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-39286

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish a definitive list of irreplaceable habitats in Scotland, and, if so, whether species-rich meadows will be included within that list.

Question reference: S6W-39329

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it proposes following the publication of the April 2024 consultation analysis on mandatory planning training for elected members, and when it will bring forward regulations under section 45 of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019.

Question reference: S6W-38965

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 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: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 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-39268

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the draft islands connectivity plan strategic approach to revisit the Freight Fares Review in the medium to long term, what work has been undertaken on this, and what the anticipated timescale is for the completion and implementation of a revised freight fares structure in (a) Scotland and (b) relation to services to and from Colonsay.

Question reference: S6W-38648

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 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.

Owners and occupiers of land within an SSSI must apply to NatureScot for consent to carry out certain operations. When a planning application is submitted in relation to a development that may affect an SSSI, the planning authority must consult NatureScot and take its advice into account. Should any proposed future use of land require planning permission, that would be a matter for the planning authority to consider under relevant planning legislation and policy.

We are continuing to progress a Nature Conservation Order to prevent further damage to the Parallel Roads of Lochaber Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), as per the answer to question S6W-37759 on 30 May 2025.

Question reference: S6W-38955

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 July 2025

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

ICES statistical rectangle is the finest spatial resolution data that the Scottish Government hold on the number of individual wrasse extracted from an area. ICES statistical rectangles are approximately 30 nautical miles by 30 nautical miles in size.

Loch Sunart is contained within ICES statistical rectangle 42E4 along with other areas of sea. Therefore, it is not possible to deduce the number of individual wrasse specifically taken from Loch Sunart.

Wild wrasse fishing activity is not currently authorised in Sunart Special Area of Conservation.

Question reference: S6W-39124

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to engage with community-led initiatives, such as the Kyles Coastal Community Group’s campaign for clean seas, to ensure that local knowledge and priorities are reflected in marine protection and wastewater management policies.

Question reference: S6W-39125

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the monitoring and public reporting of sewage discharges into coastal waters, particularly in rural communities such as those around the Kyles of Bute and Loch Riddon, in light of reported concerns regarding the frequency and impact of untreated sewage entering the marine environment.

Question reference: S6W-39126

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider supporting a pilot scheme for decentralised, community-scale sewage treatment systems in rural areas, such as the Kyles of Bute, in light of reports that such systems may offer more environmentally sustainable and cost-effective solutions than traditional mains infrastructure.