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-38917

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) regarding the reported proposed sale of Armadale Castle and estate by the Clan Donald Lands Trust, in light of reports regarding complaints submitted by beneficiaries and public interest in the potential impact on community access.

Question reference: S6W-38965

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the Wild Wrasse Fishery report that covers 2023.

Question reference: S6W-38945

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will mandate the reporting and publication of cleaner fish mortalities on salmon farms, in light of reports that Fish Health Inspectorate inspections indicate that these are already recorded by farms.

Question reference: S6W-38955

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many wrasse have been taken from Loch Sunart since the wrasse fishery was regulated.

Question reference: S6W-38662

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37289 by Alasdair Allan on 13 May 2025, in which it stated that “the revised policy statement for the protection of natural features on Ramsar sites will be published on the Scottish Government web-site shortly”, whether it will set out specifically by when the statement will be published, in light of a month having passed since its previous answer.

The position outlined in the answer to S6W-37289 on 13 May 2025 remains that the revised policy statement for the protection of natural features on Ramsar sites will be published at the earliest opportunity.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-38664

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards creating a cadastral system to map out the (a) tax paid on and (b) subsidies received for land holdings.

The Scottish Government uses a variety of systems for different purposes. One of these is Scotland’s Land Information Service, created and maintained by Registers of Scotland, which provides online access to information on land and property in Scotland for both public and business users. Enhancements since the service first launched have included access to a Crofting Register layer, an Aerial photography map layer, the Sasines Register indicative ownership layer, the Books of Council & Session, the Register of Judgements, the Register of Inhibitions and National Library Scotland’s Historic Maps

The Scottish Assessors maintain the Council Tax Valuation List and the Valuation Roll which sets out the rateable value of non-domestic land and heritages unless they are statutorily exempt. As set out in the recent Scottish Budget and Scotland’s Tax Strategy: Building on our Tax Principles, we are taking forward work with the Scottish Land Commission which includes exploration of opportunities for improved data collection, data analysis and data publication to better inform decision making regarding tax and land.

Information relating to agricultural subsidies is published by Defra on behalf of the Scottish Government and can be accessed here: https://cap-payments.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx.

Question reference: S6W-38478

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in order to safeguard Scotland's hand-dived scallops' global reputation for both quality and sustainability, how it plans to work with organisations such as Seafood Scotland, Michelin and the AA to demonstrate support for low-impact seafood, including by encouraging transparent, evidence-driven certifications, and requiring the inclusion of provenance and catch methods on menus.

Scottish Government fully recognises the vital contribution of all our fishermen, including those that hand dive, who work tirelessly to provide high-quality seafood. Their efforts are vital to the Scottish economy, and for our coastal and island communities in particular, and give Scotland its rightful reputation as a producer of world-class fish and shellfish.

As our national trade and marketing body for the Scottish seafood industry, Scottish Government works closely with Seafood Scotland. The Scottish Government, alongside Seafood Scotland, supports transparency in seafood sourcing and welcomes informed consumer choice. Catching and production information is already accessible to buyers through labelling and supply chain data.

Scottish Government does not however have a role in relation to how menus are written. Food Standards Scotland has responsibility for the provision of food information to consumers, including fish labelling. While there is no legal requirement to provide provenance and catch methods on menus, food businesses may provide this information on a voluntary basis. As with all food information, it must be accurate and not mislead the consumer.

We continuously improve how we manage our waters based on the best available evidence, and are always working towards more sustainable inshore fisheries that balance economic, social and environmental outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-38524

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the current cost would be of abolishing non-residential social care charges, and how it has determined that cost.

As part of ongoing social care improvement and reform activity, The Scottish Government is working with CoSLA to explore possible options for removing Non-Residential Social Care charges.

Due to the variation of non-residential charges across all local authorities in Scotland, this is a complex issue which requires careful scrutiny. We are working with our partners CoSLA to help refine the data they collate which will allow us to understand the full cost of Non-Residential Social Care charges.

Question reference: S6W-38648

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in relation to reports of land being sold at auctions as investment or lifestyle plots, despite being situated on crofting, arable or protected land, such as the Parallel Roads of Lochaber Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Achnabobane.

Question reference: S6W-38182

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Scottish Water following its reported policy change requiring waste treatment sites to be staffed during waste emptying, in light of reports that not all sites are staffed 24 hours a day and that Scottish Water has indicated that it lacks the resources to hire additional personnel for this role, leaving constituents on Mull unable to get their septic tanks emptied.

The Scottish Government has not had any recent discussions of this specific human resources issue with Scottish Water, as this is an operational matter for them to determine. However, I have asked Scottish Water to provide a response and I understand that there have been no changes to its policies – private companies operating on Mull are being asked to adhere to well-established, existing protocols.