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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-32373

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 December 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on developing a route map for delivering approximately 24,000 additional public electric vehicle charge points by 2030.

Scotland has hit the target of 6,000 public electric vehicle charge points two years early.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has invested over £65 million in public electric vehicle charging. As a result of this early investment, and increasing private sector investment, Scotland has one of the most comprehensive public charging networks in the UK, and the latest UK Department for Transport statistics show that Scotland has the highest number of public charge points on a per head of population basis of any part of the UK, except London, and the most rapid charge points of any part of the UK.

I am pleased to announce that today we have published our draft Vision Implementation Plan. This draft plan identifies the actions required to deliver our ambitious Vision for public electric vehicle charging in Scotland, as well as a route map for delivering approximately 24,000 additional public electric vehicle charge points by 2030.

Meeting our ambitions will require concerted efforts from public and private bodies alike, and the draft Implementation Plan has been developed in consultation with the key stakeholders that share collective responsibility for delivering public electric vehicle charging in Scotland. The plan is being published alongside a consultation on its proposed actions, and I warmly welcome all responses to this consultation, which will strengthen the final Implementation Plan and route map to be published in 2025.

Today I am also pleased to announce a further £1.9 million has been awarded to Perth & Kinross and Angus Councils through our EV Infrastructure Fund. This additional funding will enable both local authorities to work in partnership with the private sector to deliver an additional 177 public electric vehicle charge points, with a particular focus on delivering infrastructure in rural communities, to ensure Scotland continues to lead the UK on public electric vehicle charging.

Question reference: S6W-32238

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is committed to ensuring, as part of the Best Start programme for maternity and neonatal care, that the NHS boards leading the plans for the implementation of its new model of care are considering parent support, including ending any separation of parents and babies.

Question reference: S6W-32236

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what minimum standard is used by NHS boards for the number of parent beds available to determine sufficient emergency overnight accommodation for neonatal care.

Question reference: S6W-32237

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider introducing guidance for neonatal units, including on the number of parent beds available and other provisions, to enable family integrated care.

Question reference: S6W-32239

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure that NHS boards are appropriately resourced to deliver plans for the implementation of its new model of care, as part of the Best Start programme for maternity and neonatal care.

Question reference: S6W-31325

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the high-level principles of air departure tax (ADT) will be set out, and by what date a detailed policy development will take place following the publication of these principles.

Question reference: S6W-31323

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing a national integrated ticketing system for the public transport network, and when it will publish the smart ticketing delivery strategy.

The Smart, Digital, Integrated Ticketing and Payments Delivery Strategy 2024 was published in August and is available on the Transport Scotland website.

The strategy outlines how the Scottish Government will progress smart and integrated ticketing, including improvements to our national concessionary schemes, such as smart vouchers for ferry concessionary travel and a new Traveline Scotland journey planning service, which launched in September. It also outlines the steps and dependencies required to deliver a national integrated ticketing system.

A new national integrated ticketing system for Scotland is part of the wider work to advance the future of public transport in Scotland, and is being progressed to the timeline as laid out in the strategy roadmap. Delivery of the strategy is supported by the work undertaken by the National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board (NSTAB) which was established in 2023 to advise Scottish Ministers on the strategic direction of smart ticketing in Scotland, including a technological standard. Timescales for delivery are set out in the NSTAB workplan published on the Transport Scotland website.

Question reference: S6W-31329

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in investigating the potential coexistence of re-wetting with continued agricultural activity, and whether any pilot partial re-wetting projects have been identified for investment of up to £1 million.

With partial rewetting, the water table in peatlands or peaty soils is held deeper underground than with full rewetting or restoration. In theory, this delivers a carbon benefit but also allows certain types of agriculture that may be limited by full rewetting to continue.

The Peatland Science and Technical Advisory Group have advised there may be some potential in lowland grassland systems and at the edges of some raised bogs where the use of ‘leaky dams’ may have a part to play in finer control of water table depth. However, significant areas of lowland agricultural peats are difficult to identify and map.

We have commissioned scientists at the James Hutton Institute to advise on the distribution of grassland on peat and on the relationship between water table depth and carbon emissions in peat grassland systems.

When complete, this will inform on-going work in government considering options for incorporating peatland protection, management and restoration within the new four-tier agricultural support framework.

Question reference: S6W-31321

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing a route map to having approximately 24,000 additional electric vehicle charge points by 2030.

The Scottish Government has now met its target of 6,000 public EV charge points two years early.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has invested over £65 million in public EV charging. As a result of this early investment, and rapidly increasing private sector investment, today Scotland has one of the most comprehensive public charging networks in the UK, and the latest official UK Department for Transport statistics show that Scotland has the highest number of public chargers per head of population of any part of the UK, except London, and the most rapid charge points of any part of the UK.

In partnership with our stakeholders, we have been developing the Draft Vision Implementation Plan and route map for the delivery of approximately 24,000 additional public charge points by 2030. I thank stakeholders for their continuing engagement to support delivering our Vision for world-class, people focused public EV charging network.

As previously indicated, we will publish the draft Implementation Plan for consultation on its proposed actions by the end of the year and we envisage that the final Implementation Plan and route map will be published in 2025.

Question reference: S6W-31330

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in expanding the Cairngorms Deer Pilot to develop a national scheme to incentivise increased management and investment in the venison supply chain.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing high deer numbers in order to help us to achieve our biodiversity and carbon objectives. In addition to the Cairngorms National Park Authority deer management incentives pilot, NatureScot launched two pilot schemes led by this autumn to incentivise deer managers to increase deer culls in specific parts of Scotland.

These pilot schemes have been implemented this year in different parts of Scotland to test different approaches to incentives and to better understand the barriers to deer management.

While these pilots do not constitute a single national scheme, we will use the findings from them to inform decisions on future incentive schemes.