Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34392

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 20 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what powers it has to influence grid management in Scotland, and whether it has assessed the possibility of using any such powers to align Scottish transmission impact assessment thresholds with those in England and Wales.

The Scottish Government has no powers to influence grid management in Scotland as legislation and regulations relating to gas and electricity networks are reserved to the UK Government. The independent system operator, National Energy System Operator (NESO), is responsible for strategic planning and day-to-day operation of the electricity network, working with network companies across Great Britain. Regulation of the electricity and gas networks is carried out by the independent energy regulator Ofgem.

The Scottish Government has no role in networks regulation apart from its statutory planning and consenting process.

Question reference: S6W-34390

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 19 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the National Energy System Operator, (b) ScottishPower Energy Networks, (c) Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and (d) the UK Government regarding the disparity in transmission impact assessment thresholds between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Ofgem and NESO to ensure transmission infrastructure delivers for Scotland. This includes exploration of the TIA threshold, and consideration of the impact that this has on energy users in Scotland.

The most recent discussions on TIA thresholds took place with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks on 4 February 2025. Joint discussions with UK Government, National Energy System Operator and Scottish Government officials took place on 6 February 2025. Officials also plan to discuss this when they next meet with Scottish Power Energy Networks representatives on 11 March 2025.

Officials also attend NESO’s Connections Process Advisory Group and Connections Delivery Board meetings where the TIA threshold was discussed. Membership of these governance boards includes representatives from across industry, including TOs, together with Scottish, Welsh and UK Governments and Ofgem. Notes of these meetings can be found via NESO’s website: Search | National Energy System Operator.

Question reference: S6W-34389

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 19 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted an analysis of any potential economic impact on Scottish businesses of the disparity in transmission impact assessment thresholds between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain.

To date, the Scottish Government has not undertaken analysis on the potential economic impact on Scottish businesses of the disparity in transmission impact assessment thresholds between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain.

Scotland’s transmission network operates at a lower voltage than the transmission network across the rest of GB. This difference has existed since the 1970s when the 132kV electricity network in England and Wales was transferred from the central electricity generating board to electricity distribution companies, while the same process has not been undertaken in Scotland. The differences in voltage, alongside the network being heavily constrained in Scotland, mean that projects looking to connect, even small embedded generation, could cause impacts on the network that risk the network being unable to operate safely and efficiently.

Transmission owners are licenced by Ofgem and one of their licence obligations is to develop and maintain an efficient transmission network. This includes ensuring that the network can operate safely.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Ofgem and NESO to ensure transmission infrastructure delivers for Scotland. This includes exploration of the TIA threshold, and consideration of the impact that this has on energy users in Scotland. SSEN increased the TIA threshold from 50kW to 200kW in August 2024 to align with SPEN on the mainland.

Question reference: S6W-34391

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 19 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on Scotland's net zero targets of maintaining the current 200-kilowatt threshold for transmission impact assessments.

While, to date, the Scottish Government has not carried out an assessment of the potential impact on Scotland’s net zero targets of maintaining the 200kW threshold for transmission impact assessments, it is aware of this issue. As detailed in responses to S6W-34389 and S6W-34390 on 19 February 2025, Scottish Government officials are engaging with stakeholders to develop an understanding of the issues the difference creates and to explore options which may mitigate any negative consequences.

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-34000

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to publish a bill to implement the recommendations of the Working Group on Misogyny in the current parliamentary session, and, if so, when.

The Working Group on Misogyny and the Criminal Law recommended the creation of 'gendered' laws which specifically provide protection to women and girls.

There is currently a case before the Supreme Court concerning the definition of 'women and girls'. It will be important to carefully consider the implications, if any, of the judgment in that case for the proposed Bill before any Bill might be introduced in Parliament.

Question reference: S6W-33833

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 22 January 2024, Early learning and childcare (ELC): provision for 1 and 2 year olds in Scotland, whether it will provide an update on progress with the implementation of this commitment, and by what date this will be fully implemented.

Keeping children in Scotland out of poverty is the First Minister’s and this government’s top priority and we recognise how important both early learning and school age childcare are in supporting families. That is why we continue prioritise our investment of around £1 billion per year in delivering funded ELC to all eligible children. And as a result, families across Scotland have been benefitting from the provision of 1140 hours of high quality ELC since 2021. We also committed in the 2024 Programme for Government to work with local authorities to maximise the uptake of funded early learning and childcare for eligible two-year-olds.

We are now working with local authorities and the Improvement Service on a National Improvement Project which will take focussed action in five local authorities as well as seek out and promote good practice to increase uptake for eligible two year olds across all local authority areas.

We are also progressing our early adopter community (EAC) work in six local authorities, backed by £16 million between 2024-25 and 2025-26. The EACs are expanding access to affordable childcare for low-income families with children from the early years through to the end of primary school and evaluating the difference this can make.

This expansion includes continued investment in four EACs established in 2022 in Dundee, Clackmannanshire, Glasgow and Inverclyde, as well as further expansion into new communities in Fife and Shetland.

Ultimately, it will help us to understand what it takes to design and deliver local childcare systems that support those families most at risk of living in poverty.

We have undertaken two key pieces of research, which were published last year. The first was work to map current ELC provision for younger children in Scotland and the second a literature review undertaken by Public Health Scotland. The purpose of this work was to help us understand and identify what models of ELC are best for younger children.

The evidence suggests that attending high quality formal childcare can have benefits for children’s cognitive development. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds were found to benefit most from early access to formal childcare. However, the evidence of benefits for social, emotional and behavioural outcomes is more limited and mixed. The findings from this research supports taking a considered approach to policy development so that we understand what is right for families with children under three.

We will continue to build on this early insights work by piloting new approaches via funding from the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund to test models of holistic family support, learning from our EACs and reviewing current evidence.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving our existing funded ELC offer and to taking the time needed to deliver a childcare expansion that is both fair and affordable, giving children the best possible start in life and supporting parents and carers to work, train and take up education opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-33667

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a specific timeline for the launch of the delayed cruise ship levy consultation.

Question reference: S6W-33380

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of which actions in the Scottish Biodiversity Delivery Plan 2024-2030 are specifically targeted to restore and manage species-rich grasslands.

The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS) notes that “Scotland’s uplands (above the limits of enclosed farmland) comprise a range of habitats including … species-rich grasslands” and that there has been a substantial long term decline in species-rich grasslands. The SBS Delivery Plan is intended to drive the restoration and improvement of habitats across Scotland, many of which are not mentioned explicitly.

Objective 1 of the Delivery Plan: Accelerate Restoration and Regeneration includes as a Priority Action: Introduce a programme of ecosystem restoration. There are five species-rich grassland habitats on the current Scottish Biodiversity List, and action 20.1 - revision of the Scottish Biodiversity List - is also therefore relevant. Other actions relevant to species-rich grasslands, include:

Ref:	Action
2.5	Develop upland-specific, best practice guidance on measures for upland restoration to regenerate peatlands, increase nature woodland cover, manage grazing, protect certain target species and priority habitats and increase habitat heterogeneity
2.9	Marine & coastal ecosystem restoration – machair and other grasslands
5.3	Explore how best to support optimal herbivore densities to enhance biodiversity outcomes in the uplands.
11	Actions to implement Nature Networks
21.1	Species on the Edge – great yellow and moss carder bumblebees, marsh fritillary, Scottish primrose, etc..
21.3	Species with identifiable human pressures (especially specialists and arctic alpines)
21.4	Genetic diversity mapping – as Scotland is on the edge of the range of habitats it is likely to host unique genetic variants and the potential for useful traits in wild relatives of utilised species.
21.6	Better biodiversity data – will help with understanding the condition of species-rich grassland In areas outside designated sites.
21.7	Publish Plant biodiversity strategy - grasslands are specifically mentioned
28	Public Awareness and engagement to improve public awareness of climate-biodiversity issues and our connectedness to nature

Question reference: S6O-04255

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding how it delivers support for community ownership of heritage assets.

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