Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-04284

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the board of Ferguson Marine and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-33268

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting and resourcing local authorities to manage ash dieback effectively and to replace lost trees with appropriate species.

The Scottish Government supports local authorities to manage ash dieback and replace lost trees with appropriate species through Scottish Forestry working in partnership with The Tree Council. This collaboration produced an ash dieback toolkit, first published in 2022, to help local authorities to manage ash dieback effectively. This covers:

• Raising awareness of ash dieback

• Preparing an Ash Dieback Action Plan

• Taking action and responding to ash dieback

• Recovery and adaptation

Ongoing support for local authorities provides help to develop Ash Dieback Action Plans and facilitates joint working and sharing of experience and best practice across local authorities. Guidance is provided to help those with responsibility for ash trees in Scotland, including local authorities, to make informed management decisions. This includes identifying and monitoring affected ash trees and managing them accordingly, taking a risk-based approach considering tree condition and location. Guidance is also provided to assist with decisions about replacing lost ash trees. This covers both advice on encouraging natural regeneration of alternative native species where possible, and information on appropriate replacement tree species for ash in different habitat types in Scotland in cases where planting is necessary.

Question reference: S6W-33266

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce any risk from imported tree diseases and pests that threaten Scotland's native woodland and commercial forestry sectors.

The Scottish Government works together with the other devolved governments, Defra and the Forestry Commission as part of the UK Plant Health Service to reduce the risk from imported tree diseases and pests that threaten Scotland’s native woodland and commercial forests. As part of that service, the UK Plant Health Risk Group manage the UK Plant Health Risk Register and advise of new and emerging plant health threats with recommendations for actions.

Biosecurity measures to reduce risks from imported plant (including tree) pests and diseases have three main stages: Pre-border, at the border, and inland. Pre-border controls include phytosanitary regulations which can be used to ban commodities posing a high risk, for example imports of ash trees to GB are prohibited from countries where the damaging tree pest Emerald ash borer is known to be present. Plant health controls at the border include documentary checks and physical inspections, following a risk-based approach. Inland, monitoring and surveillance, including aerial surveillance, ground surveys and trapping networks, is conducted across forests and woodlands as a further measure to detect any potential incursions. A system of plant passports allows the internal movement within GB of regulated plants and plant products to be traced.

Question reference: S6O-04250

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is undertaking to reopen historic sites that are managed by Historic Environment Scotland over the coming months.

Question reference: S6W-33264

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported link between increases in plant imports and the rise of tree diseases such as ash dieback, what steps it is taking to support the tree nursery sector to increase the quantity that it produces of species of northern and western provenances, and mountain woodland species.

Scottish Forestry is working with partners to develop a project that will provide the small scale nurseries that specialise in native species of northern and western provenances with more resilience. The aim of the project is to share best practice, provide training and share resources where possible. The outcome is to ensure that the supply of harder to source tree stock is increased and more robust.

Question reference: S6W-33265

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to upscale seed sourcing of native species of trees, in light of reports that existing nursery grants do not extend beyond nursery infrastructure.

Question reference: S6W-33263

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported link between increases in plant imports and the rise of tree diseases such as ash dieback, what steps it is taking to support the tree nursery sector to grow all native species of trees and shrubs to deliver on commitments to expand native woodlands.

Scottish Forestry has worked closely with forest nursery sector representatives to identify solutions to improve the sector’s resilience. The Forestry Grant scheme was expanded in 2017 to cover forest nurseries which they have used to invest in their equipment to increase production. This increase in productive capacity supports both native and non-native species. The Scottish Government undertakes plant health inspections of forest nurseries which are conducted by Horticulture and Marketing Unit (SASA). There is also a system of plant passports that allows the internal movement within GB of regulated plants and plant products to be traced.

Question reference: S6W-32996

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish a response to its energy performance certificate (EPC) reform consultation.

The Scottish Government published the Government response to the EPC Reform consultation on 21 January 2025 [1]. This confirms that we will lay revised EPC regulations in Parliament during 2025, to come into force in 2026. These regulations will introduce an improved EPC rating system to give consumers better information on the fabric energy efficiency of their building and on the emissions and efficiency of their heating system, as well as on potential improvements they could make to both. We will also retain the rating on modelled energy costs which consumer testing tells us is so important to them at this time of sustained high energy prices. That user testing has, in addition, allowed consumers to tell us how to make the design and accessibility of EPCs better, and we can confirm that introduction of a redesigned certificate will coincide with the regulations bringing the new rating system into force.

[1] https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836912408.

Question reference: S6W-32993

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will include low-emission heating systems, such as fuel cells, hybrid heat pumps and hydrogen ready boilers, in future Scottish House Condition Survey data.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a snapshot of the domestic housing stock in each survey year, including the construction age, built form and primary and secondary heating system and fuel.

The SHCS currently records the following heat systems: Boiler, Community Heating, Storage Heaters, Room heaters, Warm Air Systems, Heat Pumps (with and without and MCS certificate), and Room Heater Back Boiler: no Radiators (these are systems which have a solid fuel fire with a back boiler where the back boiler is used only for heating water, and is not connected to radiators for heating the house). As these are the most common types of heating systems in Scotland.

The SHCS does not currently record heating systems, such as fuel cells, hybrid heat pumps and hydrogen ready boilers. However, we review the survey questions annually and these forms of heating will be considered for inclusion in future surveys when they become more prevalent in the Scottish dwelling stock.

Question reference: S6W-32992

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its proposed Heat in Buildings Bill.

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