- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what recent analysis it has carried out of the expenditure
of its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs); what savings have been
identified; whether such reviews of NDPBs are currently ongoing and, if so, in
what areas it considers saving of a substantial amount might be achieved.
Answer
In November 2024, the Scottish Government published a report on public bodies expenditure for 2022-23 (Public bodies expenditure: aggregated data for 2022-23 - gov.scot). The data was supplied by public bodies and indicates that total resource expenditure by public bodies was over £23 billion to deliver a huge range of services, including in Health, Education and Justice. Of this, public bodies spent almost £1.3 billion on running their corporate functions and another £2.3 billion was spent by those corporate functions. Public bodies passed through funding of over £7.6 billion to other organisations, including third and public sector organisations as well as private individuals. An additional £800 million was spent on the Scottish Government's own total operating costs.
This data has been used as a basis to set the savings target in the Public Service Reform (PSR) Strategy to reduce annualised Scottish Government and public body corporate costs by £1 billion over the next five years, representing around 20% of the identified public body corporate and core government operating costs.
We have a range of programmes to improve services that are saving money from corporate expenditure, including the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, Single Scottish Estate, National Collaborative Procurement, Commercial Value for Money and digital programmes, which are securing cost avoiding and cash releasing savings. We will continue to collect data to enable identification of further opportunities for cost reductions through the removal of duplication and increased efficiency in service delivery.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the existing conditions and regime, which seek to protect inshore fishing from the impact of any loss of fishing grounds due to the seabed installation of cables for, and construction of, offshore wind installations, require to be reformed in order to provide full compensation for any loss of fishing revenue as a result of having to avoid an area of 0.25 nautical miles from any such cables.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2025
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, since the inception of (a) the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and (b) the NatureScot guidance regarding the grounds permitted for granting licences, how many (i) applications and (ii) grants have been made for licences to control mountain hares.
Answer
Some of the information you have requested – i) the number of licences applications made, and ii) how many licences were granted from 2012 to April 2025 to control mountain hares, is already in the public domain and can be found on NatureScot’s website at:
https://www.nature.scot/doc/freedom-information-request-licences-mountain-hare
The figures from April 2025 to-date are as follows:
Licences granted – 8
Licences Refused – 1
Licences in Progress – 1
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) full- and (b) part-time staff have been employed each year by (i) Cairngorms and (ii) Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, also broken down by (A) area of work employed and (B) pay grade.
Answer
Both National Park Authorities publish sections on remuneration and staffing within their Annual Report and Accounts.
For Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority this can be found at: Annual Report & Accounts - Here. Now. All of us. - Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park and the Cairngorms National Park Authority reports can be found at: Cairngorms National Park | Search.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the future of environmental public bodies, in light of reports that the UK Government plans to do similar.
Answer
As set out in the letter from the Minister for Public Finance found here Letter from the Minister for Public Finance to the Convener of 23 September 2024, to the Convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, on 23rd September 2024, Scottish Government is working with the environmental public bodies to review both short-medium and long-term reform opportunities. By the end of 2025, the Group will have developed options for future operating models building on a prior programme of short-medium term improvement projects covering estates, digital, data & HR. This reform effort is focused on delivery of the environment strategy outcomes by using Public Service Reform principles as set out in the strategy published on 19 June 2025.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to (a) reform or (b) abolish NatureScot and transfer its functions to local and/or central government.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40528 on 23 September 2025. 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.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government on what occasions in each of the last 10 years it has used a statutory power of direction in respect of (a) NatureScot, (b) SEPA (c) Creative Scotland and (d) the SQA, broken down by the (i) reason for exercising this power and (ii) outcome.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring public bodies deliver services that are high-quality, provide best value and contribute to economic growth.
The Scottish Government has not exercised a statutory power of direction in respect of NatureScot, SEPA, or Creative Scotland in the past decade. A directive was given to the SQA in 2020 in regards to how exam appeals should be handled during the pandemic.
Ministers retain oversight of these bodies and provide strategic direction, but the use of statutory powers of direction would be for the most exceptional circumstances.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 August 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on (a) peat restoration and (b) the provision of equipment, training or other assistance for tackling wildfires, in each of the past three years.
Answer
a) In the past three years the Scottish Government has spent the following on peatland restoration. Figures below include capital and resource:
- 2022-23: £17.3m
- 2023-24: £26.2m
- 2024-25: £24.6m
b) The Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) to support full implementation of its wildfire strategy this year. SFRS continues to invest significantly in equipment, vehicles, and training to strengthen its response to wildfires, particularly in rural areas. Over the past three years, planned spend of around £1.6 million has supported the roll-out of the Service’s wildfire strategy, including:
- Specialist wildfire PPE (400 sets): £300,000;
- 10 All-terrain Vehicles (ATVs) with specialist firefighting fogging units: £334,500;
- 10 ATV trailers: £76,700;
- 10 4x4 towing vehicles for ATVs: £440,500;
- 4 dedicated 4x4 wildfire support vans: £318,800;
- Specialist wildfire equipment: £134,190; and
- This is also supplemented by the creation of 14 wildfire tactical advisor roles around Scotland.
Alongside this, SFRS has delivered a comprehensive programme of specialist training to ensure crews are fully prepared to tackle wildfires safely and effectively. This includes:
- Tiered wildfire training through Learning Content Management System (LCMS), classroom sessions, and practical instruction;
- Specialist equipment training covering ATVs, fogging units, suppression tools, leaf blowers and brush cutters;
- Driver and operator training for 4x4 support units, trailers, and ATVs;
- Prescribed burning training provided by external partners (approx. £180 per person); and
- Wildfire tactical advisor training delivered in collaboration with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (Level 3 and 4 courses, approx. £2,000 per person).
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether all persons or businesses conducting peat restoration work are expected by Nature Scot to apply for a licence to control mountain hares, and, if so, under what permissible ground under the applicable Nature Scot guidance.
Answer
Anyone who wishes to control mountain hares must apply to NatureScot for the appropriate licence.
The Scottish Government does not expect all persons or businesses conducting peatland restoration work will be required to control mountain hares, therefore, in these instances, an application to NatureScot for a licence would not be required.
Guidance on Mountain Hare licensing, which includes licensable purposes, is published on NatureScot’s website at Mountain hare licensing - Guidance for applicants | NatureScot
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what evidence it has obtained since the passage of the amendment of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 regarding the population size of mountain hares in Scotland.
Answer
The most recent mountain hare population estimate that NatureScot has available was published in 2018 (Mathews et al) which gives a figure of 132,000 (with a possible range of 79,500-516,000) and comes prior to the March 2021 amendment of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Since 2021, NatureScot have been running (in partnership with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Mammal Society and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT)) the Volunteer Mountain Hare Survey (VMHS) https://www.nature.scot/scotlands-biodiversity/biodiversity-what-can-you-do/volunteer-mountain-hare-survey. The survey encourages hill-goers and other interested volunteers to participate in citizen science mountain hare surveys in order to improve our understanding of mountain hare distribution, but there aren’t sufficient data as yet to generate any meaningful population trends.
There is some current trend information available via the BTO Breeding Bird Survey mammal data. Based on these data the 5 year trend from 2018 -2023 shows a statistically significant 50.51% decline for Scotland. However, due to the natural cycling that occurs within many mountain hare populations (typically occurring over approx. 10 year periods), it is unclear whether this reflects a genuine long-term downward trend or is indicative of the downward phase of a population cycle.
