Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-04419

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline its funding strategy for health and social care partnerships in the North East Scotland region.

Question reference: S6W-34318

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33251 by Ivan McKee on 23 January 2025, how much revenue has been raised from non-domestic rates levied on properties with pylon infrastructure in each of the last three years; whether any other levies are applied to pylons based on their height or size, and, if so, how much revenue was raised in 2024 from each of these levies.

The estimated non-domestic rates revenue from energy transmission infrastructure from 2022-2023 to 2024-2025 is presented in Table 1. This includes overhead transmission lines and pylons, underground lines, and sub-stations, operating at or above 132kV. We are unable to separately estimate the amounts related to pylon infrastructure only.

There are no Scottish Government levies charged on the basis of pylon height or size. We are not aware of any other levies charged on this basis.

Table 1: Estimated non-domestic rates income from electricity transmission infrastructure

Financial year	Non-domestic rates income (£)
2022-2023	81,744,000
2023-2024	112,398,000
2024-2025	114,595,000

Source: Designated electricity transmission entries on the Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 October 2022, 1 October 2023, 1 October 2024.

Question reference: S6W-34343

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board has paid out from the £1 million investment in bursaries for GP trainees who stay in rural and island areas for their training.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Scottish Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS) offers a one-off payment of £20,000 to GP trainees who commit to undertaking their training in selected areas and programmes. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) are responsible for issuing the bursaries, which are paid directly to the GP trainees.

Question reference: S6W-34324

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all rural areas across Scotland have reliable signal coverage for smart meters before the Radio Teleswitch Service ends on 30 June 2025.

The Scottish Government has no powers over the smart-meter network or the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS). Telecommunications is also a reserved issue.

However, the Scottish Government is addressing poor signal coverage through digital infrastructure programmes such as Reaching 100% and the Scottish 4G Infill (S4GI) programme. This is an example of Scottish Government using its own resources to ensure that Scotland’s homes and businesses are not left behind and can access the benefits of smart metering as soon as possible.

We have delivered 55 mobile masts in rural and island areas, all of which are available on an open access basis and could potentially be used to site smart meter radio infrastructure. The Shared Rural Network, a joint venture between the mobile industry and the UK Government, will also further increase geographic mobile coverage by building new infrastructure with the aim of reaching 91% of Scottish geography by 2027. It is therefore imperative that the UK Government and Ofgem update the regulations to allow the Data Communications Company (DCC) to use mobile technology to provide a signal to homes in Scotland and ensure that all meters can be appropriately upgraded.

It is unacceptable that there are currently no penalties for failure on the part of the DCC to deliver smart meter coverage across every part of the country. The Scottish Government continues to call on the UK Government to rectify this by including RTS related obligations in Ofgem licence conditions.

Question reference: S6W-34344

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many so-called Golden Hello payments for new GPs each NHS board has made in each since these were introduced,

Question reference: S6W-33979

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32906 by Alasdair Allan on 16 January 2025, whether it has asked the UK Government to introduce a compensatory scheme for people who have installed spray foam insulation in lofts under the EC04 scheme.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any examples of spray foam insulation being installed in lofts in Scottish properties as part of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) scheme. Delivery guidance published by Ofgem indicates that spray foam insulation in lofts would not have been eligible for ECO4 finance.

We have asked the UK Government to advise Scottish Ministers further about any concerns raised about the quality of retrofit work undertaken in Scotland as part of these schemes.

Question reference: S6W-33978

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32906 by Alasdair Allan on 16 January 2025, whether it has asked the UK Government to introduce a compensatory scheme for people who have installed underfloor foam insulation under the EC04 scheme.

We are continuing to seek further information from the UK Government about consumer protections in respect of the ECO4 and GBIS schemes.

The UK Minister for Energy Consumers made an oral announcement in the Westminster Parliament on 23 January 2025 stating that 39 companies had been suspended as installers for solid wall insulation as part of these schemes.

We have been assured by the UK Government that these issues are particular to solid wall insulation installed under the Energy Company Obligation 4 and Great British Insulation Scheme. However we have asked them to advise Scottish Ministers further about any concerns raised about the quality of retrofit work undertaken in Scotland as part of these schemes.

Question reference: S6W-33991

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is reportedly no statutory requirement on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to monitor large battery storage unit sites.

Responsibility for fire safety and monitoring at Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) sites rests with the duty holder/site owner. Many BESS locations are unmanned and monitored remotely, meaning there is typically no immediate life risk. Some BESS sites may have welfare facilities for workers during short, irregular shifts (outside of construction or decommissioning phases), and certain buildings on these sites may fall under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 in terms of general fire safety. However, these sites are normally not subject to fire risk regulations due to the processes taking place on site.

SFRS adheres to the National Fire Chiefs Council’s guidance for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), developed with the safety of both the public and emergency responders in mind.

A dedicated working group within SFRS will continue to monitor the increasing number of BESS applications and their development, alongside the Service’s role in the planning, consultation, and progression of these sites.

SFRS’ protection efforts focus on four key areas:

The impact of life safety in the event of a fire.
A risk-based approach to safety.
Emerging intelligence, including operational insights and partner communications.
Post-fire audits and analysis.

A strong focus on prevention and the adherence to industry safety standards is essential for managing risks. The SFRS specialist fire safety enforcement and community safety teams will continue to collaborate with partner agencies, and their highly skilled firefighters are ready to deploy standard and specialised national resources to any incident as needed.

Question reference: S6W-33992

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is reportedly no specific fire safety guidance for battery energy storage systems in Scotland, in light of there being such guidance in England and Wales.

Guidance is covered under The National Fire Chief Council's (NFCC) Grid Scale Planning Guidance for Fire and Rescue Services which covers the UK. These guidelines detail, amongst other things, minimum standards with fire safety systems and design features, water requirements for firefighting and access requirements.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) will also aim to review planning documents if appropriate for firefighting and fire safety operations (e.g. water access, proximity requirements) and will continually review and develop its operational response to any new and emerging technology to keep communities safe and ensure the highest level of preparedness.

Question reference: S6W-33322

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26773 by Maree Todd on 7 May 2024, whether its position regarding potentially establishing an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce remains the same.

The Scottish Government is not currently planning to establish an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce.

However, we are undertaking a range of actions to improve access to diagnosis and support for people with ADHD.

The Scottish Government is working with NHS Boards, community partners, and the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to improve access to diagnosis, by supporting local health partners to develop, enhance and redesign existing local neurodevelopmental services.

We are working with NAIT to implement Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways across Scotland. By implementing a single diagnostic pathway for autism and ADHD, and by adopting a stepped care model, we hope to ensure that diagnostic and post-diagnostic support is provided in a timely and effective fashion.

We also provide funding to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to deliver training resources to meet the needs of staff working in ADHD services across health and social care. These include webinars on ‘Assessing ADHD’ and ‘Understanding ADHD in Girls and Women’, which are available to all NHS and Social Care staff via an online knowledge hub.

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