Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 670 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-29661

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow Southside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential for public equity stakes in future offshore wind developments.

Within the Green Industrial Strategy, published on 11 September 2024, we set out how the people of Scotland will see maximum benefits from Scotland’s energy transition, including identifying Scotland’s wind economy as one of the five opportunity areas.

Our public bodies already invest commercially in projects that will support the energy transition, for example the Scottish National Investment Bank provided a £50m credit facility alongside £50m from the UK Infrastructure Bank to accelerate the Ardersier port development. This investment will underpin one of the largest regeneration projects in the Highlands for decades. Once fully operational, Ardersier will be the largest dedicated offshore wind facility in Scotland.

While many powers remain reserved, we will use the powers we do have and continue to explore further opportunities to invest in energy-related projects, technology, and infrastructure.

Question reference: S6W-29662

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow Southside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is monitoring the supply chain development statements submitted by ScotWind developers as part of their option agreement applications, and what action it will take in the event that any commitments are not delivered.

The Scottish Government is committed to maximising the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential. We expect developers to honour their commitments set out in the Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS) which were a condition of their being awarded Option Agreements.

The SCDS process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland (CES) to ensure focus is maintained on supply chain capacity and capability to develop and deliver offshore wind projects in Scotland.

The ScotWind SCDS were updated within 12 months of signing the Option Agreement, and must be updated at least once every 3 years thereafter. The first updates made in 2023 have resulted in an increase from £1.4 billion to £1.5 billion in projected average spend per project.

Failure by developers to deliver on their commitments can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease.

Question reference: S6W-29663

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow Southside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council’s collaborative framework charter and its development of a strategic investment model.

The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) drove efforts to create a Collaborative Framework Charter to increase collaboration within the offshore wind industry. The primary output of that work is the Strategic Investment Model (SIM).

A strong pipeline of port infrastructure and supply chain projects has emerged through the industry-led SIM process. 38 project proposals were developed through the SIM, with a combined total capital expenditure of around £6.5 billion.

The industry-led SIM process has identified ten priority projects so far; five are port facilities, four are supply chain proposals and one is an equipment project. Further progress has been made with nineteen “progress” projects being identified through the SIM.

This approach will help deliver supply chain and port investment critical to the expansion of Scotland’s offshore wind capacity, while supporting the deployment of ScotWind.

Question reference: S6W-29664

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow Southside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the (a) nature and (b) value of each of the supply chain projects being progressed through the strategic investment model developed by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council and its partners.

32 of the 38 projects progressed through the industry-led Strategic Investment Model have consented to being published and a list is available online at: Strategic Investment Model Stage 2 projects announced | Offshore Wind Scotland

Ten priority projects have been identified through the industry-led SIM process: five are port facilities, four are supply chain proposals and one is an equipment project.

A list of SIM priority projects is available online at: Full SIM Stage 2 List published | Offshore Wind Scotland.

The prospectuses and the details within them belong to the individual project proponents, however taken together the total capital expenditure of SIM projects is around £6.5 billion.

Question reference: S6W-23355

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow Southside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 November 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 29 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the First Minister’s Investor Panel will publish its recommendations and what the next steps will be for the Scottish Government.

The Panel published its recommendations on 29 November 2023. The recommendations cover a wide range of findings on how Scotland can attract capital investment to support the just transition to net zero.

The Scottish Government published its response to the Panel’s recommendations on 29 November 2023. The Scottish Government has setup an Investment Strategy and Delivery Unit as described in the Programme for Government to drive forward the recommendations made by the Panel.

Both publications are available on the Scottish Government’s web-site which can be found here. https://www.gov.scot/groups/investor-panel/

Question reference: S6W-18945

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow Southside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Infected Blood Inquiry Second Interim Report as it applies to Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-18946

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow Southside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the Infected Blood Inquiry Second Interim Report as it applies to Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-18944

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow Southside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates the recommendations in the Infected Blood Inquiry Second Interim Report that apply to Scotland will be implemented.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the suffering of those who were infected with HIV or hepatitis as a result of NHS treatment in the 1970s and 1980s and welcomed the publication in April 2023 of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s second interim report on compensation.

I recently met UK and Welsh Ministers and the Permanent Secretary for the Northern Ireland Department of Health to seek to ensure progress on the Inquiry’s report. There is a common determination to provide appropriate redress for victims of this dreadful tragedy.

The UK Government's position that there is a moral case for compensation to be paid was welcomed and Ministers and the Northern Ireland Permanent Secretary looked forward to working together in considering the recommendations in the report to enable a response as soon as possible after the Inquiry concludes. It was noted however that this does not preclude earlier announcements as work progresses and it was agreed that a further meeting would take place in the coming weeks to take stock of progress.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme continues to provide ongoing financial support and all beneficiaries on the schemes - both infected individuals and bereaved partners - received an interim compensation payment of £100,000, following the Inquiry's recommendation in its first interim report of July 2022.

Question reference: S2F-02139

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 2 March 2006

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Scottish Executive¿s cabinet.

Question reference: S2W-18539

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 28 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many manufacturing jobs were created through inward investment in (a) Scotland, and (b) Glasgow in each of the last five years.

The total number of manufacturing jobs which have been created through inward investment in Scotland and Glasgow is not collected. However, Scottish Development International (SDI) does provide information on the number of jobs planned to be created and safeguarded in different industry sectors through projects supported by SDI.

The following table shows the number of planned jobs created for manufacturing sectors over the last five years, and the number of planned jobs created in the Glasgow postcode area over the same period. It should be noted that not all jobs created by a manufacturing project are necessarily manufacturing jobs.

Scotland	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Total Manufacturing Sectors	4,546	1,235	1,512	800	1,149
Glasgow Postcode	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Total Manufacturing Sectors	992	133	28	211	153

Table : Manufacturing sector jobs planned to be created.

Source: Scottish Development International.