Parliamentary questions
Liam Kerr
2,171 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
21 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out regarding at which stage of their journey oil and gas workers who fly to and return directly from an overseas installation are at greatest risk of COVID-19 infection, and what action it is taking to mitigate that risk.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Since the outset of the pandemic, the Scottish Government has taken an evidence-based approach to our measures on overseas travel, informed by the latest data and evidence provided on a UK-wide basis by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), as well as Scotland-…
17 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its 2035 rail decarbonisation target remains in place and, if so, whether (a) the plans to extend rail electrification and (b) sufficient (i) hydrogen and (ii) battery trains will be delivered on time to achieve this.
Answer · Graeme Dey: We remain on target to decarbonise rail passenger services in Scotland by 2035 as set out in the Rail Decarbonisation Action Plan published July 2020. Good progress is already being made to decarbonise the East Kilbride and Barrhead routes, Borders line and …
17 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with its hydrogen train project, and what the expected completion date is.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Zero Emission Train (ZET) project is currently on target to run during COP26 in November at Bo’ness. It is managed by world-leading hydrogen-technology company Arcola Energy and the £3.5 million project will fully test Hydrogen powered traction options, w…
17 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to invest in hydrogen trains to help achieve the 2035 net zero target, and what information it has regarding how these plans compare with those of (a) Germany, (b) France and (c) Italy, including the number of trains ordered.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The principal means of meeting the 2035 rail service net zero target will be to continue the Scottish Government’s rolling programme of electrification. Thanks to a programme of investment delivered by the Scottish Government consistent with this approach, so…
16 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to open an office of the Climate Change Committee.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is currently exploring the potential to establish an office of the Climate Change Committee in Scotland.
16 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delivery of the Green Jobs Fund.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Green Jobs Fund comprises two tranches of money – £50m which has been baselined into our Enterprise Agencies capital funding; and £50m under the direct control of Scottish Ministers. As of 25 June 2021, no specific projects have been funded for 2021-22. Scott…
16 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the National Transition Training Fund, in regard to its net zero ambitions.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: In 2020/21 the key focus of the National Transition Training Fund (NTTF) was supporting those individuals and sectors affected by the economic impact of Covid-19. As part of this, a number of projects offered support for skills needs linked to the transition …
16 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to deliver a renewable energy economic plan.
Answer · Michael Matheson: In the first six months of this parliament we will deliver a new 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation, setting out the steps we will take to deliver a green economic recovery and support new, good, green jobs, businesses and industries for th…
16 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to establish a Green Jobs Workforce Academy.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: As set out in Scotland’s Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP - December, 2020) the Scottish Government is working with SDS, agencies, skills providers, industry and independent experts to design a Green Jobs Workforce Academy capable of supporting the…
15 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has budgeted for the nationalisation of ScotRail.
Answer · Graeme Dey: A budget of circa £10 million was agreed to cover the necessary activities associated with the mobilisation of ScotRail Trains Ltd, in a manner that complies with the UK Government’s railway legislation. This is a significantly smaller sum than the costs to a…
15 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it uses to determine whether a company should be taken into public ownership.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Further to the answer provided to S6W-00200 on 3 June 2021, Scottish Ministers considered all options for the future operation of ScotRail services after the current contract, which is expected to expire in March 2022. We have to work within current UK rail l…
15 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) sanction, or (b) penalty is applied, and to whom, for a breach of a statutory target, such as the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The emissions reduction targets set in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, as amended by the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, constitute the most ambitious framework of emissions reduction in the world. The extremely str…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage hotels to provide electric vehicle chargers.
Answer · Graeme Dey: To support the update of electric vehicles across Scotland, Scottish Government provides funding support for public electric vehicle charging through the Energy Savings Trust. This is designed to help businesses and organisations install electric vehicle char…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how drivers of electric vehicles can locate public charging points prior to commencing a journey.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Drivers can locate public charging points by accessing the ChargePlace Scotland website here https://chargeplacescotland.org/live-map/ . This gives real time information on each publically available charge point, including its availability status. There are…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the provision of domestic charging points, and where the current installers of such points are located.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government through the Energy Savings Trust (EST) deliver the Domestic Charge Point Fund to assist with costs associated with installation of a home charger, this provides enhanced support to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV’s) Electri…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the locations of all "rapid" electric vehicle chargers are in the (a) North East Scotland parliamentary region and (b) rest of Scotland, and how the public can find out about these locations.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Scottish Ministers do not hold CPS asset information by Parliamentary region, however, information by Local Authority area is available. As the North East Scotland region encompasses part of Moray Council’s area, we have included Moray in the table of charge …
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that electric vehicle charging points are working; if they are not working, how it ensures that they will be repaired, and within what timescale.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Chargepoints on the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network are installed and owned by the respective hosts. As set out in the grant award terms and conditions, it is the hosts’ responsibility to ensure that the charge points are maintained and in a serviceable co…
14 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the current locations of all electric vehicle charging points are in the North East Scotland parliamentary region.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government does not hold Chargepoint Scotland (CPS) asset information by parliamentary region, however, it is available by Local Authority area. As the North East Scotland parliamentary region encompasses part of Moray Council’s area, we have inc…
11 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any work is being carried out to assess the impact of climate change on the resilience and safe performance of the railway service.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government, unlike the UK Government, included a requirement within the Scottish High Level Output Specification (HLOS) for Network Rail (NR) to take action on climate change during this Regulatory Control Period. For the period 2019-2024, the …
8 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00264 by Graeme Dey on 7 June 2021, whether it will set out how the "public control of ScotRail" will allow it to decarbonise railways, and for what reason decarbonisation cannot be achieved under the current control model.
Answer · Graeme Dey: As the UK Government’s own recent White Paper on rail acknowledges, the current structure of the industry was supposed to bring ‘greater efficiency and innovation’, but ‘little of this has happened’. Rather, ‘the system does not always encourage the different…
8 Jun 2021 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that delays to criminal trials are adversely affecting victims’ mental health.
3 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out from the Energy Investment Fund to date.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Energy Investment Fund, and its predecessor Renewable Energy Investment Fund, has made investments of £90.4 million to date.
3 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of Scotland's overall energy consumption comes from renewable sources.
Answer · Michael Matheson: One of the headline targets in Scotland's Energy Strategy is for the equivalent of 50% of the energy for Scotland's heat, transport and electricity use to come from renewable sources. This is one of Scotland's 81 indicators in the National Performance Framewo…
3 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out from the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund to date.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was launched on 10 February 2019 with a total of up to £10 million available to help accelerate the commercial deployment of tidal energy in Scottish waters. Following a process of evaluation and due diligence, two pro…
1 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, following the introduction of the Civil Liability Act in England and Wales, whether similar reforms regarding whiplash claims will be introduced in Scotland.
Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government currently have no plans to legislate in relation to whiplash injury claims, however, through dialogue with the Ministry of Justice, we will monitor the impact of the provisions recently commenced in England and Wales and keep the issue…
1 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will produce a strategic plan for the procurement and construction of new vessels to serve the ferry network and, if so, by what date the plan will be produced.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government's Infrastructure Investment Plan published 4 February 2021 stated that: "We will produce and maintain a long-term plan and investment programme for new ferries and development at ports to improve resilience, reliability, capacity, and…
1 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many jobs are directly linked to the UK Government's contract for Type 31 frigates at the Babcock shipyard in Rosyth, and for how long those jobs are expected to be sustained.
Answer · Ivan McKee: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00341 on 17th June 2021, which states details concerning contractual arrangements for UK MoD projects are a matter between the UK Government and Babcock. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are avai…
1 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many jobs are directly linked to the UK Government's contract for Type 26 frigates at the BAE shipyards on the Clyde (Govan and Scotstoun), and for how long the jobs are expected to be sustained.
Answer · Ivan McKee: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00341 on 17th June 2021, which states details concerning contractual arrangements for UK MoD projects are a matter for the UK Government and BAE Systems. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are avai…
1 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government to which shipyards it proposes to award contracts to build the ferries that will replace those in the current CalMac fleet.
Answer · Graeme Dey: It is too early to say where future vessels to replace the current CalMac fleet will be built. These replacement programmes will follow national procurement rules; ensuring quality, value for money and the timely delivery of vessels to serve our island commun…
1 Jun 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how much the UK Government contract with the Babcock shipyard in Rosyth shipyard for five new Type 31 frigates is worth.
Answer · Ivan McKee: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00341 on 17 th June 2021, which states details concerning contractual arrangements for UK MoD projects are a matter between the UK Government and Babcock. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are ava…