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: S6O-02826

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it is providing for regeneration and economic renewal projects in the south of Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02740

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the role that peatland plays in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Question reference: S6W-22073

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential impact on the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland, particularly people experiencing poverty, what discussions it has had with the UK Government in relation to safeguarding the future of free-to-air terrestrial TV and radio services in Scotland beyond the current licence period, which ends in 2034.

The Scottish Government has not had any conversations to date with the UK Government in relation to the future of broadcasting beyond 2034. Although decisions on broadcasting are reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government retains a strong interest, and we believe that broadcasting policy should be devolved to Scotland to ensure that proportionate decisions can be taken which recognise the requirements of viewers and listeners in Scotland. We continue to make clear, in our engagement with the UK Government and Ofcom, the importance of audiences across Scotland having continued access to the high-quality broadcast TV and radio services they rely on, and we would welcome any conversations with the UK Government to support this aim. We will also continue to engage with stakeholders, such as Arqiva who I am meeting on 6 December, who are driving work on this issue.

Question reference: S6W-22074

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has made to Ofcom regarding the potential impact of any agreement to change spectrum allocations at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of (a) people in rural communities, (b) older people and (c) people on low incomes in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not made specific representations to Ofcom in relation to the changes to spectrum allocations due to be discussed at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023, or the impacts of those changes on particular groups. We understand that the UK Government, who lead on decision-making around broadcasting as it is a reserved issue, have directed Ofcom to represent the UK at WRC-23, and have expressed that their preference is for no change to international spectrum allocations. The Scottish Government understands that, if a different spectrum allocation is agreed at WRC-23, the UK would still have considerable freedom over how to use the spectrum going forward.

Question reference: S6W-22076

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential impact on the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland, particularly people experiencing poverty, what its position is on the objectives of the Broadcast 2040+ campaign to guarantee the future of free-to-air terrestrial TV and radio services beyond the current licence period, which ends in 2034.

The Scottish Government is supportive of the view, set out in the Broadcast 2040+ Campaign, that audiences should continue to have access to the high-quality broadcast TV and radio services they rely on. In response to a letter from members of the Campaign, I wrote to arrange a meeting to hear more about the valuable work of the Campaign and will meet with them on 6 December. When that meeting takes place, I will ensure that the positive health and wellbeing impacts of access to broadcast television and radio are discussed.

Question reference: S6W-22075

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any benefits of free-to-air terrestrial TV and radio services in supporting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of (a) people in rural communities, (b) older people and (c) people on low incomes in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is aware of the health and wellbeing impacts of access to broadcast services on particular demographics from our assessment of research conducted by Ofcom, such as their annual Media Nations reports, and through our engagement with stakeholders, including audiences in Scotland.

Their Media Nations 2023 report showed that almost a third of Scottish households only used television services delivered via aerial. [1] Research conducted by Ipsos Mori for Arqiva shows that these services are of particular importance to older people, people living in rural areas, and households from lower socio-economic backgrounds. [2] Due to Scotland’s demographics in terms of an ageing population, and numbers living in rural or island locations, this issue is therefore especially important in Scotland.

Ofcom’s report also shows the continued importance of broadcast services to Scottish audiences, who watch the most broadcast TV of all the UK nations. The report also notes that nearly nine in ten people in Scotland listen to the radio weekly, for an average of almost 19 hours.

[1] Media Nations: Scotland 2023 (ofcom.org.uk)

[2] The Future of Broadcast TV & Radio (arqiva.com)

Question reference: S6W-22374

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the suitability of the current Residential Visual Amenity Assessment distance of 3km for onshore wind farm developments, in light of the height of turbines now regularly being above 150m and, therefore, the distance that these developments have an impact reportedly being greater.

All applications are subject to site-specific assessments. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) states that potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors will be important considerations in the decision-making process. NPF4 Policy 11 requires project design and mitigation to demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker will be addressed. It is for the decision maker to determine what information is required to support an application, and where Residential Visual Amenity Assessment is provided, to determine the distance to be considered in that assessment.

Question reference: S6W-22373

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the appropriateness of requiring 2km between wind turbines and settlement boundaries, in light of the height of wind turbine developments now regularly being above 150m, and what its position is on whether this distance should be increased where turbines are above 150m.

All applications are subject to site-specific assessments, recognising the different circumstances of individual development proposals, sites and wider locations. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) states that, when considering development proposals for renewable energy generation, potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors will be important considerations in the decision-making process. NPF4 Policy 11 requires project design and mitigation to demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker will be addressed.

Question reference: S6O-02704

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the second Strategic Transport Projects Review in relation to projects in the south of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-22164

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to reducing forestry grants in any areas where high demand for land for forestry has substantially increased land prices and, due to the availability of private investment, reduced the need for government support.

Private investment has always been a critical element of woodland creation delivery with public investment through grant support being necessary to reduce the up-front costs, given the long period before financial returns from forestry. Land prices and the financial attractiveness of forestry investments are affected by a range of factors of which grant rates are just one element.

Grant rates under the Forestry Grant scheme were set in 2014 and haven’t been increased since then. At that time the rates were set at a level to contribute 80% of the cost of planting and looking after trees until established. As a result of inflation since 2013, grant rates in 2023 now contribute a lower proportion of costs, in the range 50-60%.

Where woodland creation projects are receiving significant private sector investment, for example through sale of carbon credits, the value of the contribution from forestry grants can be reduced further.

Other UK countries and Ireland also offer comparable, or higher grant rates for woodland creation compared to Scotland.