Parliamentary questions
Maurice Golden
1,697 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will next assess the priority status of funding for proposed flood mitigation measures in Dundee.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: SEPA are responsible for prioritising actions to reduce flood risk in Scotland as part of the Flood Risk Management Planning process set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities throug…
10 Jan 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-23231 and S6W-23887 by Mairi McAllan on 11 December 2023 and 9 January 2024 respectively, which figure provided for the number of sites sampled is correct; for what reason there is a discrepancy between the two figures provided, and whether it wil…
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The figures quoted in these questions are both correct. The first figure of sites sampled from 2013-14 to 2019-20 is from a published assessment, and the second figure is from the number of sites visited within the raw data that has been published to date (20…
21 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of any projects funded through the Recycling Improvement Fund to date showing the (a) expected tonnage increase in recycled material and (b) funding allocated to each project.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The following table provides a breakdown of the projected tonnage and funding allocated to Recycling Improvement Fund projects for which tonnage increase is a direct impact. It should be noted that this list does not include all funded projects as recycling t…
21 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of CalMac's (a) existing and (b) planned ferry fleet showing the maximum number of (i) petrol or diesel and (ii) electric vehicles that can be carried on each vessel.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: CalMac have confirmed they do not distinguish between fuel type when carrying vehicles on vessels. The following table shows the current, maximum number of cars that each current and planned vessel can carry: Vessel Type Vessel Total Car Capacity Approx. …
15 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23788 by Lorna Slater on 15 December 2023, what work (a) had been carried out between December 2021 and June 2023 and (b) is planned to update its Deposit Return Scheme Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government has worked with Zero Waste Scotland to update relevant impact assessments at each point the Regulations have been updated, most recently for the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland (Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2023 laid in …
15 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority of the number of inspections carried out in relation to licensing of (a) animal welfare establishments and (b) organisations engaged in rehoming activities under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotlan…
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Local authorities are responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 and accordingly they undertake inspections and issue licences. …
15 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of investments made by the Scottish National Investment Bank in each year since it was established.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank) reports on the Scottish local authority areas that have benefitted from its investments through its annual Impact Report. The Impact Report 2023, setting out the impacts of the Bank’s investment to the close of…
15 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23354 by Mairi McAllan on 14 December 2023, whether any special advisers were present during any of those meetings.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Special advisors are regularly in attendance at Ministerial and government meetings, including weekly Cabinet meetings. They were also in attendance at the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Climate Emergency on 6 December 2022, 31 January 2023, 14 March 2023 and on 20…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of any campaigns to save water use over the last five years in terms of (a) cost and (b) effectiveness in terms of water use reduction.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Over the last five years Scottish Water has used social media, community events and other activities such as school visits to encourage people to use water wisely. As part of this, over 100,000 water saving packs have been distributed. Each summer Scottish Wa…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many households are currently dependent on private water supplies, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland publishes an Annual report which contains information on the numbers of private water supplies and the quality of water supplied. The information provided is broken down by Local Authority. The most recent inf…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what level of drought resilience has been set for Scotland’s water supply, and how this compares with resilience levels in other parts of the UK.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Scottish Water faces many technical challenges providing drought resilience compared to England and Wales. Due to the geography of Scotland, and population spread, Scottish Water operates many more water resource zones and has less connectivity between zones …
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the estimated cost of supplying water zones that are projected to be in deficit from any nearby zones that are in surplus.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows: Scottish Water evaluates long-term supply and demand positions for water resources on a …
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of Scottish Water’s acceptable leakage rates at present, and what leakage rates have been determined to be acceptable to ensure that adequate supplies are maintained, in light of climate change impacts.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows: Scottish Water’s aim is to operate at the economic level of leakage at water supply zone level, taking account of the costs of treating water and th…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of future investment in Scottish Water to 2027 will relate to efforts to reduce leakage.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows: Scottish Water is investing around £110m every year in the operating and capital costs o…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made regarding whether geographical diversity of energy infrastructure could enhance the adaptation and resilience of Scotland’s energy supply.
Answer · Gillian Martin: It is critical that Scotland’s energy system is resilient and that security of supply is maintained. We acknowledge that the location of infrastructure is an important factor in determining its contribution to the future security and resilience of our energy …
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to monitor weather-related power system outages.
Answer · Gillian Martin: Security of electricity supply is reserved and a responsibility of the UK Government. It is delivered by the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) under regulation from Ofgem. National Grid ESO and the two electricity network operators in Scotland…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of installed renewable energy generation capacity by local authority area.
Answer · Neil Gray: Electricity and heat capacity data broken down by local authority area are publicly available on the Scottish Energy Statistics Hub. Data tables can be found at the bottom of the following pages. Local authority data can be accessed by clicking the ‘Local aut…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23284 by Mairi McAllan on 11 December 2023, whether it will provide a breakdown of which identified risks have been assigned to each directorate.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: A breakdown of lead Directorates is available in the most recent Climate Change Committee progress report on adaptation (CCC, November 2023).The Committee’s recommendations for the highest priority climate risks to be addressed in the next Scottish National…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23231 by Mairi McAllan on 11 December 2023, how much more data it anticipates it will gather before being able to establish a baseline or trends.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government microplastics monitoring programme began in 2013, and has undertaken annual surveys since that time. The Scottish Government has conducted an initial assessment for microplastics in surface water, which was published in Scotland’s Mari…
13 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23231 by Mairi McAllan on 11 December 2023, how many locations have been monitored as part of the marine plastics monitoring programme in each year since 2013.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government microplastics monitoring programme began in the winter of 2013, and has undertaken annual surveys since that time. 479 locations have been sampled between 2013 and 2022. These sample sites are distributed throughout the 11 Scottish Mar…
12 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23294 by Mairi McAllan on 11 December 2023, how many natural flood management schemes are currently operating across Scotland.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government recognizes the importance of natural flood management (NFM) measures in reducing, slowing or otherwise managing flood waters across catchments and along the coast while also delivering multiple environmental benefits. The Scottish Gove…
12 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23295 by Mairi McAllan on 11 December 2023, whether the allocation of funding from the Water Environment Fund for measures to remove invasive non-native species is no longer being reviewed on an annual basis.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Each year the Scottish Government provides the Scottish Environment Protection Agency with a grant from the Water Environment Fund (WEF) to support work to deliver our River Basin Management Plan. The projects this supports is reviewed on an annual basis to e…
12 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23098 by Mairi McAllan on 8 December 2023, how many awards of each type of grant have been issued by each local authority to date.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Local Authority Grant Type No. of Applications approved by Local Authority Angus Community Recovery Grant (£1500) 175 Business Recovery Grant (£3000) 31 Dundee Community Recovery Grant (£1500) 56 Business Recovery Grant (£3000) 4 Aberdeenshire…
12 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23288 by Gillian Martin on 8 December 2023, what proportion of the estimated private investment in peatland restoration is carbon units that are (a) confirmed as sold and (b) expected to be sold.
Answer · Gillian Martin: This is a matter for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The information requested is not held centrally.
11 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23282 by Michael Matheson on 7 December 2023, which NHS boards have (a) completed, (b) yet to complete and (c) yet to start their adaptation plans.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The following NHS Scotland Health Boards are preparing adaptation plans:Forth ValleyGreater Glasgow & ClydeLothianOrkneyGolden Jubilee University National HospitalThe State Hospital Board for Scotland All other Health Boards have prepared an adaptation plan.
11 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22893 by Lorna Slater on 22 November 2023, when it will next update its Deposit Return Scheme impact assessment ahead of its proposed introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme in 2025.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Impact assessments for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Scotland have been updated to reflect the most recent set of regulations passed by the Scottish Parliament. The impact assessments will be updated again once Defra have confirmed the final design of th…
2 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what public finances have been committed, in each of the last five years, to using green hydrogen in industrial decarbonisation.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Hydrogen Action Plan, published in December 2022, set out a clear commitment to support renewable hydrogen production. In May 2023, a funding award totalling over £7 million to thirty-one projects via the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme was announced, which s…
2 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of investments made by the Scottish National Investment Bank in ScotWind supply chain partners in each year since it was established.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank) is extensively engaged in work to understand the market gaps and areas of opportunity in the offshore wind supply chain. Details of each of the Bank’s investments are published online in the Bank’s portfolio w…
2 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken on the potential to reduce any upfront planning costs for district heating, and what effect this could have on project margins.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: During our regular engagement with the heat networks sector, the costs of planning applications has not been cited as a major barrier to new developments. The Scottish Government has therefore not undertaken any analysis into the effect that these costs have …
2 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recommendation 22 in the report, Investor Panel, Mobilising international capital to help finance the transition to Net Zero, on whether public sector connections to heat grids should be mandatory.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Scottish Government recognises that we must do more to attract the investment required if we are to fulfil the potential that the heat network sector has in Scotland and create a sustainable market. Reducing demand risk is one of the ways of achieving thi…