Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-04812

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent action it is taking to address GP waiting times in NHS Grampian, in light of reports of ongoing staffing shortages, delayed discharges and critical incidents.

Question reference: S6W-37380

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any contingencies that have been identified for maintaining electricity system security of supply in Scotland under any potential zonal pricing scenarios that result in lower generation margins within individual zones.

Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling. In addition, a range of impact assessments have been carried out by consultancies and industry bodies.

We met with researchers, industry and consumer organisations – as well as international electricity market experts – in December 2024 to consider the evidence and have engaged extensively with stakeholders over the past two years to understand all impacts.

This is a complex area and the Scottish Government is clear that UK Government reforms must reduce costs for Scottish consumers, ensure Scotland’s communities feel the benefit of the energy transition and protect investment in our renewables industry and supporting decarbonisation.

Question reference: S6W-38485

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of the current model of volunteer-led aftercare services for hearing aids, delivered in specific locations on a rota basis, compared with a primary care audiology service providing aftercare and ongoing support closer to home.

Question reference: S6W-37244

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments made by the ScotRail managing director, Joanne Maguire, at the meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 29 April 2025, that, in relation to the ban on alcohol on ScotRail trains, ScotRail staff “cannot enforce it" and that "it is not a matter of law”, what legislation underpins the alcohol ban on ScotRail services; what statutory powers are available to enforce the ban, broken down by (a) ScotRail staff and (b) the British Transport Police; what guidance it has issued to ScotRail (i) staff and (ii) passengers on the enforcement status of the ban, and what the reasons are for its position on maintaining the ban, in light of reported concerns regarding enforcement.

On Monday 2 June the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains was lifted and replaced with new rules, allowing alcohol consumption at certain times.

The ban was upheld by Railway Byelaw 4 (2) which states that a passenger with intoxicating liquor can be prevented from entering, or be asked to leave the railway. This Byelaw will also support the new timed restrictions and intelligence-led alcohol bans.

Enforcement of the alcohol ban has always been the responsibility of the British Transport Police (BTP).Having timed alcohol restrictions and intelligence-led bans will allow BTP to target its resource to specific services and permit a more focussed enforcement.

Question reference: S6W-37973

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on each of the recommendations in the Climate Change Committee report, Scotland’s Carbon Budgets.

Question reference: S6W-37974

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on each of the "key drivers" targets in the Climate Change Committee report, Scotland’s Carbon Budgets, that are deemed necessary to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.

Question reference: S6O-04748

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further detail regarding the reasons why it is not planning a broader review of the statutory grounds for fatal accident inquiries, in light of the previous review of statutory grounds being undertaken nearly a decade ago and reports of growing public concern over preventable deaths outside of custody settings.

Question reference: S6W-37362

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential implications of the UK Government’s consideration of zonal electricity pricing for any progress towards statutory net zero targets in Scotland, and whether it will publish any underlying modelling or analytical tables.

Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling.

In addition, a range of impact assessments have been carried out by consultancies and industry bodies.

We met with researchers, industry and consumer organisations – as well as international electricity market experts – in December 2024 to consider the evidence and have engaged extensively with stakeholders over the past two years to understand all impacts.

This is a complex area and the Scottish Government is clear that UK Government reforms must reduce costs for Scottish consumers, ensure Scotland’s communities feel the benefit of the energy transition and protect investment in our renewables industry and supporting decarbonisation.

Question reference: S6W-37360

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what further submissions officials were instructed to provide following the 26 February 2025 meeting on zonal electricity pricing, broken down by (a) subject matter, (b) directorate responsible and (c) expected completion date.

The purpose of the meeting on 26 February 2025 was to update myself and the Minister for Climate Action on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements, the reform options being considered by UK Government, and the potential impact of those options for Scotland.

The briefing paper for this meeting, and list of attendees, including ministers, have already been released under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). It is standard procedure for names of officials to be redacted in all FOIs under Section 38(1)(b), due to protections around the sharing of Third Party Data, whereby personal data is exempt from disclosure if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR and in section 34(1) of the DPA 2018.

Upon review of the FOI, section 29(1)(a) was not cited as a redaction used. Information has been redacted under 30(b)(i), however, was redacted due to it relating to the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers to have space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching a settled public position.

In line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded.

Question reference: S6W-37358

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the freedom of information release FOI/202500459761 of 29 April 2025, what information it holds regarding the 26 February 2025 meeting on zonal pricing under the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements, including (a) the agenda, (b) any briefing papers provided to its (i) ministers and (ii) officials, (c) a full list of attendees by directorate and (d) any minutes or action logs that were produced.

The purpose of the meeting on 26 February 2025 was to update myself and the Minister for Climate Action on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements, the reform options being considered by UK Government, and the potential impact of those options for Scotland.

The briefing paper for this meeting, and list of attendees, including ministers, have already been released under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). It is standard procedure for names of officials to be redacted in all FOIs under Section 38(1)(b), due to protections around the sharing of Third Party Data, whereby personal data is exempt from disclosure if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK GDPR and in section 34(1) of the DPA 2018.

Upon review of the FOI, section 29(1)(a) was not cited as a redaction used. Information has been redacted under 30(b)(i), however, was redacted due to it relating to the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for Ministers to have space within which to seek advice and views from officials before reaching a settled public position.

In line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded.

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