The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6O-00295

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering a scheme to support and incentivise social housing providers and homeowners to retrofit and refurbish long-term empty homes and bring them back into use as zero emissions housing.

Question reference: S6O-00296

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support social housing providers in the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S6O-00299

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the new medical centre for Lochgelly.

Question reference: S6W-03138

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which of its departments was responsible for the decision for non-symptomatic school pupils to be offered COVID-19 lateral flow tests, as opposed to PCR tests; who made the decision, and when.

The decision to recommend the use of LFD tests for children, young people and staff in the event of having been identified as a low-risk contact was based upon expert public health advice and through engagement with the Covid-19 Education Recovery Group (CERG) and other partners. The decision was confirmed by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on the 14 th September, following previous advice from Advisory Subgroup on Education and Children’s Issues (‘the subgroup’). The minutes of all the subgroup’s meetings are routinely published here .

The updated letter templates to inform staff, parents and pupils of whether they or their child have been identified as a low-risk contact were shared with local authority colleagues on 15 September, although it was made clear that they should be discussed with local health colleagues in each area, and amended where appropriate, prior to issuing to schools.

We know that PCR and LFD testing options play different roles in supporting us to control the virus:

Lateral flow is useful for finding out if a person is infectious now, and able to transmit the virus to others. The level of sensitivity is high enough to detect the vast majority of these cases. Lateral flow testing is less likely to return a positive result outside the infectious window. Results from LFD testing are also available more quickly than PCR tests, which require to be sent to a laboratory. Therefore LFD testing is viewed to be more convenient for regular testing, and provides less disruption to peoples’ lifestyles.
PCR is useful for confirming a suspected case of COVID-19, where the person is already self-isolating and is showing symptoms. Higher sensitivity of PCR means it can identify genetic material from COVID-19 even after the active infection has passed.

Question reference: S6W-03211

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the country’s grouse moors, and, in light of the recent report published by the University of Northampton, Sustainable Grouse Shooting?, which stated that “It is unlikely that the alternative uses [to grouse shooting] that are proposed by some groups for the moorlands would deliver the same positive economic impacts, at least for a number of generations”, what analysis it has carried out of the economic impact of these moors.

As we stated when we published our response to the independent Grouse Moor Management Group report (the ‘Werritty Review’) in November 2020 we recognise the important contribution grouse shooting makes to the rural economy.

Alongside the Werritty review, the Scottish Government commissioned Scotland’s Rural College and the James Hutton Institute to undertake extensive research into the biodiversity and economic Impacts of grouse moors to address some of the knowledge gaps regarding Scottish driven grouse moor management.

The research was carried out in two phases and the reports, which were published in 2019 and 2020 can found on the Scottish Government website at Socioeconomic and biodiversity impacts of driven grouse moors in Scotland | SEFARI

and

Phase 2 Grouse Research - Socioeconomic and biodiversity impacts of driven grouse moors and the employment rights of gamekeepers | SEFARI

The findings of this research, alongside other available evidence were taken into account when we developed our response to the Werritty review.

Question reference: S6W-03212

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that grouse moor management is fully supported, in light of the recent report published by the University of Northampton, Sustainable Grouse Shooting?, which stated that “Compared with upland areas where grouse shooting does not take place, the biodiversity of ‘grouse moors’ seems to be at least as rich, if not richer” and the reported comment by the First Minister that she has an “unwavering commitment to address biodiversity loss across all ministerial portfolios”, and what analysis it has carried out of the biodiversity of these moors.

The Scottish Government recognises that well-managed grouse moors can produce favourable habitats for certain species such as curlews and that land managers have an important role to play in enhancing biodiversity.

As I set out in my response to question S6W-03211 on 20 October 2021 the Scottish Government commissioned Scotland’s Rural College and the James Hutton Institute to undertake extensive research into the biodiversity and economic Impacts of grouse moors and the findings of this research were taken into account when we developed our response to the Werritty review. The research found that whilst some land management actions undertaken on grouse moors could enhance biodiversity, the findings were clear that there could also be a negative impact resulting in species decline.

Our Statement of Intent on biodiversity notes that Scotland’s land delivers multiple benefits to people, providing homes and water supplies, producing food, timber and space for leisure, as well as supporting biodiversity. We have a distinctively strong connection between people, place and nature which makes Scotland special in terms of landscape and access. All landowners and managers have an important role to play in helping to improve the state of nature.

All of these factors will be taken into account when we publish our new biodiversity strategy in Autumn 2022 followed by an underpinning 5 year delivery plan, including changes in the way we use and manage land and our approach to protecting habitats and ecosystems. We have also announced that we will introduce a Natural Environment Bill in year 3 or the current session, which will include statutory, enforceable targets for nature restoration, and actions to deliver on our ambitious voluntary commitment to protect 30% of Scotland’s land and seas by 2030, with 10% highly protected. We will invest at least £500 million in the natural economy over the course of this Parliament, including £150 Million for forestry, ongoing investment in peatland restoration and multi-year funding for the Nature Restoration Fund.

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

Question reference: S6W-03213

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report published by the University of Northampton, Sustainable Grouse Shooting?, which stated that “We believe that our conclusions, detailed above, are supported by the currently available evidence. However, we are conscious of the danger of legislation being driven by public (non-evidence based) perceptions of issues such as animal welfare, muirburn, rewilding etc. It is important that policy makers are presented with evidence, in a form that they find useful. This report will help in the production of this useful evidence”, and whether it will take the findings of the report into account when making decisions regarding how it supports grouse moor management.

We published our response to the recommendations of the Grouse Moor Management Group, an independent group tasked by the Scottish Government with assessing the environmental impact of grouse moor management, on 26 November 2020 – Grouse Moor Management Group recommendations: Scottish Government response - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

And as we set out in 2021 Programme for Government we will – ‘deliver the recommendations of the Grouse Moor Management Review Group as a matter of urgency, including the licensing of grouse moors. Licensing or further regulation will cover the key areas identified in the review, including muirburn, wildlife control, he use of medicated grit and wildlife crime.’

A full public and stakeholder consultation will be undertaken as part of this process.

Question reference: S6W-03403

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to monitor watercourses for the presence of (a) painkillers, (b) anti-inflammatories, (c) antidepressants and (d) over-the-counter medicines.

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) sets the legal obligations to monitor and assess a range of chemicals in the water environment.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) monitors the water environment for a range of contaminants of emerging concern (including 4 antibiotics, 1 antidepressant, and 3 antifungal medicines) at targeted watercourses. Through the WFD watch-list prioritisation mechanism environmental quality standards for a number of pharmaceuticals are currently being developed by the EU. This includes antibiotic clarithromycin, painkiller ibuprofen, anticonvulsants and painkiller carbamazepine, anti-inflammatory diclofenac and estrogen medication EE2 in this study.

SEPA is working with partner organisations on the identification of chemicals of emerging concern in the environment, and is developing new analytical techniques that will allow it to screen environmental samples for a much larger number of chemicals, including a number of pharmaceuticals. This work will allow us to better understand the risks posed by pharmaceuticals in Scotland’s water environment.

Question reference: S6W-03407

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to assess any damage that chemical pollutants have caused in waterways and rivers.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for assessing the impacts of chemical pollutants on the water environment under River Basin Management Planning, which began in 2009.

Along with a wide range of other water quality parameters, the Scottish Government directs SEPA to assess the impacts of priority substances (chemicals which have been identified as a significant risk to water quality and wildlife) through its comprehensive monitoring programme of the water environment. Environmental quality standards, which protect the water environment and wildlife, are used by SEPA to assess any damage that chemical pollutants have caused in waterways and rivers.

Question reference: S6W-03402

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to carry out immediate research to understand the full risks to birds and fish of over-the-counter medicines entering into waterways.

EU-wide research on the environmental risk posed by chemical substances informs the development of environmental quality standards These standards consider not only risks to animals, including fish, and plants that are exposed to these substances in water, but also risks to predatory animals like birds from the consumption of contaminated prey, so that the overall environmental quality standard is protective of all. The EU is currently developing new environmental quality standards for a number of contaminants of emerging concern, including certain pharmaceuticals.

The Scottish Government has made clear its commitment to maintain or exceed environmental standards in place upon EU exit, and to maintain alignment with developing EU standards, as far as possible.

The Scottish Government directs the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to use environmental quality standards to monitor and assess the water environment through River Basin Management Planning.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

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