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-34944

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much peatland has been restored since 2021, broken down by local authority area.

The amount of peatland restored through the Peatland ACTION partnership since 2021, broken down by local authority area, can be found in the following table.

Local Authority	Hectares restored through Peatland ACTION since 2021
Aberdeen City Council	0
Aberdeenshire Council	1209.9
Angus Council	577
Argyll and Bute Council	2126.1
City of Edinburgh Council	0
Clackmannanshire Council	0
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	331
Dumfries and Galloway Council	451.3
Dundee City Council	0
East Ayrshire Council	322
East Dunbartonshire Council	0
East Lothian Council	0
East Renfrewshire Council	0
Falkirk Council	11.4
Fife Council	4
Glasgow City Council	0
Inverclyde Council	150
Midlothian Council	0
North Ayrshire Council	161.2
North Lanarkshire Council	78.7
Orkney Islands Council	0
Perth and Kinross Council	1095.4
Renfrewshire Council	3.2
Scottish Borders Council	810.6
Shetland Islands Council	178
South Ayrshire Council	0
South Lanarkshire Council	335
Stirling Council	1244.1
The Highland Council	17750.2
The Moray Council	113
West Dunbartonshire Council	0
West Lothian Council	36.4
Total	26988.5

This information is publicly available through the Peatland ACTION spatial data mapping tool found here: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=31eaa69a03014972b7888bc927714bbc

Guidance on using the tool can be found here: https://www.nature.scot/climate-change/nature-based-solutions/peatland-action/peatland-action-data-research-and-monitoring/peatland-action-data-mapping-portal

Question reference: S6W-34929

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties have had a rural housing burden applied to their title deeds in each year since 2003, broken down by (a) council tax band and (b) local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. However, I have contacted the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (the Keeper) and they have been able to provide some of the information. The breakdown by each year the rural housing burden was applied is not available. The property registers maintained by the Keeper do not include council tax band. The following number of titles contain rural housing burdens by local authority:

Argyll and Bute 134

Dumfries and Galloway 109

Highland 388

Inverclyde 1

Moray 4

Na h-Eileanan an Iar 110

Orkney Islands 24

Perth and Kinross 13

Total 783

Question reference: S6W-34794

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported concerns expressed by members of the muirburn code working group regarding the feasibility of introducing muirburn licensing provisions ahead of the 2025 muirburn season.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges associated with introducing this complex area of licensing but with the help of stakeholders through the Muirburn Code Working Group we are confident that the provisions can be in place ahead of the 2025 season. NatureScot has prioritised this area of work within its licensing team and online development and design team. Progress is being made in developing an easy-to-use online application form and in providing clear guidance around identifying peatlands.

Question reference: S6W-34792

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of the new muirburn code, and what the timescale is for its completion.

Question reference: S6W-34793

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of the new methodology for determining peat depth to inform maps submitted as part of an application to make muirburn under licence, and what the timescale is for its completion.

Question reference: S6W-34795

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought advice from NatureScot regarding commencing the muirburn licensing provisions ahead of the 2025 muirburn season and, if so, whether it will publish this.

Question reference: S6W-34356

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Engineering report, Engineering Skills Gap Analysis for Scotland.

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, myself, and Scottish Government officials have held several meetings with Scottish Engineering to discuss the report Engineering Skills Gap Analysis for Scotland. We will continue to engage with the sector in the coming weeks to assess options and expect to finalise an action plan by April.

We will also continue to drive agility and efficiency in the post school education and skills system through our programme of reform. This includes work on skills planning that will put in place a mechanism to collectively agree and prioritise Scotland strategic skills needs, to meet our economic, social and environmental aims

Question reference: S6W-34191

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been carried out of the specific challenges faced by patients in rural and remote areas in accessing community audiology services, and what steps are being taken to address these.

Question reference: S6W-34194

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the availability of community audiology services in (a) NHS Grampian and (b) other rural NHS board areas.

Question reference: S6W-34126

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on any legal costs related to defending or advising former ministers in each year since 2018, and from which budgets these costs were drawn.