- Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 22 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to implementing a rapid food production impact assessment of all existing and new legislation and policy affecting agricultural land use and practice, in order to avoid any undermining of the potential for, or increases to the costs of, food production.
Answer
Scottish Ministers have established a short-life Food Security and Supply Taskforce, together with industry. The Taskforce met for the first time on 18 March and again on 01 and 20 April. It will monitor, identify and respond to any current and potential disruption to the food and drink supply chain resulting from the impact of the current situation in Ukraine.
It is currently considering a range of issues and proposals submitted to it and will seek to recommend, any short, medium and longer-term actions that can be taken to mitigate impacts, resolve supply issues and strengthen food security and supply in Scotland. The taskforce will report in due course.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue revised guidance for the High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013, in light of the opinion of Lady Carmichael regarding the petition for judicial review of 27 February 2020 (CSOH 22).
Answer
We currently have no plans to issue revised guidance for the High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013. Application of the legislation and associated guidance is the responsibility of local authorities and my officials will continue to engage with them to ensure that the legislation (supported by the guidance) is being applied in the manner intended by Parliament when the law was passed whilst identifying current best practice. Lady Carmichael in her judgement endorsed the 2016 guidance (since fine-tuned in 2019) and application of the legislation.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the priority list that was agreed by the National Prioritisation Advisory Group that it chaired on flood risk management schemes.
Answer
Schemes proposed in the flood risk management strategies (now referred to as plans) published by SEPA in December 2015 were prioritised according to their cost benefit ratio and taking into account a series of additional criteria, encompassing the environmental and social impacts of flooding.
This list was agreed by the National Prioritisation Advisory Group which was chaired by the Scottish Government. A list of the prioritised (Cycle 1) schemes can be found on the SEPA website.
Discussions are taking place with SEPA and the local authorities on the prioritisation arrangements for the Cycle 2 schemes that will cover the period 2022 to 2028.
42 Flood Protection Schemes (sepa.org.uk) .
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost has been of housing individuals and families in temporary accommodation in each local authority area in each year since 1999.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collect data on the cost to local authorities for housing homeless households in temporary accommodation. This information would need to be requested from each local authority directly.
Funding for local authorities is provided by way of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, including any funding to combat homelessness, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the projected revenue that will be generated for each local authority as a result of its proposed short-term let licensing scheme, and whether it will provide projected figures broken down by local authority.
Answer
Licensing authorities must determine their own fees and fee structures to recover establishment and running costs specific to their area. Licensing authorities must review their fees from time to time to ensure that revenue from fees remains in line with the running costs of the licensing scheme.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the total volume, in kilograms, was of below Minimum Conservation Reference Size (a) cod, (b) haddock, (c) herring, (d) whiting, (e) sole, (f) plaice and (g) saithe that was discarded by Scottish boats in 2021, in ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) areas (i) 4 and (ii) 6a.
Answer
The total quantity of discards below Minimum Conservation Reference Size from Scottish vessels is not currently estimated. Marine Scotland estimates the total weight of unwanted catch (catch that was not considered suitable for commercial sales) below Minimum Conservation Reference Size for demersal trawlers and seine netters for each year, using data collected by scientific observers on-board fishing vessels. (Fishing trips by vessels using other gears are not surveyed.) The estimates for 2021 are given in the following table. These estimates are for fishing trips by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad.
Estimates of the total weight of unwanted catch (kg) below Minimum Conservation Reference Size caught in 2021 in ICES subarea 4 and division 6a by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad, fishing with demersal trawls or seines.
Species | ICES region |
(i) 4 | (ii) 6a |
(a) Cod | 338,000 | 1,000 |
(b) Haddock | 4,087,000 | 3,048,000 |
(c) Herring | 1,000 | 42,000 |
(d) Whiting | 271,000 | 84,000 |
(e) Sole | 0 | 2,500 |
(f) Plaice | 30,000 | 47,000 |
(g) Saithe | 4,000 | 0 |
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many Ukrainian-speaking lawyers it has recruited to ease the resettlement process of Ukrainian refugees in Scotland.
Answer
Scottish Government lawyers provide legal services and advice to the Scottish Government and its agencies only. As such, Ukrainian-speaking lawyers have not been specifically recruited in order to assist the resettlement process.
To support the settlement process of Ukrainian refugees, the Scottish Government has provided £36,000 to JustRight Scotland to provide free, confidential legal advice to Ukrainians and their family members seeking safety in Scotland. We have also provided £7 million to Local Authorities to meet longer term needs. In addition, we have provided £1.4 million to the Scottish Refugee Council for the expansion of its Refugee Integration Service.
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 04 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how self-declaration, in the context of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, may affect sex discrimination cases.
Answer
Sex discrimination cases will continue to be dealt with under the Equality Act 2010. The provisions of the 2010 Act are not modified by the proposals in the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Bill also does not change the legal effects of a Gender Recognition Certificate as they are currently set out in the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the total volume, in kilograms, was of (a) cod, (b) haddock, (c) herring, (d) whiting, (e) sole, (f) plaice and (g) saithe that was discarded by Scottish boats in 2021, in ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) areas (i) 4 and (ii) 6a.
Answer
The total quantity of discards from Scottish vessels is not currently estimated. Marine Scotland estimates the total weight of unwanted catch (catch that was not considered suitable for commercial sales) for demersal trawlers and seine netters for each year, using data collected by scientific observers on-board fishing vessels. (Fishing trips by vessels using other gears are not surveyed.) The estimates for 2021 are given in the following table. These estimates are for fishing trips by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad.
Estimates of the total weight of unwanted catch (kg) caught in 2021 in ICES subarea 4 and division 6a by UK vessels landing into Scotland and Scottish vessels landing abroad, fishing with demersal trawls or seines.
Species | ICES region |
(i) 4 | (ii) 6a |
(a) Cod | 2,161,000 | 532,000 |
(b) Haddock | 7,051,000 | 4,061,000 |
(c) Herring | 337,000 | 332,000 |
(d) Whiting | 1,703,000 | 216,000 |
(e) Sole | 0 | 2,500 |
(f) Plaice | 49,000 | 75,000 |
(g) Saithe | 721,000 | 56,000 |
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it plans to provide Care and Repair with further funding, in addition to the £500,000 previously committed, to support older and vulnerable people to upgrade their fire alarms in line with new regulations, in light of reports that some people contacting Care and Repair for support are being told it has no funding available to support them with installing new fire alarms.
Answer
In order to support older and disabled people in meeting this new legislation, we have provided a total of £1.1 million in 2021-22 to Care and Repair Scotland.
We also provided £1 million to SFRS for their Home Fire Safety visits to help those most vulnerable to the risk of fire to meet the new standard. The general principle is that owners are responsible for the cost of looking after private property. Our targeted funding is reaching those most at risk and least able to do the work themselves. There are no currently plans to provide further funding.
The Scottish Government published a statement in partnership with COSLA on 21 January 2022 confirming that local authorities will take a proportionate and measured approach to compliance and individual circumstances will be taken into account.
Whilst we encourage homeowners to install these alarms at their earliest opportunity to protect lives and possessions, we have emphasised consistently that there will be no penalties for non-compliance.
