- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what work is being done to support local communities that have recently been affected by water shortages.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2023
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that it has spent nearly £220,000 setting up the Deposit Return Scheme to date, how much it budgeted for setting up the scheme.
Answer
The Scottish Government has spent £218,565.83 in setting up the Deposit Return Scheme since 2018. This includes the costs associated with consultation, publication of regulations and associated documents, evaluations, independent reviews and assurance.
The costs associated with the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) are met from the wider Zero Waste budget. For that whole Zero Waste budget the Scottish Government budgeted £40.2m in 2021-22, £42.9m in 2022-23 and £46.9m in 2023-24. DRS is a very small part of those budgets which, as a whole, support major circular economy delivery programmes including implementation of Circular Economy Bill and Waste Route Map, Extended Producer Responsibility, incineration research, landfill remediation, recycling, single-use plastics, litter and flytipping and funding for Zero Waste Scotland to support delivery of SG objectives.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what practical steps it (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to deliver a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030.
Answer
The answer to question S6W-18396 on 12 June 2023 to the member outlines some of the practical measures being undertaken in order to achieve this commitment, and deliver a fairer, greener transport system for everyone in Scotland. However, given the Scottish Government recognises the need to go further in order to meet our statutory climate goals, and we are committed to finding ways to make alternative travel modes more attractive, and supporting people to take fewer journeys by car. The evidence is clear travel behaviours can only be changed on the required scale through a broad combination of interventions, including infrastructure, incentives and regulation.
As outlined in the draft 20% car KM reduction route map, we have commissioned research exploring equitable options for demand management to discourage car use. This will form the basis of a Demand Management Framework by 2025. The most direct levers on the cost of buying or running a petrol or diesel car – fuel duty and vehicle excise duty – are currently reserved, and the recent rises in the cost of motoring underline the unfairness of the current, regressive motoring tax regime. We will continue to press the UK Government for a fair and progressive future transport tax system that better incentivises the transition to zero-emission vehicles, reduces unnecessary journeys and raises revenues to fund policies to support a shift to more sustainable travel.
The Scottish Government plans to continue with the approach outlined, and the updated 20% route map which will be published in the coming months will provide further detail on how we will deliver this commitment.
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
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what specific action it has taken to achieve its aim to deliver a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030, since first making the announcement.
Answer
The draft route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car km driven in Scotland by 2030 published in January 2022 outlines our approach to achieving this. A period of engagement and consultation followed publication, and the analysis and consideration of the consultation responses have shaped the final route map which will pe published in the coming months. The route map was co-produced with CoSLA, in recognition of the importance of local-level interventions, and we will continue to work closely with local and regional partners to achieve this commitment.
The route map contains over 30 national-level interventions, and recognises the need to shift towards sustainable alternatives to car use. We know that to reduce car use, public transport has to be available, affordable and accessible so, as part of the Fair Fares Review, a pilot to remove ScotRail peak fares on all routes will start in October. In addition, £421.8 million has been allocated in funding for bus services and concessionary fares in 2023-24, providing up to 2.3 million people in Scotland with access to free bus travel. This is part of a total of over £2 billion spent on supporting public transport by the Scottish Government annually.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17500 by Angus Robertson on 12 May 2023, when it plans to update the gov.scot website with "the full costs of my visit, and those of all Ministerial travel costs", in order for MSPs to be able to see the information, in light of its answer encouraging people to "look there for more details"; whether it has now published "details of the meetings, including summaries of each", in light of its answer stating that this would "be published next week under Freedom of Information", and whether it will provide the "range of actions including follow up with specific companies, ongoing diaspora engagements and discussion with the Tartan Week Committee" that "will continue to be monitored in the coming year".
Answer
Ministerial Engagements, travel and gifts are published within 3 months in line with the Scottish Ministerial Code.
The Freedom of Information request referred to, detailing meetings and summaries of each, was published on 19 May 2023 on the Scottish Government Website. Details can be found at this link https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202300352406/ .
Follow up actions from business meetings are contained in the meeting summaries. Actions include, but are not limited to: offering to support links to centres of excellence in technology and data science; continued support of the encouragement of talent access; gathering examples of best practice across industries; supporting development of events; working with our diaspora partners to support improving delivery of Tartan Week results for Scotland; and continuation of support from Scottish Enterprise for development activities.
Specific actions that are sensitive to the future operations of those companies and diaspora groups, have been omitted in order to protect business interests and the strong US Scotland relationship.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 8 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement has taken place between any ministers who, in the three years leading up to December 2022, used the claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe's offshore wind potential, and the UK Statistics Authority, since December 2022.
Answer
No engagement has taken place between any Ministers who used the statistic and the UK Statistics Authority since December 2022.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 8 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the view of the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir Robert Chote, in his letter of 7 December 2022 to Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, that the claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe's potential offshore wind resource was "poorly constructed" in the Scottish Government's 2010 publication that made the claim.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13092 on 10 January 2023. 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
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 8 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) since December 2022 to understand what more can be done to (a) avoid further use of the claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe's offshore wind potential and (b) obtain a more accurate and up-to-date figure for Scotland's offshore wind potential in comparison with Europe, and what requests for meetings, discussions or consultations have been made by the OSR that the Scottish Government has not been able to attend or convene.
Answer
The Office of the Chief Statistician and Data Officer engaged directly with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in December 2022, setting out the steps that have been taken to ensure the statistic is not used further, and provided an update on the analytical work that is underway to produce a replacement statistic.
Ministers are not aware of any meetings, discussions or consultations made by the OSR that the Scottish Government has not been able to attend or convene.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent report by Changeworks, which reportedly found that homes in the Highlands and Islands have lower Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings than the rest of Scotland.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to the similar question, S6O-02277, on 25 May 2023. The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at Meeting of the Parliament: 25/05/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website
I reiterate my thanks to Changeworks for this important report.
The average energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of Highland and Island properties is lower than the national average rating because of the typically more expensive fuels that are used or available, how those are reflected in the current EPC metric, and the historically lower energy efficiency standards.
We propose that all housing in Scotland should meet the equivalent of EPC rating C by 2033, following reform of EPC metrics. We intend to consult on reformed EPCs shortly.
We offer support to improve the energy efficiency of rural homes, including a funding uplift to our Home Energy Scotland grant and loan scheme, and targeted fuel poverty support.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what research has been conducted into any barriers for young people accessing the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, and what measures have been introduced to reduce any such barriers.
Answer
The Scottish Government has listened to young people and their families about the application process and worked closely with delivery partners and local authorities to make improvements.
In light of feedback received, the Improvement Service, which runs the online portal https://getyournec.scot/nec/ made changes to the website to improve the application process and relaxed conditions on some of the proofs required.
In addition, local authorities have been working hard to support applications made offline and many have dedicated staff on hand to help those who may need additional support through the application process.
Further, towards the end of last year, the Scottish Government delivered a national marketing campaign to increase awareness and understanding of the scheme, and encourage more young people to apply.
Work is now underway on the one year evaluation study which will include questions looking at barriers to bus travel and to accessing, or using, the Young Person’s Free Bus Travel Scheme. The evaluation will collect information from children, young people and parents (both users and non-users of the scheme) about their experiences. The evaluation study will also draw on scheme cardholder data.
