- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation since they were appointed to their role.
Answer
Myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity have not met formally with the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation since we were appointed to our roles in May 2024.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Shetland Fishermen’s Association since they were appointed to their role.
Answer
Myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity have met formally with the Shetland Fishermen’s Association on one occasion since we were appointed to our roles in May 2024.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation since they were appointed to their role.
Answer
Myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity have met formally with the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation on one occasion since we were appointed to our roles in May 2024.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government which public opinion and research organisations it has commissioned to carry out any work regarding Scottish independence or Scotland's constitutional future, since May 2021.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not commissioned any public opinion and research organisations to carry out any work regarding Scottish independence or Scotland's constitutional future since May 2021.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support local authorities dealing with specialist planning applications, such as those involving quarrying or mining where no identifiable expertise exists within the local authority planning department.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working with stakeholders, on a package of actions to strengthen a range of planning skills across Scotland.
The Scottish Government has established the Hydrogen Planning Hub and the Housing Emergency Hub in response to concerns about capacity and skills. We are currently considering the further role that Hubs can play in supporting planning authorities to address the skills and capacity issues they are facing.
In our Planning and Housing Emergency Delivery Plan, published in November 2024, we have committed to the roll out of a co-ordinated skills and recruitment drive through a coherent National Planning Skills Campaign. We will announce this work soon and deliver it over the coming months.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32906 by Alasdair Allan on 16 January 2025, whether it has asked the UK Government to introduce a compensatory scheme for people who have installed spray foam insulation in lofts under the EC04 scheme.
Answer
The Scottish Government is not aware of any examples of spray foam insulation being installed in lofts in Scottish properties as part of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) scheme. Delivery guidance published by Ofgem indicates that spray foam insulation in lofts would not have been eligible for ECO4 finance.
We have asked the UK Government to advise Scottish Ministers further about any concerns raised about the quality of retrofit work undertaken in Scotland as part of these schemes.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what funding has been allocated to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in 2024-25 to utilise capsule sponge technologies; how much will be allocated in 2025-26, and how many people it expects will be able to access these technologies.
Answer
From 2024-25, Boards have started to transition to business as usual for these tests and a small amount of funding was provided to support this transition. For NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde this equated to £36,450.
The Budget we set out on 4 December 2024 will throw the weight of the government behind performance improvements with almost £200 million to reduce waiting lists and help support reduction of delayed discharge. By March 2026, we expect no one to be waiting longer than 12 months for a new outpatient, inpatient treatment or day case treatment.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the frequency and severity of storms that have affected Aberdeenshire over the last five years, and what plans it has to improve infrastructure resilience in the region.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold data on the frequency and severity of storms. This information is collected and held by Met Office.
We have recently made available £5m per annum capital budget over 4 years to fund the extension of the public water network to enable the removal of Private Water Supplies which should improve resilience to affected water supplies during power outages. Milton of Cushnie in Aberdeenshire has been shortlisted as one of the communities who will benefit from this funding.
The Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) published in December 2022, provides guidance on long term investment in Scotland’s strategic transport network. STPR2 recommends future investment to ensure that Scotland’s trunk road network remains safe (Recommendation 30), adapted to deal with the impacts of climate change (Recommendation 31) and resilient (Recommendation 32).
Recommendation 31 provides a basis for identifying, prioritising and implementing transport infrastructure improvements. Measures could include but are not limited to strengthening or replacing sea walls, upgrading coastal fences and stabilising embankments, slopes and hillsides.
Scottish Government have also initiated a Significant Local Infrastructure process in which Local Resilience Partnerships are mapping infrastructure within their geographic areas. This will allow better understanding of this local infrastructure and will collate a rich picture to support further work, including identifying dependencies and interdependencies and allow improvements to business continuity and emergency response plans.
We would recommend that, should you require further information on storms and infrastructure in Aberdeenshire, you contact Aberdeenshire Council.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many sites across Scotland require individuals to obtain a permit in order to participate in recreational fishing.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of sites across Scotland which require individuals to obtain a permit to participate in recreational fishing.
Permits to participate in recreational fishing are sold by owners of fishing rights on a private basis, not by the Scottish Government.
Where an individual wishes to obtain a permit to participate in recreational fishing, it would be advisable for the individual to contact the local district salmon fishery board or fisheries trust for local information.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the banking sector regarding how to ensure that communities do not lose access to banking services, in light of reports that Lloyds Banking Group plans to close 14 Bank of Scotland branches over the next two years.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2025