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-24013

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for a licence under the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 for (a) preventing serious damage to livestock, woodlands or crops and (b) environmental benefit have been granted.

Question reference: S6W-24020

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many civil servants have worked on the Highly Protected Marine Areas proposal and subsequent consultation, broken down by pay band, and (b) what the total cost of civil service resources for work on the proposal and consultation has been, in each month since it was proposed.

A Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) team was set up within the Marine Directorate in September 2021. While the team contributed to other work programmes, it was principally engaged in the development of HPMA proposals, engaging with stakeholders and the delivery of the public consultation. Other officials from across the Scottish Government, both from within Marine Directorate and from other directorates, also provided input to the work on HPMAs, and did so as part of their normal duties and within normal working patterns. At its maximum, the HPMA team contained the following posts at different grades and roles:

One official at grade C1
Two officials at grade B3
Two officials at grade B2

Civil Servants operate flexibly across a range of policies and programmes according to the specific requirements of their work at any given time. They do not, as a matter of course, record the proportion of their time spent working on particular matters. It is therefore not possible to provide a total staff cost or monthly break down in relation to the policy proposal for HPMAs.

Question reference: S6W-24015

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what economic impact assessment it has undertaken regarding the introduction of grouse shoot licensing on land in the (a) Aberdeenshire, (b) Angus, (c) Dumfries and Galloway, (d) Highland, (e) Perth and Kinross, (f) Stirling and (g) Scottish Borders Council area.

Question reference: S6W-24018

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many civil servants have worked on implementing the provisions in the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023, broken down by pay band, and (b) what the total cost of civil service resources on implementing the Act has been, in each month since it came into force.

Question reference: S6W-24019

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many civil servants have worked on the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill, broken down by pay band, and (b) what the total cost of civil service resources for work on the Bill has been, in each month since it was proposed.

Question reference: S6O-02959

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on future funding for South of Scotland Enterprise.

Question reference: S6W-24014

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken to process a Hunting with Dogs licence is for (a) preventing serious damage to livestock, woodlands or crops and (b) environmental benefit.

NatureScot has received eleven applications to-date for a Hunting with Dogs licence for either (a) preventing serious damage to livestock, woodlands, or crops, or (b) environmental benefit. Of these eleven applications, six have not yet been processed as they are either ongoing or NatureScot has requested additional information from the applicant.

The following table relates to five applications which have been deemed to be processed in that they have been received, determined, and the decision letter issued. The time taken to determine the decision may include time that NatureScot were waiting for further information from the applicant.

Applications Granted

Reason for Application	ID	Time taken to determine licence (days)
Preventing Serious Damage	250045	11
Preventing Serious Damage	252976	6

Applications Refused

Reason for Application	ID	Time taken to determine licence (days)
Environmental Benefit	249031	35
Environmental Benefit	248391	41
Preventing Serious Damage	237514	10

Question reference: S6W-24012

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what economic impact assessment has been carried out regarding its plan to ban the use of snares.

The Scottish Government held a public consultation on its proposals to prohibit the use of snares and other cable restraints which concluded in October 2023.

The consultation highlighted that some individuals and businesses may see cost changes associated with changes to the way that they undertake control of foxes, brown hares and/or rabbits. Snares are a relatively resource un-intensive method of wildlife control compared to other methods such as shooting. The majority of land managers use shooting as their only or main method of control and this will remain a viable alternative.

The Scottish Government will work together with relevant stakeholders to minimise any impacts when a ban on snaring comes into force.

We also invited the Rural and Environment Land Management Group to submit a report on the use of snares by Scottish land management businesses. We considered this report alongside a report from the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission. We concluded that other, more humane, methods of wildlife control are available to land managers in most circumstances and that a ban on the use of snares would have a significant benefit for wildlife welfare with only a minor impact on some rural businesses.

Question reference: S6W-24017

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that the proposed Land Reform Bill will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

As I noted in my response to a question from Jackie Dunbar MSP on 12 December, the Scottish Government remains committed to introducing Land Reform legislation to further improve transparency of land ownership, help ensure large scale land holdings deliver in the public interest, and empower communities by providing more opportunities to own land and have more say in how land in their area is used.

To allow time for this further consideration and ensure we get the proposals right for introduction, we are planning a slight delay to the introduction of the Bill but it remains a Programme for Government commitment for 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-23614

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve social care provision in rural communities.

The Scottish Government is undertaking a range of work to improve social care provision across Scotland, including for rural communities.

The Self Direct Support (SDS) Improvement Plan 2023-2027 has been developed to make sure that work taking place to improve SDS is more coherent and better coordinated and focuses on the right priorities. The “Golden threads” of the Improvement Plan are areas that all activity related to SDS improvement should consider in implementation. This includes the needs of rural, island and remote communities as a priority.

We are also committed to building a National Care Service to improve the quality and consistency of social care across Scotland. We understand there is often a need for a different approach for people living in rural communities and the National Care Service will help ensure that is delivered.