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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-43942

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to provide access to NHS dentists across the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S6W-43845

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that the Scottish salmon industry recorded 1,274 weekly sea lice counts exceeding the industry’s Code of Good Practice guidelines in the last year, and whether it considers that the current regulatory framework for sea lice management is adequate.

The sea lice levels referred to in the Code of Good Practice are suggested criteria at which producers should consider treatment to prevent build up of gravid female sea lice They are not a regulatory standard and have no bearing in the regulation of sea lice for fish health purposes.

The Scottish Government’s approach to sea lice management is set out in the document entitled The Sea Lice Regulation in Scotland’ This includes the level of sea lice per fish at which the Fish Health Inspectorate will intervene or take enforcement action. It represents a robust regulatory approach to sea lice management.

Industry actions in response to the regulatory regime delivered the lowest sea lice numbers on record in 2024. These were similarly low in early 2025, rising later in the year within expected levels of seasonal variability.

A risk-based regulatory framework is implemented by SEPA for the purpose of managing the risk that sea lice from fish farms pose to wild salmonids. Separate thresholds for sea lice management may be applied on a temporal or locational basis to specific farms through licence conditions.

Question reference: S6W-43663

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it proposes to delete its superseded guidance on its webpage, Implementation of Scottish Government policy on protecting Ramsar sites, dated 22 January 2019, and, if so, when.

Question reference: S6W-43661

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it proposes to update its Ramsar sites and nature reserves webpage by substituting a link to its updated policy, dated 9 July 2025, on the protection of Ramsar sites, and, if so, when.

Question reference: S6W-43662

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that publicly available guidance and policy statements on Ramsar site protections are up to date.

As outlined in the response to Parliamentary Question S6W-43661 on 23 February 2026, the review and update of the Scottish Government web content relating to Ramsar sites is underway and will be published in March 2026.

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-43728

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds regarding the presence of contaminants in farmed salmon produced in Scotland, including (a) microplastics, (b) heavy metals, (c) per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and (d) antibiotic residues.

Local authorities are responsible for food safety sampling to ensure food producers comply with food safety legislation, however, it is the responsibility of food businesses to demonstrate the safety of their products. Sampling data is recorded centrally by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) on the Scottish Food Sampling Database to find data, spot trends and guide sampling and interventions.

The Scottish Government does not hold any data on microplastics in farmed salmon. There are currently no regulatory standards for microplastics in food and animal feed and methods for measuring microplastics in these matrices have not yet been standardised and harmonised.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), an agency of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), is responsible for the analysis of chemical contaminants in salmon and organises the testing of salmon samples for heavy metals, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances and antibiotic residues. Details of the testing outputs can be found on the VMD's webpage.

Question reference: S6W-43670

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact that the reported proposed reduction to the telecare emergency response team in Argyll and Bute will have on residents.

The responsibility for telecare provisions lies with local authority responder services. The Scottish Government therefore does not hold this information. However, the Scottish Government recognises the value of telecare services in supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and has contributed more than £4m towards the national programme of securing the analogue to digital migration for telecare, the procurement of the Shared Alarm Receiving Centre, and the associated data and innovation programme.

Question reference: S6W-43830

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether people can raise objections to the Energy Consents Unit by email, and, if not, what consideration it has given to the accessibility of the Energy Consents Unit online submission portal for people in rural and island communities with slow or unreliable broadband, and what alternative arrangements are available for members of the public who cannot reasonably use the portal.

Question reference: S6W-43608

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 18 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the provisions in the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 to ban glue traps, what measures it will put in place to ensure that online retailers do not circumvent the ban by continuing to ship traps to customers in Scotland.

Section 2 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 makes it an offence for a person to supply or offer for sale a glue trap, or to knowingly cause or permit an unauthorised person to do so.

These offences are liable on summary conviction to a maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment, or a £40,000 fine, or both, or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to a fine (or both).

These offences and associated penalties will be fully communicated to the sector and retailers ahead of a ban coming into force.

Question reference: S6W-43606

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 18 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the number of birds and other non-target species that have been trapped or died in glue traps since the introduction of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.