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-31510

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it will provide an update on how much of the £1.8 billion that was committed for decarbonising buildings through its Heat in Buildings strategy has been (i) allocated and (ii) spent and (b) it is committed to spending any remaining amount during the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6O-04011

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of the reasons why it decided against externally reviewing the Community Right to Buy scheme.

Question reference: S6W-31148

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with Crown Estate Scotland about replicating the UK Government partnership announcement with The Crown Estate for future ScotWind leasing rounds.

The Scottish Government already has a well established partnership with the Crown Estate that was fundamental to the Scotwind and INTOG licensing rounds for offshore wind. Our current focus is not on new leasing opportunities but delivering Scotland’s strong pipeline of clean energy and supply chain opportunities.

To support this the Scottish Government and UK Government Department of Energy Security and Net Zero developed a shared objective for Great British Energy to maximise the benefits of its activities in Scotland. Through developing partnerships with existing Scottish public bodies active within the clean energy sector (Crown Estate Scotland, the Enterprise Agencies and the Scottish National Investment Bank) organisations will work together to deliver joint objectives to maximise impact and value for money from Scottish projects.

Question reference: S6W-31147

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on timelines for future ScotWind leasing rounds.

Question reference: S6W-31146

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the Local Power Plan, and whether it will provide support for local authorities in Scotland to take advantage of any potential opportunities as a result of the plan.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to continue to grow the community and local energy sector and ensure the delivery of renewable energy comes with benefits for people in Scotland.

On 17 October the Scottish Government signed a Joint Vision Statement with the UK Government which set out a commitment to work together to explore opportunities for GB Energy to support community and local energy in Scotland. This includes considering the role of the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).

In line with this Vision Statement, the Scottish Government continues to work with the UK Government to explore opportunities, including for local authorities in Scotland, offered by the Local Power Plan. The Scottish Government looks forward to working with local authorities to ensure that opportunities arising from the Local Power Plan are maximised for local communities.

Question reference: S6W-31133

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29941 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, for what reason no provision exists within the National Electricity Supply Contract to provide local community-owned renewable electricity to clients, and what priority it gives to allowing clients to secure electricity that was being sourced from certified renewable supplies to reduce their carbon footprint and any related carbon charges.

The strategy for the provision of electricity under the national framework agreement was developed and agreed in partnership with the User Intelligence Group (UIG). The UIG consists of representatives from across the public sector and they define the core purpose of the procurement and set out the key deliverables. In this case the core requirement was that the provider should be capable of delivering electricity supply and service to over 300 customers. Continuity of supply is a critical element and taking into account the requirement and the risks associated with supply, the UIG agreed that the framework should be tendered as a single supplier agreement. The energy supplier must have the capacity to supply and service all organisations by providing the ability to prepurchase electricity and also provide a billing service.

If a framework customer wishes to source certified renewable supplies, then they could do this. However any agreement between a customer and an additional supplier would be out-with the framework and its terms.

Question reference: S6W-31130

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29936 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, who the members are of the Risk Management Committee that owns the current risk managed hedging strategy; whether the committee has considered any community wealth building advantages of adding community energy suppliers to the generation mix; whether any financial benefits of doing so for the main public sector bodies have been considered, and, if so, whether any conclusions were published.

The Risk Management committee includes a mix of procurement, financial and energy personnel from the following organisations – Scottish Government, Scottish Prison Service, Police Scotland, University of Edinburgh, Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges, Glasgow Clyde College, Inverclyde Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Argyll and Bute Council, NHS National Services Scotland, NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The generation mix of electricity for the Framework is not dictated by the Risk Management Committee, this would be something which is decided by the supplier with regards to their own generation mix, therefore no information or conclusions can be published about other supply mixes.

Ultimately, the generation mix for the electricity framework is sourced from the National Grid.

Any community energy used/used in future would be out-with the framework.

Question reference: S6W-31127

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29945 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, for what reason it did not make provision for community energy suppliers to be added to the generation mix in the contract awarded to EDF, in light of its support for community wealth building, and how the policy approach adopted supports community wealth building.

The national electricity framework covers circa 300 organisations across Scotland, covering all sectors – Local Government, Central Government, NHS, Universities and colleges. Any energy supplier needs to have the capacity to supply and service all organisations by providing the ability to pre-purchase electricity and also provide a billing service.

The mix of energy used is the suppliers decision, the energy mix cannot be decided by Scottish Procurement.

The community energy element was not raised as a requirement in the scoping of the procurement strategy which is developed by the framework users, who are representatives from across the public sector.

Question reference: S6W-31132

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29938 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, whether local authorities can (a) build and generate their own supply to offset their requirement to purchase electricity from the single supplier and (b) sell or sleeve their independent supply in the wider electricity marketplace to maximise any community wealth building benefits of so doing.

Local authorities are able to build and generate their own electricity supply. Any local authority considering the option to build and generate their own electricity supply should advise Scottish Procurement and the Supplier once they have committed to the decision to build and generate electricity supplies, as they will be reducing the volumes that they require from the national framework.

If a local authority wanted to sell or sleeve their independent electricity supply to the wider marketplace, this would be their commercial decision, and any agreement would be out-with the national electricity framework.

Question reference: S6W-31126

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29938 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, whether it has established (a) whether each local authority has any option to source another supply within their area, outwith the National Electricity Supply Contract, and (b) what benefits contracting with such sources could bring for public expenditure and the National Electricity Supply Contract.

(a)The National Electricity Supply Framework is not mandatory, so organisations can source another supply out-with the framework agreement. If they do leave the framework they need to comply with the terms and conditions which set out the notice period required to leave the electricity framework.

(b)With regards to public expenditure benefits, because the other source of electricity would be purchased by a local authority and be out-with the framework any benefit would be assessed and recorded by the local authority.