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: S6O-01531

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the local government minister has had with local authorities regarding running effective consultations on the delivery of frontline public services.

Question reference: S6W-11782

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi McAllan on 27 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to respond to the findings of the 2021 Review of Scotland’s National Marine Plan.

In 2015, the Scottish Government was one of the first governments to develop and adopt a National Marine Plan, which sets out the strategic framework and policies for the sustainable development of our marine resources out to 200 nautical miles.

Since 2015, there have been significant changes in Scotland – including our commitment to becoming a net zero nation by 2045, the impacts of EU exit and increased understanding of the impacts of climate change and human activity on the marine environment. The most recent statutory review of the National Marine Plan, published in 2021, suggested that while the current plan is effective, the urgent need to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, amongst other more recent factors, such as energy security, has become a core driver for a new plan.

Acknowledging the findings of this review, we have decided that now is the time to develop a new National Marine Plan. The National Marine Plan 2 (“NMP2”) will take account of the aspirations and framing set out in the recently published Blue Economy Vision, among other long-term commitments outlined in the Programme for Government and Bute House Agreement.

Developing our second National Marine Plan will be a considerable undertaking, comparable to the efforts required to develop its terrestrial equivalent, National Planning Framework 4. It will involve extensive consultation with stakeholders and a series of technical assessments, which we estimate will take in the region of three years to complete.

There will be significant choices to make as we proceed through the planning process. We want all sectors and communities to be part of developing this National Marine Plan 2, building shared objectives for the future of Scotland’s seas. In the spirit of this commitment, today we have published a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy for the development of National Marine Plan 2, which includes our statutory Statement of Public Participation. These resources outline when and how we intend to engage with the people of Scotland throughout the process and will be updated on a regular basis.

These documents and further information are available at:

Question reference: S6O-01499

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how peatland restoration will be measured as a component of the proposed Land Management Plans in the forthcoming Land Reform Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01376

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it can give to rural and island communities, such as those in Argyll and Bute, in light of basic fuel costs reportedly being disproportionately high historically.

Question reference: S6W-10661

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its consultation document setting out its plans for the next Agriculture Bill.

The consultation document will be published on the Scottish Government’s website on 29 August 2022 at 10:00. I would welcome all those interested in the role agriculture plays in producing our nation’s food and managing Scotland’s rural landscape to respond. I also urge members of the public to take the opportunity to share their views and engage with this process, and please encourage everyone you know to take part. Responses to this consultation will give us tremendous insight into how best to realise our Vision for Agriculture in a way that works for our rural communities and Scotland: https://consult.gov.scot/agriculture-and-rural-economy/proposals-for-a-new-agriculture-bill/ )

Question reference: S6W-10510

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 19 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the analysis of its Islands Bond consultation.

The analysis of the Islands Bond online consultation and the Scottish Government response was published on the Scot.gov website today, 19 August. These documents can be accessed via the following links:

Analysis: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781804353141

SG Response: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781804358214

The approach outlined in the documents is in direct response to the views provided by our island communities. We remain fully committed to addressing the issue of depopulation on our islands and doing so in a way that is supported by islanders.

Question reference: S6W-09421

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the current global supply chain issues resulting from the conflict in Ukraine, what actions it has taken to strengthen the food security of Scotland.

The Scottish Government takes seriously the food security of Scotland, and in response to the conflict in Ukraine, Scottish Ministers established a short-life Food Security and Supply Taskforce, jointly with industry.

The purpose of the short life taskforce was to monitor, identify and respond to any potential disruption to the food and drink supply chain resulting from the situation in Ukraine. It also sought to recommend any short, medium and longer term actions that might be taken to mitigate impacts and resolve supply issues.

The work of the Taskforce has now concluded and arrived at a set of recommendations to strengthen food security and supply in Scotland. The full report and its recommendations will be published today https://www.gov.scot/publications/short-life-food-security-and-supply-taskforce-report/ , it reinforces the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to use all powers it has available to support people in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01276

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle population decline in the Argyll and Bute constituency and other rural areas.

Question reference: S6W-08599

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any barriers that tenant crofters have in accessing Woodland Carbon Code funding, and, if so, what steps it is taking to address these issues.

The Scottish Government is taking steps to make it cost-effective for smaller projects to sell carbon credits under the Woodland Carbon Code, which will benefit crofters given crofts are generally much smaller units of land. It is recognised that the finance that could be available through the sale of carbon credits under the Code could make the difference between projects being viable or not viable. The Woodland Carbon Code Secretariat at Scottish Forestry has developed a ‘streamlined’ application process for small woodland creation projects (up to 5 hectares) which simplifies the prediction of carbon sequestration, reduces the requirement for regular plot surveys and has fewer requirements throughout the validation and verification process.

Projects can also be ‘grouped’ together by a project developer for validation and verification which further reduces cost. This removes some of the cost and administrative barriers for smaller projects. This could open the opportunity for crofters to form informal “co-operatives” where they wish to embark collectively on validating and verifying their projects, but any crofters wishing to do this would should contact Scottish Forestry or one of the WCC project developers for further guidance.

Scottish Forestry has also been working with both crofting and farming tenants through the Integrating Trees Network through a series of webinars allowing both crofters and tenant farmers to ask questions and find out more information about tree planting.

Question reference: S6O-01068

Asked by: Jenni Minto, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the Just Transition will support Argyll and Bute's local economy through innovation in the renewables sector.