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-31129

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-29944 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, whether it is possible to amend the current National Electricity Supply Contract to include provision for clients to reduce their demand for electricity from the single supplier within the framework, if they choose to buy locally produced renewable electricity, in order to further community wealth building.

Question reference: S6W-31128

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-29944 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, whether it will be exercising its first 12-month extension to the existing National Electricity Supply Contract.

Question reference: S6W-31131

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-29940 by Ivan McKee on 24 September 2024, for what reason the National Electricity Supply Contract prohibits clients from replacing a proportion of their single supply with a proportion of locally produced renewable energy.

The National Supply of Electricity Framework does not prohibit customers from using locally produced renewable energy.

If a client wishes to use locally produced renewable energy then they can advise the Scottish Procurement Team and the Supplier. The volumes generated by the locally produced renewable energy provider would no longer be included in the overall framework volumes and the reduced demand will be taken into consideration and future demand will be reshaped accordingly. Any withdrawal of buildings/sites from the framework are subject to the terms and conditions set out in the framework agreement.

Question reference: S6W-31134

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, whether procurement law requires the Scottish Government to treat all energy providers equally and without discrimination; if so, for what reason no power is procured from community-owned energy providers, and what its position is on whether excluding community energy providers from the National Electricity Supply Framework is discriminatory.

Yes, Scottish Government is compliant with all procurement regulations.

The electricity framework was advertised openly and fairly in Public Contracts Scotland and therefore the competition was open to all suppliers. It is up to each individual bidder to determine if they meet the requirements of the framework, and if they wish to put forward a bid. At the last procurement opportunity no bids were received from community energy providers.

Question reference: S6W-31205

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Carnegie UK’s Life in the UK 2024: Scotland report, which found that collective wellbeing scores in 2024 remain largely unchanged from those reported in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-31204

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take in light of Carnegie UK research, which shows that people on lower incomes and disabled people have much lower wellbeing than the average person in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-31206

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve trust in government, in light of Carnegie UK research finding that 37% of people in Scotland have low levels of trust in the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-30752

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many buildings in the Lothian region have been identified as having flammable cladding.

Only a Single Building Assessment meeting the Scottish Standards can identify what cladding if any a building has and further identify whether the cladding is unsafe.

There are 107 entries in the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Entries may comprise a single block or building or a development or part of a development consisting of multiple blocks or buildings. Regional data is proactively published on gov.scot.

Developers homeowners or other organisations may have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government, Therefore the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

To respect the privacy of residents and homeowners we do not disclose the names of individual buildings or developments. The total entries in the pilot phase is 107, of which 69 entries are in Edinburgh and the Lothian region.

Extract from Single Building Assessment programme: spending information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Region	Total
City of Edinburgh	62
East Lothian	5
Midlothian	1
West Lothian	1
Total Edinburgh & Lothian	69

Question reference: S6W-30754

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 7 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessments have been undertaken to determine the cost of cladding remediation across Scotland.

The Scottish Government has been actively assessing the issue of cladding on high-rise buildings across the country. As part of its commitment to ensuring the safety of residents, several steps have been taken to determine the scale and cost of cladding remediation.

1.Building Safety Assessments: A nationwide review of high-rise buildings has been conducted to identify those with potentially unsafe cladding. This includes a comprehensive inventory of buildings affected by materials such as Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) and other types of cladding.

2.Financial Impact Analysis: The Scottish Government has commissioned detailed financial assessments to estimate the overall cost of remediation efforts. This process involves consultation with local authorities, housing associations, and private sector stakeholders to gather data on the number of affected buildings and the potential costs of necessary remedial work.

3.Pilot Project and Funding Allocations: The pilot project has been initiated to address cladding issues, and these have provided initial data on the costs associated with removing and replacing unsafe cladding. Additionally, funding schemes such as the Single Building Assessment Programme have been introduced to support building owners in conducting safety assessments and implementing remediation where necessary.

4.Collaboration with the UK Government: As part of a broader UK-wide effort, the Scottish Government continues to liaise with the UK Government on financial support mechanisms, including potential contributions from developers and building product manufacturers responsible for defective cladding.

We are committed to providing funding to safeguard homeowners and residents by addressing the risk to human life that is (directly or indirectly) created or exacerbated by a building’s external wall cladding system.

The cumulative spend of the programme to date is £9.0m. Spend of £0.5m was incurred in quarter one 2024-25 to support programme delivery works.

Question reference: S6W-30795

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12859 by Jenny Gilruth on 20 December 2022, what further progress has been made regarding the reform of the Traffic Regulation Orders system.

There are currently no imminent plans to make any further amendments to the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) system, following the amended Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) regulations which were introduced in November 2021.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders including the local authority sector, Police Scotland and business and active travel representatives to understand any issues that arise from the various road order processes.