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-02176

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list all incinerators in Scotland broken down by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) decile of the area they are located in.

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is a relative measure of deprivation which ranks 6,976 small areas (called data zones). Rank 1 represents the most deprived data zone in Scotland and 6,976 represents the least deprived data zone in Scotland. The rankings are split into deciles 1-10, which define the deprivation levels in 10% bands. Data zones in decile 1 are among the 10% most deprived areas in Scotland, and data zones in decile 10 are among the 10% least deprived.

The following table shows the SIMD decile for incineration facilities operational in Scotland in 2019, accepting household or commercial waste.

Site name (Operator)	Site activity	SIMD 2020 decile
Lerwick Energy Recovery Plant (Shetland Council)	Incineration	3
MEB (MVV Environmental Baldovie Ltd.)	Incineration	6
Dunbar ERF (Viridor Waste Management Ltd.)	Incineration	7
Glasgow Recycling & Renewable Energy Centre (Viridor (Glasgow) Ltd.)	Incineration	1
LREL (Levenseat Renewable Energy Ltd.)	Incineration	7
Millerhill Recycling & Energy Recovery Centre (FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd.)	Incineration	6

All site information is available on the SEPA website: https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/waste/energy-from-waste/energy-from-waste-sites/ and SEPA’s waste sites and capacity tool: https://www.sepa.org.uk/data-visualisation/waste-sites-and-capacity-tool/

Further information on the SIMD is available here: https://www.gov.scot/ SIMD

Question reference: S6W-02202

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the adoption of the sustainable investment hierarchy will have an impact on decisions to proceed with any of the road-building projects that it has previously committed to.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party agree that transport plays a crucial role in supporting a green and fair recovery and our shared position on this is included in the draft shared policy programme, forming part of the cooperation agreement.

We believe that bold action is needed to increase the pace of change and the scale of investment to support the priorities and outcomes set out in the National Transport Strategy, including our ambitious climate goals. We agree that in the face of the climate emergency we need to shift away from spending money on new road projects that encourage more people to drive, and instead focus our money and effort on maintaining roads, improving safety and providing a realistic and affordable alternative through investing in public transport and active travel.

The Sustainable Investment Hierarchy contained in the second National Transport Strategy and published in February 2020, can trace its linage back to the first Strategic Transport Projects Review in 2008, which in turn was developed from Scotland’s first National Transport Strategy (NTS) published in 2006. This was enhanced as part of the second NTS to include reducing the need to travel unsustainably at the top of the hierarchy. In addition, NTS sets out the commitment to ensure we will not build road infrastructure to cater for forecast unconstrained increases in traffic volumes.

We need to balance the significant changes in travel behaviour required to meet a target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions with our duty to ensure that Scotland has high quality infrastructure to meet the needs of all our residents, businesses and visitors. That is why we are continuing work on our programme of trunk road improvement scheme to improve resilience, safety and deliver sustainable inclusive growth for the people of Scotland. Work on the trunk roads projects and programmes under construction, procurement or design and development continue and are subject to the statutory assessment and business case processes.

Question reference: S6W-02172

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which energy from waste plants are monitoring their CO2 emissions.

Waste incinerators are required to monitor and report their carbon dioxide emissions as a ‘Part A process’ under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 require permitted sites to report specified pollutants, including carbon dioxide, which are then published in the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI). The SPRI is available here: Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI)

Question reference: S6W-02162

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the percentage of the public that have had an awareness of the Recycle for Scotland brand in each year since the baseline estimate in 2014-15.

Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) no longer have recognition rate information for the Recycle for Scotland brand year-on-year as they stopped their tracker in 2015. The Recycle for Scotland website and associated pages have also been incorporated into ZWS’s How To Waste Less platform launched in April 2020. However, the latest recognition data comes from their Consumer Behaviour and Attitudes Survey carried out in February 2020. This survey was issued to 2331 householders who were responsible for recycling in their household. The recognition data is listed below:

• The ‘swoosh arrow’ part of the Recycle for Scotland logo: 63%

• Recycle for Scotland logo: 32%

Question reference: S6W-02174

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how much public funding has been spent on clean-up and decommissioning work in relation to incinerator plant closures in the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-02115

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2021

As at 6 September, against a total of 1051 applications there have been 481 unsuccessful applications[1], representing 46% of total applications.

Within the unsuccessful applications there were 158 social rented sector tenants and 323 private rented sector tenants.

We do not hold a breakdown of unsuccessful applications by local authority although this information is gathered at initial application level in the following table.

Number of applications per local authority
Local authority	Total	Social	PRS
#N/A	13	2	11
Aberdeen City	52	18	34
Aberdeenshire	28	14	14
Angus	10	1	9
Argyll & Bute	6	4	2
Clackmannanshire	11	8	3
Dumfries & Galloway	19	6	13
Dundee City	57	19	38
East Ayrshire	46	22	24
East Dunbartonshire	5	2	3
East Lothian	12	3	9
East Renfrewshire	5	1	4
Edinburgh, City of	132	23	109
Falkirk	28	8	20
Fife	54	17	37
Glasgow City	179	74	105
Highland	23	4	19
Inverclyde	16	7	9
Midlothian	10	3	7
Moray	13	5	8
North Ayrshire	31	11	20
North Ayshire	1	1	0
North Lanarkshire	52	22	30
Orkney Islands	2	2	0
Perth & Kinross	43	21	22
Renfrewshire	34	5	29
Scottish Borders	10	2	8
Shetland Islands	2	0	2
South Ayrshire	30	7	23
South Lanarkshire	51	17	34
Stirling	10	5	5
West Dunbartonshire	27	12	15
West Lothian	39	22	17
Total	1051	368	683

[1] Includes 19 applications rejected because of non-eligibility for funding.

As at 3 August, against a total of 1009 applications there have been 458 unsuccessful applications, representing 45% of total applications.

Within the unsuccessful applications there were 153 social rented sector tenants and 305 private rented sector tenants.

We do not hold a breakdown of unsuccessful applications by local authority although this information is gathered at initial application level and is as follows:

Number of applications per local authority
Local authority	Total	Social	PRS
#N/A	10	2	8
Aberdeen City	52	18	34
Aberdeenshire	27	14	13
Angus	10	1	9
Argyll & Bute	5	3	2
Clackmannanshire	11	8	3
Dumfries & Galloway	18	5	13
Dundee City	53	18	35
East Ayrshire	44	21	23
East Dunbartonshire	3	1	2
East Lothian	12	3	9
East Renfrewshire	5	1	4
Edinburgh, City of	127	23	104
Falkirk	27	8	19
Fife	52	15	37
Glasgow City	171	71	100
Highland	23	4	19
Inverclyde	15	7	8
Midlothian	10	3	7
Moray	13	5	8
North Ayrshire	31	11	20
North Ayshire	1	1	0
North Lanarkshire	46	17	29
Orkney Islands	2	2	0
Perth & Kinross	42	21	21
Renfrewshire	32	4	28
Scottish Borders	10	2	8
Shetland Islands	2	0	2
South Ayrshire	30	7	23
South Lanarkshire	51	17	34
Stirling	10	5	5
West Dunbartonshire	25	12	13
West Lothian	39	22	17
Total	1009	352	657

Question reference: S6W-02126

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to Historic Environment Scotland to enable historic sites to be made safe for reopening to members of the public, and what the timescales are for the reopening of these sites.

Historic Environment Scotland has responded to address the precautionary closures within the funding already available. The Scottish Government provided Historic Environment Scotland with £72.9m in 2020-21 and are providing £55.9m to support Historic Environment Scotland in 2021-22. We are also providing this financial year a further £20m in covid consequentials, taking our total support in 2021-22 to £75.9m, an increase of £3m from 2020-21.

The Scottish Government will continue to discuss the closures with Historic Environment Scotland, whose programme of prioritised inspections will inform a timescale for reopening.

Question reference: S6W-02114

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review unsuccessful Tenant Hardship Loan Fund applications for suitability to apply to the grant fund announced in June 2021 to support tenants struggling to pay their rent as a direct result of COVID-19.

No. The Tenant Hardship Loan Fund is administered separately on behalf of the Scottish Government. Where an applicant is unsuccessful they are provided with information on where they can get further advice and on alternative support available. The loan and the grant are not interchangeable.

The tenant grant funding cannot be paid in advance of need and is based on a needs assessment by the local authority taking into account all the circumstances of an individual.

Question reference: S6W-02112

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 August 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether Tenant Hardship Loan Fund debtors will have a right to convert their loan to a grant.

No, there is no right to convert a loan to a grant. The Tenant Hardship Loan Fund is an interest free loan paid to remove the risk of eviction. Debtors have demonstrated their ability to make loan repayments during the application process.

The tenant grant funding cannot be paid in advance of need and is based on a needs assessment by the local authority taking into account all the circumstances of an individual.

Question reference: S6W-01963

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it achieved its plan to complete the development of 12,000 hectares of woodland in 2020-21.

National statistics (UK) released on 17 June show that 10,660 hectares of new woodland was created in Scotland in 2020/21, the equivalent of over 21 million trees in the ground and around 80% of all trees planted across the UK

However COVID restrictions, combined with heavy rain and snow across most of Scotland in March, resulted in unavoidable delays to planting. Despite this we achieved 89% of the woodland creation target in 2020-21 and the remaining 11% was planted during the remainder of the planting season in April, May and June, during the first 100 days