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-33936

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the proposed reduction in its 2025-26 draft Budget of fisheries harbour grants from £500,000 in 2024-25 to £200,000 in 2025-26 will have on future projects.

Question reference: S6W-33861

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to the Marine Fund Scotland in each year, and how much has been distributed to successful applicants.

£14m has been made available each year under the Marine Fund Scotland (MFS).

In some cases, not all the funding made available is drawn down within the financial year by the applicant. Expenditure against awards is as follows;

2021-2022 £12.23m

2022-2023 £11.59m

2023-2024 £12.63m

2024-2025 £2.21m (This isn't for a full year, historically most payments are made in the last quarter of the financial year).

Question reference: S6W-33890

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on whether any fishing vessel owners have been charged additional costs for using port waste reception facilities to dispose of end-of-life gear since it published its marine litter strategy in September 2022.

The Scottish Government conducted an internal review and mapping exercise of port waste reception facilities relevant to the fishing sector in Scotland in both 2023 and 2024 in order to inform future policy development. Of the nine main ports and harbours which have dedicated collection facilities for the disposal of end-of-life fishing gear, see the answer to question S6W-33889 on 30 January 2025, two apply additional charges for the use of these facilities. The provision of adequate waste facilities available to all vessels, including fishing vessels, encourages responsible disposal behaviour. Information on the individual numbers of fishing vessel owners being charged these additional costs was not collected. 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-33898

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its updated Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy.

Question reference: S6O-04283

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to monitor the impact of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 on small- and medium-sized businesses in the local authority areas that apply it.

Question reference: S6W-33859

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to consult stakeholders on the future of the Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Order 2024.

Question reference: S6W-33908

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Marine Directorate spent on the (a) maintenance, (b) repair and (c) fuel costs of the (i) patrol boats and (ii) patrol planes that it has had access to in each year since 2021.

Patrol Vessels

The following table sets out the patrol vessel spend for the last three financial years, for the purposes of the response maintenance includes the maintenance of the vessels, cranes and landing craft both at refit and on an ongoing basis.

Vessels	2021-22				2022-23				2023-24
Vessels	Hirta	Jura	Minna	Total	Hirta	Jura	Minna	Total	Hirta	Jura	Minna	Total
Fuel	£529,446	£504,358	£280,870	£1,314,674	£919,617	£916,924	£439,914	£2,276,455	£738,498	£667,363	£401,065	£1,806,926
Maintenance	£55,696	£232,007	£50,430	£338,133	£181,903	£139,499	£162,687	£484,089	£685,172	£400,509	£277,382	£1,363,063
Repairs	£82,756	£129,213	£54,481	£266,450	£84,780	£139,971	£108,982	£333,734	£126,259	£417,382	£83,118	£626,759

Patrol Aircraft

The Scottish Government engages an external contractor to provide aerial surveillance services utilising our aircraft by providing certification, maintenance and crewing for the aircraft. The following table sets out the aerial surveillance costs for the last three financial years of which a small proportion of the maintenance cost is borne by the external contractor with the main proportion being carried by the Scottish Government and billed as part of the contracted cost.

Aircraft	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Fuel	173,097	199,586	141,102
Aerial Surveillance Ops	1,324,482	1,407,115	1,529,433

Question reference: S6W-33854

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what surveys of Scotland-based fishermen it has carried out since 1 January 2021 regarding their views on the EU Common Fisheries Policy, and what the outcome was.

The Scottish Government has not carried out a survey, since 1 January 2021, of Scotland-based fishers which specifically asked about their views on the EU Common Fisheries Policy. However, officials engage with Scottish fishers regularly on a range of matters, including through our main fisheries co-management stakeholder group, FMAC.

The Scottish Government also collects views from Scotland-based fishers and other stakeholders via other means. This includes research projects as part of evaluations for specific programmes or policies. In the past year, this has included surveying fishers and other stakeholders regarding current compliance mechanisms and Quota Management Groups. Both projects raised issues related to the EU Common Fisheries Policy and both projects are due to be published this year.

Question reference: S6W-33845

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update its approach to dealing with gear conflict, in light of the last Marine Scotland report of the Task Force on Gear Conflict being published in 2015.

In June 2020 the Scottish Government built on the findings of the Task Force on Gear Conflict by introducing the Marking of Gear (Scotland) Order 168/2020. This order introduced restrictions on how buoys should be used to mark static gear, aimed at reducing gear conflict by making it easier to identify the owner of lost or displaced gear. This order requires that all creels and fleets of creels to be marked with a buoy manufactured for that purpose and that all buoys be of a bright colour and bear the registration number of the fishing vessel that deployed it.

As part of a pragmatic approach to gear conflict, Marine Directorate provides ongoing support where appropriate, encouraging fishers to work together to resolve difficulties locally and where possible, support local voluntary codes of conduct. In addition, our Coastal Offices operate a reporting mechanism for reporting gear loss. The aim of this is to utilise the available evidence to determine which vessels were active in the area and to establish contact, assisting those involved in arriving at an amicable outcome. It also ensures the necessary information is available, should Police Scotland require to be involved.

Question reference: S6W-33883

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it feeds the views of the Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups into fisheries policy-making.

Our six national RIFG Chairs regularly meet both with fishing industry stakeholders throughout their respective areas, as well as Marine Directorate officials. Outputs of these meetings help ensure that the views of Scotland’s small fishing businesses, particularly those who do not have formal representation, are heard and incorporated into policy development.

A recent example of this relationship is Marine Directorate implementation of Interim Measures for protection of under-pressure crab and lobster stocks during 2024. The RIFG network took a lead role during an intense, month-long consultation period which involved engagement with over 400 fishers. These views were collated and helped inform policy advice on the use of short-term Interim Measures ahead of the 2024 fishing season.