Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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.

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Question reference: S6W-36628

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what barriers to hydrogen production development in Scotland it has identified.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to helping the Scottish hydrogen sector develop. To help identify and better understand the barriers to the deployment of hydrogen production in Scotland we have established the Scottish Hydrogen Industry Forum (SHIF) chaired by myself. It includes representatives from our electricity and gas network operators and a list of members is available on the Scottish Government website here .

Expertise in hydrogen related planning has been identified as a potential barrier to timely determination of planning consents for hydrogen production development. The creation of a Planning Hub in Scotland was announced on 10 September 2024. This initiative is providing support to planning authorities to improve their skills and capacity to deliver planning determinations promptly. The initial focus of the planning hub has been to improve the pace of the consenting process for hydrogen developments.

The high cost of electricity has also been identified as a potential barrier to the deployment of hydrogen production in Scotland. This is a wider and complex issue.

The introduction of the Hydrogen Production Business Model (HPBM) Programme by the UK Government is a welcome step in incentivising the production and use of renewable hydrogen. However, the slow roll out of the programme has been identified as a potential barrier to deployment may be undermining investors’ confidence.

It is vital now that all efforts are made to support and to streamline the decision-making process for HAR 2 to allow shortlisted projects to move forward with urgency.

A lack of clarity on UKG decisions on the future of the gas grid and the UK-wide hydrogen network and hydrogen blending is also leading to uncertainty amongst investors and developers.

Many of the levers required to support the emergence of a flourishing hydrogen economy in the devolved nations are reserved to the UK Government, as highlighted above and so we will continue to work closely with the UKG to ensure that our collective vision for the development of the hydrogen economy is aligned, and the benefits are realised across all nations of the UK.

Question reference: S6W-36727

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on developing a portal where people can view content posted on Twitter/X from its departments, without requiring a Twitter/X account.

Question reference: S6W-36623

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many projects are currently in the "pipeline of investment propositions backed by clear information about the timing and nature of renewable energy opportunities", as set out in its Green Industrial Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-36621

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which minister leads on developing and maintaining a "pipeline of investment propositions backed by clear information about the timing and nature of renewable energy opportunities", as set out in its Green Industrial Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-36619

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken since the publication of its Green Industrial Strategy to (a) raise the profile of green job opportunities and (b) support people to retrain to take up any such opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-36624

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent staff are currently employed to support the Green Jobs Workforce Academy.

Question reference: S6W-36620

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates are currently employed in renewable energy supply chains in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36622

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the "pipeline of investment propositions backed by clear information about the timing and nature of renewable energy opportunities", as set out in its Green Industrial Strategy, is currently recorded and monitored.

Question reference: S6W-36627

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Green Jobs Workforce Academy website is still updated and maintained, and when it was last updated.

Question reference: S6W-36625

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current budget is for the Green Jobs Workforce Academy.