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-21469

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 27 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many active working groups there are that fall under the remit of the Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands portfolio.

There are currently a number of Scottish Government working groups that fall under the remit of Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands (RALRI). The following non-exhaustive list includes currently active groups that would fall under RALRI portfolio and are managed by the Scottish Government.

Peatland Science and Technical Advisory Group (Peatland STAG)

• Soils Working Group

• Wild Salmon Strategy Implementation Plan Advisory Group

• Scottish Forestry Customer Reps Group (CRG)

• Scottish Forestry CRG Tree on Farms sub group

• Scottish Forestry CRG Technical sub group

• Scottish Forestry National Stakeholder Group

• Scottish Forestry Phytopthora ramorum review working group

• The Land Reform Bill Oversight Group

• Academic Advisory Panel to Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board

• Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime in Scotland

• Scottish Government National Goose Forum

• Small Producers Pilot Fund Steering Group

• Scottish Agricultural Wages Board

• Rural Delivery Plan: Ministerial Working Group

• SRDP 2014 - 2020 Rural Development Operational Committee

• National Islands Plan Delivery Group

• Islands Strategic Group

• Farming opportunities for new entrants (FONE)

• Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board

• Agriculture and Rural Development Stakeholder Group

• Crofting Bill Group

• Bovine EID Industry stakeholder working group

• Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) Advisory Group

• Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP)

• Varroa Working Group

• Strategic Management Board (SMB)

• Pesticide Stakeholder Group (PSG)

• Horticultural Round Table

• Environment and Economy Leaders' Group (EELG)

Question reference: S6W-20685

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the total number of public sector buildings and their carbon footprints, broken down by public body responsible for managing the buildings.

The Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Strategy, published in October 2021, uses an estimate from the Electronic Property Information Mapping Service (e-PIMS) of 23,000 public sector buildings in Scotland.

Since 2015-16, around 180 public bodies have been under a legal requirement to report annually on compliance with their climate change duties. Individual reports are published on the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) website.

The Public Bodies Climate Change Reporting 2021-22 Analysis Report , prepared by SSN with grant support from the Scottish Government, shows total scope 1 and scope 2 emissions were 30.2% lower in 2021-22 compared to 2015-16. In 2021-22, scope 1 emissions were 1,197,089 tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 equivalent) and scope 2 emissions were 567,734 tCO2e. Scope 1 are direct emissions typically from heating of buildings and the use of fleet vehicles, with refrigerants with some other emissions associated with sector specific processes also included. Scope 2 are indirect emissions from grid electricity consumption.

The annual Analysis Report provides some sectoral breakdown of reported information. The Scottish Government does not routinely hold information from individual reporting bodies as the reports are publicly available.

Question reference: S6W-20686

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 26 September 2023

The Public Bodies Climate Change Reporting 2021-22 Analysis Report , page 15, shows grid electricity consumed by around 180 public bodies which have reported annually since 2015-16 on compliance with their statutory climate change duties. Reporting years are 12 months to 31 March rather than calendar years.

Total grid electricity consumed by reporting public bodies is set out in the following table.

Year

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

Grid electricity

consumed GWh

(Gigawatt hour)

3,147.79

3,070.41

2,981.08

2,850.84

2,779.86

2,579.81

2,702.83

As set out on page 18 of the report, greenhouse gas emissions from electricity use by reporting bodies have fallen from 1,550,894 tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 equivalent) in 2015-16 to 623,147 tCO2e in 2021-2022, a reduction of 59.8%, with the principal influence being decarbonisation of the electricity grid.

As set out on page 31 of the report, public bodies also generate renewable energy (electricity and heat) on their own estates.

Total renewable electricity generated by reporting public bodies is set out in the following table.

Year

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

Renewable electricity

generated GWh

(Gigawatt hour)

103

105

103

113

Question reference: S6W-20922

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the next bidding rounds for the Just Transition Fund will be announced.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17566 on 17 May 2023. Due to the annual budget cycle, Scottish Government cannot yet confirm dates or capital budgets for future bidding rounds. However, we continue to engage with regional stakeholders on planning and priorities for future funding calls. The timing of potential future bidding rounds will be considered in the New Year.

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

Question reference: S6W-21289

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many houses are below the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C rating, broken down by local authority.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides estimates of the number of homes which have an EPC rating below band C. For figures at the local authority level the Scottish Government uses a three year pooled data set to ensure sufficient sample sizes.

These figures were recently provided in the answer to PQ S6W-20664 which gave the number and percentage of all homes below EPC C by local authority area for the latest available 3 year period 2017-2019.

The Scottish House Condition Survey provides a snapshot of the Scottish housing stock in each survey year including the construction age and built form of Scottish domestic buildings.

The most recent estimates of houses (specifically covering all Detached, Semi-detached and terraced houses) with an EPC below C at local authority level are for 2017-2019, and are presented in the following table.

	Number of houses by Local Authority and the number and percentage which have an EPC rating below C.
Local Authority		Total number of houses	Of which EPC rated below C	% rated below EPC C	Sample
Aberdeen City		52,000	34,000	65%	129
Aberdeenshire		99,000	70,000	71%	220
Angus		40,000	29,000	73%	198
Argyll and Bute		29,000	24,000	83%	167
Clackmannanshire		18,000	8,000	45%	165
Dumfries and Galloway		62,000	49,000	79%	242
Dundee City		36,000	25,000	69%	140
East Ayrshire		43,000	24,000	56%	197
East Dunbartonshire		37,000	23,000	63%	206
East Lothian		35,000	23,000	67%	186
East Renfrewshire		31,000	21,000	67%	189
Edinburgh, City of		81,000	51,000	63%	233
Na h-Eileanan Siar		12,000	11,000	93%	263
Falkirk		52,000	25,000	48%	185
Fife		125,000	77,000	62%	336
Glasgow City		78,000	40,000	52%	187
Highland		98,000	78,000	79%	238
Inverclyde		17,000	10,000	56%	106
Midlothian		30,000	17,000	55%	215
Moray		37,000	28,000	75%	181
North Ayrshire		48,000	29,000	61%	171
North Lanarkshire		99,000	49,000	50%	221
Orkney Islands		10,000	9,000	85%	255
Perth and Kinross		55,000	38,000	70%	215
Renfrewshire		48,000	22,000	47%	110
Scottish Borders		41,000	27,000	66%	164
Shetland Islands		10,000	9,000	93%	257
South Ayrshire		38,000	27,000	72%	176
South Lanarkshire		113,000	69,000	62%	259
Stirling		30,000	19,000	63%	190
West Dunbartonshire		22,000	12,000	55%	120
West Lothian		60,000	26,000	44%	208
Scotland		1,584,000	1,005,000	63%	6329
Notes 1. Source Scottish House Condition Survey 2017-19. 2. EPC figures are based on SAPv9.92 3. The SHCS is a sample survey and therefore all figures are estimates which lie at the midpoint of a confidence interval which depends primarily on sample size. A statistical tool for calculating 95% confidence intervals around these estimates can be found at Scottish House Condition Survey: Local Authority Analysis 2017-2019 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

As set out in the most recent Scottish House Condition Survey 2021 Key Findings Report, (available at Scottish House Condition Survey 2021 ) there will be no Local Authority publication relating to the 2019 to 2021 three year period as the 2020 SHCS was suspended due to Covid-19 and the 2021 SHCS was undertaken using a different methodology that is not consistent to previous years.

Question reference: S6W-21080

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to those whose applications for energy efficiency grants and loans have been unsuccessful, including in relation to any future applications process, and advice for next steps.

Where an application to the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan scheme is unsuccessful, the applicant will be informed why they have been unsuccessful. Applicants have the right to appeal and can provide further information to help progress their application.

If an application has been unsuccessful, the HES Advice Service can provide further information and support. Unsuccessful applicants are not precluded from applying to the scheme again in the future.

Question reference: S6W-21071

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how much of the £1.8 billion of funding for energy efficiency and renewable systems schemes, which it has committed to provide in the current parliamentary session, has been allocated.

Question reference: S6W-21073

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many applications for energy efficiency grants and loans have been received since its schemes were established, and, of those, how many have been successful.

Question reference: S6W-21072

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the overall budget for energy efficiency and renewable systems schemes has been allocated for upgrading off-gas-grid properties in rural areas.

Funding for energy efficiency and renewable schemes is not allocated on this basis. Local schemes to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency are delivered by councils and funded through our Area Based Schemes programme.

Details of the annual grant allocations and outturns for each council as part of our Area Based Schemes programme since 2013 are published on the Scottish Government website: Area-based schemes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme includes a rural uplift of £1,500 for both the zero emission heating and energy efficiency grants for rural and island homes, meaning rural households can claim up to £18,000 in grant funding.

Question reference: S6W-21074

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many applications to renewable systems loans and cashback schemes have been received since its schemes were established, and, of those, how many have been successful.