Chamber and committees

Barnett consequentials are not ring-fenced for a particular purpose or allocated on an individual basis, rather the totality of funds available to the Scottish Government are considered for allocation in the Scottish Budget and subsequent revisions. The 2023-24 Scottish Budget document, which was laid before parliament on 15 December 2022 provided detail of all commitments funded from within that overall Budget envelope.

In-year changes to budgets, including allocation of any additional Barnett consequentials that have accrued since the Budget was laid will be set out in forthcoming Budget Revisions documents.

The Scottish Government responded to:

(a) 2843 Freedom of Information requests within the statutory time limit in 2019

(b) 2864 Freedom of Information requests within the statutory time limit in 2020

(c) 3609 Freedom of Information requests within the statutory time limit in 2021

(d) 4031 Freedom of Information requests within the statutory time limit in 2022

A full breakdown of the total number and value of contracts awarded to consulting companies covering the last five fiscal years for the Scottish Government only, is provided in the following table.

Operational decisions on the number and location of appliances to keep communities safe are entirely a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Board and Chief Officer.

SFRS has made changes to the number and location of fire appliances in Fife based on robust data and a comprehensive assessment of risk.

Research published in 2020 (commissioned by Zero Waste Scotland in partnership with Transport Scotland and Scottish Enterprise) assessed the current and future use of batteries in Scotland across the entire length of the battery supply chain, from chemicals to end of life. This research is published and is available here: Battery use in Scotland now and in the future | Zero Waste Scotland. This research suggests that by 2030 there could be up to 16000 tonnes of vehicle batteries available in Scotland for second life purposes.

Due to the novelty of batteries being used in their second life the market opportunities and business models for their use or disposal are not currently certain. Current UK Extended Producer Responsibility legislation dictates that the battery manufacturer remains responsible for the collection, recycling and disposal of the battery, meaning that it will be at the manufacturer’s discretion whether they use a domestic reprocessing facility located in Scotland or the UK

Transport Scotland is undertaking a National Speed Management Review to support a range of policies that help our Government’s national outcomes and indicators. These include related policy drivers such as better road safety and health outcomes, promotion of active travel, climate change mitigation, place making and economic growth.

The review covers comprehensive analysis of all types of speed management policies and initiatives in Scotland as well as a review of what has been introduced in other countries throughout the world.

The process will also include a stakeholder and public consultation later this year to consider their views of whether any changes to speed limit policies, including HGV speed limits and speed management measures should be introduced as part of our speed management plan.

We have published a housing guide which provides information about applying for social housing in Scotland. This sets out how Service leavers and veterans can obtain clear information about the housing allocation policy for the area where they want to live and their level of priority for social housing.

We have also revised the social housing allocations practice guidance Social housing allocations in Scotland: practice guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) to include a specific section on Armed Forces and veterans to help landlords consider the needs of this group in their allocation policies and respond appropriately.

The Scottish Government does not hold or collate any information relating to the future decommissioning of onshore wind turbines.

In respect of offshore wind turbines, none are due to be decommissioned in the next five years.

Zero Waste Scotland published a report in April 2021 titled ‘ The future of onshore wind decommissioning in Scotland’ . The report provides projections for the number of onshore wind turbines in Scotland that will be decommissioned up to 2050.

Nature Scot collect data for bird strikes at onshore wind farms via their online reporting tool. The reporting is voluntary, meaning it is likely they only receive reports on a proportion of strikes. Where possible the data is supplemented with information they receive from general correspondence.

Two offshore wind farm projects have commissioned studies to detect bird strikes. Kincardine offshore wind farm have eight cameras installed on each of their wind turbines. The first study from April 2020 to October 2021 detected one strike. The second study began in January 2022 and will complete in January 2024 and has so far detected two strikes.

Aberdeen offshore wind farm has a radar monitoring system deployed on one turbine. This monitored seabird flight activity during the breeding season and post-breeding season from April to October 2020 and 2021. No strikes were recorded during monitoring.

Urban mining” is not a term that is in use by the Scottish Government, but we understand it to refer to the recovery of critical raw materials from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

The WEEE Regulations 2013, which are the regulations underpinning WEEE recycling in the UK, do not require information on recovery of critical minerals to be reported and so the Scottish Government does not hold this information. Along with the other UK governments, we intend to consult later this year on a suite of reforms to the WEEE Regulations; we are considering as part of that measures to increase the recovery of critical raw materials.