Chamber and committees

No estimate of food waste targets was set in 2016. The intention was for the Food Waste Reduction Action Plan to be reviewed in 2021, to set out progress on tackling food waste. The Review was delayed due to COVID-19 and was published in January 2024 ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/review-2019-food-waste-reduction-action-plan/ ), alongside an updated Scottish Food Waste Estimate ( https://cdn.zerowastescotland.org.uk/managed-downloads/mf-cdtg7vnr-1696942041d ).

An application was made to Scottish Ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 by FlexibleGridPower2 Ltd for the electricity generating station known as Hunterston Grid Services Complex at Campbelton Farm on 17 August 2021.

As a matter of routine, the Scottish Government will consult the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and Health and Safety Executive on any new battery storage applications received.

With reference to the application in question, Scottish Ministers consulted SFRS, who did not respond to the consultation. This detail was indicated on page 5 of the decision letter for consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.

The decision letter including all conditions may be viewed at https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationDetails.aspx?cr=ECU00003319 under ‘Documents / Determinations’.

The Scottish Government and NatureScot do not use the term rewilding, since it encompasses such a wide range of activities and can be interpreted in many different ways. The type of information requested is not, in any case, held centrally since individual land-holding public bodies are responsible for the management of their holdings.

Public bodies that own or manage land are encouraged to do so positively for biodiversity, and the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 places a statutory duty on all public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity when exercising their functions.

The National Standardised Assessments for Scotland - National Report (2022-23) is currently being drafted by the assessment platform supplier and quality assured by the Scottish Government and will be published shortly.

National level reports on the NSA were not commissioned in 2019-20 or 2020-21, due to Covid-19 related disruption. The National Report was also not commissioned in 2021-22, as the handover process from the phase one SNSA supplier (ACER), to the current phase two supplier (AlphaPlus Ltd), was underway.

The National Standardised Assessments for Scotland are designed to provide valuable diagnostic information to teachers, schools and local authorities, on children’s progress in aspects of literacy and numeracy.

The impact assessments for the E&S portfolio were prepared collectively and reflected in the Education and Skills portfolio analysis section in Annex B of the Equality and Fairer Scotland statement available at this link Scottish Budget - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Our internationally focused work, both in Scotland and overseas, provides us with significant opportunities to collaborate and engage with like-minded partners, to share best practice, to learn from others and to help the Scottish Government develop and deliver effective policy at home. We will continue to build on our existing relationships through our network of offices in Europe, North America and China to seek a better understanding of common challenges and priorities across a variety of policy areas and to attract people to come to live, work, study, visit and do business in Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomed the Climate Emergency Response Group’s (CERG) annual report, which set out their four key areas of proposed action.

We are already taking action to address many of the issues highlighted by CERG, including: undertaking a pilot this year to introduce a net zero assessment of Scottish Government policies; publishing the final route map to reduce car kilometres; and through our commitment of £1.8 billion of funding over this Parliament towards heat and energy efficiency measures.

The Scottish Government looks forward to continuing our engagement with the CERG on tackling the climate crisis.

An application was made to Scottish Ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 by FlexibleGridPower2 Ltd for the electricity generating station known as Hunterston Grid Services Complex at Campbelton Farm on 17 August 2021.

The Scottish Government was aware from the application that a significant provision of work was planned relating to fire safety at the proposed battery storage facility. This includes a Planning Statement which comments on fire safety at section 2.5.

Paragraph 9 of the decision letter notes from the Planning Statement that “the proposed Development will include safety features including cooling and thermal monitoring with fire detection and suppression equipment. A fire strategy report, fire risk assessment, evacuation strategy, fire safety drawings and a fire safety manual will all be produced prior to construction of the proposed Development.”

As set out in the answer to question S6W-25418 on 22 February 2024, there is no legal requirement for fire safety documentation to be included with applications made under these regulations. Therefore, these were not presented to the Scottish Government prior to Scottish Ministers’ direction that planning permission was deemed to be granted.

In determining the application in question, Condition 6 was applied to the section 36 consent, requiring the development to be undertaken in accordance with the application. This includes the provision of work that was planned relating to fire safety. Once granted, the enforcement and monitoring of the planning permission for Hunterston Grid Services Complex became the responsibility of North Ayrshire Council, the planning authority.

The decision letter including all conditions may be viewed at https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationDetails.aspx?cr=ECU00003319 under ‘Documents / Determinations’.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Independent analysis procured by the Scottish Government for the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan estimated that in 2021 there were 5,338 jobs (direct and indirect) and £918m GVA (direct and indirect) in the nuclear power electricity generation and decommission sectors. While Hunterston B power station has been retired (as of 7 January 2022), decommissioning jobs are assumed to remain at the level of power generation jobs within the initial six years of the decommissioning phase of de-fuelling.