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There have been no charges for using hospital car parks in Scotland since the start of the pandemic and the Scottish Government has no plans to reintroduce them.

The Scottish Government has undertaken an Island Communities Impact Assessment for the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill. The findings from our assessment are published in the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill: island communities impact assessment on 25 May 2023.

Hydrogen will be a key part of the net zero journey. Complementary alongside electricity, hydrogen will potentially play a role in heating some homes and buildings, this role depends upon strategic decisions by the UK Government and we continue to urge the UK Government to accelerate decisions on the role of 100% hydrogen in the gas grid. These decisions will be supported by testing and demonstration.

The Scottish Government has helped fund a number of key hydrogen demonstration projects over the past few years. These investments have been critical in gaining an understanding of hydrogen production and hydrogen system integration into wider energy systems. Projects such as SGN’s H100 Fife project, with aims to fit 100% hydrogen boilers into 300 homes in Leven, will help to understand the role hydrogen can play in decarbonising heat using the gas network and the Kirkwall Airport project, which demonstrates the potential for a renewable hydrogen combustion engine to support the decarbonisation of the Highlands and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL) locations.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-19074 on 23 June 2023 . All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government is fully aware of the impact that high energy prices are having upon many Scottish consumers. We estimate that from July to September 2023 there will be around 850,000 fuel poor households in Scotland which equates to 34% of all households.

While energy markets policy remain reserved to the UK Government, there are severe limits on the actions that we can take to help those facing the most serious impacts. However, we are taking measures where we can.

For example, we have tripled our Fuel Insecurity Fund to £30 million for this year and replaced DWP’s Cold Weather Payment with our new Winter Heating Payment, which will help around 400,000 low-income individuals.

I will also be chairing three working groups over the summer to discuss the impact of high energy prices on Scottish energy consumers. These will focus on the challenges facing those living in vulnerable circumstances, in the more rural areas of Scotland, and non-domestic consumers. The groups will identify collaborative action that we and our partners can continue to take, as well as maintaining a consensus on those areas where the UK Government must bring its reserved powers to bear.

I recently met the UK Government Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability and repeated our call for further action to support and protect those who have been most affected by the ending of the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

The fact that the energy price cap from July to September is lower than the Energy Price Guarantee means that the UK Government now has greater scope to support those most in need. This includes introducing a much needed social tariff for vulnerable consumers, which should be funded through taxing significant windfall gains rather than passing the cost on to taxpayers.

During the Cannich incident, SFRS liaised with Forestry and Land Scotland, RSPB and the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, who provided personnel and specialist equipment throughout the incident. The involvement of gamekeepers, farmers and other partners at wildfire incidents is always welcomed by SFRS and provides a great deal of capacity and knowledge for Incident Commanders. SFRS is utilising this valuable resource at incidents and recognising the skills, experience and equipment that partners bring to this incident type.

At recent significant wildfires the involvement of partners has been instrumental in successfully managing the incidents, and SFRS will seek to learn lessons from this to identify what worked well, as well as where improvements can be made to ensure it continuously improves. SFRS has contributed to the North of Scotland Regional Resilience Partnership’s recent seminar on response to severe weather events (heat in particular) and is in the planning stage of providing the same to the East of Scotland Regional Resilience Partnership.

The Scottish Wildfire Forum (SWF), chaired by SFRS, has Civil Contingency Advisors from Local Authorities, Regional Resilience Partnerships and other Agencies as members. The SWF created the Wildfire Risk that is now contained in the Scottish National Risk Assessment. This now requires the Regional and Local Resilience Partnerships (which includes all Local Authorities) as part of the Risk Preparedness Assessment Process to consider the risk, score it for their region/area and consider what mitigation actions can be taken to reduce the risk as well as how the wider consequences of the risk will be managed.

The Scottish Capital Investment Manual is not being replaced and will continue to be utilised.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many GPs in Scotland are able to assess seafarers for an (a) ENG1 and b) ML5 medical certificate, broken down by NHS board. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is a UK Government agency.

Scottish Ministers have agreed to HSE refusing the 2023 emergency authorisation application for the use of Asulox, to control bracken, because of the risks it poses to the environment and human health.

This follows existing precedent for decisions over pesticide approvals being exercised on behalf of Scottish Ministers by HSE. Independent advice from the Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture and the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides supported the Health and Safety Executive’s recommendation to not give Asulox an emergency authorisation.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the risks associated with uncontrolled bracken and did not take this decision lightly. The Scottish Government is committed to science based decision making, and follows well established and evidence based process in relation to the authorisation of chemicals.

As highlighted by the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, Asulox has been used on 2,000-3,000 ha of land in Scotland each year, around 2% of the total bracken area. Thus Asulox is not currently, nor can likely ever be, a tool for a national bracken control programme.

The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders and NatureScot to consider options for sustainable bracken management.

Transport Scotland’s joint report with Scottish Futures Trust published in July 2021 highlighted the opportunities to leverage the investment, skills and resources of the private sector to grow Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging network at the scale and pace required. This report also recognised the opportunities for partnership working between Scotland’s local authorities and private charge point operators, as well as the potential for existing ChargePlace Scotland assets to form part of future partnering arrangements.

Through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, Transport Scotland is supporting local authorities to develop public electric vehicle charge point strategies and infrastructure expansion plans, to identify and take forward the opportunities to work with the private sector to grow Scotland’s public charging network.

There is an established and growing number of well-capitalised private charge point operators across the UK. Transport Scotland’s joint report published with Scottish Futures Trust in July 2021 indicated that investment costs in growing Scotland’s public charging network could reach £100 million per annum by 2030. It is encouraging, therefore, to hear the recent pledge from industry body Charge UK that its members will invest £6 billion in public charging infrastructure across the UK by 2030. Our focus is on encouraging that investment to spread across all of Scotland. That’s why our Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund aims to draw in £60 million of public and private investment to double the size of the public charging network to 6,000 charge points by 2026, including areas of the network where private investment is less viable.