Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government was disappointed to hear of the decision to close the Albion Automotive site in Glasgow. This has obviously been a very worrying time for the workforce, their families and the local area.

Scottish Enterprise worked closely with the company to explore all viable options to retain these highly skilled jobs in Scotland, but unfortunately a solution could not be found.

The Scottish Government’s initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, has been working with the company to support the affected staff and will continue to provide support as required. We understand that a number of staff have secured alternative employment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. 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

The Outline Business Case is expected to be completed by early 2025 and will then be subject to review and consideration by the Transport Scotland Investment Decision Making Board and thereafter by Scottish Ministers, prior to agreeing the next steps.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30309 on 28 October 2024. 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

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS have no specific evidence as to why the use of steroids is reportedly increasing within prisons. However, in collaboration with our Partners at Dundee University, the regular re-calibration of Rapiscan machines does support our ability to identify new substances.

We recognise the profound impact that illicit articles entering our prisons and acknowledge the continued need to support to those in our care who misuse substances and those who are on their recovery journey.

There is no set timescale for ministerial decisions on energy consents. The consideration to be undertaken by ministers before reaching a determination will depend on the particulars of each application.

The Scottish Government is committed to land reform and improving transparency of those who own and control land in Scotland is at the heart of our land reform objectives.

The Scottish Government will continue to review any evidence – including that arising from the Scottish Land Commission’s report on land and property taxation – and assess this as part of our wider approach to tax policy

Registers of Scotland are currently working to deliver the benefits of a completed land register through their Unlocking Sasines project. This uses spatial data to help ‘unlock’ the historic information in the Sasine register, which means that they can link Sasine property search sheets to a map for the first time, making it visually more helpful and accessible. Additionally, the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will improve transparency and help ensure that large scale land holdings deliver in the public interest. The Bill will place legal responsibilities on the owners of the very largest landholdings to set out – through Land Management Plans - how they use their land and how that contributes to key public policy priorities, like addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature.

The Scottish Government publicly consulted on the draft Onshore Wind Policy Statement between October 2021 and January 2022. A final Onshore Wind Policy Statement was published in December 2022 after careful consideration of the 163 responses received during the consultation period. An analysis of the consultation responses can be found on the Scottish Government website – Supporting documents - Onshore wind policy statement refresh - draft: consultation analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The final Onshore Wind Policy Statement set out our ambition for 20GW of onshore wind to be installed by 2030. The Policy Statement also set out measures that the Scottish Government would take to reach our ambition of 20GW of onshore wind by 2030 and to ensure that Scotland’s people benefit from this ambition.

One such measure was the establishment of the Onshore Wind Strategic Leadership Group (SLG), which consists of government representatives, onshore wind industry leaders, Scottish Renewables, relevant Scottish Government agencies, Supply Chain representatives and a body representing issues affecting local communities. The SLG was tasked with the development of the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal. Since the publication of the Sector Deal in September 2023, the SLG monitors and scrutinises the delivery of the deal. There was no direct engagement with trade unions during the drafting of the Sector Deal.