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-38854

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38270 by Fiona Hyslop on 17 June 2025, (a) how much and (b) what proportion of the total grant funding was provided to (i) public, (ii) private and (iii) third sector organisations.

Question reference: S6W-38599

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated annual cost to Scottish Water is of removing wet wipes and related blockages from the sewer network.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

The annual cost of blockages related to wet wipes and other items is some £7.5 million. The number of total blockages in 2024 was 34,635. Notably, around 80% of these blockages are due to the wrong items being put into the sewer network, such as wet wipes, sanitary products, and fats, oils, and grease.

Question reference: S6W-38596

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what public awareness campaigns it currently supports to educate the public on the correct way to dispose of wet wipes.

The Scottish Government has continually supported Scottish Water’s public awareness campaigns on the correct disposal of sanitary items, including wet wipes. Their current ‘Nature Calls’ campaign has a specific focus on binning and not flushing wet wipes. In addition, we have supported various public awareness campaigns run by environmental NGOs, including the Marine Conservation Society which is a valued member of our Marine Litter Strategy Steering Group.

Question reference: S6W-38598

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) enforcement action can be taken against and (b) penalties can be imposed on any companies found to be making misleading claims about wet wipes being flushable.

There are no regulations in Scotland relating to the ‘flushability’ of wet wipes, therefore there can be no associated enforcement activities or penalties imposed upon companies. Our forthcoming regulations to restrict market access to wet wipes containing plastic are centred on the material content of the product, and these regulations will be enforceable if wet wipes containing plastic are sold or supplied outwith the exemptions for medical or industrial uses.

Question reference: S6W-38487

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the cost of litter collection will be calculated for inclusion in the costs chargeable under the (packaging) extended producer responsibility scheme.

The Scottish Government is committed that extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) should cover the full net costs of both binned and ground litter cleanup and disposal, and to its introduction in regulations as soon as practicable. There is not yet the availability of the data which would allow accurate cost recovery calculations to be made for litter costs in year two of the scheme.

PackUK, the scheme administrator for pEPR, will fund public information campaigns focused on the reduction of littered packaging, and report on items of packaging commonly littered or disposed of in street bins. We will continue to engage with local authorities, producers, and waste management companies as a costing model is developed and the underpinning data becomes available.

Question reference: S6W-38486

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the cost of littered materials, which will be included in the upcoming deposit return scheme, will be used to calculate the total cost of litter to be included in the (packaging) extended producer responsibility scheme.

The Scottish Government is committed that extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) should cover the full net costs of both binned and ground litter cleanup and disposal, and to its introduction in regulations as soon as practicable. However, binned and ground littered household packaging cleanup and disposal costs are not yet included in disposal cost fees producers are obligated to pay under the pEPR scheme.

PackUK, the scheme administrator for pEPR, will fund public information campaigns focused on the reduction of littered packaging, and report on items of packaging commonly littered or disposed of in street bins. Items covered by the upcoming deposit return scheme (drink containers made of PET plastic, aluminum, and steel) are excluded from disposal cost fees under pEPR.

Question reference: S6W-38597

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether wet wipes that are marketed and sold in Scotland can be branded as "flushable", in light of the “Fine to Flush” certification having been dropped by Water UK.

Question reference: S6W-38488

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36825 by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025, whether local authorities will be permitted to use funds from the extended producer responsibility scheme to cover payments to emissions trading schemes.

In line with the Verity House Agreement, funding resulting from extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) will not be ring-fenced or directed, unless there is a clear joint understanding to do so. However, the purpose of the funding, to pay for the cost of managing household packaging waste - is clearly set out in legislation.

Payments under pEPR will support the costs of effective and efficient collection systems for household packaging waste. This includes the costs of incineration. Payments will be adjusted in future years to account for additional costs that local authorities may face, including those incurred under the proposed expansion of the emissions trading scheme.

Question reference: S6W-38448

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37767 by Gillian Martin on 3 June 2025, what assessment has been made of the proportion of (a) public bodies, excluding local authorities, and (b) private sector businesses that are ready to comply with the ban on municipal biodegradable waste to landfill by sending to another facility in Scotland.

Scottish Government officials, supported by Zero Waste Scotland, are in regular contact with representatives of public agencies as well as private sector businesses to help ensure readiness for the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste.

This engagement will continue, in order to ensure the effective implementation of the ban as part of our progress towards achieving our net zero ambitions.

Question reference: S6W-38449

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37774 by Gillian Martin on 3 June 2025, what the estimated cost will be across all local authorities of introducing household collections for recyclable plastic film and flexible packaging.

Zero Waste Scotland undertook an options appraisal in 2024/25 to assess the impact of introducing kerbside collections for plastic film and flexibles in terms of recycling tonnage, carbon impacts and costs. This will be published later in 2025.

At a national level, the analysis projected that collecting film and flexibles loose with other plastics as part of existing collections would lead to a saving of £680k per annum due to reduced disposal costs, as recycling films and flexibles is cheaper than current costs for disposal. Alternatively, the options appraisal projected that if plastic film and flexible packaging is collected within a bag (to aid segregation at a material recovery facility), this would result in additional costs of £1.4million per annum nationally due to the cost to local authorities to purchase and provide bags to households. These estimates do not include costs related to modifications that may be required at waste transfer stations to segregate these materials.

The cost to local authorities for introducing household collections for recyclable plastic film and flexible packaging will vary between authorities, based on the approach they take to collecting these materials, existing service set-up, contractual arrangements and the reprocessor gate fee they are able to negotiate.