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-00346

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will produce a strategic plan for the procurement and construction of new vessels to serve the ferry network and, if so, by what date the plan will be produced.

The Scottish Government's Infrastructure Investment Plan published 4 February 2021 stated that:

"We will produce and maintain a long-term plan and investment programme for new ferries and development at ports to improve resilience, reliability, capacity, and accessibility, increase standardisation, and reduce emissions to meet the needs of island communities, supported by investment of at least £580 million during the next five years as well as completing two new ferries for the Isle of Arran and the Uig Triangle"

A National Mission with Local Impact - draft infrastructure investment plan 2021-2022 to 2025-2026: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We will produce this long-term plan as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan that will replace the Ferries Plan from January 2023. In the meantime, our investment programme continues to be based on the Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan; additional detail of the current programme is included in Annex D of the Infrastructure Investment Plan and updates have recently been shared with key island stakeholders.

vrdp-annual-report-2016-30-january-2018.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-00340

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government to which shipyards it proposes to award contracts to build the ferries that will replace those in the current CalMac fleet.

It is too early to say where future vessels to replace the current CalMac fleet will be built. These replacement programmes will follow national procurement rules; ensuring quality, value for money and the timely delivery of vessels to serve our island communities.

On 8 June 2021 I announced that the process to build a new ferry for Islay was formally under way. The Scottish Government look forward to continuing to work with key stakeholders to develop programmes for major vessels and small vessels – investing at least £580m in our ferry networks over the next five years.

Question reference: S6W-00351

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 11 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, following the introduction of the Civil Liability Act in England and Wales, whether similar reforms regarding whiplash claims will be introduced in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-00265

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 11 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce funding or support to OGTC during the current parliamentary session.

Scottish Government funding for the OGTC as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal was set out in 2016 in tripartite agreement with regional partners and UK Government. There are no plans to review the terms of the Deal within the current Parliamentary session.

The stated purpose of the OGTC is to support the oil and gas industry to develop and deploy technology to accelerate the transition to an affordable net zero North Sea.

The Oil and Gas industry is a significant component of Scotland’s economy and remains an important player in ensuring energy security for Scotland and the UK . It can contribute to a sustainable, secure and just and inclusive energy transition, ensuring that a green recovery and a just transition is created that supports good green jobs, skills and expertise and critically leaves no-one behind.

Question reference: S6W-00205

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many electric charging points ChargePlace Scotland has installed in each year since 2012-13.

The shift to electric vehicles is an important part of responding to the climate emergency and improving air quality in our cities. To help incentivise this shift, the Scottish Government have invested over £45 million in Scotland’s own electric vehicle charging network, ChargePlace Scotland, which has steadily grown since 2012 with the highest number of installs being recorded in 2020 for both private and publicly owned charge points.

The ChargePlace Scotland network currently hosts 2080 electric vehicle charge points, which includes 335 charge points that are not available for public use but will support the blue light services, fleets and depot charging.

Year	Total	Public	Private
2013	122	122	0
2014	129	129	0
2015	277	277	0
2016	107	107	0
2017	170	170	0
2018	118	118	0
2019	321	267	54
2020	556	371	185
2021	280	184	96
	2080	1745	335

Question reference: S6O-00045

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that delays to criminal trials are adversely affecting victims’ mental health.

Question reference: S6W-00302

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Scottish Green Party’s manifesto commitment to “oppose public investment in carbon capture and storage”, and whether it will continue to provide investment and support to carbon capture utilisation and storage projects, regardless of any future deal negotiated with the Scottish Green Party.

The Scottish Government supports the development of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) as a common whole-system decarbonisation infrastructure with the flexibility to adapt over time to play a central role across the decarbonisation strategies of key sectors such as heat, industry and power. A proven technology, there are more than 50 CCUS facilities worldwide, with an estimated combined capture capacity of 96 million tonnes of CO2 per annum.

The Committee on Climate Change describes CCUS as a “necessity, not an option” to achieve net-zero emissions; indeed, the swift development of CCUS as a cornerstone of our energy transition is vital to achieving Scotland’s net zero emissions reduction targets.

Scotland is the most cost-effective place to begin CCUS in the UK, with existing oil and gas infrastructure available to repurpose for CO2 transport and storage. The development of CCUS could offer a range of transition opportunities for Scottish oil and gas firms and domestic supply chain companies.

We are already supporting efforts to deploy CCUS in Scotland, including through our Emerging Energy Technologies Fund, which will provide £80m over the next five years to support the development of CCUS and negative-emissions technologies. We have also provided funding and policy support to the Acorn CCS project in Aberdeenshire, considered the most advanced CCS project in the UK.

Question reference: S6W-00203

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many kilometres of Scotland’s railways are electrified, and how many additional kilometres are planned to be electrified in 2021.

Currently 2089 single track kilometres of Scotland’s Railway are electrified. This allows some 75% of Scottish passenger journeys to be made by electric train.

Works to electrify the East Kilbride and Barrhead Routes have commenced, though electrification of these routes will not be completed within 2021. Development work for electrification of the Borders Line and Fife Circle routes is also underway.

Question reference: S6W-00266

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish a revised Energy Strategy, as set out in its recent Energy Strategy Position Statement.

Question reference: S6W-00264

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the First Minister’s statement on 26 May 2021, how public ownership of ScotRail will contribute to the decarbonisation of Scotland’s railways.