Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-37169

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish National Party 2021 manifesto commitment to abolish non-residential care charges, for what reason the number of local authorities introducing or raising such fees has reportedly increased since 2022.

Under Section 87(1A) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, a local authority may charge for the adult non-residential, non-personal care it provides such as day care, lunch clubs, meals-on-wheels, community alarm and help with shopping and housework.

Local authorities have the powers to develop their own charging policies for non-residential social care and support. These charging policies are designed with the primary objective of offsetting the costs of providing services at a local level.

COSLA produces annual guidance to help promote consistency in policies, however variation often exists due to local accountability and conditions. COSLA and the Scottish Government recognises that local authorities require autonomy and flexibility to adapt to their local circumstances.

COSLA guidance recommends that charges should be reasonable and must be no higher than the cost to the local authority of providing the service. In reality most charges are much lower than the cost of providing the service.

The Scottish Government recognises that the cost of care can be high for people particularly in the current financial climate. We are committed to working with COSLA to review non-residential charges.

Question reference: S6W-37535

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on emerging energy technologies funds in the current parliamentary session to date.

In the current parliamentary session to date the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund has spent a total of £15.3 million on grant awards:

£6.8m to 31 projects, via the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (details at: Emerging Energy Technologies Fund - Hydrogen Innovation Scheme: successful projects - gov.scot)
£3.1m to the Storegga Speyside Hydrogen Project (details at: Green hydrogen production - gov.scot)
£3.4m to 11 projects, following the 2024/25 green hydrogen funding call (details at: £3.4 million for Scotland’s hydrogen future - gov.scot)
£2.0m to National Gas Transmission Plc. to support the pre-Front End Engineering and Design phase of the SCO2T Connect Project.

Question reference: S6W-37311

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted on any impact of current business rates on small independent retailers in town centres, and whether it is considering any reforms or relief to support such businesses, in light of reported declining high street footfall.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts estimate that £3 billion will be raised in non-domestic rates revenue in 2025-26, and £731 million of reliefs will be provided.

Those reliefs, including the UK’s most generous Small Business Bonus Scheme relief, deliver direct support to small independent retailers, with almost 62% of all shops on the valuation roll benefiting from one or more reliefs.

As at 1 June 2024, almost 34,000 shops in Scotland benefited from non-domestic rates relief, with an estimated value of over £113 million. The Non-domestic rates relief statistics 2024 provide a further breakdown of relief awards by property type and local authority area.

The next revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2026, which will ensure rateable values reflect current market conditions. Decisions on non-domestic rates and reliefs are generally considered in the context of the Scottish Budget.

Question reference: S6W-37415

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will amend regulation 8(b) of the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (Scotland) Regulations 2003 to increase the level of fines from £20 to £80, in order to deter engine idling, in light of reports that fines have not increased in line with inflation.

Question reference: S6W-37477

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35302 by Gillian Martin on 12 March 2025, how much it estimates would be raised in leasing fees for a 50-year lease of the site under the current ScotWind leasing process.

Based on 2024 estimates, Crown Estate Scotland projects a revenue from ScotWind developments of £3.42m per gigwatt over the lifetime of the project. If leased through ScotWind then Inch Cape (1.08GW installed capacity) would return £3.7m annually.

The figures provided are estimates only – actual revenues achieved will be dependent on a range of issues, including those affecting deployment scale, and timing and windspeeds.

Question reference: S6W-37377

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of zonal electricity pricing on electricity generation projects that were awarded under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round, AR6, and what the findings were.

Question reference: S6W-37366

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total staff (a) time commitment, expressed in full-time equivalent days and (b) cost has been for work relating to zonal electricity pricing under the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements since 1 June 2021.

Question reference: S6W-37351

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a complete list of its economic objectives.

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation (2022-2032) outlines the Scottish Government’s vision for fair green growth underpinned by six economic objectives.

The strategy is supported by a measurement framework. Reports on progress are available in the 2023 and 2024 National Strategy for Economic Transformation’s Annual Reports.

Further to this, the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government (2017-18) set a target to double Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure in Scotland. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W- 18678 on 6 June 2023. Following work between the Scottish Government and Office for National Statistics data quality concerns remain regarding BERD. 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 Disabled People’s Employment Plan (2018) set a target to at least halve the Disability Employment Gap in Scotland by 2038 based on 2016 baseline. Progress is reported via the Fair Work Action Plan Annual Report, as an annex within the National Strategy for Economic Transformation Annual Report.

A Trading Nation (2019) set out an ambitious target to increase international exports from 20 % to 25 % of GDP over the next 10 years. Progress is available within the Trading Nation Review (2022).

The Fair Work Action Plan (2022) set a target to reduce the gender pay gap in Scotland by the end of this parliamentary term (May 2026) and maintain or where possible improve our position relative to the UK as a whole and our international neighbours. Progress is reported via the Fair Work Action Plan Annual Report, as an annex within the National Strategy for Economic Transformation Annual Report.

However, is important to note that currently, the Scottish Government does not have full levers over employment, taxation, social security, or migration – all of which are vital to our economic prosperity. The Scottish Government believes that independence would deliver the best deal for Scotland – providing control over all public spending decisions, as well as the suite of fiscal powers necessary to unlock Scotland’s full economic potential.

Question reference: S6W-37371

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential implications of zonal electricity pricing for fuel poverty levels in Scotland, including any projected distributional impacts by income decile.

Question reference: S6W-37343

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ask Historic Environment Scotland to assess the Grangemouth refinery complex for any elements worthy of designation as listed buildings, including the nine natural draught (hyperbolic) cooling towers that are situated between the oil refinery and wider petrochemicals complex, in light of them being the last cooling towers standing in Scotland.

Following the cessation of oil refining at Grangemouth, the Scottish Government is backing a proposal by Unite the Union for an asset review at Grangemouth. Understanding what existing assets could be repurposed is critical to securing the transition, therefore I have written to the UK Government expressing support and calling on them to do the same. My officials have initiated work on this however we will need the consent and support of Petroineos and the UK Government to achieve this, and would urge Paul Sweeney MSP to help with those calls to his colleagues in the UK Government.

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