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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: S5W-34737

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the mechanical harvest of seaweed might have on kelp beds, and what work it has commissioned on this.

It is our aim that the harvesting of any seaweed species should be sustainable and that our marine environment is protected. Kelp beds play a key role in supporting marine biodiversity, providing vital habitats, natural hazard protection and climate regulation. That is why we legislated in the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019 to introduce controls on the removal of certain species of wild kelp. This legislation was informed by a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of wild seaweed harvesting in 2016 Wild seaweed harvesting: strategic environmental assessment - environmental report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Further, the Scottish Marine Assessment 2020, published in December 2020, includes an outline of the current seaweed harvesting and cultivation position in Scotland Wild seaweed harvesting: strategic environmental assessment - environmental report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

During the parliamentary scrutiny of the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019, I announced a review to gather evidence to help ensure existing seaweed harvesting activity and future proposals are sustainable and Scotland’s marine environment is protected. A Seaweed Review Steering Group has been established to advise on all aspects of the review. Membership includes organisations from various sectors representing conservation, science, enterprise, biotechnology, fisheries and the seaweed industry association. Part of the scope of the review will be to outline the research and evidence-base requirements to identify and assess potential environmental impacts of seaweed harvesting on recovery and regrowth of harvested stocks, including consideration of the wider ecosystem benefits provided by seaweed.

Question reference: S5W-34738

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it last carried out a review of the health of kelp beds.

Question reference: S5O-04982

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it uses to assess requests for an extension of negotiations on planning conditions when only one party supports such a request.

Question reference: S5W-34621

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how the proposed update to fire alarm regulations take account of alarm scrappage and recycling.

Question reference: S5O-04943

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the roll-out of providing naloxone for frontline police officers to respond to suspected overdoses.

Question reference: S5W-34033

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which projects developed as part of priority project 8 in Scotland’s biodiversity route map to 2020 addressed the needs of priority wildlife species, broken down by the (a) commencement date for each project, (b) budget provided by the Scottish Government, (c) partners involved and (d) outcome in each case.

Priority Project 8 is concerned with ensuring protected nature sites are in good condition. Many protected sites focus on priority species but information about these sites is not organised as set out in the question. Priority Project 9 relates specifically to priority wildlife species and a file providing the information requested as it relates to Priority Project 9 projects has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 62139). The Scottish Government does not directly grant fund projects delivered under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and its Route map but provides funding through NatureScot’s and other public bodies’ core and supplementary funding (including the Biodiversity Challenge Fund) to support delivery by a range of partners set out in the file.

It is worth noting that, while funding is an important measure, substantial engagement and consultation with stakeholders was devoted to developing more sophisticated, outcome-focused indicators and methods for assessing the success of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, as are reported in the triennial report to Parliament.

Question reference: S5W-34151

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the independently-chaired taskforce established to consider whether the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should be given extra powers to investigate wildlife crime, which it announced on 17 June 2020.

As stated by the then Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment, Mairi Gougeon, in her letter of 8 June 2020 to the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, the Scottish Government originally anticipated that a taskforce to consider the role of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in relation to the investigation of wildlife crime would be convened in summer 2020. However, the Minister also stated that this timeline may be subject to change because of the need to focus on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – a health crisis which has created an economic crisis – and preparations for EU exit.

We now expect the taskforce to be established later this year and will provide further details in due course.

Question reference: S5W-34150

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement on 17 June 2020 that an independently-chaired taskforce was to be set up to consider whether the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should be given extra powers to investigate wildlife crime, how many times the taskforce has met; who is chairing it, and who is participating in it.

Question reference: S5W-34031

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which notified Site of Special Scientific Interest features in the Cairngorms National Park and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park that are in unfavourable condition, including those where no change has been reported in between monitoring cycles, are the responsibility of (a) Forest and Land Scotland, (b) local authorities, (c) Scottish Water and (d) other government bodies, and which of these have been in unfavourable condition or unfavourable recovering for more than three years.

Question reference: S5W-34030

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the condition is of each feature on designated sites in the Cairngorms National Park and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, broken down by whether they are the responsibility of a public body.