Chamber and committees

HM Treasury budgeting rules, with which the Scottish Government must comply, are very clear that it is not possible to use capital budgets to support current spending. All the capital budget will be used to support capital spending in the 2023-24 financial year.

My officials in Scottish Enterprise remain in regular contact with the Joint Administrators, Interpath Advisory, and are working with them to consider all viable options for the Stoneywood site in Aberdeen.

The administration process continues to progress, and I understand the Stoneywood site continues to be marketed by the Joint Administrators.

The Scottish Government is aware of the shortage of drivers for buses, which is exacerbated by BREXIT preventing people from the EU coming here to work freely. We are working with bus operators and key industry stakeholders through the Bus Taskforce – while recognising that many of the levers are reserved to the UK Government.

As the Scottish Government is not required to hold information on operational matters related to Scottish Water, I again refer the member to the published data available on Scottish Water’s website at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/help-and-resources/document-hub/key-publications/urban-waters-improvements and https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Your-Home/Your-Waste-Water/Overflow-Spill-Data . Should the member wish further information on this data, he may wish to contact Scottish Water directly.

As environmental regulator, it is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to monitor, classify, protect and improve water quality at designated bathing waters. SEPA assesses the water quality of Peterhead (Lido) as “excellent” and further information is available on its website at https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/39944/peterhead-lido-bathing-water-profile.pdf .

I again refer the member to the answer to S6O-02060 for further information on wider measures to improve Scotland’s water environment. On 23 March 2023. The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at: Meeting of the Parliament: 23/03/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website

A Scottish Government Planning Factsheet issued in 2014 to support the Scottish Planning Policy recognised that separation distance is a design matter dependent on a range of criteria.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), adopted on 13th February this year, forms part of the statutory development plan alongside the relevant Local Development Plan. Part 2 of NPF4 sets out the policy framework for use in the determination of planning applications. Matters concerning project design and mitigation are set out in policy 11(e). In the NPF4 Delivery Programme, we have given our commitment to progress work on a new suite of guidance and advice that will support activity to deliver the policy intent of NPF4. We will do this alongside careful monitoring of the implementation of policies.

‎To support delivery of NPF4, previously published planning guidance and advice will be revisited over time to establish whether it should be retained, removed or updated.

There are currently three stakeholder groups that are chaired by the Scottish Government, these are; Deposit Return Scheme - Retailers Sector Group Meeting, Deposit Return Scheme - Hospitality Sector Group Meeting, and Deposit Return Scheme - Producer Sector Group Meeting. There are also plans for a separate Local Authority stakeholder group which have been delayed by recent developments.

These groups provide a platform for communication and discussion for stakeholders and maintain relationships to ensure transparent communication and that all stakeholders are inputting into the process.

Decisions remain with organisations that are best placed to make them e.g. if SEPA are responsible they will have their own decision-making process and this will be respected.

The data referred to was provided by Zero Waste Scotland, drawing on data made available by WRAP.

WRAP has advised Zero Waste Scotland that the data is drawn from a range of initial efficiency studies undertaken to support the UK wide consultation on packaging extended producer responsibility. Queries on the data and publication status, and any subsequent research, should be directed to WRAP.

CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL) operate a bespoke planned maintenance system which was introduced a number of years ago on the Major Vessel Fleet. A project is underway to replace the system with a modern off the shelf established, marine system, however this project is dependent on funding being secured. The new system would allow standardisation of planned maintenance across the whole fleet as well as bringing efficiencies to the preventative maintenance, data and record keeping and drive efficiencies in the dry-docking process.

The Scottish Government is committed to aligning with EU law where that is possible and where it will have a meaningful impact on the outcomes we share with the EU.

In doing so we acknowledge that alignment in all cases is not possible. Consideration of alignment with EU law is part of the policy development process and varies depending upon the relevance of EU law to Scotland regarding the matter in question, the extent of the devolved settlement and UK Government decisions which might have a constraining effect on Ministers ability to take effective action.

The Scottish Government’s policy statement on the approach to EU alignment, approved by parliament on 8 June 2022, sets this out in detail, acknowledging that a broad section of EU legislation is now not applicable in Scotland since the UK’s departure from the EU.

It is therefore not possible for the Scottish Government to provide a definitive answer to the question asked, although officials are working with their parliamentary counterparts to significantly expand the information provided to parliament regarding the commitment to align with the EU.

The Scottish Government does not routinely collate data about electric vehicle charge points which are not part of the ChargePlace Scotland public charging network. Data about public charging devices on privately-managed networks can be obtained from third party data suppliers, such as Zap-Map, who publish monthly statistics on electric vehicle charging infrastructure.