Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-00787

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how the Distress Brief Intervention programme is supporting people experiencing mental health crises.

Question reference: S6W-05668

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how nuclear decommissioning skills can be transferred to the renewables sector.

The Scottish Government recognises that the decommissioning of nuclear sites requires the retention of a highly skilled workforce over many years. We also recognise that the skills of the workforce decommissioning Scottish nuclear sites could ultimately be utilised by the renewables sector as part of our transition to net zero.

In December 2020 the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland published the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) setting out the actions required to ensure Scotland’s labour market is able to effectively support the transition to net zero. For example, as a priority action identified in the CESAP, the Green Jobs Workforce Academy administered by Skills Development Scotland, launched on the 23 August 2021 to help workers identify and access relevant green jobs and training.

Question reference: S6W-05667

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent shutdown of Hunterston B Power Station, how many jobs the nuclear decommissioning sector currently supports.

Question reference: S6W-05670

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to encourage Hunterston B and Dounreay to share knowledge and skills in nuclear decommissioning.

The Scottish Government is already engaging with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) regarding the decommissioning of the Hunterston B site and the sharing of the NDA’s extensive knowledge and skills across its estate, including the Dounreay site.

This follows on from the designation direction agreed by Scottish and UK Government Ministers, and laid last year at both the Scottish and UK Parliaments under the Energy Act 2004 (available on the link below). This direction facilitates the process of decommissioning and the eventual transfer of ownership of the site to the NDA once it has been defueled by its current owners, EDF Energy.

https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/session-6-net-zero-energy-and-transport-committee/correspondence/2021/directions-to-the-nuclear-decommissioning-authority-hunterston-b-and-torness-sites

The Scottish Government will continue to support the process of decommissioning as it progresses.

Question reference: S6W-05666

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it will monitor the need to reconsider the inclusion of overprovision powers in the Short Term Lets Licensing Order.

We have committed to working with local authorities to review levels of short-term let activity in hotspot areas in summer 2023. This will assess how the actions we are taking are working and whether any further measures are required. This review will also seek to confirm that the wider sector is still healthy, and checking there are no unintended consequences.

In addition to the 2023 review, from 1 October 2022, licensing authorities must on a quarterly basis share the content of the public register of applications, in relation to short-term let licences only, with the Scottish Ministers in a format which enables analysis of the information. This will allow the Scottish Government to monitor trends at a national and local level.

Question reference: S6O-00613

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it is progressing plans for carbon neutral islands.

Question reference: S6O-00531

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that healthcare services in rural areas are working for the people that they serve.

Question reference: S6O-00450

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the laying of NPF4, whether it can provide an updated timescale for the consultation on Phase 2 of the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2.

Question reference: S6O-00417

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what review has been undertaken of heating the Parliament building, in light of the updated ventilation requirements.

Question reference: S6O-00372

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the anticipated timescale for the publication of the independent public inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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