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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-19513

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of food poverty rates in Aberdeen.

The Scottish Health Survey , which is commissioned by the Scottish Government, asked respondents whether they were worried about running out of food. The most recent data was published on 8 November 2022 and found that in Aberdeen City 10% of people were worried they would run out of food compared to a figure for Scotland as a whole of 9%. For Aberdeenshire Council a slightly lower figure of 8% of people reported they were worried they would run out of food.

Question reference: S6W-19260

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what investment it has made to support the production of hydrogen technology, such as fuel cells or electrolysers, in Scotland.

Alongside our aim to accelerate the development of industrial scale renewable hydrogen projects, the Scottish Government continues to foster demonstration, innovation and manufacturing and workforce skills development in the hydrogen sector.

To support research and innovation in hydrogen production, storage, and distribution, we launched the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme in 2022 and offered over £7m in grants to 32 projects last May.

Additionally, our £26 million Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund provides support to Scottish manufacturing businesses looking to grow through the development of low carbon products.

Many of the levers required to support the emergence of a flourishing hydrogen economy in the devolved nations are reserved to the UK Government, and so we will continue to work closely with the UKG to ensure that our collective vision for the development of the hydrogen economy is aligned and the benefits are realised across all nations of the UK.

Question reference: S6W-19259

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has carried out on utilising single solar and hydrogen combined heat and power units for home usage.

Hydrogen will be a key part of the net zero journey. Complementary alongside electricity, hydrogen will potentially play a role in heating some homes and buildings, this role depends upon strategic decisions by the UK Government and we continue to urge the UK Government to accelerate decisions on the role of 100% hydrogen in the gas grid. These decisions will be supported by testing and demonstration.

The Scottish Government has helped fund a number of key hydrogen demonstration projects over the past few years. These investments have been critical in gaining an understanding of hydrogen production and hydrogen system integration into wider energy systems. Projects such as SGN’s H100 Fife project, with aims to fit 100% hydrogen boilers into 300 homes in Leven, will help to understand the role hydrogen can play in decarbonising heat using the gas network and the Kirkwall Airport project, which demonstrates the potential for a renewable hydrogen combustion engine to support the decarbonisation of the Highlands and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL) locations.

Question reference: S6W-19258

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested to support its hydrogen strategy.

The Scottish Government has an ambition of at least 5GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030 and 25GW by 2025. The Hydrogen Policy Statement (2020) and the Hydrogen Action Plan (2022) set out how we will work collaboratively with the energy sector to drive progress over the course of this Parliament.

The Hydrogen Action Plan is supported by a programme of capital funding, designed to accelerate and maximise the production of renewable hydrogen in Scotland.

Funding to date includes:

over £7m in grants offered via the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme to 32 projects that will drive innovation in renewable hydrogen production, storage, and distribution;
over £6m awarded via the Just Transition Fund to HydroGlen, a green hydrogen farming pilot;
and £15m awarded via the Energy Transition Fund to accelerate Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub.

The next tranche of the hydrogen investment programme, the Green Hydrogen Fund, will launch later this year. This fund will focus on supporting renewable hydrogen production from Scotland’s abundant renewable energy resources, seeking to give Scotland first-mover advantage.

Question reference: S6O-02451

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to mitigate the impact of the cost of living crisis on people across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19009

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding potential measures to protect workers’ rights in any new Investment Zones that may be established in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19010

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is considering for implementation within any new Investment Zones that may be established in Scotland.

The Scottish Government have been clear that any Investment Zones here must be a good fit for Scotland’s policy, economic and governance landscape; be well aligned to our National Strategy for Economic Transformation, our approach to regional economic policy, and our recently published innovation strategy, and; be taken forward jointly by the Scottish and UK Governments, and in close partnership between government and the relevant Regional Economic Partnerships.

Question reference: S6W-19007

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the possibility of an Investment Zone in Aberdeen.

Scottish Government and UK Government officials are actively discussing a partnership approach to possible Investment Zones in Scotland. The Scottish Government has been clear in these discussions that any Investment Zones must be a good fit for Scotland's policy, economic and governance landscape; must build on, rather than cutting across, existing economic activity; and must be taken forward jointly by the two governments working closely with local authorities and their partners.

Question reference: S6W-19008

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council regarding the possibility of an Investment Zone in Aberdeen.

Question reference: S4W-30419

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland has made recommendations to the Scottish Government about any legislative change required following the recent cases of fraudulent disposition of title.

The keeper has robust measures in place to minimise the effects of fraud, and keeps them under review. She has a designated fraud officer responsible for implementing her fraud prevention and mitigation policies, and for delivering regular staff training. Her staff are encouraged to refer suspicious applications to the fraud officer. In order to aid earlier detection, the Keeper meets with other bodies such as the Law Society of Scotland, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Police Scotland and Revenue Scotland. She also maintains communications with other land registries both in the UK and internationally to monitor trends.

The reply to S4W-30417 on 17 March 2016 sets out the process for fraud discovered after registration. If an allegation of fraud is made before an application for registration has been determined then the keeper will apply her policy on holding applications in abeyance as set out in Registers Update 42 (issued in December 2014)

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.