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-04736

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards delivering road equivalent tariff (RET) on Pentland Firth routes, and what the timeframe for implementing this is.

Question reference: S6W-04469

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to reach a mutual agreement between NHS Scotland, England and Wales regarding COVID-19 vaccine certification.

Question reference: S6W-04581

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reform the planning process to deliver at least 12GW of additional onshore wind and 11GW of offshore wind by 2030, as recommended in the Scottish Renewables publication, Beyond COP26: Next steps for Scotland’s clean energy revolution.

The draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), which was laid in the Scottish Parliament on 10 November, sets out how our approach to planning and development will achieve a net zero, sustainable Scotland by 2045.

The draft NPF4 proposes a new policy which will ensure significant weight be given to the Global Climate Emergency in planning decisions. It also includes green energy policies which support renewable energy development other than in National Parks and National Scenic Areas, subject to an assessment of their impacts on a case by case basis. Through the draft NPF4, we are also proposing to designate a national development which would establish the need for a large increase in renewable energy generation and substantial reinforcement and expansion of grid infrastructure throughout Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-04583

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set a target of installing 1GW of solar PV capacity on public and commercial buildings by 2030, as recommended in the Scottish Renewables publication, Beyond COP26: Next steps for Scotland’s clean energy revolution.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of energy generated from solar PV in contributing to the decarbonisation of Scotland’s energy supply and contributing to the just transition to a net zero emissions society by 2045.

In support of this, the Scottish Government will, in consultation with the sector, establish a vision for the future of solar in the forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. This vision will set out the scale of ambition for solar generation in Scotland.

We have also recently published guidance for public sector bodies: ‘Public Sector Leadership on the Global Climate Emergency’. The guidance sets out milestones for accelerated efforts towards the use of 100% renewable electricity on the public sector estate alongside continuing to reduce electricity usage, and, highlights the important role solar power projects can play in decarbonising the public sector estate.

Question reference: S6W-04650

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many customers of Bulb Energy there are in Scotland; whether it has had any contact with Bulb Energy; if so, when, and what was discussed, and whether it has any plans to support (a) Bulb Energy customers in Scotland and (b) other customers in Scotland affected by failing energy suppliers.

Information regarding the number of Bulb customers in Scotland is not held by the Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with a number of energy suppliers to discuss the ongoing challenges in the energy supply market.

Regulation of the gas and electricity markets is a reserved issue. Within this context Bulb Energy is being managed under Ofgem's special administration process - this process is designed to ensure consumers do not experience disruption to their supply and maintain their credit balances

We are concerned for all Scottish consumers facing rising energy costs particularly those who are in or at risk of fuel poverty. That is why we are making £10 million of funding available to help people struggling with their heating costs this winter. This money is in addition to the £25 million funding we are providing to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity and the further £6 million.

Question reference: S6W-04580

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish an energy skills and services export target, as recommended in the Scottish Renewables publication, Beyond COP26: Next steps for Scotland’s clean energy revolution.

Question reference: S6W-04584

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will create a support mechanism for the wave and tidal energy industry to work alongside the UK Government’s revenue stabilisation mechanism, as recommended in the Scottish Renewables publication, Beyond COP26: Next steps for Scotland’s clean energy revolution.

Question reference: S6W-04539

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce the members of the new Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel.

Question reference: S6W-04582

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set a target of heating 45% of homes and 25% of commercial, industrial and public buildings from renewable sources by 2030, as recommended in the Scottish Renewables publication, Beyond COP26: Next steps for Scotland’s clean energy revolution.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy sets out that, to meet our emissions reduction targets, by 2030 the vast majority of the 170,000 off-gas homes that currently use fossil fuel heating systems, as well as at least 1 million homes currently using mains gas, must convert to zero emissions heating. Together these amount to around half of domestic properties, on top of the 11% of homes that currently use zero emissions heat. In addition, the equivalent of 50,000 non-domestic buildings, around a quarter, must also switch from fossil fuels to zero emissions heating, which will bring the total using zero emissions heat to around three quarters.

Our existing commitments are therefore broadly equivalent to those recommended by Scottish Renewables in terms of numbers of heating system conversions. However, at this time we have not adopted these as specifically renewable heat targets, in order to accommodate other sources of decarbonised heat. We will review our provisional minimum renewable heat target of 22% in the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan which we will publish for consultation in spring next year.

Question reference: S6O-00517

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on the roll-out of superfast broadband in Orkney.