Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-38654

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill on the cost of borrowing for rural businesses.

To understand the impact of Land Reform Bill proposals on businesses, the Scottish Government conducted a Scottish firms impact test, involving engagement with landowners, land agents and representative organisations of land-based businesses.

Assessment of potential impacts relating to delays in the disposal of land (which would include any additional borrowing costs relating to the delay) related to pre-notification and the transfer test can be found in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill - Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Question reference: S6W-38652

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work it plans to undertake to ensure that any ministerial decisions taken in accordance with the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill are compliant with the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.

A lotting decision only takes place in a situation where a landowner is voluntarily selling their land. The lotting provisions cannot be used to compel an owner to sell land where there is no intention to dispose of it in the first place, nor sell a particular business or employer entity. If Ministers decide to order lotting, they must specify the lots, and the lots must then be transferred to different purchasers. All aspects of each sale would otherwise be determined between the seller and the prospective buyer.

In the event that a transfer of a particular lot specified by Ministers amounted to or formed part of a transfer of an undertaking, it would accordingly be for the parties to the transaction to determine the relevance of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.

Question reference: S6W-38653

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any consultation with the financial services sector was undertaken during the development of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The Scottish Government undertook a range of consultation to develop the proposals in the Bill. Engagement with landowners and wider stakeholders is set out in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill - Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment and the results of our public consultation is set out in our 5. Regulating the market in large-scale land transfers: a new Public Interest Test, and a requirement to notify an intention to sell - Land reform in a Net Zero nation: consultation analysis - gov.scot

As part of further development during Stage 1, consultation was undertaken with a range of stakeholders including the following bodies:

UK Infrastructure Bank (now National Wealth Fund)
Scottish National Investment Bank
Scottish Futures Trust

This engagement highlighted the importance of clarity for both landowners and lenders on the timescales and decision process for the transfer test provisions in the Bill. Amendments have now been agreed by the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee at Stage 2 which will introduce timescales for Ministerial transfer test decisions and place a duty on Ministers to publish guidance on the process.

Question reference: S6W-38658

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the potential impact of prior notification and lotting decisions within the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill on individuals employed by landowners on landholdings impacted by the legislation.

To understand the impact of Land Reform (Scotland) Bill proposals on businesses, the Scottish Government conducted a Scottish firms impact test, involving engagement with landowners, land agents and representative organisations of land-based businesses.

These stakeholders did not raise a link between pre-notification and lotting decisions and employment however some did note that additional staff and/or commissioning of advice may be required in relation to land management plans. Full detail of this assessment of anticipated impacts can be found in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill - Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Question reference: S6W-38656

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action a landowner can take in the event that the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill is passed and they are placed in breach of contract with a lender as a result.

As outlined in the Policy Memorandum accessible for the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, landowners will be entitled to apply to the Scottish Ministers for compensation for any loss or expense that is incurred in complying with procedural requirements, attributable to a potential transfer being prevented, or attributable to a lotting decision (including the requirement that lots be transferred to different purchasers). The amount of compensation will be determined by Scottish Ministers, or by the Lands Tribunal on an appeal against the Ministerial determination.

Question reference: S6W-38655

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make compensation available to any businesses that are materially disadvantaged by the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

As outlined in the Policy Memorandum accessible for the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, landowners will be entitled to apply to the Scottish Ministers for compensation for any loss or expense that is incurred in complying with procedural requirements, attributable to a potential transfer being prevented, or attributable to a lotting decision (including the requirement that lots be transferred to different purchasers). The amount of compensation will be determined by Scottish Ministers, or by the Lands Tribunal on an appeal against the Ministerial determination.

Question reference: S6W-38657

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of its amendment to the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, to reduce the threshold at which provisions apply to land from 3,000 hectares to 1,000 hectares, on the (a) likely number of sales and transfers of land and (b) costs to rural businesses.

Question reference: S6W-38485

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of the current model of volunteer-led aftercare services for hearing aids, delivered in specific locations on a rota basis, compared with a primary care audiology service providing aftercare and ongoing support closer to home.

The Scottish Government is continuing to invest in RNID Near You, which provides an aftercare service delivering hearing aid support, access to information and advice and early detection and prevention through hearing checks, in partnership with the NHS in Shetland, Glasgow, Lothian, Fife and Borders. The scheme aims to reduce pressure on the NHS. Boards report savings in staff time and patient travel and monitoring is through regular meetings and reviewing outcomes against targets. The Scottish Government is not responsible for outcomes of third sector relationships procured in other health board areas in the delivery of NHS audiology services.

Question reference: S6W-38835

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many tonnes of waste it has directly generated in each of the last five financial years; how many tonnes of this waste were sent to landfill; how many tonnes it estimates it will generate in 2026, and how many tonnes of this waste it estimates will be sent to England from January 2026.

Question reference: S6W-37973

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on each of the recommendations in the Climate Change Committee report, Scotland’s Carbon Budgets.

Following receipt of the Climate Change Committee (CCC)’s report, work is ongoing to consider the advice carefully and at pace. My intention is to lay regulations to set Scottish carbon budgets in legislation as soon as possible following Scottish Ministers’ consideration of both the CCC’s advice and the target-setting criteria contained in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. On the same day as laying the regulations, I will publish an accompanying statement providing further detail on the proposed carbon budgets and the Scottish Government’s position.

Chamber and committees