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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-30847

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the rationale was behind the decision to cease funding for the Directorate of Optometric Continuing Education and Training, and what alternative provisions are being made to ensure that optometrists can continue to meet their mandatory continuing professional development requirements.

Due to the current financial situation the Scottish Government is having to make some difficult budgetary decisions.

As part of this, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) was asked to minimise any discretionary spend where possible. The Scottish contribution to DOCET is held as part of the NES budget and in that context, NES Optometry decided to remove the funding to DOCET as part of the savings exercise.

The Scottish Government provides considerable funding to NES to provide training and education to support the provision of NHS General Ophthalmic Services. NES delivers a programme of on-line and in person events, e-learning modules, Independent prescriber training, peer support groups, as well as teach and treat clinics that provide clinical experience. Funding also supports training for other practice staff including dispensing opticians, with access to resources also available to eyecare professionals working within the hospital eye service too.

In addition to their NES training, optometrists can continue to meet their mandatory continuing professional development requirements via a number of different sources including self-directed learning, The College of Optometrist’s programme of courses, their employer’s events and also by the extensive array of private provider provision.

On a comparative basis, and adjusted for size, even with the removal of DOCET access, the investment in education and training for Optometrists in Scotland remains dramatically better than England.

Question reference: S6W-30617

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of public bodies is compliant with the Biodiversity Duty, as required by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.

The biodiversity duty requires public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity in the exercise of their functions, having regard to the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. Biodiversity duty reports produced under the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 are the best measure we have for compliance, and this shows that at least 85 of 156 (54.5%) public bodies active during the most recent reporting cycle (2021-2023) are compliant with the duty. However, the actual figure is likely to be higher. A number of smaller public bodies which are technically covered by the duty have limited opportunities to further the conservation of biodiversity due to the nature of their remit. We do not consider it to be a good use of public funds to try to enforce the production of a biodiversity duty report in every case, but all the information we have suggests that where it is relevant, most public bodies take the duty very seriously.

Question reference: S6W-30616

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many public bodies are compliant with the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, which requires them to provide a publicly available report every three years.

Question reference: S6O-03979

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any economic analysis it has undertaken of the impact on the wider Scottish economy of fish farming.

Question reference: S6W-30967

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 12 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the first anniversary of the launch of the Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan, how many homes have been built since the plan's launch; how many of the properties built have been funded, in whole or in part, by the Rural and Islands Housing Fund, and what its position is on whether it is well placed to meet its overarching commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which 10% will be in rural and island areas.

Between 1 October 2023 and end June 2024 we have supported the delivery of 6,774 affordable homes across Scotland of which 933 have been in rural and island areas. 26 of these homes were delivered through the Rural and Islands Housing Fund. We remain committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 10% will be in rural and island areas.

Figures relating to homes delivered in rural and island areas are based on provisional programme management information to end June 2024.

Question reference: S6W-31025

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 12 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the current status is of the Nature Conservation Order requested by NatureScot on 27June 2024 to protect the Parallel Roads of Lochaber Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Achnabobane, and what steps are being taken to address the reported unconsented activities that have caused damage to that area.

Having considered the circumstances and in response to the damage caused by unconsented activity in the area of the Parallel Roads of Lochaber Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Scottish Ministers have begun drafting a Nature Conservation Order (NCO). This is being developed in parallel with enforcement action being taken by The Highland Council and Scottish Forestry and an ongoing Police Scotland investigation.

Question reference: S6W-30966

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29790 by Jim Fairlie on 25 September 2024, whether it anticipates that it will achieve its commitment to spend £250 million on peatland restoration by 2030.

Question reference: S6W-30615

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many landholdings in public ownership are (a) 3,000 hectares or more, (b) 1,000 to 2,999 hectares and (c) 500 to 999 hectares.

Within the scope of the size thresholds stated in the question there are a total of 355 land parcels in public ownership in Scotland. The following table breaks this down by the size thresholds requested.

Land parcel size threshold (ha)	Number of land parcels in size threshold
500-999	112
1,000-2,999	165
3,000+	78

These land ownership data relate to land owned or managed by Crown Estate Scotland (CES) and the following five public bodies:

1.Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS);

2.NatureScot;

3.Ministry of Defence (MoD);

4.Scottish Ministers Crofting and Farming Estate; and

5.Scottish Water.

The data analysed in providing the response to this question have been provided by the respective public bodies themselves, who collate and update their own data independently, so the data used here may be slightly out of date.

Question reference: S6W-30619

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Rural Land Market Insights Report published in summer 2024 by the Scottish Land Commission, confirming that rural land prices remain at an all-time high, whether it plans to (a) review and (b) provide funding routes for communities seeking to take large areas of land into ownership.

The Scottish Government is committed to an ongoing programme of land reform, working with the powers and resources available to us, to tackle the pattern of land ownership in Scotland. Communities in Scotland now have more options than ever before to take ownership of land and assets. Since 2016, the Scottish Land Fund has approved 300 awards of funding for the acquisition of land and land assets, totalling over £50m, bringing over 24,500 acres into community ownership.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill introduced into Parliament earlier this year sets out ambitious proposals that will change how land is owned and managed in our rural and island communities for the better. If passed by the Scottish Parliament, the Bill will prohibit certain sales of over 1,000 hectares, until Ministers can consider the impact on the local community. Potentially, this could lead to some landholdings being lotted into smaller parts if this will support community sustainability. The Bill also seeks to empower communities with more opportunities to own land through introducing advance notice of certain sales from large landholdings.

Question reference: S6W-30620

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 29 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of ways in which land can be used to make a community more sustainable.

If passed by the Scottish Parliament, the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will prohibit certain sales of over 1,000 hectares, until Ministers can consider the impact on the local community. Ministerial consideration of a lotting decision and what factors may be expected to make a community more sustainable will be based on the individual circumstances of the landholding and the particular communities in question.

While this assessment will depend on these individual factors, it is anticipated that the assessment of potential contributions to the sustainability of communities would include having regard to high level objectives such as economic development, repopulation, maintenance of populations, regeneration, public health, social wellbeing and environmental wellbeing.

Further information can also be found in my letter to the Convener of Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee: cabsecralriproviding-further-information-following-informal-briefing-on-the-land-reform-bill-14-may.pdf (parliament.scot)