- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will reject the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and Average Weekly Earnings average of 4.2% for uprating the Staff Cost Provision in the financial year 2023-24.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2022
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered allocating more funding to Scottish Water so that projects to prevent and tackle flooding and heavy rainfall can be prioritised.
Answer
Scottish Water is subject to a statutory charge-setting environment for each regulatory period under which the industry’s independent economic regulator, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) determines the overarching financial limits for Scottish Water based on the lowest overall reasonable cost of achieving Minister’s Objectives for the industry in the relevant regulatory period (2021-27), including the amount of lending required. Decisions on priorities for investment, including in relation to sewer flooding, are taken with reference to the Ministerial Objectives and the process set out in Scottish Water’s Investment Planning and Prioritisation Framework. While the majority of capital available for investment derives from customer charges, the Principles of Charging set by the Scottish Ministers for the period confirm that Scottish Government will also lend Scottish Water up to a maximum of £1.03 billion to support investment decisions.
The Scottish Government fully recognises the serious impacts that sewer flooding can have on homes and businesses and the need for action to tackle the issue. In this regard I would highlight the launch of Scottish Water’s Improving Urban Waters Routemap in December 2021. This plan, backed with significant investment of close to half a billion pounds, aims to deliver a range of improvements across the sewer network including to reduce incidences of sewer flooding and help Scottish Water to respond more quickly when incidents do occur. The Routemap is available on Scottish Water’s website and the first annual report on progress is expected to be published by 21 December 2022.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what framework is used to prioritise funding for public services such as Scottish Water.
Answer
Decisions on investment in the current water industry regulatory period (2021-27) are made with reference to the process set out in the Investment Planning and Prioritisation Framework (IPPF). Co-created with industry stakeholders, the Framework represents a balanced programme that makes progress towards the objectives set by Scottish Ministers in the short term, whilst also seeking confidence that the industry is on the best trajectory towards Scottish Water’s Strategic Plan and the co-created Water Sector Vision. Further detail on the IPPF and its operation is available on the Scottish Government’s website.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of two new ferries for the Uig, Harris and North Uist triangle, whether it can confirm what type of fuel the two new ferries will use.
Answer
The two new vessels intended for the Uig, Harris and North Uist routes have the same specification as the Islay vessels currently under construction and will both have a Diesel/Electrical hybrid propulsion system.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the Island Cost Crisis Emergency Fund will be available.
Answer
In line with due process, the joint Scottish Government/COSLA Settlement Distribution Group made recommendations on the allocation mechanism for the funding at their meeting on 15 November. COSLA Leaders will be asked to give their final sign-off on 25 November.
As soon as possible after that date we will be in a position to share further information.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11240 by Michael Matheson on 18 October 2022, whether it has considered the role that decommissioning and recycling of Scottish wind turbines could play in Scotland’s offshore wind turbine manufacturing.
Answer
The majority offshore wind projects in Scotland have not reached decommissioning stages as of yet with many in pre-development stages, compared to onshore wind, which is more developed. However, the onshore wind decommissioning and recycling of wind turbines will be used to guide the approach in offshore wind.
The Scottish Government fully supports, and encourages, the use of recycled and refurbished turbines, recognising the enormous potential to strengthen the Scottish supply chain, reduce waste, utilise more of our local skills and capabilities and improve costs for the onshore wind sector. For example Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) is working to improve the circularity of the energy sector and provide support and advice to businesses looking to develop more circular business models, including the renewable industry. Its 2021 report ‘ The Future of Onshore Wind Decommissioning in Scotland’ estimates that as many as 5,600 onshore turbines could be decommissioned between now and 2050 and presented a range of recommendations to both the industry and to Government which would support a thriving circular economy in Scotland.
Furthermore, the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) is supporting the creation of a low carbon manufacturing base in Scotland by helping manufacturers adopt greener materials and innovative new technologies that help reduce waste during decommissioning through recycling and remanufacturing. NMIS, SSE Renewables and Renewable Parts are collaborating to secure a world leading UK-wind circular economy sector deal and reduce waste from wind farms at the end of their life.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide additional financial support for registered social landlords to reach the second Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing once it has concluded its review of the standard.
Answer
The Scottish Government already provides funding to support energy efficiency works which contribute to our net zero target. Between 2018 and 2021, £7 million was made available to Local Authority and registered social landlords through the Energy Efficient Scotland Transition Programme’s Decarbonisation Fund to assist in compliance with the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing.
The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund, which launched in August 2020, has been designed to accelerate the delivery of energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating systems in social housing across Scotland. It will make at least £200 million available to registered social landlords until 2026.
Acknowledging that the public sector alone cannot bear the long-term cost of converting homes, the Green Heat Finance Taskforce has been established to assess and recommend ways the public sector, communities and private finance can collaborate to scale up investment. A dedicated sub-group has been established to consider the best routes to financing and funding the retrofit of the existing social housing stock.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07307 by Shona Robison on 25 March 2022, and in light of its tender, OCT462463, for the audit anticipating that the research will extend over six months, what the (a) scope and (b) timeline is of the empty homes audit.
Answer
The full scope is available to interested suppliers via the Public Contracts Scotland website and includes: 1) an overview of Scotland’s empty homes; 2) the key barriers and opportunities for bringing homes back into use; 3) an assessment of the effectiveness of current approaches and interventions; 4) suggestions on how these could be improved. We anticipate the exercise will be complete by summer 2023.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent reported announcement by the President of the United States of America regarding pardoning people convicted federally of "simple possession" of cannabis, whether it plans to consider the possibility of taking similar action for people convicted in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government takes a public health approach to drug use and believe that the current UK drug legislation is rooted in an outdated view that drug use is a criminal justice matter. That is why I was pleased when the Lord Advocate decided that an extension of the Recorded Police Warning Guidelines to include possession offences for Class A drugs was appropriate. Police officers in Scotland may now choose to issue a Recorded Police Warning for simple possession offences for all classes of drugs.
However, as you are aware the subject matter of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is reserved. Accordingly the Scottish Government is limited in what it could do in this domain, and could not bring forward legislation to pardon those convicted of an offence under that Act. If these powers were to come to Scotland in the future, we would be open to exploring this further alongside amending the legislation to better fit with the realities and evolving nature of Scotland’s drug deaths challenge.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in allocating the Ayrshire Rural and Islands Ambition (ARIA) Fund, and (a) how much and (b) what percentage of the available funding has been allocated to the Ayrshire Local Action Group to cover staffing and resourcing costs in connection with the distribution of the Fund.
Answer
The Ayrshire Local Action Group received 7.2% of the overall allocation made by Scottish Government to the Community Led Local Development Fund equating to £533,604. The Scottish Government set a maximum amount each LAG could spend on staffing and resourcing. This was a maximum of 15% of their overall allocation or £57,143.
