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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: S5W-31522

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will expect the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Administrator to declare the annual carbon impact of operating the scheme, broken down by material type.

Question reference: S5W-31530

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the tonnage capacity for incinerators has been in each year since 2007, and what the projected annual capacity is for the period to 2024.

The following table shows the permitted incineration capacity, which is higher than the actual throughput, for each year since 2007. The total waste incineration capacity includes waste incineration facilities for clinical, municipal, biomass (e.g. wood waste), tyre and poultry litter wastes.

Several potential municipal and biomass facilities with an environmental permit are at different stages of development. Not all permitted facilities will reach financial close and construction. The permitted capacity of municipal waste incineration facilities in the commissioning or construction stages of development is around 0.5 million tonnes. The permitted capacity of waste incineration facilities where construction has not started is 0.8 million tonnes for municipal waste and 42,000 tonnes for biomass.

Permit start (Year)	Total permitted waste incineration capacity (million tonnes)	Biomass permitted incineration capacity (million tonnes)	Municipal waste incineration capacity (million tonnes)
2007	1.1	0.9	0.2
2008	1.1	0.9	0.2
2009	1.1	0.9	0.2
2010	1.1	0.9	0.2
2011	1.4	0.9	0.5
2012	2.0	1.4	0.5
2013	2.0	1.4	0.5
2014	2.2	1.4	0.7
2015	2.4	1.4	0.7
2016	2.8	1.4	1.1
2017	2.8	1.4	1.1
2018	3.0	1.4	1.4
2019	3.6	1.4	1.9
2020	3.9	1.4	2.1

Question reference: S5W-31529

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the most recent information it has regarding the percentage of (a) household and (b) commercial food waste that is (i) landfilled and (ii) incinerated, and what capacity there is for all waste to be recovered.

The exact percentages requested are not available.

Our Food Waste Reduction Action Plan sets out measures that will drive delivery against our target to reduce food waste by 33% by 2025. The 2013 baseline for this target is estimated to be 987,890 tonnes from all sources.

A waste composition study carried out in 2015 estimated that 23% of the residual household bin was food waste, the equivalent of 330,000 tonnes. Compared with a similar study in 2009, this represented a 21% reduction in the amount of household food waste sent for incineration or landfill.

A detailed breakdown of waste and waste destinations is not available for commercial waste. However, the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, which came into force on 1 January 2014, mean that almost all businesses are required to have separate food waste collections and this will ensure the continued removal of food waste from the commercial residual waste stream. Since their introduction there has been a 40% increase in food waste recycling.

The two primary methods used to treat food waste are anaerobic digestion (AD) and in vessel composting (IVC), SEPA analysis of the AD and IVC sites in Scotland indicate that there is up to 200,000 tonnes of spare capacity to treat food waste at existing facilities.

Question reference: S5W-31584

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the financial support it is providing to amateur dramatic and theatre groups.

Question reference: S5W-31672

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31549 by Fiona Hyslop on 7 September 2020, how many (a) micro-finance, (b) debt/loan and (c) equity investments have been allocated in each year in each local authority area under Scottish Growth Scheme, also broken down by their value.

The Scottish Growth Scheme became operational in summer 2017. The following table provides details on how many (a) micro-finance, (b) debt/loan and (c) equity investments have been made in each year broken down by their value. The information requested is not available by local authority area.

Year	Micro-finance No.	£m	Debt/Loan No	£m	Equity No	£m
2017	-	-	-	-	24	22.7
2018	-	-	-	-	57	83.5
2019	125	3.7	74	18.4	41	47.1
2020	43	1.5	42	11.5	35	70.5
Total	168	5.2	116	29.9	157	223.8

Question reference: S5W-31479

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-27645 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 March 2020, when it expects to be able to provide an update on the installation of Social Security Scotland into its new head office in Dundee.

Question reference: S5W-31496

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31256 by Ivan McKee on 28 August 2020, how many business pillar meetings (a) it and (b) its agencies' officials had in 2019-20 with stakeholders in each of the 15 priority markets outlined in A Trading National.

Scottish Government business pillar engagements are led by Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation. The Minister’s T&I Overseas Visits focus on the 15 priority markets, as outlined in A Trading Nation ; Scottish Government’s plan for improving Scotland’s export performance . The visits he undertook in 2019 – 2020, along with the number of meetings are summarised below:

Market	Date	Number of meetings
Poland	23 – 24 January 2019	11
Italy	10 – 12 February 2019	11
Norway	17 – 19 March 2019	7
Sweden/Denmark	9 - 11 April 2019	11
Netherlands	19 - 20 May 2019	5
China	1 – 5 July 2019	26
Belgium	7 – 9 September 2019	10
USA	20 – 25 October 2019	27
Ireland	27 – 29 November 2019	10
Switzerland	29 – 30 January 2020	9
Spain	10 – 12 November 2020	16
TOTAL		143

In line with commitments under the Scottish Ministerial Code all Ministerial engagements, including those overseas, are proactively published here - https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/

Whilst a record is not held centrally for Scottish Government officials and trade and investment agency, Scottish Development International; representatives regularly meet with stakeholders across our top 15 markets to promote Scotland as a place to invest in and trade with internationally.

Question reference: S5W-31531

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many incinerators have combined heat and power solutions included in their planning approval; where these are located, and how much energy they have produced each year.

Question reference: S5W-31548

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated by the Digital Growth Fund; how many businesses have received support, and whether it is still operational.

Question reference: S5O-04592

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether, following the end of the transition period, it will want Scotland to keep pace with all new EU laws.