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.

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Question reference: S6W-15978

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many jet ski owners have had enforcement action taken against them in each year since the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park was established, broken down by the nature of the enforcement.

Question reference: S6W-15704

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its Programme for Government 2022-23 commitment to consult on proposals to restrict alcohol promotions, what preparatory work it has undertaken (a) in the lead-up to the consultation being published and (b) for the eventual implementation of the policy.

Preparatory work pre-consultation involved gathering, analysing and commissioning academic evidence. We also commissioned projects with Young Scot and the Youth Parliament to ensure that young people’s voices were central to our proposals.

We have not done any preparatory work on implementation as no decisions have been taken on scope or on the type of restrictions that might be taken forward, our next steps depend entirely on the responses to the consultation itself.

Question reference: S6W-15954

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to issue revised guidance to local authorities, regarding the High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013, to ensure that the definition of high hedges specified in the Act, which includes “a hedge which is formed wholly or mainly by a row of 2 or more trees or shrubs”, is used by local authorities, rather than the definition in the current guidance, issued in 2019, which requires that, for trees and shrubs to be considered as a “high hedge”, they must first be considered to form a hedge.

Question reference: S6W-15960

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Circularity Scotland regarding the decision to appoint Biffa as its logistics partner for the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-15941

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list any cases in which sewage leaks have been recorded in NHS hospitals in each year since 1 January 2022, broken down by (a) hospital and (b) part of the building in which the leak occurred.

Question reference: S6W-15932

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Biffa’s contract as the logistics service provider for the Deposit Return Scheme, what (a) type and (b) number of lorries have been negotiated for the scheme’s launch on 16 August 2023, and what its response is to reports that Biffa is (i) buying and (ii) manufacturing new lorries for the implementation of the scheme.

Circularity Scotland, the scheme administrator is a private non-profit company and is responsible for operating the scheme, including its logistics. Questions regarding the detail of their contracts should be directed to them.

The Scottish Government can however confirm that an extensive tender process for a logistics service provider was carried out by Circularity Scotland over a period of around 12 months and was open to businesses of all sizes. The process involved extensive due diligence by Circularity Scotland. BIFFA was awarded that contract in July 2022.

Question reference: S6W-15957

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether Biffa is an appropriate logistics partner for the Deposit Return Scheme, given that the company has previously been prosecuted for breaches of environmental waste export laws.

Circularity Scotland, the scheme administrator is a private non-profit company and is responsible for operating the scheme, including logistics. Decisions regarding their contracts are for them – this is entirely appropriate for a scheme that has industry responsibility at its heart.

An extensive tender process was carried out by Circularity Scotland over a period of around 12 months and was open to businesses of all sizes. The process involved extensive due diligence by Circularity Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-15934

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) City of Edinburgh Council and (b) the Ministry of Defence (MoD), regarding the sale and utilisation of empty MoD properties at Craigiehall, Edinburgh.

Scottish Government is pleased to be supporting City of Edinburgh Council to purchase Ministry of Defence owned properties at Dreghorn, Edinburgh as part of our Affordable Housing Supply Programme. The Council has also indicated interest in exploring the purchase of Ministry of Defence properties at Craigiehall, Edinburgh as one of a number of sites they are exploring. Officials have had outline discussions with them on this- including attending an initial site visit. City of Edinburgh Council are currently considering the site in more detail. Scottish Government has put in place a £50m Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund to bring additional properties into use to boost the supply of homes for those fleeing conflict in Ukraine and we have noted the Council’s interest in applying to this Fund, and/or the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, should they decide to pursue the site. As the strategic housing authority it is for the Council to enter into discussions with the Ministry of Defence on potential site purchases.

Question reference: S6W-15919

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of businesses with existing contracts to collect glass from commercial premises that may lose business as a result of the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme.

During the development of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), a number of documents were produced, including the Full Business Case and Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment which look at the expected impacts to business and others of this scheme.

Scotland’s DRS represents a significant, transformative, change in the way in which waste is handled across the country. These changes present opportunities for waste handling businesses to work with Circularity Scotland and their primary logistics contractor Biffa, to help support the scheme.

Any companies which wish to participate in Scotland’s DRS activities should contact the DRS enquiries team at Biffa and this will be discussed with Circularity Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-15916

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that any bids that it receives for National Park status cover contiguous or overlapping areas, whether the Scottish Ministers will be able to consider combining those bids into one larger National Park.

The Scottish Government has committed to designating at least one new National Park in Scotland during this parliamentary session provided relevant legal conditions can be met. In the Spring we will publish a draft evaluation framework with proposed selection criteria before opening the nominations process for new National Parks later this year.

We are aware of several areas which are interested in National Park status, including some which have well established campaigns. Through the nominations process, we will ask interested parties to register their interest and submit a nomination. We intend to make support available to local groups and organisations wishing to submit a nomination, for example to help arrange and host local discussions and workshops.

All proposals for New National Parks that are received will be assessed against the criteria set out in the evaluation framework and a report will be prepared. A panel of experts will then review the evaluation report and will provide advice to Scottish Ministers on which nomination or nominations should be considered for National Park designation. In theory it would be possible for the panel to recommend that overlapping or contiguous areas are considered.