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.

Question reference: S5W-11197

Asked by: Tom Mason, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of its plan to phase out new petrol and diesel cars by 2032 on the oil and gas industry, particularly in north east Scotland.

The Programme for Government sets a bold new ambition on ultra-low emission vehicles, including electric vehicles, with a target to phase out the need for petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032.

The oil and gas sector in Scotland is a global industry exporting to over 100 countries with international activity accounting for more than half of the total sales. Even as the car and van sector decarbonises, it is clear that there will be demand for oil and gas for decades to come, with oil and gas products continuing to be valuable for other forms of transport, and in other industries. This is why we have committed to support the oil and gas sector in its efforts to maximise economic recovery from the North Sea.

We look forward to working with stakeholders across the country as we take forward our plans and will consider any potential impacts in further detail as part of finalising the Climate Change Plan.

Question reference: S5W-10793

Asked by: Tom Mason, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many vehicles have been decommissioned in Scotland in the last five years, broken down by propulsion technology.

Question reference: S5W-10794

Asked by: Tom Mason, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to introducing recycling targets for local authorities, based on carbon impact of materials.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to set recycling targets based on carbon indicators, or to set individual recycling targets for local authorities.

Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) has developed a Scottish Carbon Metric, which measures the whole life carbon impacts of Scotland’s waste using a ground-breaking carbon accounting approach that employs consumption boundaries to national waste data. This method includes the carbon impacts across the whole life cycle of a product.

ZWS published the first estimation of Scotland’s waste carbon footprint in 2013. Later this year, ZWS will publish the latest Technical Report using data from 2014 and 2015. Thereafter, annual reports will be published.

The Scottish Carbon Metric will help all of us, including local authorities, understand the impact of waste on carbon emissions. It will also enable local authorities to see how the valuable recycling and resource management they do contributes to Scotland’s performance in relation to climate change targets.

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