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-12246

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether food delivery drivers, including those who are self-employed, will be required to register with SEPA as a waste carrier, broker or professional collector and transporter of waste to collect used containers from customers to comply with the Deposit Return Scheme’s online takeback service; if so, whether training will be provided for food delivery drivers for this purpose, and, if so, who will provide it.

Empty drink containers (scheme packaging) are waste and, therefore, subject to regulatory control. Any business that operates a takeback service should ensure that they, or their service provider, are authorised to carry and transport waste and are registered as a waste carrier.

A business only needs to hold one waste carriers licence – there is no need for each employee to register separately unless they are self-employed individuals. Further information and guidance on registering as a waste carrier is available from SEPA.https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/waste/waste-carriers-and-brokers/ .

The Scottish Government does not provide training in this regard.

Question reference: S6W-12236

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list any meetings that it has held with the food delivery industry regarding the impact of the Deposit Return Scheme’s online takeback service on delivery drivers.

We are considering measures to address concerns that have been raised by industry, including representatives of the food delivery industry, regarding the obligation to provide a takeback service for scheme articles sold online under Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

As part of this work, the Scottish Government has engaged with a range of stakeholders, including representatives of Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats on 20 October 2022. The same organisations previously met with the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity on 6 October 2022. Representatives of the food delivery industry also attended an online takeback workshop hosted by the Scottish Government on 17 February 2022.

Question reference: S6W-12361

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of its goose management policies by NatureScot.

A Steering Group comprising staff from NatureScot and Scottish Government is undertaking the goose management policy review.

A six-week stakeholder consultation concluded on 17 October 2022 in which stakeholders were invited to comment on the effectiveness of current national goose policy and its delivery, to identify issues and make suggestions for future national goose policy.

Invitations were extended to individual members of the National Goose Forum and Local Goose Management Groups, and NatureScot’s web pages provided open access to the questionnaire to other interested parties.

257 stakeholders submitted questionnaire responses.

The results from the questionnaire have been summarised and the key themes include concerns around greylag geese, funding and how goose management might be supported in future.

The next steps are: for the Policy Steering Group to engage with Local Goose Management Groups and other stakeholders to share the summary responses with them, to confirm they accurately reflect their views, to ask them which issues are of greatest concern to them, and how they would like their concerns to be addressed through future goose policy. These discussions are ongoing, and will be completed before Christmas.

Production of the report by NatureScot has been delayed slightly due to pressures of the additional work being generated with regard to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). This delay will allow NatureScot to ensure the impacts of HPAI are taken into consideration as part of the review.

Following the completion of the review, NatureScot will produce a report for Scottish Ministers in Spring 2023.

In the meantime, the Steering Group will share a draft report with stakeholders and engage in further stakeholder discussions in February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-12376

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to (a) monitor and (b) judge the efficacy of its recently announced £5 million of loss and damage funding.

Decisions on how we will approach monitoring and judge the efficacy of the recently announced £5 million funding to loss and damage are yet to be taken. Decisions will be undertaken in consultation with stakeholders and communities. In line with the £2 million announced last year that is already being evaluated, we will ensure robust monitoring and evaluation is built in throughout the programme design.

Question reference: S6W-12242

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether self-employed delivery drivers, delivery platforms and restaurants will be liable for any damage caused to used containers while in their possession in the operation of the Deposit Return Scheme’s online takeback service.

Question reference: S6W-12295

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what budget it has allocated for the rates relief available under the Non-Domestic Rates (Reverse Vending Machine Relief) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 in each year since it came into effect.

Eligibility for non-domestic rates reliefs is set out in legislation and it is for local authorities to administer reliefs to eligible properties in accordance with that legislation. As such, the Scottish Government does not set aside allocations for individual non-domestic rates reliefs, but rather decisions on non-domestic rates reliefs, for example Reverse Vending Machine relief, are taken as part of the annual budget process, using Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) forecasts of the total revenues raised net of relief costs.

The SFC forecast that the Reverse Vending Machine relief would cost less than £1 million in the 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years. The SFC forecasts are available on their website.

Data on the actual cost of non-domestic rates reliefs is released periodically as part of Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics publications available on the Scottish Government’s website.

Question reference: S6W-12260

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on the proposed Rosebank oil field development.

Oil and gas exploration and production, including licensing, remains reserved to UK Government. Our position on oil & gas licensing is clear , unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations and meeting the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees. Nor is it the right solution to the real cost of living crisis families are facing, when to reduce energy costs we need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. This means investing more in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

In Scotland, we are encouraging the expansion of renewable energy, as reflected in the lease options awarded to ScotWind sites earlier this year. The 20 ScotWind projects which have secured lease options now total up to 27.6 GW with initial supply chain commitments indicating an average of £1.4bn investment pledged in Scotland per project. This equates to £28 billion of potential investment across the 20 projects. In addition, ScotWind will deliver over £750m in revenues to the public purse for these initial awards alone and several billion pounds more in rental revenues when projects become operational, which will be invested for the benefit of the people of Scotland.

We are also supporting a just transition for our energy sector, Scottish households, and businesses. Instead of licensing more fossil fuel extraction, the UK Government should follow our approach and encourage investment in renewables. This further illustrates the case for Scottish independence to manage offshore energy within Scotland’s waters.

Question reference: S6O-01668

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm whether WhatsApp messaging by the health secretary and his ministers are covered by Freedom of Information legislation and the processes that are in place to archive these to prevent them being inadvertently lost or otherwise deleted.

Question reference: S6O-01669

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment is made of the financial health of businesses and the viability of projects prior to the award of a grant of public funds.

Question reference: S6O-01673

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported delays to the development of the Swallow Roundabout in Dundee.