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-36823

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered directing SEPA to refuse new permits for incineration facilities, in light of the extended producer responsibility for household packaging waste.

The Independent Review on the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy (2022) recommended that no further planning permission for incineration facilities, beyond what was already in place, should be granted. This was reflected in National Planning Framework 4, which came into force on 13 February 2023 and is clear that development proposals for energy from waste facilities will not be supported except under very limited circumstances.

The key policy levers on this matter exist within the planning system. We will continue to work with SEPA, planners and the wider sector to ensure appropriate management of incineration capacity issues.

Extender Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) applies the polluter pays principle, ensuring that packaging producers pay for the disposal costs of their packaging when it becomes waste. It incentivises businesses to reduce excess packaging, to design and use packaging that is easily recyclable, and encourage use of reusable and refillable packaging. pEPR funding will go to local authorities to support effective and efficient collection systems for household packaging waste.

Scotland’s whole-system approach to residual waste treatment is set out in the final Circular Economy and Waste Route Map. It includes measures making incineration a less attractive waste treatment method, such as the proposed Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) expansion to include incineration. The Route Map also includes measures that limit the production of plastic upstream and increase its removal from the waste stream prior to incineration, including pEPR.

Question reference: S6W-36800

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed with the UK Government the provision of support to workers at Grangemouth refinery in the interim period prior to any developments from Project Willow.

Question reference: S6W-36785

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of the phrase "spatial squeeze" in a maritime context, and which (a) sectors and (b) stakeholders have indicated to it a non-acceptance of this phrase.

Question reference: S6W-36821

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific support is being provided to farmers and food producers in areas affected by below-average rainfall and dwindling groundwater levels.

Scotland’s National Water Scarcity Plan sets out how water resources will be managed prior to and during periods of prolonged dry weather ensuring the correct balance is struck between protecting the environment and providing resource for human and economic activity.

The Scottish Government are working closely with partners to provide information and guidance on emerging water scarcity issues directly to farmers and food producers. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has sent direct communications to all agricultural abstraction licence holders providing them with an early overview of the water scarcity risks for this year and where support can be found. These direct messages will continue to be used over the summer and will be targeted to specific catchments where water scarcity becomes an issue.

The Scottish Government is actively addressing water scarcity in agriculture through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS). The scheme promotes sustainable land management practices, including water management and water-use efficiency measures to reduce the impacts of water scarcity on the agricultural sector.

In the 2024 and 2025 rounds of AECS, applications for irrigation lagoons, which are a key measure for reducing water scarcity, were able to be made as a simplified standalone item or as part of a wider application, open until 12 June 2025. To support further uptake, in 2024 we increased the grant ceiling for irrigation lagoons from £30,000 to £40,000.

The Scottish Government funded Farm Advisory Service (FAS) and Farming and Water Scotland (FWS) programmes provides largely free information and resources for farms and crofts in Scotland. Both FAS and FWS develop and share sector-specific guidance with farmers and food produces in various formats, such as at agricultural shows, training events, podcasts, videos and in articles. Farmers and food producers can access resources related to water scarcity and water management on both the FAS and FWS websites.

Question reference: S6W-36806

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work that it is carrying out to introduce a criminal law in respect of non-fatal strangulation.

Question reference: S6W-36767

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of access to the drug, Givinostat.

Question reference: S6W-36803

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how lessons learned from the situation at Grangemouth refinery will be incorporated into transition planning for the (a) workforce and (b) communities currently reliant on oil and gas.

Ensuring that workers and communities currently reliant on oil and gas are protected and indeed, stand to benefit from the transition to net zero is central to the rationale underlying our wider Just Transition policy.

The Grangemouth Just Transition plan will be an iterative document that is subject to ongoing monitoring and evaluation and this will inform wider policy development around the transition to net zero at a local level.

We will continue to work with stakeholders across Scotland’s energy system, doing all we can within our power to identify priority areas for action.

Question reference: S6W-37217

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the budget for private contractors providing services for Scottish Water was overspent in 2024-25, and, if so, by how much, and what the reasons were for the overspend.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold the information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water (Regulated) Contractor P&L expenditure for 2024-25 was £31.7m against a Budget of £30.7m. The actual costs include £4.0m unbudgeted proactive leakage recovery costs so therefore the underlying variance is favourable.

Question reference: S6O-04631

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the transport provision for communities across the Highlands and Islands has improved or worsened since 2007.

Since 2007 we have completed ten major trunk road upgrades, including on the A830, A82, A9, and A96, improving the safety and reliability of these routes for roads users across the Highlands, Islands and beyond.

We opened new stations at Conon Bridge and Inverness Airport, and our investment in Scotland’s Railway has allowed for improved frequency and journey times on the Highland Mainline and between Inverness and Aberdeen.

Orkney and Shetland residents receive a 30% discount on ferry fares, while Road Equivalent Tariff saves passengers around £25 million per year in total.

Over 57,000 young people across the Highlands and Islands have benefited from free bus travel, with more than 9.2 million journeys made since the Under 22’s scheme launched.

Transport provision has improved, and will continue to improve, as we introduce new vessels to our ferry networks, and deliver further upgrades to key trunk roads and public transport infrastructure.

Question reference: S6W-37434

Current Status: Withdrawn