Chamber and committees

As part of our pledge towards decarbonisation, the Scottish Government is working towards our commitment to phase out the need for all petrol or diesel cars in the public sector fleet by 2025 and for all other new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.

In line with this commitment, all internal combustion vehicles (ICE) procured since 2018 are light commercial vehicles and at time of purchase, there were no suitable fully electric (EV) or plug in hybrid (PHEV) alternatives available. These vehicles will be replaced at end of life with either EV or PHEV replacements.

No ICE cars have been procured since 2017.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked Douglas Millican, Chief Executive, to respond. His response is as follows:

Since 1 April 2018, Scottish Water has approved 2775 burst allowance applications. The number by year is detailed in the following table.

The OEUK report argues that hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be crucial in reducing UK emissions while also creating domestic industrial and economic growth. We welcome the announcement in the UK Government’s ‘Powering Up Britain’ plan that Acorn CCS and the Scottish cluster meets the eligibility criteria for Track 2. We are, however, extremely disappointed that there is still no concrete timescale for the awarding of Track 2, which is adding additional delays onto an already delayed process, which is why we urge the UK Government to listen to OEUK’s call for the Track-2 process to be accelerated so that CCS can be deployed in Scotland.

We welcome the announcement of the shortlist for the first electrolytic allocation round for the Hydrogen Production Business Model and Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF), including five Scottish projects, as well as the four successful Scotland based projects from the NZHF competition. However, we continue to urge the UK Government, alongside calls from industry and the UK Government's own hydrogen champion, to expediate decisions on hydrogen blending, which we view as essential to enable the hydrogen economy in the near term.

INTOG is helping to progress all five themes in the oil and gas sector’s North Sea Transition Deal offering a path for the electrification of platforms and the delivery of the sector targets, providing a route for development of green power for carbon capture and storage; and hydrogen production and importantly, supporting the growth of the supply chain?

Five innovative wind projects with a potential generation capacity of 449MW were successful, providing opportunities for new growth sectors of hydrogen production, novel commercial solutions and stimulation of the supply chain.

The INTOG process is time sensitive, as developers have made clear that operation of offshore wind farms before 2030 is the key milestone to make the projects viable, and maximise opportunities to supply electricity direct to brownfield oil and gas North Sea assets with a limited lifespan. Confirmation of grid connection agreements are key to unlocking offshore wind energy development projects and we will continue to work with the NationalGrid ESO HND team to understand the practicalities of this ambition.

Reducing our energy consumption while ramping up our energy generation capabilities through renewables and hydrogen will mean that, in a net zero Scotland, we will not only be less reliant on importing oil and gas, but a net exporter of cleaner and greener energy to the rest of the UK and beyond.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Age Scotland 2022 Impact report and recognises the work Age Scotland undertakes to support and benefit Older People in Scotland.

We will meet with Age Scotland and other Older People Strategic Action Forum stakeholders later this month.

The following buildings have dedicated cycle parking spaces:-

The Scottish Government values the contribution the electronic music industry makes to our cultural and economic offer in Scotland. Those in the industry are talented and skilled artists, and are held in high regard. According to the Night Time Industries Association report, Scotland’s electronic music industry is worth £550 million to the economy and asks questions on support, regulation, education and promotion of the sector.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the sustainable recovery of the night-time industry, as we have throughout the pandemic. We have backed our economic recovery with more than £1.7bn since March 2020 – on top of over £4.7bn provided in Covid-related business support. Some £256 million in Covid support funding was also provided to help cultural organisations to navigate the challenges brought on by the pandemic.

We are committed to working with the business community to ensure the smooth application of regulation and have established a Joint Taskforce with COSLA, local authorities, our regulatory agencies and business to consider the differing impacts of regulation on business.

Culture and creativity is also recognised within our National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) under ‘Productive places’ to sit alongside economic and sectoral policies as part of a joined-up response to the priorities of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

We are in regular dialogue with business organisations and leaders to monitor impacts of the cost crisis. We will continue to engage with the night-time industry and monitor the evolving impacts, while pressing the UK Government to help businesses and ensure sustainable development within the night-time economy.

The Unsuitable Accommodation Order was extended to all households in May 2020 to ensure all homeless households are provided with the highest quality accommodation to support them out of homelessness.

This means that the maximum number of days that local authorities can use unsuitable accommodation for any homeless person is seven days and has the effect of ending stays in unsuitable accommodation, such as hotels, apart from in emergency situations.

Any household placed in unsuitable accommodation for longer than seven days should be recorded as a breach.

The Scottish Housing Regulator is obliged to monitor and assess local authority compliance with the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO) and, if any UAO breaches are reported, will intervene as appropriate.

Stations fitted with defibrillators to date are:

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

The results of the Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021-22, and reports from schools and parents about young people vaping, are of great concern to the Scottish Government.

Vapes are an age restricted product and should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18. In October 2022 we wrote to all registered retailers of these products to remind them of their duty of sale and we regularly meet with Trading Standards on enforcement.

Our recent consultation proposed restrictions on vaping products and we are aiming to bring forward new regulations in 2023. Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place to restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s.

We will publish our refreshed Tobacco Action Plan this year, which will include actions to reduce vaping among young people.

We are reviewing vaping education for young people in schools and have also funded ASH Scotland to work with a range of youth organisations on the risks associated with vaping.