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-31899

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on recommendation 10 of the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland report, Thematic inspection of road policing in Scotland, that Police Scotland should progress a facility for the public to report road traffic offences by directly uploading journey-cam footage.

Question reference: S6W-31890

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider introducing an option for agriculture support to be made available to landholdings where nature restoration is the primary aim.

The Scottish Government is already committed to delivering the ambitions set out in the Scottish Government’s Vision for Agriculture. Scotland will have a support framework that delivers high quality food production, climate mitigation and adaptation, and nature restoration. This will be delivered thorough the Agricultural Reform Programme (ARP) which will contain a number of Tiers to provide range of targeted support. This will include specific support for businesses which they do their part to deliver Scotland’s climate and biodiversity targets, including measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and restore and improve nature.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill introduced into Parliament earlier this year further supports nature restoration. It sets out proposals that will change how land is owned and managed in our rural and island communities; it places legal responsibilities on the owners of the very largest landholdings to set out how they use their land and how that contributes to key public policy priorities, like addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature. It also proposes a new Land Management Tenancy creating a framework for hybrid land management. This will enable people and communities to undertake a range of land management activities that help to deliver net zero, biodiversity and sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

Question reference: S6W-31539

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of ASLEF's 2024 report, Dignity for Drivers.

Question reference: S6W-31716

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29293 by Jim Fairlie on 24 September 2024, whether it will provide more detailed information distinguishing between public and private deer management, and, if so, by what date it will do so.

As stated in the answer to question S6W-29293, NatureScot data does not differentiate between culls undertaken by the private and public sector.

Included below is the information that is held and shows reported culls for the last two years for overall deer cull in Scotland and reported culls for known public owned land. Please note that some areas of public land may be reported through private leases.

Season	Property name	Species	Male	Female	Calves/ Kids	Total
2022-23	Reported Cull - All Properties	all	52317	57385	26409	136111
2023-24	Reported Cull - All Properties	all	52620	57878	28046	138544
2022-23	Total Reported cull - Public	all	16159	13761	9717	39637
2023-24	Total Reported cull - Public	all	18050	15094	11018	44232

Public Owned Land only
2022-23	MOD	all	91	128	17	236
2022-23	RPID	all	54	57	25	136
2022-23	Scottish Water	all	105	88	103	296
2022-23	Crown Estate	all	142	240	142	524
2022-23	NatureScot	all	385	320	123	828
2022-23	FLS	all	15334	12879	9277	37490
2022-23	Perth & Kinross Council	all	7	10	10	27
2022-23	Aberdeen City Council	all	30	25	8	63
2022-23	East Dunbartonshire Council	all	11	14	12	37

2023-24	MOD	all	101	145	25	271
2023-24	RPID	all	91	135	57	283
2023-24	Scottish Water	all	36	86	45	237
2023-24	Crown Estate	all	209	346	186	741
2023-24	NatureScot	all	458	416	177	1051
2023-24	FLS	all	17115	13923	10497	41535
2023-24	Perth & Kinross Council	all	5	9	8	22
2023-24	Aberdeen City Council	all	22	19	8	49
2023-24	East Dunbartonshire Council	all	13	15	15	43

Question reference: S6W-31892

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the Weeds Act 1959, in light of all of the “injurious weeds” listed in it reportedly being considered native plants vital to biodiversity.

The Weeds act is referenced by the direct payments regulations in regard to minimum activity rules around region 1 land which is to say that the control of weeds is one of the minimum activities required in the absence of agricultural production from that land.

Whilst enforcement of the weeds act remains active this is largely used in response to complaints predominantly in relation to the control Ragwort for the protection of horses. The Scottish Government can review the Weeds Act as part of the agriculture reform programme and will look at the relevance of the weeds act provisions and if these should be revised.

Question reference: S6W-31889

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the classification of wildlife habitats such as marsh, trees, ponds and scrub as "ineligible features" in any future guidance issued in connection with its agriculture support regime.

Question reference: S6O-04050

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw (on behalf of the SPCB) on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what consideration has been given to reviewing its parental leave policies.

In accordance with the Reimbursement of Members’ Expenses Scheme the SPCB is responsible for setting and maintaining minimum terms and conditions for the employment of staff by MSPs and for the terms and conditions of parliamentary service staff. I can confirm that the SPCB plans to review the terms and conditions of staff employed by MSPs early in the New Year. The SPCB regularly benchmarks its terms and conditions with other employers to ensure that they continue to support the objective of attracting and retaining staff.

Question reference: S6O-04074

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it will ensure that all appropriate roads have a safer speed limit of 20mph by 2025.

Question reference: S6W-30839

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations in the Asthma + Lung UK Scotland report, Clearing the Air: Transport + Lung Health.

We welcome the Asthma + Lung UK Scotland report and make the following comments in response to the recommendations on air quality and transport:

WHO guidelines - the review of Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 will consider the current air quality objectives. The 2021 WHO guideline values will be a factor in our considerations.
Monitoring - air pollution hotspots will generally be where high levels of traffic coincide with locations where large numbers of people are regularly present. The monitoring network and the supporting methodologies are sufficiently robust to ensure that any areas of concern will be picked up.
Alert system - Know & Respond is a free service to subscribers in Scotland sending registered users an alert message if air pollution in their area is forecast to be moderate, high or very high. Air pollution episodes are rare in Scotland, but this early warning service allows people with medical conditions that may be affected by pollution, to take action to protect their health during periods of higher air pollution.
Scrap peak rail fares - the final evaluation of the pilot clearly shows that the ScotRail Peak Fares Removal Pilot has not achieved its aim of encouraging a significant shift from car to rail, and therefore it ended on 27 September 2024.
Accelerate the roll out of electric trains and buses and reduce the proportion of routes using diesel vehicles – we are committed to decarbonising the passenger rail network. Details of how this is to be achieved are set out in the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan. The Decarbonisation Action Plan commits to all passenger diesel trains being replaced; the order and programme in which that is done will depend on business cases and available budgets.
Utilise the powers of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to support bus travel - we have delivered all the bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to enable local transport authorities to consider all the powers available to them, including partnership working, franchising and local authority run services which sit alongside their ability to subsidise services.
Greater incentives to purchase new ultra-low emissions vehicles - since 2011 we have provided over 8,000 interest free loans worth £223,178,275 million which has funded 8,514 ultra-low emission vehicles.
Audit the electric vehicle charging network annually - we recognise how important a reliable public EV charging network is for instilling confidence in drivers. While we cannot comment on the reliability of commercial charging networks, reliability across the Charge Place Scotland CPOS network is typically very good with charge points on the network available for around 95-98% of the time each month. Where faults do occur they are usually rectified remotely and swiftly with minimal impact on EV drivers.
Implement Low Emission Zones (LEZ) in further cities and large towns - local authorities have been given the powers to introduce and administer Low Emission Zones as appropriate through the Transport Scot Act 2019. To date four local authorities have used this power, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Local authorities can apply to amend their LEZ if so required following due process and according to legislative requirements. Any other local authority can submit an application for a LEZ to Scottish Ministers following the due process and according to legislative requirements.
Vehicle idling - we are undertaking a review of the current guidance on vehicle idling with local authorities.

Question reference: S6O-04004

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s latest report on road policing.