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-20505

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that would suggest that a reduction of the minimum weight of bullet permitted to be used in the culling of deer could lead to increased suffering by the animal when shot.

Question reference: S6W-20504

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether its proposals to permit the use of night sights to cull deer at night will be subject to licensing, or require any qualification, in order to be practiced.

All night shooting of deer requires a specific authorisation by NatureScot. That means that anyone seeking to shoot deer at night must apply to NatureScot and provide the details of the planned management, including where and when the deer will be culled.

There are requirements for a deer stalker to be fit and competent as part of that process and NatureScot will be updating the Night Shooting Code of Practice and Best Practice guidance will be developed ahead of these proposals being introduced.

Question reference: S6W-20568

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the reported £86 million of debt accrued by Circularity Scotland was spent on.

Scottish Government does not hold this information. Circularity Scotland Limited (CSL) was established as a private not-for-profit company by the drinks industry to meet its regulatory obligations. The Directors and Administrators of CSL have placed information on Companies House website about the Administration, which includes details of claims from creditors.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the delivery of a successful DRS in October 2025 and are pushing the UK Government to set out how this can be delivered across the UK. The onus is now on DEFRA to work with the devolved nations, industry and wider stakeholders to ensure this scheme is launched successfully and on time.

Question reference: S6W-20509

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of stakeholder organisations that it has consulted with regarding the Deer (Close Seasons) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2023.

Question reference: S6W-20508

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the potential animal welfare issues that could arise as a result of the normalisation of culling deer at night.

As outlined in response to S6W-20504 on 1 September 2023, culling deer at night can only be done under authorisation from NatureScot. In order to be authorised to shoot deer at night applicants must be able to evidence fit and competent status and comply with Best Practice.

To register as fit and competent applicants must provide evidence that they have completed either Deer Stalking Certificate Level 2 (DSC2) or Deer Stalking Certificate Level 1 (DSC1). They must also provide two referees (one of whom must be DSC1 certified) who can provide evidence that the applicant meets required standards.

In 2019-20, 17.33% of total deer culled in Scotland were shot under a night authorisation.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-20173

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 1 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who submitted an application to the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme were unsuccessful, and what the most common reasons were for applications being unsuccessful.

Since 2015 a total of 22,817 initial applications to Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) did not progress to work being carried out under the scheme. The scheme is targeted at alleviating fuel poverty for the most vulnerable households and so the most common reason for an unsuccessful application to Warmer Homes Scotland is that the household does not meet the eligibility criteria for age or lower income.

Applications to the first phase of Warmer Homes Scotland closed on 31 March 2023 and at this time all households were required to meet all 6 of the high-level qualifying criteria:

Be a homeowner or tenant of a private sector landlord
Live in the home as a main residence
Lived at the property for more than twelve months (unless in receipt of DS1500 or BASRiS certificate)
Live in a property with a SAP of 72 or lower which is under 230m 2 in floor size
Live in a home that meets the tolerable living standard set out in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006
Not received support for energy efficiency measures though WHS funding in the last 5 years

As well as meeting the six high level criteria, customers must be 16 or over and be in receipt of certain benefits. The exception to this is if you are 75 or over with no working heating system, then there is no benefits receipt requirement.

The table below outline the most common areas of eligibility that are not met by households. This information is from the launch of WHS in September 2015 to the close of applications on 31 March 2023.

Reason given	Number of households
Household does not meet age, children in home (under 16) or benefits criteria	10,168
Customer not private tenant or owner occupier	1,144
Has not lived in the property for sufficient time	1,336
SAP rating too high	3,953
No suitable measures available under Warmer Homes Scotland	3,032

Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) is the national fuel poverty scheme and is one of a number of home heating and energy efficiency schemes run by the Scottish Government. Other schemes include the HES grants and loans scheme, which is available for all owner-occupiers across Scotland, and Area Based Schemes, which is targeted at those in fuel poverty and is delivered by Local Authorities.

Question reference: S6W-20408

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19712 by Jamie Hepburn on 31 July 2023, whether it can confirm on how many occasions it has taken legal advice when preparing its Building a New Scotland series of papers.

Question reference: S6W-20385

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which schools are currently required to accommodate pupils in temporary modular buildings, broken down by local authority area; for how long such temporary accommodation will be required, and what remedial action it is taking to reduce the requirement for temporary modular buildings in schools.

Question reference: S6W-20687

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to publish the national service specification for secure transport.

The responsibility for the provision of secure transport lies with local authorities, and the development of this specification is being led by COSLA.

Discussions with key partners around the use of the specification are ongoing and will be discussed at the national Secure Care Group Meeting on 2 October. The Secure Transport Working Group aim to introduce the specification as soon as possible to assist local authorities in commissioning these services.

Question reference: S6W-20402

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been distributed through the Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan scheme for secondary improvements in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.