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: S6F-00264

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-03191

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Maree Todd on 20 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the results of the joint four nation consultation on mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid will be published.

I am pleased to confirm today that the Scottish Government will proceed with a four nation approach to introduce mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid. I have agreed with the administrations of the UK (in relation to England), Wales, and Northern Ireland that we will take forward the fortification of non-wholemeal wheat flour on a UK-wide basis, which was the ‘baseline’ option in the consultation.

Scottish Ministers have long advocated for the mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in foetuses. There is strong evidence that many neural tube defects can be prevented by increasing women’s intake of folic acid. Mandatory fortification is an effective way of reaching people with the lowest folate intakes, often younger women from the most socioeconomically deprived areas.

The Scottish Government will now work together with the other administrations of the UK to engage with stakeholders on the details of the fortification and labelling requirements, including on appropriate lead-in times. In order to minimise impacts on industry, this will be co-ordinated as part of a wider review of The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 and The Bread and Flour (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1998 being undertaken by Defra – alongside the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland and Wales, Food Standards Scotland, the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish and Welsh Governments.

The full results of the four nation consultation on mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid and our joint policy response will be published as soon as possible.

Question reference: S6W-02677

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review its policy on Ramsar sites, in light of reports that such sites receive a higher level of protection in the rest of the UK.

Ramsar sites are currently afforded a high level of protection in Scotland by virtue of their co-designation as Sites of Scientific Interest, Special Area of Conservation or Special Protection Area. We are committed to producing a new Biodiversity Strategy by autumn 2022. As part of the development of that strategy and the implementation of key commitments such as the protection of 30% of our land for nature by 2030, we will look at how best we can protect and restore nature in Scotland. This will include looking at the levels of protection given to our protected areas.

Question reference: S6W-02700

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the creation of new national parks.

The Scottish Government believe that our National Parks bring many positive benefits to our environment and our economy, which is why our Programme for Government 2021-22 commits to the creation of at least one new National Park by the end of this Parliament, provided relevant legal conditions can be met.

The process for selecting and establishing new National Park is set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000. That legislation rightly includes a thorough consultation process and Ministers will provide an update on the timings for that in due course.

Question reference: S6W-02675

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that internationally-designated Ramsar sites in Scotland are given an increased level of protection in the forthcoming National Planning Framework 4.

Question reference: S6W-02853

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support businesses and sectors affected by shortages of building materials.

We have been working to address supply chain issues in the construction industry since the launch of our Construction Recovery Plan in October last year, working with the industry and the UK Government to fully understand the current supply chain issues, which we recognise are due to a number of factors including the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of EU Exit.

I also established a working group to consider immediate supply issues in more detail and I meet with the group on a weekly basis in order to work with Scottish manufacturers to increase output to meet the shortage challenges. I have been meeting suppliers to discuss the opportunities available for increasing production, and sourcing more supplies from Scottish manufacturers.

The Scottish Government will continue to work hard to address the problems and blockages faced by companies, where it is in our power to do so.

Question reference: S6W-02674

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any designated Ramsar sites in Scotland that are not designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas or Special Areas of Conservation.

Question reference: S6W-02454

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the most recent baseline update is for (a) household and (b) commercial and industrial food waste arisings.

The most recent baseline data is contained within the 2016 Zero Waste Scotland report How Much Food is Wasted in Scotland? | Zero Waste Scotland . This report uses 2013 data and is broken down as follows:

Household (solid and liquid waste) – 598,946 tonnes (60.6%)
Food and drink manufacturing – 248,230 tonnes (25.1%)
Other sectors – 140,714 tonnes (14.2%)
The total of 987,890 tonnes covers all quantifiable food and drink waste in Scotland and provides a baseline for the Scottish Government’s flagship target to reduce all food waste arising in Scotland by 33% by 2025. Food losses incurred in primary production are currently excluded from the baseline figures. A Waste Composition Analysis, originally planned for 2021 but delayed due to Covid-19, is being carried out by Zero Waste Scotland this year and more detailed information will be available once that work concludes.

Question reference: S6W-02676

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment to protect at least 30% of land for nature by 2030, how it will improve the protections given to internationally-designated Ramsar sites.

Question reference: S6W-02710

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32512 by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 November 2020, how many cases of fly-tipping have been recorded in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021 to date.

There is no single dataset of all flytipping incidents in Scotland, as there is no legal requirement for duty bodies or landowners to report on flytipping externally. The figures provided below represent incidents reported via the Litter Monitoring System and FlyMapper.

It is clear that the data varies significantly from year to year but it is not possible to deduce whether this relates to variations in incidents or variations in reporting by relevant bodies.

Year	Flytipping incidents recorded by Flymapper and Litter Monitoring System
2014	3,096
2015	7,295
2016	10,447
2017	10,329
2018	6,613
2019	1,018
2020	4,272
2021*	2,534

*This relates to the number of flytipping incidents up to 8 September 2021.