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: S5F-04305

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 August 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-04280

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-30362

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 14 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in light of Scottish Renewables' call to unlock the benefits of shovel-ready renewable energy projects as part of the recovery to the COVID-19 crisis; what discussions it has had with the UK Government about progressing this, and what projects it has identified.

Renewable projects provide us with a major investment opportunity which can support a green economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. Ensuring that shovel ready projects are able to deliver quickly will also help us make progress towards our vital net zero commitment. We have identified that as of March 2020, there was 1.3 GW of renewable generation capacity in construction, 7.7 GW of capacity awaiting construction (with planning permission or consent granted), and an additional 4.5 GW in the planning system.

Along with Scottish Renewables, the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery has also highlighted the importance of renewable projects in Scotland’s response to Covid. Our response to its report, published on 5 August, laid out a wide range of actions that we will take to support a green recovery. This includes reviewing aspects of the planning process and examining the scope for changes to regulations in order to build capacity and deal more quickly with complex applications. It also details the funding available through a range of mechanisms to support green infrastructure, including the launch of our Green Investment Portfolio, which identifies £3 billion of investable projects over the coming three years.

We continue to engage with the UK Government and other UK-wide institutions to ensure that, in areas where devolved and reserved powers interact, that they act to support our ambition. For example, we are working with Scotland’s energy network owners to ensure that we have a clear, evidence-based set of regulatory requirements for the development of those networks which will be essential to the connection and operation of shovel ready projects. We will also continue to engage with UK Government and Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, to ensure that these can be delivered.

Question reference: S5F-04262

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 August 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-30441

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what account it took of its commitments under the Paris climate change agreement prior to signing its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Heathrow Airport in 2016 and, in light of the ruling by the Court of Appeal on 27 February 2020 that the UK Government had failed to carry out an assessment of its environmental commitments under the agreement with regard to the proposed expansion of the airport, what its position is on the validity of MoU.

Our approach to appraising transport investment in Scotland quantifies the potential impact of projects on the environment. It is for the UK Government to do the same for transport investments in England.

The Court of Appeal ruling has no bearing on the validity of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Various sections of the MoU have already been delivered and others will be realised during the construction phase and after Heathrow has been expanded. The MoU ensures Scotland will benefit from this major infrastructure project which will bring significant job creation and investment opportunities to Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30447

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on its greenhouse gas emissions targets, what its position is on whether the number of short-haul flights across the UK should be increased.

Scotland’s air connectivity with the rest of the UK is important to business and tourism, particularly where surface alternatives are not conducive to day trips for business such as Inverness-London or Edinburgh-Southampton. The collapse of Flybe followed by the COVID 19 pandemic has had a negative impact on our domestic connectivity. We also recognise that some domestic routes, particularly between Scotland and Heathrow serve a dual purpose of providing point to point capacity and options to connect to the rest of the world. Short haul routes are therefore an important part of our overall transport infrastructure

We believe that in the future many of these journeys will be done by low and zero-emission aircraft, and we are working to ensure that these new types of aircraft will be trialled in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30443

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5F-00381 by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 October 2016 (Official Report, c 16), in light of the First Minister's comment that "the Scottish Government has shown global leadership by including domestic and international aviation in our emissions reduction targets", what action it has taken to reduced emissions in each of the last four years, also broken down by its performance in meeting each emissions reduction target

Over the four most recent years for which greenhouse gas emissions data is available (2015 to 2018), Scotland’s total emissions fell by 10%. Over this same period, emissions from aviation (both domestic and international) rose by 11% reflecting the positive growth in our international connectivity over this time. Scotland’s statutory emissions reduction targets are set at the level of the economy as a whole, reflecting the importance of a joined up approach that supports the delivery of overall reductions. The annual emissions targets for 2015 and 2016 were met, but those for 2017 and 2018 were missed.

The update to our Climate Change Plan, recast as part of a green recovery from COVID-19, will set out a pathway towards meeting Scotland’s economy-wide emissions reduction targets out to 2032 and which also makes up for the excess emissions arising from the missed annual targets in 2017 and 2018. An example of a policy towards meeting these targets is our plan to create the world’s first zero emission aviation region and trial low and zero emission aircraft in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30359

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a Renewable Transition Training Fund, as recommended by Scottish Renewables, as a means to support a green economic recovery to the COVID-19 crisis and enable workers to "acquire sustainable, exportable skills and join the renewable energy industry".

On 16 th July 2020, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture announced a package of £100m to support in 2020-21 to help ensure that people who have lost jobs, those at risk of unemployment and young people entering the labour market can benefit from more and better job opportunities. As part of this, she committed to bring forward proposals for a new retraining offer focused on helping those in sectors where there is the greatest risk of job losses. This new offer will help people gain the skills they need to move into new jobs in key growth sectors. More details of this will be made available in the coming weeks.

Furthermore we have invested £62 million in the Energy Transition Fund to help the energy sector recover from the economic impact of coronavirus, and create and support jobs associated with the transition to renewables, hydrogen and CCUS and to support the development of the Energy Transition Zone at the new Aberdeen South Harbour.

Question reference: S5W-30439

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5F-03817 by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 January 2020, (Official Report, c 18) and S5F-03986 on 27 February 2020 (Official Report, c. 20), in light of the First Minister's comment in both responses that when the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport was last debated in the House of Commons SNP MPs "did not vote for it" and the potential impact on its greenhouse gas emissions targets of any decision reached by the UK Parliament, what discussions it had with the SNP parliamentary group ahead of that debate and what its response is to the comment made in it by the leader of the SNP group that "100 flights...it is simply not enough" and its transport spokesperson that "I have spoken in favour of expansion before. The Scottish Government have also spoken in favour of it - that is why they have signed a memorandum of understanding...we are just looking for protections and deliverability".

Question reference: S5W-30437

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-04248 by Fergus Ewing on 11 March 2020 (Official Report, c.28) for what reason the cabinet secretary did not refer to the review of its position on the proposed expansion to Heathrow Airport in his response.