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-29352

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being implemented to support the recovery of (a) potassium, (b) nitrogen, (c) sulphur, (d) phosphorus, (e) magnesium, (f) calcium and (g) any other nutrients from waste water.

Recovering these nutrients from wastewater is expensive and the income generated from the sale of recovered resources does not cover the costs of recovery – as a result it is not widely done by Scottish Water. For this reason, in our recent consultation on water, wastewater and drainage policy, we sought views on whether resource recovery is something that Scottish Water should be undertaking, and to what extent they should be able to use the money it receives from customer charges to do this. The consultation responses show broad support for our proposals and there was a recognition to support a circular economy through resource recovery. We will consider how this activity can be progressed further as part of our on-going development of policy in Water, Wastewater and Drainage services.

Question reference: S6W-29523

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of new solar developments approved in the last five years have been (a) ground and (b) non-ground mounted.

Solar energy developments with a capacity over 50MW are considered by Scottish Ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. All solar developments approved by Scottish Ministers in the last five years have been ground mounted.

Solar energy developments with a capacity of 50MW or less require planning permission from the relevant planning authority. The Scottish Government does not hold information on planning applications determined by planning authorities for ground mounted or grounded solar panels. However, this information could be obtained from individual planning authorities.

Householders and businesses also have certain permitted development rights (PDR) for the installation of solar panels on their properties. Provided that the relevant conditions are complied with, these PDR allow for the installation of solar panels without the requirement for a planning application. In doing so, they save the time and expense associated with applying for planning permission. Accordingly, data is not available on those developments carried out under PDR.

Question reference: S6W-29613

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Water is on track to complete the installation of 1,000 new combined sewer overflows (CSO) by the end of 2024.

Question reference: S6W-29351

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being implemented to apply the waste hierarchy to waste wood.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the application of the waste hierarchy to reduce waste and maximise the value of any waste that is generated in order to encourage the sustainable use of our limited resources and help reduce emissions.

There are currently a number of measures already underway that apply the waste hierarchy to waste wood. The ‘Wood cascading in Scotland’ report, published in 2023 by Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST) for Scottish Forestry and Zero Waste Scotland, provides an overview of existing measures and future opportunities to efficiently utilise wood to prolong its life cycle and ensure effective end of life management for energy recovery. The report is available at https://be-st.build/media/fospozdi/be-st_wood-cascading-in-scotland_2023.pdf.

Examples of existing measures include:

?Scotland’s forest industries continue to work in close collaboration with a range of internal and external partners to maximise best practice in waste management in accordance with the waste hierarchy at all stages of supply chains. There are already well-established pre-existing markets for the buying and selling of pre-used wood products according to the type of wood and grade of waste. At present, from UK production of 9.8 million tonnes annually, the sector disposes of 306,000 tonnes (3.1%) to landfill.

?Four Recycling Improvement Fund projects include wood as a material stream in order to increase the amount of wood that is recycled.

?Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) prioritise wood recycling and most HWRCs will have a container for wood to be recycled and this would be encouraged at site to divert from residual to recycling. A small number of sites may have some reuse options available, such as for community groups.

Going forward, the powers in the Circular Economy Act and the proposals in the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map will further promote the use of surplus and reuse in the construction sector, aiming to move all construction waste and surplus up the waste hierarchy, including wood products. In addition, the Scottish Government’s draft Bioenergy Policy Statement sets out that the bioenergy sector should prioritise the use of available waste feedstocks, including waste wood, and that the use of biomass must comply with the principles of a circular economy.

Question reference: S6O-03739

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the levels of funding for tertiary education are adequate to support a thriving sector.

Question reference: S6W-29174

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the actionable steps outlined in the Zero Waste Scotland report, Scotland’s Circular Economy Practices Ecosystem: Barriers to businesses being more circular.

I welcome this report from Zero Waste Scotland, alongside its ongoing circular economy business support service. It is vital that we understand and tackle the barriers Scottish businesses face in adopting more circular operating models, ensuring we value materials and keep them in use for as long as possible. This is key for our efforts to address the climate emergency and nature crises, and create opportunities for investment and economic growth.

The report reinforces the key findings and actions proposed in our draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, published earlier this year. This includes work to identify ways to expand business models that prolong product lifespan, complementing our focus on producer stewardship for priority products. The sustainable, circular choices are still not the easy choices for different parts of society, including businesses, and large-scale, and rapid system change is required to ensure a more rapid transition to net zero and a fully circular economy in Scotland.

Supporting businesses to become more circular is a key part of this transition. As we finalise the Route Map for publication later this year, and develop our first statutory Circular Economy Strategy, the Scottish Government will carefully consider the report’s findings and insights.

Question reference: S6O-03665

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to fund any pay increases for local government employees.

Question reference: S6W-28585

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28234 by Gillian Martin on 5 July 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding for what reason the timeframe for the (a) Nitrogen Impacts on the Natural Environment (NINE) project and (b) assessment of potential costs for implementing site conditioning monitoring improvements has been extended beyond 2024 to 2026 instead of providing revised completion dates.

Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 (CAFS2) was published in July 2021 with two actions on the topic of nitrogen deposition. At the time of publication these actions were assigned a medium term timescale for delivery by 2024.

In April 2022 the Nitrogen Impacts on the Natural Environment (NINE) project led by the James Hutton Institute commenced as part of the Strategic Research Programme for air quality. In considering how to take the CAFS2 actions forward, Scottish Government worked with the NINE project team to ensure it would deliver the CAFS2 evidence needs. Following commencement of the NINE project we revised the delivery milestones for the CASF2 actions to align with the project deliverables.

The NINE project was commissioned on time and continues to be on track for delivery by 2027, with CAFS2 elements to be delivered in 2026.

Question reference: S6W-28672

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of any impact on small businesses of the introduction of restricted pavement parking.

During the development of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, which brought in the ban on pavement parking, Transport Scotland convened a Parking Standards Group to seek views on the policy. This group comprised of a wide range of key stakeholders, including the Federation of Small Businesses.

This group continued to meet during the evolution of the Act, along with the development of secondary legislation that was required to bring the ban into force. No concerns were raised by the Federation of Small Businesses during this process. A number of consultations were undertaken throughout this period and no concerns were highlighted regarding small businesses, either from the Federation of Small Businesses or any other parties.

Particular consideration was given to small businesses during the development of the Act which allows for a 20 minute exception for goods to be loaded or delivered, where 1.5 metres of clear pavement is left for the passing of pavement users.

Furthermore, statutory Business and Regulatory Impact Assessments were carried out for each piece of legislation and no impacts to small businesses were identified.

Question reference: S6W-28467

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 30 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reported number of school buildings containing asbestos, and how many have had asbestos removed in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority.

The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding how many schools have had asbestos removed in the last three years. Local authorities have statutory responsibility for the control and management of asbestos within their schools.

Although health and safety is not devolved to the Scottish Government, we take the issue of asbestos within schools very seriously and expect local authorities to strictly follow the Health and Safety Executive's recommendations. Moreover, we have recently engaged with local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive regarding asbestos in schools.