Questions and answers

Question reference: S5F-04262

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 August 2020

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-30443

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5F-00381 by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 October 2016 (Official Report, c 16), in light of the First Minister's comment that "the Scottish Government has shown global leadership by including domestic and international aviation in our emissions reduction targets", what action it has taken to reduced emissions in each of the last four years, also broken down by its performance in meeting each emissions reduction target

Over the four most recent years for which greenhouse gas emissions data is available (2015 to 2018), Scotland’s total emissions fell by 10%. Over this same period, emissions from aviation (both domestic and international) rose by 11% reflecting the positive growth in our international connectivity over this time. Scotland’s statutory emissions reduction targets are set at the level of the economy as a whole, reflecting the importance of a joined up approach that supports the delivery of overall reductions. The annual emissions targets for 2015 and 2016 were met, but those for 2017 and 2018 were missed.

The update to our Climate Change Plan, recast as part of a green recovery from COVID-19, will set out a pathway towards meeting Scotland’s economy-wide emissions reduction targets out to 2032 and which also makes up for the excess emissions arising from the missed annual targets in 2017 and 2018. An example of a policy towards meeting these targets is our plan to create the world’s first zero emission aviation region and trial low and zero emission aircraft in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30447

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on its greenhouse gas emissions targets, what its position is on whether the number of short-haul flights across the UK should be increased.

Scotland’s air connectivity with the rest of the UK is important to business and tourism, particularly where surface alternatives are not conducive to day trips for business such as Inverness-London or Edinburgh-Southampton. The collapse of Flybe followed by the COVID 19 pandemic has had a negative impact on our domestic connectivity. We also recognise that some domestic routes, particularly between Scotland and Heathrow serve a dual purpose of providing point to point capacity and options to connect to the rest of the world. Short haul routes are therefore an important part of our overall transport infrastructure

We believe that in the future many of these journeys will be done by low and zero-emission aircraft, and we are working to ensure that these new types of aircraft will be trialled in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30441

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what account it took of its commitments under the Paris climate change agreement prior to signing its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Heathrow Airport in 2016 and, in light of the ruling by the Court of Appeal on 27 February 2020 that the UK Government had failed to carry out an assessment of its environmental commitments under the agreement with regard to the proposed expansion of the airport, what its position is on the validity of MoU.

Our approach to appraising transport investment in Scotland quantifies the potential impact of projects on the environment. It is for the UK Government to do the same for transport investments in England.

The Court of Appeal ruling has no bearing on the validity of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Various sections of the MoU have already been delivered and others will be realised during the construction phase and after Heathrow has been expanded. The MoU ensures Scotland will benefit from this major infrastructure project which will bring significant job creation and investment opportunities to Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30437

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-04248 by Fergus Ewing on 11 March 2020 (Official Report, c.28) for what reason the cabinet secretary did not refer to the review of its position on the proposed expansion to Heathrow Airport in his response.

Question reference: S5W-30439

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5F-03817 by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 January 2020, (Official Report, c 18) and S5F-03986 on 27 February 2020 (Official Report, c. 20), in light of the First Minister's comment in both responses that when the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport was last debated in the House of Commons SNP MPs "did not vote for it" and the potential impact on its greenhouse gas emissions targets of any decision reached by the UK Parliament, what discussions it had with the SNP parliamentary group ahead of that debate and what its response is to the comment made in it by the leader of the SNP group that "100 flights...it is simply not enough" and its transport spokesperson that "I have spoken in favour of expansion before. The Scottish Government have also spoken in favour of it - that is why they have signed a memorandum of understanding...we are just looking for protections and deliverability".

Question reference: S5W-30444

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement on 5 February 2020 by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity on 5 February 2020 regarding its transport strategy (Official Report, c.19), in light of the potential impact on its greenhouse gas emissions targets of any decision reached by the UK Parliament, whether it had any discussions with the SNP group at the UK Parliament regarding an unselected Liberal Democrat amendment to a motion that was scheduled to be debated in the House of Commons that evening, which referred to "cancelling the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport" and whether it discussed with the group how its MPs should vote in the debate.

Question reference: S5W-30359

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a Renewable Transition Training Fund, as recommended by Scottish Renewables, as a means to support a green economic recovery to the COVID-19 crisis and enable workers to "acquire sustainable, exportable skills and join the renewable energy industry".

On 16 th July 2020, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture announced a package of £100m to support in 2020-21 to help ensure that people who have lost jobs, those at risk of unemployment and young people entering the labour market can benefit from more and better job opportunities. As part of this, she committed to bring forward proposals for a new retraining offer focused on helping those in sectors where there is the greatest risk of job losses. This new offer will help people gain the skills they need to move into new jobs in key growth sectors. More details of this will be made available in the coming weeks.

Furthermore we have invested £62 million in the Energy Transition Fund to help the energy sector recover from the economic impact of coronavirus, and create and support jobs associated with the transition to renewables, hydrogen and CCUS and to support the development of the Energy Transition Zone at the new Aberdeen South Harbour.

Question reference: S5W-30438

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings and correspondence it has had with Heathrow Airport since signing a memorandum of understanding in 2016, and whether it will place copies of this in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

Question reference: S5W-30445

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the information provided in FOI/19/02661 on 10 January 2020, which suggested that an expansion of Heathrow Airport could lead to an additional 75,000 flights to Scotland's airports over 15 years that would produce 600,000 additional tonnes in emissions, whether it considers that its position on any expansion is compatible with its declaration of a climate emergency.

Routes from Scotland to global hubs like Heathrow and Amsterdam are essential for Scotland’s international connectivity, supporting economic growth in Scotland and helping us deliver our Trade and Investment Strategy. However, we recognise that more needs to be done to reduce emissions. The Scottish Government’s forthcoming update to our 2018 Climate Change Plan, recast as part of a green recovery from COVID-19, will set out a pathway to meeting Scotland’s economy-wide greenhouse emissions reduction targets over the period to 2032. This includes plans to create the world’s first zero emission aviation region and trial low and zero emission aircraft in Scotland. The actual number of flights operating between Scotland and Heathrow in the future will be determined by capacity, demand, and competition from airlines serving other global hubs.

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