Lorna Slater

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its contracts exclude employment costs arising from legal obligations to employees, including parental leave, sick leave and redundancy, from eligible costs, and how many of any such contracts are with voluntary organisations.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government have 880 live contracts and frameworks of which 42 are with voluntary organisations with details of these publicly available on the Public Contracts Scotland contract register. The Scottish Government requires suppliers to account for …

10 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its grant agreements exclude employment costs arising from the grantee’s legal obligations to its employees, including parental leave, sick leave and redundancy, from eligible costs, and how many of any such grant agreements are with voluntary organisations.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Scottish Government Grants are subject to legally binding agreements. A model offer template is in place which includes terms and standard conditions and schedules covering claims and payments. The exclusion of employment costs forms part of clause 2.7 of the…

5 Jun 2025 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

3 Jun 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of its plans for bringing forward the requisite regulations to fully implement the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021, including the special rights and powers that the Act foresees for heat network developers.

21 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what national guidance it has issued to NHS boards on the provision of blood testing facilities for people self-medicating gender hormones, in light of reports of long waiting times for gender identity care through the NHS. 

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government has not issued guidance to Health Boards on the provision of blood testing facilities for people who may be self-medicating hormones for the purpose of seeking to address gender dysphoria.The provision of specific healthcare facilities…

21 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to NHS boards in 2025-26 for providing gender identity care. 

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of trans people, who, we know, continue to suffer poorer outcomes relative to the wider population, including in mental and physical health.Accordingly, we are taking forward a range of actions to im…

15 May 2025 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

13 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it (a) has taken in the last six months and (b) is planning to take to improve waiting times for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments in the Lothian region.

Answer · Maree Todd: Long waits for neurodevelopmental support are unacceptable. Health boards and children’s services partners are responsible for working together to ensure that children and families receive support and access to services that meet their needs at the earl…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide support, similar to that available for heat pump installation, to help households meet the cost of connecting to a heat network.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Heat networks have an important role to play in meeting the objectives set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.Our Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme continues to support homeowners with an interest-free loan of up to £7,500 towards conn…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce legislation to require all public buildings and those supported by public funding to connect to district heating, to help provide demand assurance for heat networks.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: As I have set out in my statement to Parliament in April, we intend to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill in Year 5 of this Parliamentary Session. The final decision on the provisions of the Bill, to be introduced later this year, will be made collectively by…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are to legislate to require waste heat to be made available to heat networks to support Scotland’s transition to zero carbon heating.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The consultation on the Heat in Buildings Bill included a range of proposals regarding the use of waste heat by heat networks. The final decision on the provisions of the Bill, to be introduced later this year, will be made collectively by Cabinet ahead of it…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will launch the consultation on the necessary secondary legislation needed for the implementation of the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 to enable distributed heat provision to benefit from the same statutory undertaker rights as any other licenced utility in Scotland.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government recognises the imperative to put heat network developers on a similar statutory footing as other utility providers, and our Heat Network (Scotland) Act 2021 enables this.My officials have been developing proposals for the requisite reg…

24 Apr 2025 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which incinerators, including those with accepted planning permission, are able to destroy persistent organic pollutants, in alignment with the SEPA guidance on the management of waste upholstered domestic seating.

Answer · Gillian Martin: As Scotland’s independent environmental regulator, SEPA determine the permitting of facilities and what waste streams they are allowed to accept. There are 8 municipal incinerators in operation in Scotland with a further 3 in construction. SEPA have adv…

3 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which incinerators accept waste upholstered domestic seating for disposal.

Answer · Gillian Martin: As Scotland’s independent environmental regulator, SEPA determine the permitting of facilities and what waste streams they are allowed to accept – although individual facilities will make decisions on inputs based on commercial and operational con…

1 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider increasing portion sizes in free school meals, in light of reported comments from young carers that the portions are too small, particularly for children who may be missing other meals at home.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Local authorities must ensure that school meals, free or paid for, meet the nutrient standards set out in the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020. The nutrient standards are based on scientific evidence and dieta…

11 Mar 2025 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the deposit return scheme, including whether it will be appointing a deposit management organisation on schedule in April 2025.

27 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to (a) mitigate any costs and (b) provide other support to local authorities in Scotland in relation to the inclusion of incineration as part of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2028.

Answer · Gillian Martin: The proposed ETS expansion is part of a whole-system approach set out in the final Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, making incineration a less attractive waste treatment method while limiting the production of plastic upstream and increasing its removal …

27 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how banning fossil-based plastic from incineration, as proposed at recommendation 17 of the report, Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury? Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland, could mitigate the impact of the inclusion of incineration in the UK Emissio…

Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government published its response to Dr Colin Church’s second and final report on 5 May 2023, which focused on options to decarbonise residual waste infrastructure in Scotland.We welcomed the report’s recommendations in supporting the…

27 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) start and (b) end date is for the target in the Zero Waste Scotland’s Corporate Plan to reduce the extraction of raw materials by one third; what data was used to arrive at this target, and for what reason the figure of one third was set.

Answer · Gillian Martin: Zero Waste Scotland's (ZWS) Corporate Plan for 2025-2030 includes present and future targets beyond the life of this Corporate Plan.The reference to seeking reduction of Scotland's extraction of raw materials by one third is based on a United Nations Environm…

27 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cost to (a) local authorities and (b) businesses in Scotland of including incineration as part of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2028.

Answer · Gillian Martin: The UK ETS is jointly governed by the UK ETS Authority (‘the Authority'), comprising Scottish, UK and Welsh Governments and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland.The Authority is currently in the process of ana…

19 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what conditions it sets on renewable energy supply chains to invest in Scottish content where possible.

Answer · Gillian Martin: Maximising the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our renewable potential is a key focus for our Green Industrial Strategy, published in September 2024.We are investing up to £500 million over five years in the offshore wind supply …

19 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on enabling local authorities or regions to set their own local industrial plans.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Growing the economy is one of the Scottish Government's top priorities, and Scotland's regional economies, and Regional Economic Partnerships (REPs), are key to delivering this. We are committed to building a resilient and equitable economy where all regions …

19 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide an update to the paper, Decarbonising Scotland’s Industrial Sectors and Sites, published in April 2019.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Policies to support the decarbonisation of Scotland’s manufacturing base will be summarised in the forthcoming Climate Change Plan which is being informed by discussion with representatives from key industrial sectors.

19 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether (a) enterprise and (b) infrastructure funding is currently targeted at low-carbon, green manufacturing, and how it ensures that companies in receipt of such public money are supporting jobs in Scotland.

Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the net zero economy. Together with our enterprise agencies, we have invested £75 million in the cutting-edge National Manufacturing Institute Scotland facility, which is actively supporting low-carbon …

13 Feb 2025 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

3 Feb 2025 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

16 Jan 2025 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

9 Jan 2025 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

10 Dec 2024 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024, what progress it has made towards implementing mandatory food waste reporting by larger businesses.