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-21282

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the recommendations of the Active Travel Transformation Project will be made publicly available.

The recommendations of the ongoing Active Travel Transformation Project will be made publicly available. It is intended that these will be shared in the coming months.

A report which summarises the work undertaken and lessons learned from the first stage of the Project will be also published. This report will include learning from Project workshops, and summarises issues surfaced through wider Project engagement.

Question reference: S6O-02559

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its final Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

Question reference: S6O-02476

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the development of an offshore training passport, as funded by the Just Transition Fund.

Question reference: S6W-20143

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition on 29 June 2023, regarding Highly Protected Marine Areas, whether there will be any delay to the deadline of March 2024 for the delivery of fisheries management measures in existing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), as set out in the Bute House Agreement.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering fisheries management measures for existing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) where such measures are not already in place, as well as key coastal biodiversity locations outside of these sites. As outlined in the Parliamentary Statement of 29 June 2023, due to the complexity of the of the inshore area and the number of sites, the fisheries management measures will not be delivered before March 2024. The Scottish Government will consult on the proposals for offshore areas after summer recess and on proposals for inshore areas in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-20144

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition on 29 June 2023, regarding Highly Protected Marine Areas, what the timescales are for establishing fisheries management measures for "tranche two" of the existing Marine Protected Areas.

“Tranche two” Marine Protected Areas are included in work currently ongoing to implement fisheries management measures within existing Marine Protected Areas.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20143 on 15 August 2023 for details of the timescale for this work.

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-20145

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment in the Bute House Agreement to "consult as soon as practicable on proposals to apply a cap to fishing activity in inshore waters", when it expects to deliver any such consultation.

The Bute House Agreement builds on the actions in our Fisheries Management Strategy which sets out our approach to managing Scottish sea fisheries in partnership with our stakeholders, to deliver the best results for the future of our marine environment, our fishing industry and the communities that rely on them.

Observing our co-management approach, policies relating to inshore fishing will be progressed further through our Regional Inshore Fisheries Group network and Fisheries Management and Conservation group, prior to full consultation.

Question reference: S6W-19951

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many privately-owned land holdings over 500 hectares are used for (a) food production, (b) timber production, (c) energy generation, (d) carbon sequestration, (e) affordable housing, (f) flood reduction, (g) nature recovery and (h) natural heritage.

While the Scottish Government does not currently hold land use data for land as categorised in the question, it does hold information in relation to land use for specific purposes. For example, the Scottish Government's Rural Payments and Inspections Division hold data on the use of land parcels where farmers make applications for funding. The claimant may not, however, be the owner of the land.

Individual land holdings of over 500 hectares will often have a mixture of uses. For example, Scottish Forestry has engaged with 324 separate areas of privately owned land over 500 hectares that are under forest cover and used primarily for timber production and carbon sequestration. These can be broken down as:

4 forest management plans over 500 hectares have been approved by Scottish Forestry (Scottish Government agency) since 2011;
310 Long Term Forest Plans over 500 hectares have been approved by Scottish Forestry since 2009; and
10 Forestry Grant Scheme Woodland Creation cases over 500 hectares have been approved since 2015.

These areas of land will also contribute to natural heritage and nature recovery as they all include areas of native woodland and other habitats.

As outlined in the Scottish Government’s consultation for the forthcoming Land Reform Bill, proposals for compulsory Land Management Plans for large land holdings will require land holders to detail the use and management of their land. This will further improve transparency of land ownership and empower communities.

Question reference: S6W-19948

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 2 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals own land holdings over 500 hectares in Scotland, broken down by region.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. She advises me that on 19 July 2023, out of the 2040 registered titles with a footprint area over 500 ha, 809 are owned exclusively by one or more natural persons. A further 15 titles are leased exclusively by one or more natural persons and 2 are mixed tenure titles registered under the Land Registration (Scotland) 1979 Act.

These figures exclude titles where a natural person may be acting in a special capacity (e.g., as a trustee or partner), as well as titles with a complex proprietorship structure consisting of a mix of natural and non-natural persons acting in various capacities.

Of the 615 areas of unregistered land over 500 ha, which have been linked to a Sasines Search Sheet in the Registers of Scotland Unlocking Sasines dataset, an estimated 244 are indicatively owned exclusively by one or more natural persons.

A breakdown by region is provided in the following table. 10 Land Register titles over 500 ha Register are near shore or offshore and therefore fall outwith the mapped boundaries of Scottish Local Authority areas.

Table: Land Register Titles/Unlocking Sasines polygons held by one or more natural persons

Local Authority Region	Ownership Titles	Tenancy Titles	Mixed Tenure Titles	Unlocking Sasines Polygons
Aberdeen City	1	-	-	-
Aberdeenshire	62	1	1	6
Angus	10	-	-	5
Argyll and Bute	67	1	-	46
City of Edinburgh	1	-	-	-
Clackmannanshire	2	-	-	2
Dumfries and Galloway	83	-	-	9
East Ayrshire	8	-	-	7
East Dunbartonshire	-	-	-	-
East Lothian	5	1	-	-
East Renfrewshire	1	-	-	-
Falkirk	1	-	-	-
Fife	-	-	-	-
Highland	173	9	1	92
Inverclyde	-	-	-	1
Midlothian	5	-	-	1
Moray	12	-	-	3
Na h-Eileanan Siar	5	2	-	9
North Ayrshire	10	-	-	1
North Lanarkshire	-	-	-	-
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	2
Perth and Kinross	43	-	-	17
Renfrewshire	1	-	-	1
Scottish Borders	65	-	-	21
Shetland Islands	3	-	-	9
South Ayrshire	1	-	-	1
South Lanarkshire	13	1	-	2
Stirling	30	-	-	9
West Dunbartonshire	-	-	-	-
West Lothian	197	-	-	-
Total	799	15	2	244

Question reference: S6W-19950

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 2 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what area of Scotland’s land is publicly owned; how many holdings this includes, and how many of these holdings are over 500 hectares.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. She advises me that the Registers of Scotland does not collect information that is meant to identify land as publicly owned. Estimates are highly dependent on how public bodies are defined and searched for (by name) in the Land Register of Scotland and the Registers of Scotland Unlocking Sasines dataset.

Using available data sources, we estimate that on 21 July 2023, public sector bodies (including local authorities) held approximately 32,882 holdings across all tenure types, covering a combined area of approximately 884,350 ha.

288 holdings exceed 500 ha.

Question reference: S6W-19949

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 2 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many corporations own land holdings over 500 hectares in Scotland, broken down by region.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. She advises me that on 19 July 2023, out of the 2040 registered titles with a footprint area over 500 ha, 434 are owned exclusively by one or more companies. A further 212 titles are leased exclusively by one or more companies and 2 are mixed tenure titles registered under the Land Registration (Scotland) 1979 Act.

These figures exclude titles with a complex proprietorship structure consisting of a mix of natural and non-natural persons which may include a company.

Of the 615 areas of unregistered land over 500 ha, which have been linked to a Sasines Search Sheet in the Registers of Scotland Unlocking Sasines dataset, an estimated 188 are owned exclusively by one or more companies.

A breakdown by region is provided in the following table. 5 Land Register titles over 500 ha are near-shore or offshore and therefore fall outwith the mapped boundaries of Scottish Local Authority areas.

Table: Land Register Titles/Unlocking Sasines polygons held by one or more companies

Local Authority Region	Ownership Titles	Tenancy Titles	Mixed Tenure Titles	Unlocking Sasines Polygons
Aberdeen City	-	-	-	-
Aberdeenshire	17	5	-	2
Angus	11	-	-	5
Argyll and Bute	45	19	-	19
City of Edinburgh	-	-	-	-
Clackmannanshire	1	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	48	21	-	5
East Ayrshire	19	4	-	3
East Dunbartonshire	-	-	-	-
East Lothian	6	2	-	1
East Renfrewshire	2	2	-	-
Falkirk	2	1	-	-
Fife	1	-	-	-
Highland	135	76	-	85
Inverclyde	-	-	-	1
Midlothian	-	-	-	1
Moray	2	8	-	5
Na h-Eileanan Siar	15	8	-	11
North Ayrshire	4	1	-	-
North Lanarkshire	4	4	1	-
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross	31	4	-	15
Renfrewshire	2	-	-	-
Scottish Borders	35	8	1	16
Shetland Islands	3	9	-	6
South Ayrshire	2	7	-	1
South Lanarkshire	18	14	-	4
Stirling	7	16	-	8
West Dunbartonshire	-	-	-	-
West Lothian	21	1	-	-
Total	431	210	2	188