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-39333

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its plans to consult on a proposal to ban the use of electric shock collars for training dogs, what information it holds on which animal welfare organisations (a) support and (b) oppose such a ban.

Question reference: S6W-39334

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its consultation on the use of electric shock collars for training dogs.

Question reference: S6W-39335

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with representatives of the independent Scottish Animal Welfare Commission regarding the Commission's recommendation that the use of electric shock collars to train dogs should be banned.

Question reference: S6W-39336

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its plans to consult on a proposal to ban the use of electric shock collars for training dogs, what information it holds on which veterinary organisations (a) support and (b) oppose such a ban.

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: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 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.

As detailed in the response to question S6W-38270, Scottish Government has awarded over £65m funding to support investment in the ChargePlace Scotland network since 2011.

Of this, over £56 million (81.7%) has been provided through funding schemes for the public sector, principally local authorities.

In addition, over £7.3 million (10.7%) has been awarded through schemes operated by the Energy Saving Trust and specifically supporting public EV charging, these schemes specifically targeted private and third sectors but also included some limited support for the public sector. The information held on these schemes by the Energy Saving Trust does not enable the value of funding specific to each sector to be identified.

A further £5.2 million (7.6%) was awarded to Scottish Power Distribution PLC through Scottish Government’s Strategic Partnership with Scotland's electricity Distribution Network Operators. The EV charge points installed under this scheme were subsequently transferred to the ownership of North and South Lanarkshire Councils.

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.