Questions and answers

Question reference: S5O-05156

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Orkney Islands Council and what was discussed.

Question reference: S5W-35735

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the climate emergency is a primary consideration in decision-making processes for planning matters.

National Planning Framework 3 and Scottish Planning Policy, our current national planning policy, published in 2014, aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and they remain in-force until replaced.

Since then the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 includes meeting greenhouse gas emission targets as one of six outcomes for the National Planning Framework to address. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) is in preparation and the NPF4 Position Statement (November 2020) clearly establishes climate change as a guiding principle to be addressed in NPF4. It also states that we expect to confirm that the Global Climate Emergency should be a material consideration in applications for appropriately located renewable energy developments.

This is a significant issue that requires full consultation and will be addressed fully in the draft NPF4 to be laid in Parliament in Autumn 2021. On approval in 2022 the planning policies included in NPF4 will have development plan status for decision making purposes.

Question reference: S5W-35737

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how may planning appeals for onshore wind farms have taken the climate emergency into account, since it was declared in May 2019.

Reporters are required to make planning appeal decisions on the basis of the development plan for the area unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Material considerations include Scottish Government Policy, the National Planning Framework (NPF) and Scottish Planning Policy. NPF3 is clear that planning must facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy and the decision maker must consider, amongst others, the scale of contribution to renewable energy generation and the effect on greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Since 1 May 2019, 15 appeal decisions for proposed wind farms have been made of which 5 have been allowed.

Question reference: S5W-35738

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many planning appeals for onshore wind farms, which have been granted, have taken the climate emergency into account.

Reporters are required to make planning appeal decisions on the basis of the development plan for the area unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Material considerations include Scottish Government Policy, the National Planning Framework (NPF) and Scottish Planning Policy. NPF3 is clear that planning must facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy and the decision maker must consider, amongst others, the scale of contribution to renewable energy generation and the effect on greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Since 1 May 2019, 15 appeal decisions for proposed wind farms have been made of which 5 have been allowed.

Question reference: S5W-35561

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 26 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 March 2021

To ask to ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34704 by Fergus Ewing on 3 February 2021, what its most recent communication with the Farming and Food Production Future Policy Group (FFP-FPG) indicated about timetables for publishing its final report, and in particular whether the final report will be made publicly available before the Parliament rises on 25 March 2021.

Question reference: S5W-35713

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether consideration is being given to allowing personnel who are on rotation from working offshore and are travelling back from overseas, to self-isolate at home rather than in a hotel.

Changes were made to the sectoral exemption for oil and gas workers under the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Scotland) Regulations, so that workers returning from an installation in the North Sea who have transited via a non-acute risk country or territory (but have not entered that country or territory) are not required to stay in managed accommodation but are required to stay in specified premises (such as their own home). This came into effect at 4am on 25 February. A meeting with OGUK is taking place on 11 March to discuss any further concerns.

Question reference: S5W-35734

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether delays to the National Planning Framework 4 will have any impact on Net Zero targets.

Scotland is leading the way on tackling climate change. The Climate Change Plan update, published in December, announces over 100 new policies and sets us on a pathway toward a just transition to net zero by 2045. It is also clear that National Planning Framework 4 will play a crucial role in supporting its delivery.

National Planning Framework 3 and Scottish Planning Policy already include approaches to assist with emissions reduction and these remain in-force. We will reflect on the latest information, policy and targets as we bring forward a draft National Planning Framework 4 later this year.

Question reference: S5W-35087

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to have determined the impact of the UK’s new subsidy control system on ferry services, and by what date this information will be set out in more detail.

Scottish Government officials are currently working to understand the various impacts of the new Subsidy Control rules which were introduced, without prior notice, on an interim basis on 1 January 2021.

The UKG department with responsibility for the new rules is BEIS, and they are currently holding a consultation exercise on how these new rules should be applied for the longer term, which is due to close at the end of March. Again, Scottish Government officials and Ministers were given no prior notice of the detail or timing of this exercise and are therefore working to contribute fully to the consultation in the time given.

I am unable therefore at this time to provide a firm date, but assure the Member that officials are working as hard as possible to gain clarity on these new rules and the various impacts on subsidies, including ferry services.

Question reference: S5W-35227

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to the owners of fishing vessels that are ineligible for the Seafood Producers Resilience Fund because they are recent entrants to the sector and cannot demonstrate landings exceeding £20,000 in any year since 2017 and at least 50% of their declared overall catch is shellfish.

The Seafood Producer’s Resilience Fund is a £6.45m fund to support those parts of the Scottish Seafood sector where the evidence is strongest of hardship as a result of the public health situation, and the impact, in the short term, of EU Exit. By supporting these businesses we hope that they will survive, adapt to the new, tougher realities of trade outside the EU and participate in a sustainable recovery from Covid-19. In order to ensure good value for money it is necessary to ensure that the businesses being supported are viable in themselves, and to focus our limited funding on those segments where the need for support was greatest.

The £20,000 landing criteria is necessary to ensure that businesses are active and viable, but we learnt from previous schemes in allowing vessels with extenuating circumstances in one year to still benefit. The requirement that half of the declared overall catch was shellfish was to target funding at this segment, which our market analysis told us was most severely affected.

Some of those businesses not eligible for funding from the SPRF will be eligible for funding from the scheme recently announced by the UK Government, or for other forms of funding available through Local Authorities or other agencies. Individuals facing hardship should consider contacting the Fishermen’s Mission, who have been provided with £300,000 of funding to ensure that they can met increased demand for support.

Question reference: S5W-35348

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it uses symptomatic COVID-19 testing to establish the rate of positivity, and what consideration it has given to using data from sentinel testing.

The Scottish Government currently measures the test positivity rate (percent of tests that are positive) by calculating the total number of positive PCR tests reported on a particular day divided by the overall number of PCR tests reported that day. The positivity rate reflects both symptomatic and asymptomatic testing.

An update to Scotland’s Strategic Framework was published on 23 February 2021 which sets out how we are working to suppress the virus. We have adjusted our Levels approach primarily by rebasing the indicators that we use to guide decisions on the allocation of levels on those recommended by the WHO’s guidance. We will publish a separate analytical paper about indicators and data, and how we propose to make use of them ahead of the point at which we believe it is appropriate to begin varying levels geographically again. The potential for sentinel testing in Scotland will be considered and set out in the forthcoming paper.

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