- Asked by: Jamie Langan, MSP for South Scotland, Reform UK
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that it has not provided support to farmers affected by the bluetongue outbreak in South Scotland region, whether it will reconsider its position and commit to looking at the central procurement of vaccine.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2026
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Current Status:
Withdrawn
- Asked by: Gary Bouse, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it is having with local authorities regarding the Scottish Attainment Challenge funding beyond 2026-27.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2026
- Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address any gaps in data in order to improve reporting against the National Indicators.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to improving data availability and quality to support reporting against the National Indicators. The National Indicators bring together data published elsewhere and do not collect data specifically for monitoring. They provide a streamlined measure of progress across the work of the Scottish Government, the wider public sector, and Scotland more broadly. As source data improves, this will be reflected in the National Indicators.
- Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many vehicles have been searched or seized using powers introduced under the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 in relation to suspected illegal waste activity, and how many of these cases have led to enforcement action since the introduction of the Act.
Answer
The provisions of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 that contain the powers to search and seize vehicles have not yet been commenced.
- Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many high-priority illegal waste sites SEPA is currently monitoring, broken down by (a) estimated tonnage of waste and (b) site location.
Answer
SEPA has advised that it uses a risk model that provides a score to allow prioritisation. At the start of 2026-27 there were 76 sites classified as high priority. Of these, 45 sites were identified as deposit of waste or disposal of waste by burial. Investigation and Enforcement action has concluded at one site with full compliance achieved and this will not be included in the data set.
Since the start of 2026-27 a further six high-priority illegal waste sites have been identified, providing a total of 50 high-priority waste sites being actively investigated. Of these 50 sites, 7 have been sufficiently disrupted to reduce the risk to the environment and communities however, investigations will continue until the identified outcome has been achieved.
High priority 1 monitored illegal waste sites.
Site Location
(SEPA Geographic Locations) | Site identifier | Estimated Tonnage |
| Argyll, Hebrides and South Highlands | Site 1 | 145 |
| Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders | Site 1 | 725 |
| Site 2 | 725 |
| Fife, Angus and Dundee | Site 1 | 725 |
| Site 2 | >725 |
| Site 3 | 145 |
| Site 4 | 145 |
| Falkirk, Alloa, Stirling and Perth | Site 1 | 300 |
| Grampian & Speyside | Site 1 | 300 |
| Site 2 | 145 |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde Estuary | Site 1 | 300 |
| Site 2 | >725 |
| Site 3 | 75 |
| Site 4 | 300 |
| Site 5 | >725 |
| Site 6 | 725 |
| Site 7 | 145 |
| Site 8 | >725 |
| Site 9 | 145 |
| Site 10 | 145 |
| Site 11 | >725 |
| Site 12 | 725 |
| Lanarkshire | Site 1 | >725 |
| Site 2 | 725 |
| Site 3 | 725 |
| Site 4 | >725 |
| Site 5 | 300 |
| Site 6 | 725 |
| Site 7 | 145 |
| Site 8 | 300 |
| Site 9 | >725 |
| Site 10 | 725 |
| Site 11 | >725 |
| Site 12 | 145 |
| Site 13 | >725 |
| Site 14 | >725 |
| Site 15 | 145 |
| Site 16 | 145 |
| North Highland and Northern Isles | Site 1 | 145 |
| Site 2 | 300 |
| Site 3 | 300 |
| Site 4 | 300 |
| Site 5 | 145 |
| South West Scotland | Site 1 | 145 |
| Site 2 | 725 |
| Site 3 | 145 |
| Site 4 | 300 |
| Site 5 | >725 |
| Site 6 | >725 |
1 For prioritisation purposes SEPA do not record exact or estimated tonnages. SEPA record estimated financial benefit so a calculation using estimated financial benefit and the UK landfill tax rate of £130.75 per tonne has been used to estimate tonnage. SEPA’s Digital Transformation Project will improve the data captured as part of a centralised repository of investigations. Where SEPA investigations are still active the tonnage may not yet be fully determined or it may be part of the evidence. As such, any data released into the public domain could compromise the investigation, influence witness statements, affect future court proceedings or impact the privacy of those involved. The data provided is set out to protect detection and investigative processes.
Throughout an investigation the calculated tonnage on site may increase or decrease, e.g. it may be determined that the illegal deposit initially identified as being above ground extends below ground level upon further investigation resulting in an increase in tonnage. Definitive tonnages of waste on significant waste disposal sites will only ever be available following site removal of the waste.
The data provided is based on the investigation progress as of 7 September 2026.
Further Information is available from SEPA.
- Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been recovered from individuals and organisations involved in illegal waste operations in each of the last five years.
Answer
SEPA has provided the following information on Fixed Monetary Penalties (FMPs) and Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs) paid in relation to waste related activities under relevant legislation. The value of penalties paid in each of the last five financial years is set out in Table 3 in below.
Monetary Penalties paid 3[AD1]
| | FY2021-22 | FY2022-23 | FY2023-24 | FY2024-25 | FY2025-26 |
| FMPs Paid | £3,000 | £4,959 | £7,046 | £3,540 | £9,100 |
| VMPs Paid | - | - | £8,010 | - | £8,385 |
| Total | £3,000 | £4,959 | £15,056 | £3,540 | £17,485 |
3 Any monies paid to SEPA in response to issued monetary penalties are transferred to the Scottish Consolidated Fund. SEPA do not receive Court Fine payments or Proceeds of Crime Confiscations.
In addition, where penalties remain outstanding, debt recovery action is initiated or repayment plans agreed. All outstanding unpaid Penalties have been referred to debt collection as of 7 September 2026.
The current cumulative value of outstanding penalties subject to recovery action or repayment arrangements is £66,003.67 for VMPs and £20,180 for FMPs.
These figures relate to the issuance of any FMP or VMP by SEPA for offences under Control of Pollution Act 1989, Environmental Protection Act 1990, Environment Act 1995, and Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018. These figures do not include fines imposed by the Courts or confiscations through Proceeds of Crime for criminal proceedings in relation to illegal waste offences.
- Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is satisfied that the current definition and recording of waste crime adequately capture large-scale illegal waste operations, including sites where waste is deliberately stored or buried over an extended period, rather than being disposed of through fly-tipping.
Answer
For information of this nature, you may wish to contact the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), as they may be able to assist further.
- Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified any illegal waste sites in Scotland containing more than 20,000 tonnes of waste, comparable to the "super sites" recently identified in England, and, if so, how many such sites are known to SEPA.
Answer
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has provided data on the number of illegal waste sites containing more than 20,000 tonnes in Scotland and this is set out in the following table. The data provided is based on the investigation progress as of 7 September 2026.
SEPA seeks to disrupt identified illegal activity as quickly as possible using an interventions approach to minimise the occurrence of ‘super sites’ as far as possible.
Further Information is available from SEPA.
Illegal waste sites identified with an excess of 20,000 tonnes of waste[1]evidenced
Site Location
(SEPA Geographic Locations) | Number of known Sites |
| Argyll, Hebrides and South Highlands | n/a |
| Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders | n/a |
| Fife, Angus and Dundee | n/a |
| Falkirk, Alloa, Stirling and Perth | n/a |
| Grampian & Speyside | n/a |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde Estuary | n/a |
| Lanarkshire | 1i |
| North Highland and Northern Isles | n/a |
[1]Waste remains in-situ with investigation ongoing. Tonnage not yet determined as deposits are above and below ground.
It should be noted that where SEPA investigations are still active, the tonnage may not yet be fully determined or it may be part of the evidence. As such, any data released into the public domain could compromise the investigation, influence witness statements, affect future court proceedings or impact the privacy of those involved. The data provided is set out to protect detection and investigative processes.
Throughout an investigation the calculated tonnage on site may increase or decrease, e.g. it may be determined that the illegal deposit initially identified as being above ground extends below ground level upon further investigation, resulting in an increase in tonnage. The actual tonnage of waste on a site can only be fully known once the waste has been removed and Waste Transfer Notes / Special Waste Consignment Notes / Invoices provide the definitive weight.
- Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Programme for Government 2026-27 will be closely aligned or mapped to the revised National Performance Framework.
Answer
In the Programme for Government, the First Minister states that his priorities and ambitions will help build a Scotland that is fair, healthy, prosperous, secure, skilled, sustainable, and connected. The Scottish Government’s five-year (corporate) plan explains that we will continue to improve how we track progress towards the National Outcomes by establishing a new system in 2026. I have written to committees this week regarding the proposed National Outcomes. We intend to launch the reformed National Performance Framework, including the National Indicators, later this year and will keep Parliament informed of progress.
