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-27872

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of any variations granted to allow increased incineration capacities at operational incineration facilities in Scotland, since the publication of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-27874

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to potentially using the pollution prevention and control permit system to establish a waste hierarchy that prioritises the most circular and sustainable incineration methods and outputs.

The waste hierarchy already has provision for different types of thermal treatment technology. For example, while incineration without energy recovery is classed as disposal, energy from waste processes (producing usable electricity and/or heat) can be classed as recovery of energy.

Moreover, there is scope within the waste hierarchy for technologies that produce products to be classed as recycling if appropriate. For example, where the Anaerobic Digestion of food waste is undertaken to appropriate standards to produce a usable product, this is already classified as recycling in the Official Statistics published by SEPA.

We, therefore, are not considering making additional provisions through the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) regulations 2012 (“the PPC regulations”).

Question reference: S6W-27871

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the latest incineration capacity analysis, which is being conducted by Zero Waste Scotland as part of its work in considering the delivery of the ban on biodegradable municipal waste to landfill, to be published.

Question reference: S6O-03517

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding how the census outputs on Armed Forces veterans, due to be released on 13 June, will be able to be used to inform a better understanding of the veterans community.

Question reference: S6W-27558

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22282 by Lorna Slater on 14 November 2023, whether it will provide an update on which local authorities have contracts in place to comply with the delayed ban on biodegradable municipal waste to landfill.

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of local waste services and are, therefore, best placed to comment on readiness to comply with the ban on sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill in 2025.

The Scottish Government continues to provide procurement support to local authorities to secure contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban. As part of this support, Zero Waste Scotland is working with local authorities to provide technical, legal and procurement advice.

Through this support, we understand that 28 local authorities have contracts in place for 2025 that comply with the landfill ban, covering over 90% of household residual waste, these are: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, City of Edinburgh, City of Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Fife, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Shetland, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, and West Lothian.

Question reference: S6O-03453

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what elements it has identified that led to it not meeting its household recycling targets in 2013 and 2020.

Question reference: S6W-26629

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the concerns raised by stakeholders in the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee evidence session on 16 January 2024 regarding the effectiveness of environmental governance, and to the recommendation made by the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland proposing the establishment of a specialist committee or working group to revisit the question of an environmental court or tribunal.

The Scottish Government consulted on its Report into the Effectiveness of Environmental Governance last year. The report outlines the Scottish Government’s position on maintaining the balance of parliamentary, administrative and judicial roles in decision making on environmental matters. However, the Scottish Government will continue to engage with stakeholders – including those who provided evidence to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee – on environmental governance and environmental justice.

Question reference: S6W-26527

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26076 by Maree Todd on 22 March 2024, whether it will confirm if the data provided on waiting times includes those referred to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) for both mental health issues and neurodevelopmental issues.

As set out in the most recent Public Health Scotland (PHS) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times quarterly publication, CAMHS is classified as multi-disciplinary teams that provide treatment and interventions for children and young people experiencing mental health problems.

Where they are awaiting an assessment for a neurodevelopmental condition such as ASD or ADHD, they may not be considered for CAMHS because they do not meet the National Referral Criteria described in the CAMHS national service specification standards. Broadly these state that if a child is presenting with mental health problems that are causing significant impact on their day-to-day lives and other approaches are not appropriate. However in some individual cases, it may be the case that patients with neurodevelopmental conditions are still reported under CAMHS as long as they fit the specification criteria.

Question reference: S6W-26630

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether carbon impact is a material consideration when selecting contractors to carry out restoration work funded through Peatland ACTION.

All restoration work funded through Peatland ACTION is subject to Sustainable Procurement Duty outlined in Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 . Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (legislation.gov.uk)

Operational decisions on procuring contractors to carry out restoration work are made by respective Peatland ACTION delivery partners.

For further information on their selection criteria please contact NatureScot, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Forestry and Land Scotland, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority or Scottish Water.

Question reference: S6W-26631

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of (a) public, (b) private and (c) third sector delivery partners appointed for Peatland ACTION, including their appointment date.

The Peatland ACTION direct delivery partners are: Cairngorms National Park Authority, Forestry and Land Scotland, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, NatureScot and Scottish Water.

NatureScot managed Peatland ACTION on an annual basis until 2021 when funding was then allocated to the other Delivery Partners direct from Scottish Government.

For information on any sub-contracted delivery partners please contact the aforementioned Peatland ACTION Delivery Partners.