Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34263

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how Food Standards Scotland collaborates with local authorities to identify and prevent food fraud.

FSS collaborates routinely with all Scottish local authorities (LA) to identify and prevent food fraud, which is formalised through various fora, including:

MOU in relation to the investigation of food crime in Scotland
FSS acting as intelligence hub for all LA food teams
authorised LA staff having access to FSS intelligence database
representation at various LA/FSS liaison groups pertaining to food crime
use of an FSS QR code to facilitate input of intelligence at source by LA Food officers
SFELC Food Crime representative attendance at the FSS Food Crime TTCG

Question reference: S6W-34214

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans Food Standards Scotland has in place to address food supply chain disruptions.

Question reference: S6W-34069

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many pieces of (a) physical and (b) email correspondence (i) the First Minister (ii) each cabinet secretary, (iii) each minister and (iv) each law officer has received in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold data on the number of physical items of ministerial correspondence received so we are unable to provide this.

However when correspondence is received, by email or by post, these are uploaded onto our correspondence management system, MiCase.

Please see below the volume data recorded on MiCase for Ministerial Correspondence received each year since 2020, split by Ministerial Portfolio.

All Ministerial Portfolios from the past five years have been included. Over this period, the names of portfolios have changed, with some similarly titled portfolios existing within the same year period. The data supplied reflects these changes.

It should be noted that there are a small number of correspondence cases that are not uploaded and managed through MiCase. These are instead handled by Private Office outside of MiCase, before being saved to the Official Record. These cases are therefore not captured in the following figures.

Ministerial Portfolio	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Total
First Minister and Deputies
First Minister	3,199	1,937	643	786	856	7,421
Deputy First Minister & Cabinet Secretary for Finance				353	227	580
Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery		816	621	133		1,570
Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy & Gaelic					758	758
Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills	6,627	2,781				9,408
Cabinet Secretaries
Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government	1,523	456				1,979
Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture		511	919	646	915	2,991
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs	94					94
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills		2,523	1,675	1,879	1,790	7,867
Cabinet Secretary for Finance	1,434	1,662				3,096
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy		1,119	947	16		2,082
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government					419	419
Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work	52					52
Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations	132					132
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care		10,072	7,119	1,130	2,187	20,508
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport	15,144	7,721				22,865
Cabinet Secretary for Justice	2,246	1,125				3,371
Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs				990	1,048	2,038
Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans		1,366	1,249	267		2,882
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy				21	760	781
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition				256		256
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport	20	1,948	2,559	165		4,692
Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care				2,134	1,112	3,246
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands		887	949	170		2,006
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands				769	1,003	1,772
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice				634	684	1,318
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government		2,263	2,761	467		5,491
Cabinet Secretary for Social Protection, Housing, and Equalities		42				42
Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People	1,304	454				1,758
Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs	575	344				919
Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Fair Work and Culture	2,679	650				3,329
Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform	1,633	457				2,090
Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy	70					70
Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Tourism	3,556	1,448				5,004
Cabinet Secretary for Transport					2,446	2,446
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity	776	2,439				3,215
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition				497	56	553
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy				620	70	690
Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy					360	360
Ministers
Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity					1,031	1,031
Minister for Business					329	329
Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills	3,523	1,909				5,432
Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism & Enterprise		1,324	927	156		2,407
Minister for Children and Young People	1,946	1,674	702	169		4,491
Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise				598	663	1,261
Minister for Climate Action					925	925
Minister for Community Safety	1,468	1,431	663	126		3,688
Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance				600	237	837
Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development		1,046	458	541	226	2,271
Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with special responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine			1,375	214		1,589
Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy				309	267	576
Minister for Drugs Policy	50	494	254	61		859
Minister for Employment and Investment					371	371
Minister for Energy				190		190
Minister for Energy and the Environment				747	90	837
Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands	918	445				1,363
Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work					276	276
Minister for Environment and Land Reform		388	1,066	191		1,645
Minister for Environment, Biodiversity & Land Reform		361				361
Minister for Equalities					482	482
Minister for Equalities & Older People		363	367	62		792
Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees			19	657	258	934
Minister for Europe and International Development	155	183				338
Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development	64					64
Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science	1,469	907				2,376
Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity		371	759	1,005	161	2,296
Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans				1,018	966	1,984
Minister for Higher Education & Further Education, Youth Employment & Training		878	1,019	193		2,090
Minister for Higher Education; and Minister for Veterans					17	17
Minister for Housing				1,450	1,619	3,069
Minister for Independence				119	22	141
Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work		343	277	52		672
Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning				693	301	994
Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning	4,153	1,504				5,657
Minister for Mental Health	1,291	456				1,747
Minister for Mental Wellbeing & Social Care		1,363	1,543	304		3,210
Minister for Older People and Equalities	736	405				1,141
Minister for Parliamentary Business		54	52	53	87	246
Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans	279	136				415
Minister for Public Finance					936	936
Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy	24					24
Minister for Public Finance and Migration	1,084					1,084
Minister for Public Finance, Planning & Community Wealth		838	1,342	239		2,419
Minister for Public Finances and Digital Economy	48					48
Minister for Public Health and Sport	1,111	2,568				3,679
Minister for Public Health and Women's Health				1,815	2,109	3,924
Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing	6,299	34				6,333
Minister for Public Health, Women's Health & Sport	20	3,782	2,305	434		6,541
Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment	1,029	336				1,365
Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade				178		178
Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade				429	252	681
Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport				1,312	1,467	2,779
Minister for Social Security and Local Government		749	1,041	222		2,012
Minister for Trade, Innovation and Public Finance	20	243				263
Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation	258					258
Minister for Transport		2,316	3,939	3,237	217	9,709
Minister for Victims and Community Safety				726	1,151	1,877
Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights		416	1,101	1,002	226	2,745
Total	35771	32851	20473	20374	16527	125996

Question reference: S6W-34135

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic collisions have occurred on each trunk road in each year since 2018, broken down by the severity of the incident.

From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious. This increase would not reflect an actual change in the severity of accidents occurring on Scottish roads but would instead reflect more accurate recording.

The following tables presents the total number of personal injury collisions (Slight, Serious and Fatal) for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Scottish Government does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).

All Personal Injury Collisions 2018 to 2021
Route	2018			2019			2020			2021
	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal
	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal
A1	20	7	1	25	3	0	7	9	1	9	8	0
A6091	2	1	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	1
A68	22	7	2	8	5	0	4	2	2	5	9	0
A7	7	4	2	10	4	0	4	2	0	3	5	0
A701	6	6	1	4	3	0	1	0	0	2	3	0
A702	19	1	3	16	4	0	7	4	0	12	5	0
A720	37	10	0	28	10	1	17	4	0	22	5	0
A725	28	4	1	24	5	0	10	5	0	9	3	1
A726	8	0	0	8	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	0
A727	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A737	13	5	0	16	7	0	10	4	0	8	5	0
A738	4	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0
A75	31	8	1	16	7	2	16	7	1	11	11	2
A751	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
A76	36	11	2	26	5	0	8	4	2	6	9	1
A77	24	10	1	14	17	2	12	10	0	7	9	1
A78	25	12	0	28	7	0	15	10	2	16	12	0
A8	16	2	0	21	4	1	8	3	1	5	4	0
A82	63	20	4	27	28	7	19	22	5	32	30	5
A828	6	5	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	3	1	0
A83	27	6	2	12	17	0	10	6	1	7	7	1
A830	6	0	0	4	3	2	1	1	0	4	2	0
A835	4	2	4	4	5	1	3	2	0	3	2	0
A84	6	5	0	10	7	0	6	3	1	3	0	1
A85	20	15	0	12	13	4	5	11	0	5	5	3
A86	4	3	0	2	1	0	2	1	0	0	4	0
A87	23	4	2	10	5	1	8	7	0	5	8	1
A876	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	1	0
A887	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
A889	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
A89	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A898	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	2	0	0	1	0
A9	63	27	10	50	36	6	33	19	2	36	24	3
A90	40	19	1	32	26	3	16	19	5	32	21	3
A92	30	15	0	35	10	1	15	16	2	35	8	0
A940	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A95	7	2	0	2	4	0	1	2	0	2	2	0
A956	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A96	24	11	1	17	16	5	5	9	3	10	13	2
A972	1	1	0	3	0	0	2	2	0	1	0	0
A977	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A985	7	3	0	6	4	2	6	3	2	4	4	0
A99	3	0	0	2	1	0	3	2	0	2	0	1
M73	11	1	1	8	2	0	1	1	0	3	4	0
M74	55	7	5	43	21	5	34	17	1	31	17	4
M77	12	5	0	11	1	0	7	3	0	3	2	0
M8	112	14	1	115	21	1	55	16	6	75	32	5
M80	26	5	0	25	8	1	9	3	0	17	3	2
M823	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1
M876	9	1	0	3	1	0	1	2	0	6	0	0
M898	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
M9	19	5	2	13	6	1	8	5	1	9	6	0
M90	18	5	0	11	9	1	8	4	1	12	5	1
TOTAL	900	271	49	709	333	49	384	246	39	461	295	39


All Personal Injury Collisions 2022 to 2024
Route	2022			2023			2024			2018 – 2024 TOTALS
	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal
	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal	Slight	Serious	Fatal
A1	15	9	3	13	5	4	14	7	0	103	48	9
A6091	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	6	7	3
A68	4	3	1	6	11	0	10	6	1	59	43	6
A7	5	2	1	4	5	1	2	1	1	35	23	5
A701	4	0	1	2	1	0	4	4	0	23	17	2
A702	7	1	1	7	5	2	5	3	0	73	23	6
A720	23	3	1	21	4	1	20	6	1	168	42	4
A725	13	7	2	13	12	0	8	6	1	105	42	5
A726	2	2	1	6	4	0	3	1	0	29	11	1
A727	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
A737	2	2	0	5	3	1	6	4	2	60	30	3
A738	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	11	3	1
A75	12	11	1	24	18	1	25	16	5	135	78	13
A751	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
A76	9	7	1	14	11	2	10	4	2	109	51	10
A77	8	10	2	18	6	1	12	12	2	95	74	9
A78	12	8	3	10	12	0	10	12	1	116	73	6
A8	7	3	0	9	6	0	10	5	0	76	27	2
A82	24	20	5	31	36	3	25	31	3	221	187	32
A828	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	13	11	2
A83	4	7	1	3	7	2	5	7	3	68	57	10
A830	3	2	0	1	2	0	2	5	0	21	15	2
A835	4	3	1	4	7	1	2	2	0	24	23	7
A84	5	3	0	5	3	0	3	3	2	38	24	4
A85	11	12	0	13	11	4	11	10	4	77	77	15
A86	1	2	0	1	5	0	4	3	0	14	19	0
A87	2	4	0	9	7	2	9	12	1	66	47	7
A876	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	6	5	0
A887	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	3	2	1
A889	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0
A89	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
A898	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	5	5	0
A9	26	25	12	39	33	4	26	34	10	273	198	47
A90	26	14	3	32	14	3	20	19	2	198	132	20
A92	27	11	2	41	14	3	28	7	1	211	81	9
A940	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
A95	0	3	1	3	5	0	3	1	1	18	19	2
A956	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
A96	12	12	1	17	28	1	7	11	4	92	100	17
A972	0	2	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	11	7	0
A977	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0
A985	4	3	1	5	2	0	3	2	0	35	21	5
A99	0	0	0	3	1	1	2	0	0	15	4	2
M73	9	1	0	9	4	1	4	2	0	45	15	2
M74	29	19	1	37	17	2	40	23	2	269	121	20
M77	5	4	0	4	3	0	6	1	0	48	19	0
M8	57	23	3	76	26	4	71	32	0	561	164	20
M80	14	4	0	11	5	0	7	2	0	109	30	3
M823	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	2
M876	4	2	0	4	1	0	2	2	0	29	9	0
M898	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0
M9	6	5	1	12	7	1	8	10	2	75	44	8
M90	14	7	0	14	7	0	20	14	0	97	51	3
TOTAL	414	262	53	537	352	46	456	325	51	3861	2084	326

Date Extracted – 03-02-2025

Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database

Notes: Statistics for Police Scotland

Date Period: 01-01-2018 – 31-12-2024

Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available at the time of retrieving the data from Transport Scotland’s accident manager system. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system:

1.Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland.

2.Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).

3.The accident information Transport Scotland holds is subject to change. E.g. we receive late returns from Police Scotland, who are responsible for recording details of injury accidents.

4.Annual Scottish accident figures are published by Transport Scotland on a yearly basis and can be found by entering Reported Road Casualties Scotland into your search engine.

5.From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious. This increase would not reflect an actual change in the severity of accidents occurring on Scottish roads but would instead reflect more accurate recording.

6.Statisticians within the Department for Transport have devised a method for adjusting the road casualty figures to ensure that they can be compared over time on a consistent basis. Transport Scotland’s Key Reported Road Casualties and Reported Road Casualties statistics publications will present both adjusted and unadjusted figures.

Question reference: S6W-34200

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered expanding mobile audiology services to improve access in (a) rural and (b) underserved areas.

While the Scottish Government remains committed to its vision for an integrated and community-based hearing service in Scotland, re-phasing of funding has meant that not all the challenges we are facing will be addressed in a single budget and therefore there is no community hearing service in operation at this time.

While our response to the Independent Review of Audiology is implemented, we will continue to work with the NHS, Third Sector and private providers to identify and cost an appropriate model of community care for any future service reform, and ensure that the voices of those with lived experience inform this work.

Question reference: S6W-34259

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how Food Standards Scotland supports food producers to meet labelling regulations.

To support food producers to meet labelling regulations, Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has published various forms of guidance and training material which are designed to lay the relevant information out in an easy-to-understand way. This includes guidance on the Food Information Regulation, allergen labelling, food sold prepacked for direct sale and front of pack nutrition labelling along with online allergy training and MenuCal resource.

Question reference: S6W-34264

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role Food Standards Scotland plays in monitoring and preventing the sale of counterfeit or substandard alcohol.

In line with the Food Standards Scotland (FSS) Food Crime Prevention Strategic Plan 2024-27, FSS works in partnership with local authorities, other law enforcement agencies (LEA), industry and stakeholders at various strategic and tactical fora, including:

the National Multi Agency Counterfeit Alcohol Working Group
regular engagement with the drinks industry
share intelligence with relevant LEA and local authority partners
engagement with international LEA partners - Europol, OLAF and participate in Operation OPSON
Food Crime Global Alliance
access to Trading Standards intelligence system
media awareness - including risk communication to consumers
horizon scanning
proactive sampling projects
multi-agency inspections
through joint working/liaison with Police Scotland, HMRC and local authorities
intelligence requirements from/to various partners
Food Alerts for Action (FAFA) via local authorities
liaison with Public Health teams and National Poisons

Question reference: S6W-34233

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how Food Standards Scotland engages with food businesses to improve compliance with food labelling laws.

During the preparation, evaluation and revision of food law (including any changes to labelling requirements), Food Standards Scotland (FSS) carries out open and transparent public consultation, directly or through representative bodies. FSS does this by reaching out to business using their Stakeholder Management System and social media. FSS also engages with businesses during the development of guidance documents and provides other tools such as online allergy training.

However, whilst FSS has responsibility for the policies surrounding food composition, labelling and hygiene, local authorities are primarily responsible for the enforcement of the relevant legislation at local level. FSS encourages businesses to work with their local authority to improve compliance.

Question reference: S6W-34225

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many food safety incidents Food Standards Scotland has responded to in each year since 2018, broken down by type of incident.

FSS Incident Statistics 2018 - 2024 by Incident Category


	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Category Total
Allergens	19	16	20	14	29	18	30	146
Animal feed	10	4	4	10	4	4	5	41
Chemical	10	12	18	18	20	11	17	106
Emergency	9	4	3	0	0	0	2	18
GMO / Novel Food	1	3	4	4	1	4	4	21
Illegal activity	2	1	5	3	2	0	2	15
Microbiological	18	30	17	22	39	32	33	191
On-Farm	7	7	11	3	6	9	6	49
Other	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	5
Physical	5	7	3	5	3	4	3	30
Production error	8	4	6	7	8	6	8	47
Regulatory Breach	18	8	7	9	20	22	21	105
Shellfish	2	3	5	4	11	5	6	36
Yearly Total	111	101	103	99	144	115	137	810

Question reference: S6W-34265

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support Food Standards Scotland provides to businesses to reduce the risk of food crime in their supply chains.

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