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-13348

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the (a) selection criteria, (b) process and (c) delivery mechanism for how the £5 million in loss and damage funding, which it announced at COP27, will be allocated.

Officials are planning to undertake stakeholder engagement events early in 2023 in order to inform the delivery mechanism and selection criteria for this funding. Recommendations will then be put to Ministers in advance of any formal agreement being made with the aim of the selection process starting in Q1 of FY 23/24. Through this process, officials will deliver a participatory, co-designed programme that fully meets the needs of the communities that it seeks to serve. The minister is happy to update parliament once a ministerial decision is taken.

Question reference: S6W-13337

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12638 by Patrick Harvie on 15 December 2022, when it will publish the data, in light of it already being used for policy formulation and implementation.

Question reference: S6W-13349

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding will be allocated to the Climate Justice Fund in financial year 2023-24.

Question reference: S6F-01680

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2023

To ask the First Minister for what reason two ferries, which will serve Islay, are being built in Turkey.

Question reference: S6W-13335

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12580 by Tom Arthur on 5 December 2022, whether its draft 2023-24 budget extends the 90% non-domestic rates relief for district heating networks powered by renewables until 2035.

Question reference: S6W-13058

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of road have been constructed as a result of (a) commercial forestry and (b) windfarm developments in each of the last 10 years.

On Scotland’s national forests and land, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) constructs roads for use on a multi-purpose basis e.g. timber transport, tree planting, environmental improvement works, recreational access. FLS does not hold data that ascribes a particular use to sections of forest road, nor does it hold specific data as to what lengths of road have been constructed by windfarm developers. Over the past ten years, levels of forest road construction by FLS have been as follows:

2012: 46 Miles

2013: 52 Miles

2014: 43 Miles

2015: 34 Miles

2016: 37 Miles

2017: 37 Miles

2018: 44 Miles

2019: 32 Miles

2020: 27 Miles

2021: 24 Miles

2022: 22 Miles

Question reference: S6O-01766

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its response to the Climate Change Committee's reports, Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland - 2022 Report to Parliament and Scottish Emissions Targets - first five-yearly review.

Question reference: S6W-12924

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the "Activities and Milestones (NR)" section on page 11 of the Scotland's Railway July 2022 publication, Enhancements Delivery Plan, what is meant by the line that reads "Approval in principle, Asset Manager accepts design", which has an aspirational date of August 2023, and is described as "Revised", and what date this has been revised to.

“Approval in principle, Asset Manager accepts design” is an internal Network Rail approval stage. This signifies the point at which designs are at a sufficient level to be approved to move forward to be designed for construction. A revised date for when the design will be approved following the refinement of the scope referred to in answer to question S6W-12919.

I therefore refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12919 on 21 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-12920

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scotland's Railway July 2022 publication, Enhancements Delivery Plan, whether it is on track to "decarbonise the Aberdeen to Central Belt route by 2030".

Question reference: S6W-12921

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the "several opportunities to enhance the freight gauge along the line of route" are, as set out under the "Interfaces and Assumptions" on page 11 of the Scotland's Railway July 2022 publication, Enhancements Delivery Plan.

The Scottish freight gauge programme identified several sections of the Aberdeen to Central Belt route that would benefit from infrastructure interventions to allow larger intermodal freight containers that are common in road haulage which would support modal shift from road to rail. Such works would also facilitate the clearances between trains and infrastructure necessary for electrification.