- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many Low Emission Zone fines have been issued in Glasgow for breaches by buses in each year since the scheme launched, broken down by bus operator.
Answer
As penalty charge notices can only be issued once Glasgow’s LEZ grace period expires (31 May 2023) no fines have been issued by Glasgow City Council as yet.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 4 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05625 by Patrick Harvie on 24 January 2022, how much it has spent on Spaces for People since April 2022, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The following table gives all Spaces for People expenditure for local authorities and other statutory bodies since April 2022. A small number of local authorities have yet to claim their full agreed grant.
Partner | Amount paid 22-23 |
Fife Council | £43,403 |
Moray Council | £21,962 |
Renfrewshire Council | £44,563 |
TACTRAN | £900 |
TOTAL | £110,828 |
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions its vehicles have received penalties for speeding or driving in prohibited areas such as bus lanes in each of the last five years, broken down by type of offence and penalty.
Answer
A list of Penalty Charge (PCN) and Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) notices issued to Scottish Government vehicles for each of the last five years is provided in the following table.
The staff member driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged offense is personally responsible for any penalties incurred, therefore we do not hold this information.
Year | Total number of PCN’s received for bus lane infringements. | Total number of NIP notices received for alleged speeding offenses ( 1) |
2018 | 5 | 8 |
2019 | 7 | 2 |
2020 | 3 | 1 |
2021 | 3 | 0 |
2022 | 7 | 3 |
1. Includes both pool and hire vehicles operated by the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09711 by Michael Matheson on 23 August 2023, when it last undertook a (a) cost-benefit and (b) life-cycle carbon analysis comparing a nuclear model with the renewables-plus-storage model of electricity generation, based over a nuclear asset's lifetime; and, if such analysis has been done, whether this was undertaken for a site comparable to Hinkley Point nuclear power station, or for a small modular reactor (SMR) model, or for both.
Answer
An analytical exercise, such as the one suggested, would be a significant undertaking and come at a large cost to the taxpayer. As it has been a long standing policy of the Scottish Government not to support the construction of any new nuclear power stations in Scotland, under current technologies, any such analysis would not be value for money and has not been pursued.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09711 by Michael Matheson on 23 August 2023, and its statement that "new nuclear power will take years, if not decades, to become operational", what basis it used to determine the length of time it would take to build a small modular reactor (SMR).
Answer
The UK Government set out a timeline for ambitions to deploy a First-of-a-Kind Small Modular Reactor (SMR) by the early 2030s in their ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Future’ and ‘Energy White Paper: Powering a Net Zero Future’ (both published in 2020).
In April 2022, the Office of Nuclear Regulation announced the commencement of Step 1 of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for Rolls-Royce SMR Limited’s 470MW Small Modular Reactor design. Due to the complexity and the level of scrutiny required in the GDA process, it is expected to take a number of years to complete, with risks of further delays depending on the quality of evidence returns provided through the process. Rolls Royce estimate that it will then take more than 5 years from the point of approval for the first SMR to provide power on the grid.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 27 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the National Marine Plan Review 2021, and when it will publish its decision on whether it will amend or replace the current National Marine Plan.
Answer
Scottish Ministers have carefully considered the findings of the 2021 National Marine Plan Review. In our Programme for Government 2022-23, Scottish Ministers committed to start the process of developing a new National Marine Plan, to address the global climate and nature crises by carefully managing increasing competition for space and resources in the marine environment. Scottish Ministers will formally commence this process via the publication of its Statement of Public Participation and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy in the coming weeks.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish its 10-year islands connectivity plan, and what assessment it has made of any impact of not having done so on people in remote and island communities, particularly in relation to the adequacy of ferry services.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09901 on 15 August 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
There is an existing Ferries Plan in place until December 2022.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its response to the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee’s December 2020 report on regional marine planning, following Marine Scotland’s internal review.
Answer
We continue to carefully consider the report and recommendations made by the previous Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee as regards regional marine planning and are working to finalise our formal response, which will be published this Autumn.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10006 by Michael Matheson on 23 August 2022, in light of it stating that it has not yet assessed the cost of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and not providing a suggestion of a figure, whether it has at least assessed the cost of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 within an approximate range or figure, or whether it has no estimate of the cost of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.
Answer
The costs of global failure to address the climate emergency would be enormous and the Scottish Government is committed to leading the way in delivering early action to reduce emissions while at the same time positioning Scotland to secure and share the opportunities from the transition. The next Climate Change Plan, a draft of which will be published next year, will include costs of delivering emissions reductions to meet the statutory targets between 2025 and 2040. The Scottish Government has not set out a pathway to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and hence does not yet have a basis for a cost assessment of achieving that goal. The Climate Change Committee suggest “the net costs of the transition (including upfront investment, ongoing running costs and costs of financing) will be less than 1% of GDP over the entirety of 2020-2050”. We believe this is a reasonable estimate while noting that the cost totals and profile for Scotland may differ due to our stricter statutory targets and the likelihood that our pathway to net zero may diverge from that taken by the UK as a whole.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the combined generating capacity in GW will be of the projects that it anticipates will be constructed under the ScotWind leasing round; whether it remains of the view, set out in its 2020 Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy, that "...an overall national limit on generating capacity of 10GW was required as a mitigation measure”, and what the total actual investments in the Scottish supply chain will be, in light of the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport's reported statement in January 2022 that ScotWind "will secure investment in the Scottish supply chain of at least £1 billion for every GW of power".
Answer
Following the clearing announcement on the 22 August 2022, the ScotWindleasing round has identified 20 offshore wind projects with a potential overall capacity of 27.6GW. Based on the Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS) submitted with the leasing applications, developers have committed to invest around £1.4bn per project.
Before construction, these projects will go through project development and consenting processes, respond to geographical and technological requirements, and find a route to market. For this reason, it is not possible to have a clear indication at this time of what will be constructed and the combined generating capacity.
The Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy (SMP-OWE) assessed a potential generation figure of 10GW and therefore does not comment on additional generation or impacts. The SMP-OWEis subject to an Iterative Plan Review (IPR) process, which allows Scottish Government to review the conclusions of the Plan against new available information. Through the IPR process we will consider the impacts of the new potential generation figure of 27.6GW.