Parliamentary questions
Finlay Carson
905 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government to what extent the review of the Climate Change Plan will outline actions for ensuring that the energy sector contributes to realising a net-zero target.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In its report on Net-Zero, published 2 May 2019, the UK Committee on Climate Change was very clear that in order to achieve net-zero emissions, more effort is needed from all sectors. The Scottish Government accepts that analysis, and in updating the Climate …
11 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of hydroelectric power for securing a sustainable future, and how this will inform its work to make Scotland a Hydro Nation.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Scotland’s Energy Strategy, published in December 2017, sets out our priorities for the future energy system in Scotland. This comprises a whole-system approach that promotes renewables – including hydro-power and other low carbon alternatives – as part of a …
9 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures the Scottish Government will consider adopting to increase accessibility of glass recycling, in light of 43% of Scottish households having no access to kerbside recycling for glass.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers will include glass bottles, which constitute the largest proportion of glass packaging on the market. The system will be designed to ensure people will be able to return items with the same ease as they bo…
9 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the impact would be of excluding glass from the deposit return system in Scotland, in the event that an "all-in" deposit return scheme is introduced in England, which was given backing by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 16 July 2019.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We want to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) that is as ambitious as possible to provide maximum environmental and economic benefit for Scotland. Our modelling indicates that there is a clear benefit to including glass. This is primarily from significan…
6 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is an agreement in place between it and the UK Government regarding public access to MoD sites in Scotland and, if so, whether it will publish this.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Public access to Ministry of Defence (MoD) sites in Scotland is a reserved matter and there is no agreement in place between the Scottish Government and the UK Government regarding public access to MOD sites in Scotland. However, the Scottish Outdoor Access C…
5 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what process must be followed when an outbreak of Phytophthora ramorum is detected in public or private woodland.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Scottish Government is continuing to prioritise its extensive programme of surveillance, monitoring, research, and rapid action to help reduce the spread and impact of Phytophthora ramorum on larch. Slowing down the spread is achieved through the felling of d…
4 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the R100 programme in the South Scotland region in the last five years.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The period of five years specified in the question predates the commitment to deliver the Scottish Government’s £600 million Reaching 100% (R100) programme. Our £400 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme has continued to deploy over the perio…
3 Sep 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the extra funding that it plans for electric charging points will be allocated to rural communities.
Answer · Michael Matheson: On 29 August 2019, the Scottish Government announced a new Strategic Partnership between the Scottish Government, including Transport Scotland, Scottish Power Energy Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, that is intended to ensure that Scot…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of new woodland have been created through the New Woodland Investment Programme since September 2017.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Since April 2017 2,055 hectares of woodland have been created by Forest Enterprise Scotland and Forestry and Land Scotland through the New Woodland Investment Programme.
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of ancient woodland have been restored since September 2017.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Restoration of ancient woodland is a long-term and ongoing activity. It can take decades to achieve the final restored state. So far, interventions aimed at restoring around 60% of ancient woodland on Scotland’s national forests and land have been undertaken.…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has carried out to evaluate current practice around the reinstatement of trees removed during development of infrastructure since September 2017.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Between September 2017 and November 2017, the Scottish Government gathered and analysed data from infrastructure developers on the scale and cost of reinstating trees removed during development of infrastructure associated with windfarms. The data shows that…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to develop partnerships involving communities, public and private sector investors to plant more trees and create more woodlands since September 2017.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government, through Scottish Forestry, is working with four planning authorities in the South of Scotland (Dumfries & Galloway, East Ayrshire, Scottish Borders, and South Lanarkshire) to develop a new approach to how we help land managers and wid…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out by the Training Transition Fund since September 2017.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Since September 2017 until end-August 2019 the Transition Training Fund spent £5,093,775. Between February 2016 and September 2017 the Fund spent £5,559,465, Therefore, since its launch in February 2016, the Transition Training Fund has cumulatively spent £1…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out by the Digital Growth Fund in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Spend on Digital Growth Fund during its first phase (2018-19) is estimated to be around £1,975m. Of this figure, £1,454,719 has already been disbursed, with applications worth a further £521k currently being processed.
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made since September 2017 accelerating the deployment of connectivity infrastructure, including through delivering new rental guidance for mobile infrastructure on public buildings.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Independent broadband analysis site, thinkbroadband.com, states that fibre broadband coverage across Scotland has increased from 95% to 97.6% since September 2017, with superfast coverage of 30 Megabits per second and above increasing from 90.9% to 93.8% acro…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many (a) towns and (b) city centres have free Wi-Fi connections available.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many town or city centres have free Wi-Fi connections available. Scottish Government analysis in 2017 of towns and settlements with populations greater than 14,000 found that businesses in each of these do of…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested through the Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund since September 2014.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Between 2013 and 2016 the Scottish Government invested almost £11 million through the Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund to support the development of wave and tidal energy projects in Scotland. The Scottish Government continues to support the research…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by how much the cost of offshore wind has reduced since September 2014.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Year CfD Contract Price 2014 £140-£150 per MW/h 2015 (AR1) £114-£120 per MW/h 2016 £74.75 per MW/h 2017 (AR2) £57.50 per MW/h 2018 NO AUCTION 2019 (AR3) UNKNOWN* *2019 auction results are expected in September. The administrative strike price…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the Offshore Wind Accelerator Programme since September 2014.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Financial Year Funding to OWA 2014-2015 £200,000 2015-2016 £2,000,000 2016-2017 £1,500,000 2017-2018 £1,500,000 2018-2019 £1,500,000 2019-2020 £0* * Funding in 2019/2020 for the Carbon Trust Floating Offshore Wind Joint Industry Group (FLOW-J…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on supporting cyber resilience in each year since September 2014.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has spent:£150,490 in 2014-2015£484,474 in 2015-2016£471,864 in 2016-2017£1,281,302 in 2017-2018£3,762,056 in 2018-2019 These figures relate to central funding to support the development and implementation of Scotland’s cyber resilien…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested (a) through forestry grants and (b) in the National Forest Estate since September 2016.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: (a) The published accounts for Forestry Commission Scotland show that the Scottish Government invested the following sums in support for forestry through forestry grants: Period FY 16-17 FY 17-18 FY 18-19 Grant Investments £30.9m £38.2m £51.1m (b) Th…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of libraries are Wi-Fi enabled.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: 100% of public libraries in Scotland offer free Wi-Fi. This is as a result of Scottish Government making £1m of investment between 2015 and 2018 through the Public Wireless Programme.
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available through the Transition Training Fund (TTF) since September 2016.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Transition Training Fund was a £12 million fund, launched by the First Minister in February 2016 and delivered over a three year period. The Fund was open to applications from February 2016 through to its closure at the end of March 2019.
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available for oil and gas innovation and business support since September 2016.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Our continued support for oil and gas exploration and production in the North Sea will now be conditional upon a sustainable, secure and inclusive energy transition. This will include an increased net zero investment by industry and government. Through the A…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available through the Climate Challenge Fund since September 2016.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The amount awarded from the Climate Challenge Fund to organisations since the start of the financial year 2016-17 is as follows: Year Amount Awarded (project grants and development grants) 2016-17 £9,588,055.59 2017-18 £10,111,958.18 2018-19 £9,996,31…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available through the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) since September 2016.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has made £36 million available through our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) to community groups, rural businesses, and other eligible applicants looking to undertake renewable energy projects across Scotland. As Scottish …
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available to local authorities to carry out SEEP (Scotland's Energy Efficiency Programme) pilots since September 2016.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Since 2016 the Scottish Government, through Scotland's Energy Efficiency Programme, has made available the following:SEEP Phase 1 (2016-17 – 2017-18) - £9,100,000 was made availableSEEP Phase 2 (2017-18 – 2018-19) - £11,000,000 was made availableTransition Ph…
21 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent since September 2016 to make public sector buildings more energy efficient.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Since 2016, the Scottish Government has made available the funds listed below to the value of £80,526,000 to support public sector energy efficiency. Fund Made Available Since September 2016 Notes Non Domestic Energy Efficiency Procurement Framework and P…
19 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether measures to tackle livestock worrying will be included in any forthcoming legislation.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: At this time, and in light of the Members Bill currently in development by Emma Harper MSP, the Scottish Government has no plans to include measures to tackle sheep worrying in forthcoming legislation.
19 Aug 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment in its Programme for Government 2018-19 to develop a 5G strategy, what progress it has made in developing this.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: “Forging our Digital Future with 5G: A Strategy for Scotland” was published on 26 August 2019 and is available on the Scottish Government’s website at the following link: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781839600371 .