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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: S6W-20740

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a recorded police warning (RPW) is an appropriate disposal for the offence of assault, in light of the reported decision by Police Scotland to issue a RPW to an individual for an alleged assault during an incident in Aberdeen on 23 July 2023.

The RPW scheme is intended to provide police officers with a timely and proportionate means of dealing with offending which meet the criteria of being lower-level offending in terms of the Lord Advocate’s guidelines.

Those guidelines provide general principles which should be followed when an officer is considering whether to issue an RPW.

Officers have operational discretion to issue an RPW if they consider that appropriate in all the circumstances. An alternative would be for the officer to report the matter to the Procurator Fiscal.

Although the Lord Advocate’s guidelines are confidential, Police Scotland’s published guidance provides additional instruction to officers on when RPWs can be used.

Question reference: S6W-20737

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-02406 by Jenni Minto on 21 June 2023, whether it will provide an update on the work that it is undertaking regarding gender identity services for children and young people, and, in light of this work, whether it (a) will follow the approach of NHS England, which intends to only commission puberty supressing hormones as part of clinical research and (b) plans to commission a review of gender identity services for children and young people in Scotland.

Since December 2022, the Scottish Government has allocated over £896,000 to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC) to support work to improve their adult and young people’s gender identity services.

NHS GGC is using this funding to recruit to its Young People’s Service multidisciplinary team; contact those currently on the waiting list to identify unmet needs; and improve support for those waiting.

The Scottish Government has engaged with NHS England on the developing plans on clinical research, and the Scottish Government/NHS Scotland will join the planned NHS England study development process as an observer.

s set out in our answer on 21 June, decisions on prescribing are for clinicians to make in consultation with the patient, following individualised assessment, and they are subject to regular monitoring. The Scottish Government remains proactive in its commitment to help to deliver high-quality healthcare to children and young people in that sensitive field of medicine.

The Scottish Government has also committed to support the establishment of a nationally commissioned young person’s gender identity service. Work is underway with NHS National Services Scotland on how best to sustainably provide gender identity healthcare for young people in Scotland in the long term. This process includes considering existing and future treatment pathways.

Question reference: S6W-20736

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with UK Government ministers since 27 June 2023 regarding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill.

I wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland on 29 June. That letter provided an update on the Scottish Government’s plans for returning a revised UNCRC Bill to the Scottish Parliament; highlighted the loss of coverage for children’s rights that are a consequence of how we need to amend the compatibility duty in the Bill; and underlined the need for the UK Government to incorporate the UNCRC into UK law to give children and young people the protection they deserve.

The Secretary of State for Scotland responded on 14 August saying that the UK Government will consider the Bill in the usual way once it has completed its Parliamentary passage and that the UK Government is currently giving careful consideration to the Concluding Observations from the UK State Party’s Constructive Dialogue with the UN Committee. However, he gave no indication of the UK Government’s willingness to incorporate the UNCRC into UK law.

The letters have been shared with the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee who may decide to share these on their webpage.

Question reference: S6W-20735

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S6W-20741

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 14 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce regulations requiring that new non-domestic buildings provide separate male and female toilet facilities and/or a self-contained, private toilet as a minimum.

The Scottish Government has not considered introducing changes to building regulations for non domestic toilet provision.

The current building standards in Scotland require that new non domestic buildings are designed and constructed in such a way that sanitary facilities are provided for all occupants of, and visitors to, the building in a form that allows convenience of use and that there is no threat to the health and safety of occupants or visitors. This includes appropriate consideration of the provision of male, female or unisex facilities. The building standards regulate the design and construction of buildings up to the point of completion. The management of buildings and the configuration of toilet facilities is the responsibility of the building owner or operator.

Changes to these regulations and supporting guidance is normally led on an evidence based approach.

Question reference: S6W-20799

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many companies owning (a) onshore wind turbines in Scotland and (b) offshore wind turbines in Scottish waters were registered in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) overseas between 2014 and 2022.

Question reference: S6W-20795

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines are due to be decommissioned in the next five years.

The Scottish Government does not hold or collate any information relating to the future decommissioning of onshore wind turbines.

In respect of offshore wind turbines, none are due to be decommissioned in the next five years.

Zero Waste Scotland published a report in April 2021 titled ‘ The future of onshore wind decommissioning in Scotland’ . The report provides projections for the number of onshore wind turbines in Scotland that will be decommissioned up to 2050.

Question reference: S6W-20798

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many birds have been killed due to (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbine bird strikes between 2014 and 2023, broken down by species.

Nature Scot collect data for bird strikes at onshore wind farms via their online reporting tool. The reporting is voluntary, meaning it is likely they only receive reports on a proportion of strikes. Where possible the data is supplemented with information they receive from general correspondence.

Two offshore wind farm projects have commissioned studies to detect bird strikes. Kincardine offshore wind farm have eight cameras installed on each of their wind turbines. The first study from April 2020 to October 2021 detected one strike. The second study began in January 2022 and will complete in January 2024 and has so far detected two strikes.

Aberdeen offshore wind farm has a radar monitoring system deployed on one turbine. This monitored seabird flight activity during the breeding season and post-breeding season from April to October 2020 and 2021. No strikes were recorded during monitoring.

Question reference: S6W-20794

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines have been decommissioned in each year from 2014 to 2022.

While the Scottish Government holds some information in relation to the decommissioning of wind turbines it does not hold or collate an overall dataset for onshore turbines. We are aware that one offshore turbine has been decommissioned at Robin Rigg wind farm.

It may be helpful to know, according to the UK Government’s Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) there are two Scottish onshore wind sites in the database recorded as decommissioned and no offshore wind sites. However, the caveat to this data is that the whole site needs to be decommissioned for the development status to change to ‘decommissioned’ in the database.

Question reference: S6W-20796

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total tonnage is of waste resulting from the decommissioning of (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines that has been sent to landfill sites between 2014 and 2022.