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-29127

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28058 by Tom Arthur on 19 June 2024, what (a) discussions and (b) correspondence Scottish Enterprise has had regarding the repayment of the loan since 2022.

Question reference: S6W-29180

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any public money will be provided to support Vestas with its reported plans for a facility to construct turbine blades in Leith, inside the Forth freeport zone.

Our fast-growing offshore wind industry provides us with significant opportunities to attract inward investment, generate green jobs and grow our regional and national economies, not least in our Green Freeport areas in Inverness and Cromarty Firth and the Firth of Forth.

There is a range of public sector commercial and grant funding avenues, alongside other dedicated support, available to all potential inward investors, including Vestas. We work closely with partner organisations to make sure companies are aware of these and can access them easily.

For example, investors at Green Freeport tax sites can benefit from a range of devolved and reserved tax reliefs which would constitute revenue forgone by UK and Scottish Government respectively.

Question reference: S6W-29178

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what fines or punishments are available for it to impose in the event that energy companies fail to deliver their share of the £16 billion worth of manufacturing and fabrication of turbines and offshore infrastructure in Scotland, which was pledged by companies who won offshore contracts through the ScotWind auction in 2022.

The Scottish Government is determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential. We expect developers to honour their commitments set out in the Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS). The SCDS process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland (CES). Failure by developers to deliver on their commitments can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease.

Question reference: S6W-29177

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the £16 billion to fund the manufacturing and fabrication of turbines and offshore infrastructure in Scotland, as pledged by the energy companies who won offshore contracts through the ScotWind auction in 2022, will be delivered.

The ScotWind leasing round was carefully designed by Crown Estate Scotland with a focus on quality and deliverability of bids, and the long-term goal of securing supply chain investment. We welcome the commitment of developers to invest an average projection of £1.5bn in Scotland per project across the 20 ScotWind projects and we expect developers to honour these commitments.

We recognise that investment, both public and private, is key to unlocking these commitments. That is why we are investing up to £500m over five years to anchor the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland. Our commercial-first approach will stimulate and support private investment in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities critical to the growth of our offshore wind sector.

Question reference: S6W-29176

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported comments that it is committing "£500 million to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland", how much of this money has been spent to date, and how many additional jobs it has supported.

We are kick-starting our commitment to invest up to £500m to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland with investment of £67 million in the sector this financial year. This investment will support market certainty, helping to create a highly productive, competitive offshore wind economy that provides thousands of new jobs, embeds innovation and boosts skills. We are working across public sector delivery partners to ensure that the funding is delivered to projects as quickly as possible subject to rigorous due diligence and value for money assurance processes.

Question reference: S6W-29183

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any minister will be removed from office in the event that the £16 billion to fund manufacturing and fabrication of turbines and offshore infrastructure in Scotland, as pledged by the energy companies who won offshore contracts through the ScotWind auction in 2022, is not delivered.

The Scottish Government is determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential.

We expect developers to honour their commitments set out in the Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS) and a process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland (CES) to hold developers to account. Failure by developers to deliver on their commitments can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease.

Question reference: S6W-29181

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to count any components fabricated outside the UK and shipped to the UK for assembly towards the £16 billion to fund manufacturing and fabrication of turbines and offshore infrastructure in Scotland, as pledged by the energy companies who won offshore contracts through the ScotWind auction in 2022.

The Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS) process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland. It requires developers to outline their initial commitments to the Scottish supply chain across four project phases - development, manufacturing and fabrication, installation and operations & maintenance.

We welcome developers’ commitments to invest an average projection of £1.5bn per project on the 20 ScotWind projects.

Question reference: S6W-29179

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what communication it has had with Vestas regarding its reported plans for a facility to construct turbine blades in Leith, inside the Forth freeport zone.

Question reference: S6T-02081

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of its work to tackle the poverty-related educational attainment gap, in light of the gap reportedly widening across all school qualifications in the recent exam results.

Question reference: S6W-28762

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 26 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Transport Scotland paper, Aviation Statement and Key Priorities, on what date it began work to explore all options for the implementation of its proposed Air Departure Tax (ADT); for what reason it has reportedly not yet made a referral to the Subsidy Advice Unit at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA); whether it has had any discussions with the CMA regarding this, and whether it has undertaken any work to prepare options for ADT, other than maintaining the current rates and bands.

The introduction of Air Departure Tax (ADT) was deferred due to state aid issues raised in relation to replicating the existing Highlands and Islands exemption that currently exists under Air Passenger Duty. As of January 2023, Scottish Ministers have a responsibility to ensure all subsidies – including tax exemptions – comply with the UK Government’s subsidy control regime introduced in the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

A referral to the Subsidy Advice Unit at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is necessary where a subsidy has a greater potential to lead to undue distortion and negative effects on competition or investment within the UK, or on international trade or investment. The Scottish Government has not yet had any specific discussions with the CMA regarding a future referral of a prospective Highland and Islands exemption but has had high-level discussions regarding the process through which a referral could be made. Prior to introducing ADT, the Scottish Government will assess whether a prospective Highlands and Islands exemption requires a referral to the CMA.

The Scottish Government continue to explore all options to implement ADT in a way that protects Highlands & Islands connectivity and complies with the UK Government’s subsidy control regime. The UK-wide Air Passenger Duty will continue to apply in Scotland until ADT is implemented.