Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1077 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-27592

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported issues caused by the new ChargePlace Scotland payment system, what action it is taking to prevent a similar situation arising again.

Question reference: S6W-27593

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether compensation will be offered by ChargePlace Scotland in relation to any inconvenience caused to drivers by its new payment system, particularly for commercial electric vehicle users, such as taxi drivers.

Question reference: S6W-27590

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the timeframe is for the contract with SWARCO to operate ChargePlace Scotland, and what provisions are in the contract with SWARCO, including in relation to early termination for poor performance.

Question reference: S6W-27591

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with ChargePlace Scotland regarding the roll-out of its new payment system and any issues that it has caused to drivers.

Question reference: S6W-27152

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting the Scottish Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Cluster to produce low carbon hydrogen at scale, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the development of the Acorn project and the Scottish Cluster, which are essential for the production of low carbon hydrogen at scale. I attended the Inter-Ministerial Group in February and sit on the UK CCUS Ministerial Forum to represent Scottish interests and make the case for progress on Acorn to be accelerated. The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, and the previous Cabinet Secretary for Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy have also written to the UK Government in recent months to make the case for the acceleration of the Acorn project.

The decision to award the Acorn project is reserved to the UK Government and despite announcing in July 2023 that the Acorn project is ‘best placed’ to meet the criteria, there is still no final decision from the UK Government. This adds further delays to the deployment of CCUS in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-27172

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in driving technological progress and advancing innovation in Scotland through its Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

The Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (HIS) aims to support the development and demonstration of renewable hydrogen technologies and products needed to support our ambition of 5GW installed hydrogen production capacity by 2030. The HIS targets support for innovation under the themes of renewable hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and distribution, and integration of hydrogen into our energy system.

Successful applicants were announced by the then First Minister Humza Yousaf at the All Energy Conference in May 2023. Over £7m in HIS funding grant awards were made to 31 to feasibility and demonstration projects in Scotland.

To date, 10 projects have been successfully completed, with the remaining 21 projects due for completion by March 2025. All have performed or are performing well in meeting their agreed outputs.

Question reference: S6W-27160

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made with electricity and gas network operators to realise system benefits of hydrogen, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

Scotland’s huge potential for renewable electricity generation, and hydrogen’s utility, means that it can also act as a vector for energy storage and a balancing service to the electricity grid. It can additionally act as a vector for transportation, particularly considering grid constraints.

We are engaging closely with the UKG, OfGEM, and National Grid ESO ahead of the launch of the National Energy System operator this Summer to underline the need for strategic planning and to ensure that hydrogen production, storage and system utility is considered and other areas such as progressive approaches to flexibility reform and grid connection timelines, as they affect the viability of hydrogen projects, are reflected in our engagement in strategic programmes such as the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) and Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) and the ESO Constraints Collaboration project which is seeking solutions for thermal constraints, which can reduce costs to the consumer or reduce the curtailment of renewable generation.

Question reference: S6W-27158

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on what progress has been made by SGN and National Grid to understand the role that hydrogen can play in meeting its heat decarbonisation targets, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

Scottish Government officials are engaging with National Grid on the Project Union initiative exploring the phased repurposing of the UK’s natural gas National Transmission System (NTS) to create a UK hydrogen backbone carrying 100% hydrogen. Decisions on the future of the Gas Grid are a reserved matter and are expected to be made in 2026 by the UK Government. We continue to routinely engage with UKG on a range of hydrogen policy matters including recent consultations on Transport and Storage Hydrogen Business Models

SGN are core members of the Scottish Hydrogen Industry Forum.

Question reference: S6W-27157

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress it has made in making Scotland a global centre of expertise for innovation in hydrogen mobility technologies, collaborating with international partners and growing Scotland's hydrogen mobility manufacturing base, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

The Scottish Government has worked with agencies and other partners, including internationally, to deliver initiatives in support of the development of zero emission mobility technology. These include funding the University of St Andrews to deliver, in partnership with Strathclyde University, a four-year Hydrogen Accelerator programme. The Accelerator has helped to support several innovative projects including the Scottish hydrogen train, which was demonstrated at Bo’ness in 2022.

We are working with industry and enterprise agency partners to develop a Hydrogen Sector Export Plan for publication this year. The plan will set out the steps needed to realise Scotland's export potential - including the development of critical infrastructure to support the transport of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives, short-term export opportunities around skills and the supply chain, and the economic opportunity for Scotland represented by renewable hydrogen exports in the longer term.

Question reference: S6W-27148

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding the £90 million Green Hydrogen Fund to support hydrogen pathfinder projects up to 2025-26, as set out in its Hydrogen Action Plan.

The Scottish Government is clear that hydrogen has a key part to play as a renewable and low carbon source of energy to help meet our net zero ambitions. We remain committed to delivering the strategic approach and actions required to support the development of the hydrogen economy in Scotland over the course of this Parliament.

We are committed to delivering on our Hydrogen Action Plan, and to a hydrogen investment programme. Whilst there are currently no plans to open a call for applications to the Green Hydrogen Fund as a direct result of the UK Government imposed 10% cut to the Scottish Government capital budget, we continue to support hydrogen projects across Scotland on a case-by-case basis and will engage with projects as they come forward. In doing so, we will be working with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise and other stakeholders.

We also continue to support hydrogen innovation through our Hydrogen Innovation Scheme and, alongside Scotland’s academic researchers and industry, facilitate collaboration and develop impactful R&D projects including work on establishing the case for pipeline transportation of hydrogen from Scotland to Europe.