- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) Police Scotland, (b) local authorities and (c) Transport Scotland regarding road safety on the North Coast 500 route, and whether it will provide an update on what actions have been taken to address the reported excessive speed and dangerous driving on the route.
Answer
Transport Scotland are in regular discussions with a range of operational partners, including Police Scotland and local road authorities, to explore ways to enhance road safety in the north of Scotland. This includes discussion through the Road Safety Framework Local Partnership Forum which last met on 15 June 2023.
Over the summer months additional and targeted safety camera and police officer resources have been deployed across the road network, including the North Coast 500, to encourage good driver behaviour and enhanced levels of speed limit compliance.
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many companies owning (a) onshore wind turbines in Scotland and (b) offshore wind turbines in Scottish waters were registered in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) overseas between 2014 and 2022.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold or collate any information relating to the registered address of companies who own wind turbines in Scotland.
The UK Government’s Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) tracks the progress of UK renewable electricity projects. The database can be filtered to show all projects in Scotland and their operators.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been retrofitted through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund in each year since its creation, also broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The Social Housing Net Zero Heat fund has awarded grant for the retrofit of 11,662 homes since its creation in August 2020 and March 31st 2023. The breakdown across financial years and by local authority can be found in the following table:
Local Authority Area | FY 20-21 | FY 21-22 | FY 22-23 | Total |
|
Aberdeenshire Council | | 143 | 306 | 449 |
Angus Council | | 26 | 212 | 238 |
Argyll and Bute | | | 159 | 159 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 208 | | 129 | 337 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 101 | 397 | 326 | 824 |
Dundee | | | 466 | 466 |
East Ayrshire | | | 79 | 79 |
East Renfrewshire | | | | 0 |
Edinburgh | | 56 | 60 | 116 |
Falkirk Council | 28 | | 100 | 128 |
Fife Council | | | | 0 |
Glasgow City Council | 322 | | 7,260 | 7,582 |
Highland Council | | 2 | 59 | 61 |
Inverclyde | | | 90 | 90 |
Midlothian | | | 100 | 100 |
Moray and Aberdeenshire | 61 | | | 61 |
Moray Council | 254 | | | 254 |
North Lanarkshire Council | | 20 | 249 | 269 |
Orkney Islands Council | | | | 0 |
Perth and Kinross | | 0 | 111 | 111 |
Scottish Borders | | 36 | 141 | 177 |
Shetland Islands | | | 8 | 8 |
Stirling Council | 30 | | | 30 |
West Dunbartonshire | | 26 | 72 | 98 |
West Lothian | | | 25 | 25 |
Grand Total | 1,004 | 706 | 9,952 | 11,662 |
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address reported concerns of NHS clinicians that there will be a skills depletion within any neonatal units downgraded from level 3.
Answer
The report from the Perinatal Sub-Group on the outcome of the options appraisal process identified skills maintenance as a key concern for those units no longer categorised as a NICU.
This is based on the expectation that small and sick babies will continue to be delivered unexpectedly out with Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU’s) and require stabilisation and transfer.
Local Neonatal Units (LNU’s) will continue to deliver intensive care and care for babies from 27+0 weeks that need stabilisation and treatment, so both nursing staff and medical staff will continue to have experience in delivering these aspects of intensive care.
The Scottish Government will work with the Scottish Perinatal Network and NHS Education for Scotland to take forward a number of actions to ensure that appropriate learning and development opportunities are available for staff impacted by the changes.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the HGV speed limit on the A75 to 50mph.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is reportedly no provision for diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults in Dumfries and Galloway.
Answer
NHS Dumfries and Galloway does offer adult ADHD diagnostic assessments, but I do appreciate however that there is a growing demand from people seeking referrals from their GP.
We are committed to improving access to ADHD diagnosis in Scotland and are engaged in ongoing work with the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to develop a single diagnostic adult neurodevelopmental pathway for ADHD and autism and to action the recommendations in their report, commissioned by the Scottish Government, and published earlier this year. The report can be found HERE .
We have provided funding for NAIT to work with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to assist them to develop local action plans.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the milestones for the Aberdeen to Central Belt 2026 Enhancement project, as set out on page 11 of the Scotland's Railway July 2022 publication, Enhancements Delivery Plan, whether the target date for "Approval in principle" of August 2023 has been "Achieved", or whether this target has been "Missed", and whether the target date for "Entry into Service" of December 2026 remains "On Schedule".
Answer
Good progress continues to be made with this project. The Enhancements Delivery Plan is a Network Rail document and Network Rail will publish its update in due course in the normal manner.
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines are due to be decommissioned in the next five years.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure the availability of more accessible information regarding housing allocation policies aimed at military service leavers and veterans, to ensure that the key details can be understood and explained easily.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of electric vehicle batteries reaching the end of their first life it expects to be caught by domestic reprocessing options by (a) 2035 and (b) 2050.
Answer
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