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: S5W-32248

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many expressions of interest or requests have been received by it and NatureScot since 1 May 2019 from parties in England and Wales interested in acquiring beavers for translocation from Scotland to assist with flood resilience and biodiversity enhancement projects, also broken down by date of receipt.

The Scottish Government has not received any requests or expressions of interest from parties in England and Wales looking to acquire beavers.

Requests for the supply of beavers to populate projects in England and Wales do not routinely come directly to NatureScot. However, NatureScot works in collaboration with a beaver consultant and with Natural England and Natural Resources Wales.

The following projects have been granted release licences from Natural England, with NatureScot agreeing that animals can be sourced from Tayside.

Project name/Site	Dates	Number proposed; up to
River Otter Beaver Trial, Devon	4-1-2018 to 12-2-2020	3
Pickering Beaver Project, Yorkshire	27-3-2019 to 30-4-2019	2
Poole Habour Farm, Plymouth City Council	1-5-2020 to 30-4-2025	6
Hamathey Estate, Cornwall	1-3-2020 to 1-3-2025	6
Highloft Beaver Project, Cartmell fell	1-6-2020 to 31-5-2025	6
Valewood Beaver Project, National Trust	1-1-2020 to 31-12-2025	4
Holnicote Beaver Project, National Trust	1-4-2020 to 31-3-2025	6
Dorset Wildife Trust	1-3-2020 to 1-3- 2025	6
Cheshire Wildlife Trust	29-6-2020 to 29-6-2025	6
Cabilla Farm, Cornwall	1-3-2020 to 1-3-2025	6
Sussex Beaver Project, Knepp Estate	9-1-2020 to 9-1-2025	14
Forest of Dean	1-2-2018 to 31-1-2023	8
Lowther Beaver Project, Lowther Estate	9-1-2020 to 6-1-2025	6
Kenhill Estate	14-1-2020 to 13-1-2025	15
Broadridge Farm, Witheridge, Devon	15-8-2020 to 14-8-2025	6
Willington Gravel Pits, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust	1-10-2020 to 30-9-2025	12

Question reference: S5W-32303

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken regarding the economic impact of marine open cage salmon aquaculture on the Scottish tourist industry.

An independent study (Poseidon, 2011, does fish farming impact on tourism in Scotland) found no stated impact, for the majority of respondents, on key recreational activities or on willingness to re-visit a site from aquaculture activity or from future expansion of aquaculture.

In 2014, we published the report An Assessment of the Benefits to Scotland of Aquaculture which in which the benefits of aquaculture to Scottish communities, human capital in terms of participation in employment, as well as the skills and experience which provide ‘employment security’ was found to be most important, with financial benefit in terms of income to local ancillary businesses (particularly transport and tourism) the second most important. Negative opinions were generally low and most often related to environmental impact.

A 2017 report on the value of aquaculture to Scotland found synergies between tourism and aquaculture (Imani, 2017, Value of Scottish Aquaculture 2017). Year-round employment offered by the aquaculture sector contributes to the sustainability of family livelihoods alongside the highly seasonal nature of tourism jobs. In a recent survey for Marine Scotland, over 93% of the employment in the aquaculture companies surveyed was permanent. (Biggar Economics, 2020, Estimates of the Wider Economic Impacts of the Aquaculture Sector in Scotland)

Competing claims on natural resources can occur which is why the development of regional marine plans and Scotland’s National Marine Plan is so valuable. Use of shared space is one of the priorities being explored as we look to develop the Government’s Blue Economy Action Plan. Diversification does bring benefits, both in increasing resilience to economic shocks and in sharing infrastructure such as access roads or enhanced berthing facilities in harbours.

Question reference: S5W-32091

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether ScotRail is meeting its franchise requirements in relation to cycle carriage.

Question reference: S5W-32090

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many cycle spaces are allocated on Highland Main Line rail services, broken down by (a) rolling stock set type and (b) service.

Question reference: S5W-32283

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 16 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the “decision-making framework”, described by the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs at the Finance and Constitution Committee on 9 September 2020, when this framework will be published; what plans it has for (a) public and (b) stakeholder consultation on a draft version of the framework, and whether the Parliament has a role in its approval.

If the Parliament indicates its support for the general principles of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1, then, as I set out to the Finance and Constitution Committee, I will be very happy to engage with the Parliament to explore the framework within which decisions about how the power in section 1 of that Bill to make regulations corresponding to EU law might be used. I expect that such a framework will be the product of agreement with the Parliament, and would be happy that as part of that agreement we seek the views of others.

Question reference: S5W-32092

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the St Kilda Management Plan takes into account the signatories' responsibilities under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

St Kilda is one of six World Heritage Sites in Scotland and the only site which has mixed status as being of both natural and cultural value.

The islands of St Kilda are owned by the National Trust for Scotland, which has overall responsibility for management of the archipelago. The current Management Plan for St Kilda was developed, agreed and signed by the National Trust for Scotland and four other key partners who have a role in the management of the site (namely, Historic Scotland (now Historic Environment Scotland), Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot), Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and the Ministry of Defence).

This question is therefore a matter for the National Trust for Scotland and other signatories, who will be better placed to advise on the Plan’s interaction with the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

Question reference: S5W-32061

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 5 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to reverse the decline in the number of woodland birds.

The long term trend for woodland birds in Scotland is increasing, in contrast to the situation across the whole of the United Kingdom. The Index of Abundance for Scottish Terrestrial Breeding Birds, 1994 to 2018 (an Official Statistic for Scotland, accessible via the following link: https://www.nature.scot/information-hub/official-statistics/
official-statistics-terrestrial-breeding-birds ) shows that while there is a large amount of inter-annual variation, with sometimes abrupt decreases and increases between individual years, the woodland bird index trend increased by 58% from the start of the time series in 1994 to the most recent estimate in 2018.

Question reference: S5W-31622

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the use of lead shot over wetlands.

Question reference: S5O-04582

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on establishing the public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Sheku Bayoh.

Question reference: S5W-31357

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 31 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it has had with community councils and tenants' and residents' associations regarding their ability to respond to statutory planning consultations while they are presently unable to meet in person.

The Scottish Government has been liaising with COSLA, Community Council Liaison Officers and the Improvement Service to better understand how community council activities have been affected nationally during the Covid-19 pandemic, including their ability to respond to planning consultations.

Tenants’ and residents’ associations are not subject to specific statutory consultation requirements in the planning application and development planning processes; though we recognise that they may be involved in, for example, early engagement on development plans, responding to plan consultations, pre-application consultation, or responding to consultations on individual applications.