Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-01645

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the delayed document, Housing Statistics for Scotland 2020: Key Trends Summary, will be published.

The publication of the Housing Statistics for Scotland 2020: Key Trends Summary and associated Excel web tables had been initially planned for September 2020, however was subsequently delayed due to the impacts of COVID-19 on data provision and staff resourcing.

The Housing Statistics team are in the process of collecting, processing and quality assuring data returns from local authorities, covering annual data for both the delayed 2020 Key Trends publication along with more recent annual data covering the 2021 publication period. We are intending to publish a Key Trends Summary and Excel web tables containing both the 2020 and 2021 figures. The statistics will be released as soon as they are considered ready, under the guidance of the Chief Statistician. At this stage we anticipate this will be between October and December 2021.

Once there is more certainty around a publication date this will be pre-announced no later than 4 weeks in advance, in line with the Statistics Code of Practice, on the Scottish Government website: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-01634

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00982 by Graeme Dey on 8 July 2021, for what reason the electrification of the routes referred to could not have been funded by existing funds.

Question reference: S6W-01653

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations were consulted during negotiations regarding the time charter agreement between CalMac Ferries and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for the MV Arrow.

Question reference: S6W-01360

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of (a) its and (b) each of its agencies' vehicle fleet is comprised of zero-emission vehicles, also broken down by what information it has for other public bodies.

The Scottish Government hold central records for its own and Crown Office Procurator Fiscals Service fleets. The proportion of zero-emission vehicles currently operated is provided in the following table.

Organisation	Zero-emission vehicles (%)
Scottish Government (including Transport Scotland)	13
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service	0

The Scottish Government has committed to decarbonising public sector fleet vehicles and has supported the uptake of ultra-low and zero emission vehicles, through initiatives such as the Switched on Fleets programme. No up-to-date information on the public sector fleet is held centrally, but, according to the most recent information available from 2020 over 10% of the cars in the Scottish public sector fleet were ultra-low or zero emission at that time.

Significant additional investment has continued to be made in decarbonising the public sector fleet since 2020 but will not be reflected in these figures.

To help the public sector lead from the front, since 2014 , we’ve invested over £47 million in 3,463 low and zero emission vehicles across the public sector fleet. We will continue to work with public bodies to achieve the decarbonisation of all public fleets in Scotland, beginning by phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel light vehicles by 2025 and the need for all types of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.

In addition, we have supported trials of zero emission specialist Heavy Goods Vehicles, such as Dundee’s Council’s electric zero emission Refuse Collection Vehicles, alongside other pioneering work with Scottish Enterprise to enable the development and future procurement of a ground breaking prototype zero emission fire engine.

Question reference: S6W-01750

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support is being given to low-income families to assist with the installation of new interlinked fire alarms, in light of its recent legislation requiring this.

Question reference: S6W-01690

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government from where, and by what mechanism, it will source the quantity of non-variable, firm, reliable electricity, that is currently generated by Hunterston power station, following its closure, which is due to take place within the next 12 months.

This is a reserved policy area. Responsibility for security of supply sits with National Grid ESO (the GB electricity system operator), which works closely with generators and network operators across Scotland to ensure that there is always enough electricity to meet demand.

This includes preparing for the closure of individual generators several years in advance, to ensure that closures do not impact electricity supplies. National Grid ESO has worked closely with EDF, owners of Hunterston and Torness, and with Scotland’s electricity network owners, to ensure that the network is able to respond to and support the closure of these nuclear power stations in the coming years.

National Grid ESO is currently overseeing a “Stability Pathfinder”, the second phase of which is looking at network and commercial options to replace the various network stability requirements currently provided by existing generation. This is designed to ensure that the networks are ready for the greater share that Scotland’s renewable resources will constitute in the future.

Question reference: S6W-01644

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the delayed document, Housing Options (PREVENT1) Statistics in Scotland: 2020/21, will be published.

The Homelessness Statistics team are in the process of collecting, processing and quality assuring data returns from local authorities for the Housing Options (PREVENT1) Statistics in Scotland: 2020-21 publication. As such, we are not yet in a position to confirm a publication date. The statistics will be released as soon as they are considered ready, under the guidance of the Chief Statistician. At this stage we anticipate this will be between October and November.

Once there is more certainty around a publication date this will be pre-announced no later than 4 weeks in advance, in line with the Statistics Code of Practice, on the Scottish Government website: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-01633

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00982 by Graeme Dey on 8 July 2021, what the estimated additional ongoing operational costs are for (a) additional rolling stock, (b) train crew and (c) any other requirements that have been incurred as a result of the platform extension at Milngavie, and how these costs are being met.

Question reference: S6W-01628

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many members of its staff are working specifically on COP26.

Question reference: S6W-01582

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make the full Native Woodland Survey of Scotland dataset available, given its usefulness for forestry professionals, and if so, when.

Chamber and committees