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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-18281

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that NatureScot spent approximately £650,000 of its Farming with Nature budget on pay rises for its staff.

In the 2022-23 financial year, it was highlighted that the Farming with Nature programme expected an underspend.

Separately, given the significant levels of inflation we saw throughout the financial year, it was evident that public sector pay budgets were insufficient to cover the pay settlements eventually agreed.

The Scottish Government therefore agreed with NatureScot that the underspend from the Farming with Nature programme could be used to support the agreed pay settlement.

These are therefore 2 separate matters. The key elements of the planned 2022-23 activity on Farming with Nature have been carried forward to 2023-24 and will be funded from the budget allocation for this financial year.

Question reference: S6W-18250

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided to date to support the application process for the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, including (a) customer service, (b) technical support, (c) logistics and distribution of the cards and (d) marketing and promotion costs.

The Scottish Government provided funding to a number of delivery partners to support the delivery and operation of the application process for the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme which includes costs associated with customer service, technical support, card production and distribution, marketing and other operational activities. The breakdown of funding is as follows;

The Improvement Service has been provided funding of £2,382,100 for activities relating to the online application process, support for local authorities, customer service, and other operational costs.
The National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO) has been provided funding of £1,352,332 for activities relating to the management of application systems and processes, card production and distribution, and other operational costs.
Young Scot has been provided funding of £159,000 for activities relating to customer service, marketing and promotion, and other operational costs.

The funding outlined is correct as of 25 May 2023 but is subject to change pending conclusion of financial reconciliations.

The Scottish Government spent a total of £1,173,257 on the communications, marketing and promotion of the scheme and its application process.

Question reference: S6W-18251

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, what research has been conducted into uptake levels and applications for the scheme from young people in various data zones, according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).

Data on the possession of a National Entitlement Card by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintiles comes from the Scottish Household Survey, which asks questions regarding concessionary bus travel on alternate years.

The Scottish Household Survey 2021 was published in April 2023 but covers the year prior to the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme coming into force in January 2022.

Work is now underway on the one year evaluation of the Young Person’s Free Bus Travel Scheme. The evaluation will include questions looking at barriers to bus travel and to accessing, or using, the scheme. It 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 on young people in various data zones, according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Question reference: S6W-18273

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what data it has on the number of sewage discharges, broken down by (a) incidence and (b) hours of discharge, into the North Sea from any point within 5 km north or south of Peterhead, in each year since 2017 up to the latest available data; what the approximate volumes were of any such discharges in each year; what assessment has been made of the potential impact of any such discharges on the health of users of the waters within that area; for what reasons there were any such discharges; what action it has taken since 2017 to reduce the number of discharges, and what is currently being done to prevent any further discharges.

As indicated in Scottish Water’s first annual update to its Improving Urban Waters Routemap, spill data has been published at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/help-and-resources/document-hub/key-publications/urban-waters-improvements .

I refer the member to the answer to S6O-02060 on 23 March 2023 for further information on measures taken to improve Scotland’s water environment.

The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the official report can be viewed at Meeting of the Parliament: 23/03/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website

Question reference: S6W-18253

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to local authorities to support the roll-out of the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, since it was launched, broken down by local authority.

A total of £52,000 of financial support was awarded to seven local authorities through a grant funding agreement with the Improvement Service. This was one-off support to assist with the operational implementation of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme. The breakdown by local authority is as follows;

Aberdeenshire Council £6,500
East Renfrewshire Council £6,000
Glasgow City Council £10,000
North Ayrshire Council £6,500
North Lanarkshire Council £10,000
South Lanarkshire Council £6,500
West Dunbartonshire Council £6,500

Question reference: S6W-18206

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13830 by Michael Matheson on 18 January 2023, whether it will provide an update on when it expects to publish updated guidance on Good Practice Principles for community benefits from offshore renewable energy developments, and whether it will provide details of the (a) dates of and (b) attendance at the "series of stakeholder engagement sessions to raise awareness of the work and gather initial input".

Question reference: S6W-18391

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it acknowledging in November 2022 that the claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe's potential offshore wind resource was inaccurate, when it plans to publish an evidenced, data-based estimate of the true figure.

As stated in my response to S6W-17912 on 25 May 20223 “Work commenced in December 2022 to develop alternative metrics for Scotland’s offshore wind potential and the outcome of this work will be published in due course.”

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: S6T-01421

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to commence its Deposit Return Scheme on 1 March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-18278

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government by what year it plans to have electrified the full extent of the East Coast Main Line between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and whether Network Rail has confirmed that it plans to deliver electrification by that year.

No date has been set for the electrification of the full extent of the East Coast Main Line between Aberdeen and Edinburgh. However, in line with the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan, this route is under consideration for future electrification by Transport Scotland, with plans at an early stage of development.

The Decarbonisation Action Plan commits to all passenger diesel trains being replaced; the order and programme in which that is done will depend on business cases and available budgets. The Plan itself is intended to be dynamic, with regular updates.

Question reference: S6W-18205

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the report on electricity system stability and security of supply in Scotland.