- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 27 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalty fines for fly-tipping were issued in each year from 2019 to 2025.
Answer
Answer expected on 27 February 2026
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of how the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the maritime sector will impact on the competitiveness of Scottish ports that currently attract cruise ship calls.
Answer
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will expand into domestic maritime emissions for vessels of 5000 gross tonnage and above under the provisions of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026 currently being scrutinised by Parliament. The instrument does not extend the scheme to emissions for international maritime voyages, and UK ETS policy on this topic is currently under consideration after a recent ETS Authority consultation published in November 2025.
The ETS Authority, the governing body for the scheme comprising of the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive, conducted an Impact Assessment to support scrutiny of this policy as part of the laying of the instrument. The Scottish Government also conducted an Islands Community Impact assessment and a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment to support this legislation.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered ringfencing any funds raised from the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the maritime sector in order to support maritime decarbonisation projects.
Answer
All receipts from the UK ETS across all four nations accrue to the consolidated fund, and contribute toward funding government priorities, such as the net zero transition, where UK Government spending flows through Barnett consequentials.
In Scotland we are already advancing several programmes of work on maritime decarbonisation, including our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture and work on blue carbon outlined in our draft Climate Change Plan 2026-2040. We are also engaging with Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) on increasing the proportion of our ferries which are low emission to 48% by 2040, as well as increasing the ability of our ferries to utilise low-carbon renewable grid electricity for their energy requirements.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered investing any revenues it collects from the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the maritime sector to support the provision of infrastructure for Onshore Power Supply projects at Scottish ports.
Answer
Ports in Scotland are independent statutory bodies – each governed by their own local legislation – and are deemed commercial entities. The relevant port authority is thus responsible for day-to-day commercial decision-making including investments and areas of priority spend and this is not the remit of the Scottish Government. Several Scottish ports have already introduced shore power facilities, including at Port of Aberdeen, Eyemouth, Forth Ports, Fraserburgh and Montrose. Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) are also installing shore power facilities at a number of ports on the lifeline ferry network, including Port Askaig and Kennacraig.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 12 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether the current pilot scheme that provides free bus travel for people who are seeking asylum and live in Scotland using the National Entitlement Card (NEC) will be extended beyond 31 March 2026.
Answer
The free bus travel pilot scheme will operate until 31 March 2026. We recognise that bus travel has the potential to be transformative for people seeking asylum, who are among the most vulnerable in society. The pilot scheme is providing important evidence of the effect of free bus travel in helping people seeking asylum to access essential services and integrate into society, in line with the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy.
Asylum policy and the regime put in place to support people seeking asylum, is reserved to the UK Government. The evidence being gathered through the pilot will be important in considering our next steps, including assessing the benefits and viability of providing free bus travel for all people seeking asylum on a longer-term basis.
People seeking asylum in Scotland can already access the statutory National Concessionary Travel Schemes if they meet the eligibility criteria of aged under 22, aged 60 and over, or with an eligible disability.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of both Scottish projects in the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 7 (AR7) securing strike prices above the current wholesale price of electricity, what its position is on whether electricity bills for households and businesses would be significantly lower in an independent Scotland, and on what evidence its position is based.
Answer
As it is set by the UK Government, the Scottish Government has no power to influence the strike price for projects in Scotland.
Independence would allow the Scottish Government to take decisions that would reduce electricity bills, including reforming our energy market arrangements and how it interacts with neighbouring markets. We would also work to ensure that the lower cost of renewables is passed to customers, with the price of electricity more accurately reflecting our abundant, low-cost renewable resources.
The full powers of independence could tackle fuel poverty in Scotland and bring the cost of living down substantially for households.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 25 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43316 by Angus Robertson on 3 February 2026, regarding the safeguard of the collection and support for future conservation projects, whether Historic Environment Scotland is working with the National Heritage Memorial Fund to purchase the entire proprietary pattern archive of Ballantine Castings Ltd from the liquidator.
Answer
Answer expected on 25 February 2026
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what early discussions it has had with the newly appointed Traffic Commissioner for Scotland on their position and approach to supporting regional transport partnerships, such as Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, to implement regional bus franchises.
Answer
I welcome the appointment of Sharon Clelland to the role of Traffic Commissioner for Scotland and look forward to her starting the role on 6 April 2026. No discussions have taken place since Ms Clelland is not in post.
The Traffic Commissioner for Scotland is an independent regulatory appointee who plays a vital role in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of commercial vehicles and passenger transport services. In relation to bus franchising, they are a statutory consultee to the franchising process and are responsible for enforcement, they also convene the panel responsible for independent approval of a franchising framework. However, the Traffic Commissioner has no direct role in the decision-making of this panel.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the removal or preservation of historic river barriers, including weirs, fish ladders and dams, and their potential for adaptive reuse in flood prevention or energy generation schemes.
Answer
Barriers in rivers have long been identified as a significant pressure on Scotland’s migratory fish populations, including our wild Atlantic salmon. Improving river connectivity by easing or removing these barriers is a priority action under our Wild Salmon Strategy and River Basin Management Planning (RBMP).
Where barriers are no longer in use, such as weirs from historic industry, the best outcomes for fish populations are often achieved by removing the barrier entirely. However, there are a range of factors to consider when making decisions on options to ease fish barriers, including flood risk, risk of erosion associated with removal, and the heritage and amenity value of historic structures. Where historic structures are adapted to be used for flood risk management or energy generation, they will usually require authorisation from SEPA.
RBMP sets out a programme of measures to remove and ease historic and redundant fish barriers which may be funded through the Water Environment Fund (WEF). With a total investment of over £37 million, WEF over the past 12 years has removed or eased 25 redundant structures, opening over 440km of river to migratory fish. The impact of this is clear, with examples such as the removal of the Bronie Burn Weir in Aberdeenshire, which now allows migratory fish to freely access 22 km of upstream habitat for first time in over 100 years
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government by what date the Cessnock and Kinning Park bridges over the M8, which were partially dismantled in July 2024 and scheduled to reopen in December 2024, will now reopen.
Answer
The footbridges between Junctions 21 and 23 are complex structures, which have taken longer than expected to design repairs for. Once the suspended spans were removed, previously hidden defects in the concrete were discovered. This required further testing and changes to the repair approach. Repair work on the suspended spans is continuing off-site. Work on site is expected to restart in the summer, and the footbridges are now expected to reopen in autumn 2026.
