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.

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Question reference: S6W-31791

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions in each of the last 10 years Jayam Dalal has been a member of an appointments panel established to advise ministers on public sector appointments.

Question reference: S6W-31792

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Transport last met with Erik Østergaard (a) in person and (b) remotely.

Question reference: S6W-31793

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider introducing a policy that no individual will be appointed to the board of David MacBrayne Limited or CMAL without being able to demonstrate experience of island communities and conditions.

Question reference: S6W-31794

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to announce proposals for future governance arrangements for Hebrides and Clyde ferry services, and whether these will be subject to consultation.

Question reference: S6W-31795

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government on what (a) relevant knowledge and (b) experience the Cabinet Secretary for Transport based her appointment of Mark Tarry to the board of CMAL.

Question reference: S6W-30982

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its timeline for reviewing its good practice principles for onshore wind developments, and whether there will be opportunities for the community sector to meaningfully engage with this process.

Driven by our Good Practice Principles, community benefits are a well-established and integral part of renewable energy projects in Scotland, with over £26 million of community benefits offered to Scottish communities in the last 12 months. The Scottish Government continues to work with industry and communities to build on this success, including through our Onshore Wind Sector Deal that commits industry to meet or exceed the Good Practice Principles.

The Good Practice Principles for Onshore Developments, published in 2019 were developed in close collaboration with the sector and local communities to set national standards for community benefits. We are currently considering feedback from stakeholders on the potential for a review of these Good Practice Principles.

Question reference: S6W-30985

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there was reportedly no external evaluation of the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) prior to its retendering, and what substantive changes were made to the tender as a result of the call for feedback on CARES.

The Scottish Government continually reviews the support available to communities through the CARES scheme and uses this information to inform future support. An evaluation of the current contract, which is due to end on 31 March 2025, will be completed prior to the beginning of a new contract. Stakeholders will have an opportunity to input into this evaluation.

The Scottish Government has published an Invitation to Tender for the new CARES contract with a submission deadline on 26 November 2024. Ahead of publication, the Scottish Government gathered information from stakeholders via an in-person supplier engagement event and Request for Information. The feedback gathered from these engagements were taken into consideration when developing the new CARES Statement of Requirement.

Question reference: S6W-30984

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the minimum percentage of ownership stakes in any new renewable energy development that should be offered to local communities to purchase, under a good practice shared ownership model.

Shared ownership has an important role to play in delivering a just transition, by giving communities the chance to make an investment in a commercially owned renewable energy project.

Whilst mandating shared ownership is a matter reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government encourages developers to offer shared ownership opportunities to communities as standard on all new renewable energy projects, including repowering and extensions to existing projects.

Additionally, the Onshore Wind Sector Deal includes a commitment to publish a framework of practical approaches to support and encourage community shared ownership models, to assist communities, and developers and funders to engage in shared ownership opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-30983

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its timeline for developing a framework to support shared ownership of renewables, as proposed within the onshore wind sector deal, and whether there will be opportunities for the community sector to meaningfully engage with this process.

We are committed to working with the community sector and other stakeholders to ensure the delivery of renewable energy comes with benefits for people in Scotland. This includes shared ownership, which has a vital role to play in a just transition by giving communities the chance to make an investment in a commercially owned renewable energy project.

Through our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) we provide online guidance, resources, and support to access funding and contractors to enable communities to engage with shared ownership opportunities. Building on the progress we have made to date, the Scottish Government is progressing work on the commitment in the Onshore Wind Sector Deal to develop a framework of practical approaches to support and encourage community shared ownership models, to assist communities, and developers and funders to engage in shared ownership opportunities. There will be opportunities for the community sector to engage with this process as work progresses.

Question reference: S6W-30981

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what new measures it plans to take to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy that is fully community-owned, as part of meeting its ambition to reach 2GW of community- and locally-owned energy by 2030.

The Scottish Government is more than halfway towards achieving our ambition for 2GW of community and locally owned energy by 2030, with an estimated 1,028 MW of community and local renewable energy capacity operational in Scotland at the end of December 2023. We are taking action to continue to help ensure people and communities benefit from the energy transition, including support for community and locally owned energy.

In 2024-5, the Scottish Government’s Community Energy Generation Growth Fund awarded up to £1.5 million in grants to community groups across Scotland to develop their own renewable energy projects. We are also taking action to increase ownership opportunities. Through our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) we provide online guidance, resources, and support to access funding and contractors to enable communities to engage with shared ownership opportunities.