA, in collaboration with our wider partners, are developing a Population Health Framework to take a cross-government and cross-sector approach to improve the key building blocks of health.

These include: good early years and education; good work and income; healthy places; and equitable health care. Its purpose is to accelerate the recovery and improvement of population health in Scotland with a focus on whole system preventative action.

The Scottish Budget for 2025-26 sets out wide-ranging investment to continue supporting people with the cost of living and deliver progress on our national mission to eradicate child poverty, including:

£768m to boost delivery of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme,
up to £90m for the delivery of devolved employability services,
continuing to invest around £1bn per year in delivering 1,140 hours of funded ELC to all eligible children, and
committing more than £6.9bn for benefits expenditure including the Scottish Child Payment, almost £1.3bn more than the UK Government gives to the Scottish Government for Social Security.

In terms of planned care waiting times specifically, we are undertaking an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) as part of the refreshed NHSScotland waiting times guidance: November 2023, which will be published later this year.

The development of the EQIA has been informed by the public sector equality duty which requires the Scottish Government to pay due regard to the need to meet its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 when developing new and revised policies.

The EQIA will evaluate how the updated NHSScotland waiting times guidance may affect different segments of the population both positively and negatively, considering the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, sex, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.

Concurrently, our Women’s Health Plan, published in August 2021, aims to reduce health inequalities and improve health outcomes for girls and women across their life course. We recognise women are disproportionately affected by gynaecology waiting times, and timely access to gynaecology services will be a priority as we continue to develop our Women’s Health Plan.

Question reference: S6W-36342

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 9 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which section of the Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) outlines the reasons that the Scottish Ministers must provide when overturning planning decisions made at the local authority level.

Section 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 Act requires that all planning decisions, including those made by Scottish Ministers, delegated Reporters and Local Review Bodies, are done so in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The National Planning Framework (NPF4) forms part of the statutory development plan.

Information on Scottish Government involvement in planning decisions, including appeals, is provided on our website

Ministerial involvement in planning decisions - Planning and architecture - gov.scot

in a Ministerial Statement Planning applications call-in: Ministerial statement – 28 June 2023 - gov.scot and in

Circular 3/2009: Notification of Planning Applications Planning Circular 3/2009: Notification of Planning Applications.

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