- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 9 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what funding and incentives it will make available to stimulate consumer take-up of heat pump technology.
Answer
The Scottish Government, through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Loan and Cashback scheme, provides interest-free loans with up to 75% cashback grant funding for homeowners to replace fossil-fuel heating systems such as gas with low or zero emissions heating systems such as heat pumps alongside insulation measures.
To further support households to make their homes greener, we provide:
- free, impartial advice through Home Energy Scotland, including specialist home renewables advice;
- HES loans with up to 40% cashback for energy efficiency measures;
- the Green Homes Network which allows households to find out about the experience of others who have already installed measures; and
- the Renewable Installer Finder Tool which helps households find installers and suppliers in their area.
Under the HES Loan and Cashback scheme, homeowners can borrow up to £17,500 for a total of two renewables measures. If applying for a heat pump, then a maximum of up to £10,000 is available (either air source to water, ground source to water, water source to water or hybrid air source to water (£2,500 loan & £7,500 cashback)).
These advice and support schemes can be accessed through Home Energy Scotland, managed on behalf of Scottish Government by the Energy Saving Trust.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported decline in air passengers travelling through Scottish airports.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2021
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01498 by Graeme Dey on 6 August 2021, whether its response at (b)(ii) means that it no longer plans to meet the commitment, as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal, to reduce journey times between Aberdeen and the central belt by 20 minutes, or whether the "maximum benefits" referred to are anticipated to at least meet that commitment, and, if it is still committed to reducing journey times between Aberdeen and the central belt by 20 minutes, when it plans to achieve this.
Answer
Transport Scotland remains committed to working with key industry partners to achieve, by 2026, the 20 minutes journey time saving between Aberdeen and Edinburgh (average journey time of 2 hours 10 minutes for express services). This outcome was agreed at the final meeting of the Aberdeen to Central Belt Reference Group.
The Reference Group also endorsed a service specification, previously set out in Network Rail’s 2016 Scotland Rail Study of:
1. an average journey time of 1 hour 10 minutes or less for inter-city services between Aberdeen and Dundee;
2. an average journey time of 2 hours 30 minutes or less for inter-city services between Aberdeen and Glasgow;
3. half-hourly services from local stations into Aberdeen and Dundee during peak times;
4. an hourly stopping service between Aberdeen and Dundee; and
5. new freight paths.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01498 by Graeme Dey on 6 August 2020, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how much of any remaining funds it plans to spend on the railway between Aberdeen and Dundee and, if this information is not held centrally at present, whether it will confirm if there is an option that none of the funding could be allocated to that route.
Answer
Transport Scotland will be in a position to confirm details in Spring 2022, once the option selection phase for the project is completed and the estimated costs and benefits have been determined against each option.
Currently there is no option being considered which does not see the allocated funding being spent on the route between Aberdeen and Dundee.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to mitigate coastal erosion.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates the Heat Pump Sector Deal Expert Advisory Group will meet its objective to report on its findings and strategy, as set out in the group's interim report published in June 2021.
Answer
Heat pumps will be a strategically vital technology to deliver low carbon heat in buildings as part of the Scottish Government’s statutory target to meet net zero emissions by 2045. Following a call from the Climate Emergency Response Group, we have established an expert advisory group to make recommendations to Scottish Ministers on the scope of a potential heat pump sector deal for Scotland.
The group is independently chaired by Mike Thornton of the Energy Saving Trust and supported by Scottish Government officials. In June, the group published a detailed interim report offering views across a range of important issues for the heat pump sector. Since then, the group have met to discuss these issues further with a view to finalising their recommendations in late summer. We are confident that the group will meet this objective and we have committed to responding to the group's recommendations in our final Heat in Buildings Strategy.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 30 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what carbon-impact assessments have been completed for the planting of additional forestry, and what analysis it has carried out regarding whether this will help with achieving its net zero targets.
Answer
The contribution of additional new planting towards Scotland’s net zero targets has been calculated by the Scottish Government using an economy-wide model that projects future CO 2 emissions and removals to 2045.
The forestry element of the model uses data from the forestry part of the UK GHG projections for Scotland and from estimates of forest growth following planting. The model is responsive to different levels of woodland planting in future. The UK GHG projections show the forest estate in Scotland remaining a carbon sink throughout the period to 2045.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that additional forests will take 20 years to cancel the carbon impact of cultivating them.
Answer
The majority of new woodlands created in Scotland will, over a 20 year period, sequester more carbon than is released during cultivation, and will continue to absorb carbon for the rest of their growing period. Scotland’s forests are predicted to remain a net sink through the period to 2045 and beyond.
In certain circumstances, where tree growth is expected to be moderate and where the soil is of a particular type carbon accounting can be less predictable and in those situations, greater attention is paid to the method of ground preparation as required through our new cultivation guidance. Scottish Forestry has engaged Forest Research (FR) to examine the impact of carbon release caused by forestry ground cultivation in organo-mineral soils, and is using that evidence to put in place methodologies that will ensure that growing trees will reabsorb carbon released from cultivation as quickly as possible.
Scottish Forestry will no longer approve high impact cultivation techniques, including shallow ploughing and other forms of linear cultivation on peat soils which are over 10cm in depth. Research evidence from FR demonstrates that by doing so there will be no net loss of carbon over a 20 year period, and afterwards the growing trees will continue to sequester and absorb carbon for the rest of the forest rotation.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what research informed its setting a target of 21% of Scotland being covered in forest by 2032.
Answer
The aim that 21% of Scotland will be afforested by 2032 was informed by the targets for woodland creation set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan 2018-32. The Plan is informed by the legislative targets set out in the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 July 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 August 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) planning, or (b) preparation it has undertaken to prevent air pollution levels rising (i) to, or (ii) above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
Answer
Green recovery must form a central part of Scotland's emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic. In relation to air quality, the key challenges will be to understand how the air pollution reductions seen during lockdown periods can be maintained long-term and sustainably, and how these changes can benefit the long-term health of the population
On 15 July 2021 the Scottish Government published its new air quality strategy 'Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - Towards a Better Place for Everyone' (CAFS 2). CAFS 2 sets out a series of actions to deliver further air pollution reductions over the next five years. These actions include work being progressed across Government which will benefit air quality, such as continuing to take forward introduction of Low Emission Zones in Scotland's four largest cities, a £500 million funding commitment to active travel over the next five years, a reduction in motor vehicle kilometres by 20% by 2030 and the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans, also by 2030.
We are also taking forward proposals to control the sale of the most polluting domestic fuels, produce a code of good agricultural practice for improving air quality in Scotland and develop a public engagement strategy on air quality. At the same time we will ensure that CAFS 2 integrates fully with other Government plans and strategies that have implications for air quality, such as the Climate Change Plan update, the National Transport Strategy 2 and National Planning Framework 4.