Chamber and committees

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Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-27171

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its engagement with the UK Government regarding ensuring that Scotland's export interests are embedded in policy, trade and regulatory planning, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

The Scottish Government has ongoing engagement with the UK Government in relation to international hydrogen engagement and the development of the export opportunity.

We engage under the auspices of the UK-Germany Joint Declaration of Intent on Hydrogen, signed in September 2023, and the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) MOU signed between the EU and the UK providing a framework for cooperation between the UK and NSEC membership which comprises Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the European Commission.

Given the regulatory regime for hydrogen is a mixture of reserved and devolved powers, we continue to engage with the UK Government via our involvement in the UK Hydrogen Regulators Forum to ensure any GB or UK wide regulatory developments do not inhibit development of the hydrogen sector in Scotland.

We are also working with UKG to ensure that the Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard and Certification Scheme enables and does not create barriers to hydrogen export from Scotland to the EU.

Question reference: S6W-27150

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its ambition for onshore and offshore wind development in Scotland supporting 5GW of hydrogen by 2030, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

The deployment of green hydrogen production will develop alongside the growth of onshore and offshore wind and the availability of constrained renewable electricity from existing wind farms.

Over fifty hydrogen production projects are at varying stages of development amounting collectively to more than our 5 GW’s of hydrogen production capacity by 2030.

The Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP), due to be published by summer this year, will set clear ambitions for increasing Scotland’s renewable energy capacity. It will outline a route map of actions that the Scottish Government will taketo deliver these ambitions whilst supporting a just transition.

Our Offshore Wind Policy Statement (2020) set out the Scottish Government’s ambition for 8-11 GW of offshore wind in Scotland by 2030. This is currently being reviewed in light of the significant ambition demonstrated by the private sector via the ScotWind leasing round. We also consulted on setting a further ambition for 2045 through the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving the ambitions as set out in the 2020 Offshore Wind Policy Statement and will invest up to £500m over the next five years to develop the infrastructure and supply chain critical to growing our offshore wind sector.

As of December 2023, Scotland’s onshore wind operational capacity is around 9.5 GW. Within the project pipeline there is additional 13.9 GW of potential onshore wind capacity in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-27144

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made regarding any reasons for the reported failure of NHS Scotland's usual cyber security defences, which allowed medical information about patients to be accessed.

The criminal investigation by Police Scotland, supported by other agencies, into this attack is still going on. As such there is a limited amount that I can share at this moment in time. As the investigation progresses the Scottish Government and partners will undertake a lessons identified exercise and share its findings with public bodies so they are able to take preventative steps to defend against similar attacks.

Question reference: S6W-27305

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide the dates on which the Young Islanders Network has met since its establishment.

To date, the Young Islanders Network has held online sessions on:

10-03-2022

31-03-2022

28-04-2022

12-05-2022

26-05-2022

09-06-2022

23-06-2022

11-08-2022

29-09-2022

17-11-2022

08-12-2022

18-01-2023

09-02-2023

02-03-2023

23-03-2023

20-04-2023

08-06-2023

28-06-2023

20-07-2023

07-09-2023

19-10-2023

09-11-2023

30-11-2023

18-12-2023

25-01-2024

29-02-2024

21-03-2024

22-04-2024

25-04-2024

Further on-line activities involving Young Islander Network members took place on:

01-11-2022

08-11-2022

15-11-2022

02-02-2023

08-02-2023

15-03-2023

23-11-2023

09-01-2024

Residential in-person events took place on:

30-07-2022 - 02-08-2022

26-01-2023 - 30-01-2023

Further in-person activities involving Young Islander Network members took place on:

13-06-2022 - 17-06-2022

26-08-2022 - 29-08-2022

30-08-2022 - 01-09-2022

06-02-2023

10-03-2023 - 12-03-2023

20-03-2023 - 21-03-2023

07-05-2023

05-07-2023

12-07-2023 - 15-07-2023

12-08-2023 - 14-08-2023

24-08-2023 - 29-08-2023

31-08-2023 - 02-09-2023

18-09-2023

20-09-2023

03-10-2023

01-11-2023 - 03-11-2023

18-01-2024

22-02-2024 - 23-02-2024

26-02-2024

02-04-2024 - 08-04-2024

17-04-2024

Question reference: S6W-27325

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been (a) allocated to and (b) awarded through the Islands Programme in each year since it was established.

To date, £12,351,185 of capital investment has been awarded via the Scottish Government’s Islands Programme across 61 projects and 50 islands.

2021-22

The 2021-2022 Islands Programme was delivered through the Islands Infrastructure Fund and was allocated £5 million. The final amount awarded to capital projects was £3,901,192.

2022-23

The 2022-2023 Islands Programme was allocated £4.45 million. The allocation was awarded in full.

2023-24

The 2023-2024 Islands Programme was allocated £4 million. The final amount awarded to capital projects was £3,999,993.

Question reference: S6W-27149

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to ensure that (a) regulatory, (b) planning and (c) consenting framework for renewable developments supports the scale-up of hydrogen at pace, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

The Scottish Government continues to work with the Scottish Regulatory Steering Group, comprised of key regulators, to assess regulatory requirements for the development of the hydrogen sector in Scotland. We are working with UK and Scottish regulators to ensure that action is taken to address identified issues and create a clear regulatory framework for hydrogen projects.

To support our hydrogen ambitions, the Scottish Government have commissioned consultants to produce comprehensive guidance for hydrogen consenting across onshore and offshore regimes. The purpose of the guidance, which is expected to be published in 2024, is primarily to support developers navigating our planning and consenting systems to advance projects to delivery, but may also be a useful reference point for planners in local planning areas.

We have also commissioned academic expertise to design a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course as an ‘Introduction to Hydrogen’ offered free of charge to all local planning authorities in Scotland. This action aims to increase the knowledge and encourage knowledge sharing within local planning authorities dealing with the consenting of planning applications for hydrogen production. The CPD course will be led by Edinburgh University and available in Summer 2024, initially for local planning professionals. The course modules will then be made freely available to the wider public sector to raise awareness of the technologies involved and the role of hydrogen in the energy mix.

Question reference: S6W-27159

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is engaging with the UK Government to expedite progress on amending regulations and legislation to (a) support hydrogen blending and (b) accelerate decisions on the role of 100% hydrogen in the gas grid, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

Question reference: S6W-27179

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to imposing limitations on any reductions to allied health professional (AHP) budgets by NHS boards, in light of its priority of preventative healthcare.

While the Scottish Government provides the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare, it is for each individual NHS Board to decide best how to utilise funding, facilities and staff while taking account of national and local priorities to meet local health needs. We expect NHS Boards to plan their facilities and workforce to deliver these services, ensuring the provision of safe, effective and high quality patient care, delivered by the right professional at the right time.

Question reference: S6W-27155

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress it has made in helping to facilitate the roll-out of the infrastructure needed for hydrogen vehicles to operate in Scotland, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

As set out in our Hydrogen Action Plan, hydrogen in the transport sector could act as a complementary energy source alongside electrification, providing an option to parts of the transport sector such as heavy-duty vehicles, when full electrification is challenging. We support the rollout of infrastructure needed for hydrogen vehicles to operate in Scotland: Aberdeen City has two hydrogen refuelling stations.

Transport Scotland has contracted Heriot-Watt University to work with road haulage fleets and stakeholders to assess where initial enroute charging and refuelling infrastructure for zero emission HGVs will be needed.

The Zero Emission Truck Taskforce, convened by Transport Scotland, includes a working group focused on hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. The Taskforce included hydrogen truck manufacturers and fleets interested in hydrogen trucks.

Question reference: S6W-27153

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting the development of Regional Hydrogen Hubs where production is coupled with multiple end use applications and helping to stimulate demand, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

There are several Regional Hydrogen Hubs developing in Scotland. We have provided up to £15m to support the development of the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub which is now developing as a joint venture between Aberdeen City Council and Bp.

Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub presents an important opportunity to deliver a commercially investable, green hydrogen production facility focussed initially on the decarbonisation of transport and phased to grow into other markets such as industrial heat.

We are building the evidence base to help support other hydrogen hubs to develop in Scotland, examining hydrogen production and potential demand across Scotland’s geography through a number of key reports, such as ‘Hydrogen demand in Scotland: a mapping of industrial and transport applications’ which can be found here and a detailed report focussing specifically on the distillery sector which can be found here .

Data from these reports is also included in Scotland’s Hydrogen Asset online map .

We also published a report last year on the potential capability and interest in Scotland in developing a SAF sector, which could become a major end-use of hydrogen. That report can be found here .

Further engagement in support of hydrogen hub development is ongoing.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

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