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Current Status:
Withdrawn
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how it is strengthening transport links to rural areas.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022
- Asked by: Marie McNair, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in encouraging employers to pay the real Living Wage.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08058 by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May 2022, what the total volume, in kilograms, was of below minimum conservation reference size for each species that was recorded as discarded under exemption by boats in 2021 in ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) areas (i) 4 and (ii) 6a.
Answer
As set out in the answer to S6W-08824 on 8 June 2022, vessels are obliged to record both fish that has been discarded under a permitted exemption and fish below MCRS that is landed. We do not, however, have a separate electronic system in place which allows for recording specific discards under exemption rules separate to other discards (e.g. those which might occur for non-quota stocks not subject to the landing obligation or fish discarded because of force majeure). This is because the electronic system in use on vessels pre-dates the landing obligation.
The information provided below has been recorded and submitted to us by vessels and relates to species which are below the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) and which are subject to the landing obligation because they are quota species.
We are unable to provide a species breakdown as some species were only reported by one vessel and may be disclosive.
Total discards recorded of quota fish below minimum size caught in ICES areas 4 and 6a in 2021 for all species, Scottish vessels landing anywhere.
- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 8 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it will implement the remaining sections of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 that are not yet in force.
Answer
There is a range of activity necessary to allow for implementation of the provisions contained in the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021. This includes development of civil court rules, new processes developed for ensuring the views of children are able to be received by the court in given cases, appropriate funding is able to be identified and prioritised and justice agencies are ready for the introduction of the new protection notice and protection order powers. The provisions not yet in force will be brought into force in due course.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08059 by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May 2022, by how much it aims to reduce the total volume discarded of each species that was recorded as discarded by Scottish boats in (a) future years and (b) ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) areas (i) 4 and (ii) 6a as part of the changes proposed in its Future Catching Policy.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the wasteful practice of discarding and we have set out our proposals to address this issue in our Future Catching Policy (FCP) consultation, which ran from 15 March to 7 June. The Future Catching Policy has co-management at the heart of its approach, recognising that we need to work in partnership to develop robust and workable practices to reduce unwanted catch of fish and bycatch of other marine species. This will help to reduce discarding as far as possible whilst allowing for limited discarding in certain circumstances under permitted exemptions. We do not have a target for the reduction in discards, rather we are focussed on eliminating illegal discarding, and ensuring that any discarding which does take place under permitted exemptions is properly recorded and accounted for to enable sustainable fishing activity to take place. This is in keeping with the current approach under the current EU/UK landing obligation.
A key component of the proposed FCP is to put in place additional technical (e.g. gear selectivity) and spatial (e.g. area closures to protect spawning fish) measures, designed to reduce unwanted catch further where required.The fishing industry is already heavily regulated, with many rules in place already designed to limit unwanted catch (for example, the use of square mesh panels in fishing nets in the west of Scotland Nephrops fishery, or the spatial measures within the North Sea Cod Avoidance Plan). There is scope to increase these measures through the FCP in a proportionate way.
We will be analysing responses to the consultation prior to confirming firm proposals later this year.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the Islands Bond consultation will be published.
Answer
The Islands Bond Consultation report will be published in due course.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority received of the £7 million that was committed for the provision of free music tuition in schools in the 2021-22 academic year.
Answer
In the 2021 academic year we provided a share of £5 million to local authorities based on the number of pupils 5-18 on the school roll in each area. In addition, an allocation of top-up funding of around £3m was provided to those authorities who had budgeted for instrumental music tuition fee income.
The following table provides a breakdown of the funding allocation for the provision of free instrumental music tuition in schools by local authority.
Funding Allocation by Local Authority
Local Authority | 2021-22 Funding allocated (£) [LM1] |
| | £000s |
Aberdeen City | 112 |
Aberdeenshire | 172 |
Angus | 72 |
Argyll & Bute | 48 |
City of Edinburgh | 247 |
Clackmannanshire | 32 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 89 |
Dundee City | 87 |
East Ayrshire | 77 |
East Dunbartonshire | 82 |
East Lothian | 71 |
East Renfrewshire | 83 |
Falkirk | 104 |
Fife | 239 |
Glasgow City | 334 |
Highland | 146 |
Inverclyde | 47 |
Midlothian | 64 |
Moray | 57 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 16 |
North Ayrshire | 86 |
North Lanarkshire | 234 |
Orkney Islands | 13 |
Perth & Kinross | 86 |
Renfrewshire | 113 |
Scottish Borders | 69 |
Shetland Islands | 16 |
South Ayrshire | 68 |
South Lanarkshire | 214 |
Stirling | 60 |
West Dunbartonshire | 59 |
West Lothian | 130 |
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Islands Bond will be introduced by summer 2022, as committed to in its 2021-22 Programme for Government.
Answer
The delivery of the Islands Bond is still being carefully considered in light of the strong feedback we have received from island residents, and within the new context of the current energy crisis and rising living costs which are being experienced by many islanders.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08058 by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May 2022, in light of its Landings Obligation Guidance 2022 requiring that any such fish discarded under exemptions be recorded and reported, for what reason the total quantity of discards from vessels is not currently estimated or known.
Answer
The answer to question S6W-08058 set out the process whereby Marine Scotland Scientists produce estimates of unwanted catch calculated from information collected by scientific observers on board vessels to contribute to the fish stock assessment process run by ICES. Historically it was assumed this unwanted catch was discarded. With the introduction of the landing obligation, the majority of catch should now be landed, unless the fish are non-quota species or subject to a permitted exemption. In addition fish under the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) cannot be sold for human consumption. The scientific observers do not try to differentiate between these different portions of catch, and instead group them together into a single category, called unwanted catch.
In terms of actual quantities of discards, under Article 15 of the retained Common Fisheries Policy (1380/2013) vessels are obliged to record both fish that has been discarded under a permitted exemption and fish below MCRS that is landed. Information on recorded levels of discards under permitted exemptions is provided in response to question S6W-08825 on 8 June 2022.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
