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-14461

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 13 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00925 by Fergus Ewing on 6 February 2018 (Official Report, c. 7), what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding a ban on the export of live animals for fattening and slaughter.

Question reference: S5W-15038

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the potential impact on Scotland of the proposals in the Nuclear Safeguards Bill, which has been introduced in the UK Parliament.

Nuclear safeguards are activities to verify that nuclear material and equipment are not diverted from their intended use as declared by the users and that international legal obligations to use nuclear material and equipment for peaceful purposes are honoured. The UK Government has introduced UK legislation to ensure the continuity of nuclear safeguards in the event of the UK leaving the Euratom Community, as this will be a reserved responsibility. The UK Government has kept the Scottish Government informed about its developing policy, the measures in the Bill and draft Regulations. The Scottish Government has carried out informal analysis of the proposals to ensure that we understand the effect of the measures in Scotland and that there are no difficulties over interactions with devolved responsibilities.

Question reference: S5W-14897

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it will launch its consultation on the introduction of compulsory video recording of slaughter at abattoirs in order to aid the enforcement of welfare requirements by abattoir management and Food Standards Scotland, as outlined in its Programme for Government 2017-18.

Question reference: S5W-14518

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many commercial livestock have been slaughtered without having been pre-stunned in each year since 2013, broken down by species.

Question reference: S5O-01889

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis the health secretary has made of the potential implications for Scotland of the findings in the recent annual report of the Chief Medical Officer for England, which addressed the impact on public health of pollution.

Question reference: S5W-14718

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 1 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what provisions there are to deal with disputes regarding party walls.

Disputes about party walls are private legal matters to be resolved by agreement between those involved in the dispute or, if they cannot reach agreement, by going to court or by using Alternative Dispute Resolution, such as mediation. The Scottish Mediation Network can provide information on how to find to a mediator: https://www.scottishmediation.org.uk/

Under the common law doctrine of common interest which can apply to a shared wall, work on the wall can be legally challenged (i.e. an action can be raised in court) if it endangers the stability of the wall.

In England and Wales, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 makes detailed provision on disputes in relation to party walls. The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce legislation along the lines of the 1996 Act.

The Scottish Law Commission reviewed the law on boundary walls in 1998. The Commission took the view at the time that was not necessary to introduce legislation either to reform or restate the existing law on boundary walls. The Commission’s Report is available at http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk/files/3012/7989/6663/rep163.pdf

Question reference: S5W-14719

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 1 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether building accreditation schemes provide adequate protection for non-contracting neighbours in communal properties.

I assume the member’s concern relates to common repairs.

Procedures for agreeing how common repairs can be carried out may be set out in title deeds for the properties.

If the title deeds do not lay down procedures for agreeing how common repairs can be carried out, decisions in relation to common areas of tenements may be taken under the Tenement Management Scheme contained in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004. Owners who do not agree with decisions made under the Tenement Management Scheme can make an application to the sheriff for those decisions to be annulled.

If a decision has been taken to appoint contractors to carry out repairs under the title deeds or the Tenement Management Scheme, provision s for redress if building work on common areas does not meet required standards may depend on contractual and other arrangements in place when the contractors were engaged to carry out the work. Defective works may also, depending on the circumstances, result in other legal remedies being available to owners under the law of delict or otherwise.

If the member wishes to write to me to outline in more detail his specific concerns, I would be happy to consider further. However, the Scottish Government cannot intervene, or comment on, any private legal dispute.

Question reference: S5W-14529

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what financial compensation has been provided to salmon farms that have culled their stock since 2007, broken down by (a) year and (b) individual farm.

Question reference: S5W-14527

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with stakeholders, including the UK Government, in relation to the seafood import provisions of the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, broken down by (a) date and (b) location.

Since late 2015 the Scottish Government have been in regular dialogue and raising awareness of the MMPA and its potential impact on Scottish seafood exports with Scotland’s aquaculture sector (through the SSPO), within the Seafish Regulatory Experts Group, directly with Seafood Scotland and through the Fisheries Management and Conservation Group which represents 90% of the Scottish commercial fishing industry (FMAC). The vast majority of discussions have taken place by phone and/or email exchanges.

Details of specific meetings are outlined below:

6 December 2016 – Conference call with lead officials in Defra and UK Embassy in Washington, involving representatives from Marine Scotland and Food and Drink.
27 September 2017 - Seafood Regulation Expert Group – SFIA HQ, Edinburgh - http://www.seafish.org/industry-support/legislation/seafood-regulation-expert-group
29 September 2017 – Conference call with the Canadian Aquaculture Management Directorate, involving representatives from Marine Scotland and Food and Drink.
30 November 2017 Seafish Domestic Aquaculture Advisory Committee (SDAAC) - http://www.seafish.org/industry-support/aquaculture/aquaculture-groups/seafish-domestic-aquaculture-advisory-committee

Question reference: S5W-14525

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what biological testing is carried out on salmon processing plant effluent.

Scottish Government does not test the outflow of fish processing plants for pathogens.

The Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture recommends that drainage from areas where effluent and fish by products are generated should feed into a disinfection facility, with subsequent treatment of any discharge in accordance with CAR license conditions in place to control chemical discharge. Scottish Government’s fish health inspectorate produced disinfection guidance in 2006 which should be regarded as best practice at fish farm sites and processing plants. The disinfection guide can be found online; http://www.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Fish-Shellfish/FHI/healthpractice.