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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-29354

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 2 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its announced review of Community Right to Buy, which stakeholders and community groups it plans to invite for informal discussions and how these were selected; whether the review will consider previous independent reviews of community right to buy, and what role it envisages for the Scottish Land Commission in the review process.

The Scottish Government issued a general call for evidence on the Scottish Government’s X Account on 10 July. In addition, since announcing the review on 6 March at a visit to the Heart of Newhaven project in Edinburgh, we have emailed stakeholder and community groups who have engaged with Community Right to Buy to seek their views.

This initial call for evidence will inform a full formal consultation in summer 2025, which will give everyone the opportunity to comment. The response to which will be published and summarised in accordance with standard consultation practice.

The review will consider all of the previous work that has been carried out in exploring the various community rights to buy. The Scottish Land Commission will be involved in discussions along with a wide range of other stakeholders and community groups, throughout the review.

Question reference: S6W-29105

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment in the Bute House Agreement to "support public sector bodies, as part of their statutory duty under the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018, to identify and implement opportunities to increase tree cover on land they own and manage, with an emphasis on native woodland and natural regeneration" and to "explore if further legislative changes are required to strengthen the duty on public bodies".

The Scottish Government, through its various public bodies is increasing woodland cover on the land that they own and manage and are looking for further opportunities. This includes the landscape scale native woodland creation work being explored by Forestry and Land Scotland at Glen Prosen, and the delivery of significant new woodland by Scottish Water at Loch Katrine. At this time there are no plans to amend the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 with regards to this policy area.

Question reference: S6W-29117

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 29 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether any of the policies within the Fourth National Planning Framework (NFP4) are prioritised over the others.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) should be read and applied as a whole. A plan-led approach is central to supporting its delivery and it is a legislative requirement that planning decisions must be made in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Annex A to NPF4 outlines how to use the document, It states that it is for the decision maker to determine what weight to give to individual policies in the circumstances of each case.

Question reference: S6W-29118

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 29 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) affords more or less weight to the climate and nature emergencies than the previous planning frameworks.

National planning Framework 4 (NPF4) signalled a turning point for the Scottish planning system, placing climate and nature at the heart of decision making. For example, Policy 1: Tackling the climate and nature crises, encourages, promotes and facilitates development that addresses the global climate emergency and nature crisis to achieve zero carbon, nature positive places.

NPF4 integrates these matters into its policies and decision-making processes more comprehensively than previous national planning frameworks.

Question reference: S6W-29108

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 29 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress against each of the recommendations on land use, particularly relating to agriculture, in the 2021 report, Just Transition Commission: A national mission for a fairer, greener Scotland.

The work, advice, and recommendations of the Just Transition Commission (JTC) continue to be an important part of the Scottish Government’s drive towards a Just Transition to our net zero future. We are committed to providing an annual statement to update on the progress of just transition activity, with the date for the next statement yet to be confirmed. The upcoming statement will include information about land use and agriculture as well as the other sectors of importance highlighted by the JTC.

Question reference: S6O-03668

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its reported decision to instruct local authorities to divert money from the Nature Restoration Fund towards local government pay settlements, what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding action that can be taken to mitigate any impact of this decision on projects aimed at reversing nature loss.

Question reference: S6W-28743

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 23 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on people in Scotland who are refugees, what representations it has made to the UK Government regarding applying the lessons learnt from the schemes to support people from Ukraine and explore ways to offer safe routes to others seeking sanctuary.

Safe and legal routes are crucial to enabling people to seek safety when forced to flee war and persecution. We will continue to engage with the UK Government on issues which impact people living in Scotland, including refugees, people seeking asylum and displaced people. This engagement includes sharing lessons from the experience of over 27,000 Homes for Ukraine visa-holders arriving in Scotland, over 21,000 of which were sponsored by the Scottish Government. We also hope other governments can learn from our work implementing the pioneering New Scots refugee integration strategy; which is a UK-leading integration approach built on a partnership led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and Scottish Refugee Council. We look forward to working closely with the UK Government to deliver a system that is effective and more humane.

Question reference: S6W-28744

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reports that the salmon farm operator, Bakkafrost, is proposing an extension of its temporary closure of the Arnish Harvest Station and Marybank Processing Facility in Stornoway, putting around 80 employees at risk of redundancy.

The Scottish Government recognises the significant and wide-ranging impacts of the decision by Bakkafrost to temporarily close its Arnish Harvest Station and Marybank Processing Facility in Stornoway.

I met with representatives of Bakkafrost Scotland on 12 July and highlighted the importance of the aquaculture sector to the islands and the negative impact on jobs, the local communities and supply chains and asked whether any further support could be provided to reverse this decision. Officials from the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have continued in dialogue with the business over recent weeks to consider all viable options to ensure that high value jobs are secured in the region.

The Scottish Government is making arrangements to speak with Bakkafrost’s senior management team, based in the Faroe Islands, as soon as possible to explore ways to mitigate the effects of this decision.

The Scottish Government’s Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) team has met the company to offer its full range of support to any employees who may be facing redundancy. PACE organised a group meeting for affected staff which was held on 7 August, with further CV/Employability workshops held on 14 and 15 August and a Jobs Fair on 16 August.

Question reference: S6W-28745

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on commissioning a review of climate risks to salmon farms, in light of reports suggesting that higher sea temperatures will have serious implications for the viability of these businesses, which could put jobs at risk.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to commission a review of climate change risks to salmon farms, specifically in relation to higher sea temperatures. The Marine Directorate is currently collaborating with partners on a revision of the 2022 Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership’s review on the impacts of climate change on aquaculture, https://www.mccip.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-11/Aquaculture%20Formatted_updated%20and%20returned%20by%20authors.pdf which explores key challenges and emerging issues in this area.

Scotland’s National Adaptation Programme 3 (SNAP3) is due to be laid in Parliament later this year and will set out specific commitments to support the Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Question reference: S6W-28647

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update the Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Order 2024 within the next year, in light of reports that the order was based on a draft report whose authors stated that, for the data to have statistical significance, the study should be considered as part of a number of years' worth of survey results.

The Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Order 2024 was laid on Thursday 11th January 2024 and the spawning closure will be in place 14 February to 30 April for 2024 and 2025, respectively.

The study undertaken by the Scottish Oceans Institute and Clyde Fishermen’s Association was not used to inform this approach.

There are no plans to alter or update the Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Order 2024. Following the 2025 closure there will be another public consultation on the management for 2026 and 2027. That consultation will reflect on how the closure has operated since 2022, what if any factors are new or unchanged and will make recommendations for the future on that basis.