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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: S6W-32788

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when remote electronic monitoring will be fitted to inshore trawlers to ensure that fish caught in Scottish inshore seas is landed in local ports.

The Scottish Government’s amended economic link conditions took effect in 2023 to increase landings of key stocks into Scotland and ensure there is a significant economic benefit to Scottish coastal communities from this fishing opportunity.

Indications are that the policy change has succeeded in delivering greater pelagic landings into Scotland – widening the benefit arising from Scotland’s fishing opportunities.

Economic link conditions apply to vessels greater than 10 metres in length and for 2025 requires vessels to land at least 55% of their total combined landings of herring, mackerel, Nephrops, haddock, anglerfish, cod, hake and whiting into Scotland or provide the Scottish Government fishing opportunities (in the following year) that we give to the broader fleet.

We monitor progress and compliance with the economic link conditions via established data gathering programmes, remote electronic monitoring is not required for that purpose.

Question reference: S6W-32790

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2023, what action it is taking to promote low-impact, sustainable fishing, in light of it reportedly being a more stable and reliable part of the fleet.

The Scottish Government acts on many fronts to promote low-impact, sustainable sea fishing.

Our Future Fisheries Management Strategy sets out our vision for Scotland to be a world class fishing nation, delivering responsible and sustainable fisheries management, and actions we will take to deliver that vision. This ten year Strategy includes our Future Catching Policy which aims to develop new rules, in cooperation with stakeholders, to regulate activity at sea in order to support the increased accountability and sustainability of Scottish fisheries: Fisheries - future catching policy: consultation - gov.scot.

On a day-to-day basis our compliance and operational staff oversee compliance with regulation and administrative requirements (whether that be in our 18 coastal offices or marine protection vessels), and our scientists provide data to help inform management decisions at a Scottish, UK and international level.

Question reference: S6W-32789

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 12 actions in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030 Delivery Plan have been achieved to date.

Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy is a ten year strategy and most of the actions relate to the ongoing delivery of our management functions. The progress being made with these will help ensure a stable context for fishing businesses to operate within. We intend to publish an updated Future Fisheries Management Delivery Plan in the coming months, which will provide information on the progress made for each of the 12 actions.

Question reference: S6W-32662

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31906 by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2024, what discussions it has held over the past year with (a) academia and (b) private sector companies regarding any expansion of reuse and recycling of rare earth materials.

We must keep our precious resources in use as long as possible, in line with our circular economy ambitions and reusing and recycling materials has an important part to play in Scotland’s response to tackling the climate crisis. I have not held discussions with academia or private sector companies regarding rare earth materials but would welcome any discussions to make progress in this area.

Scottish Enterprise (SE) has undertaken research to understand the implications for Scotland on accessing Critical Raw Materials and Technologies (CRM&T), including rare earth materials. This research will allow SE to further understand how Scottish companies can remain competitive. SE will continue to engage with academia, private enterprises, and beyond to fully understand the implications for Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-32470

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31983 by Gillian Martin on 17 December 2024, on what dates its meetings with the UK Government Office for the Internal Market (OIM) in 2024 took place; which of those meetings were attended by a cabinet secretary or minister, and at which of those meetings there was specific discussion of the provisions of the Circular Economy Bill and/or the provisions of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024.

The Internal Market Act (IMA) was imposed on the Scottish Parliament without its consent, and radically undermines its powers. Every party in the Scottish Parliament, barring the Scottish Conservatives, voted for its repeal in October 2023, and the Scottish Government is clear that the IMA must indeed be repealed in line with the wishes of this Parliament. We therefore welcome the statutory review of the IMA announced by the new UK Government, which must now be used to undo the damage created by the Act, and ensure that the Parliament’s powers are fully restored.

Since 2021, Scottish Government officials have had over 40 meetings with officials and/or panel members from the Office for the Internal Market (OIM), some bilateral, others multilateral meetings with the other governments of the UK. Discussion at these meetings has included updates on the parliamentary progress of the Circular Economy Act

The Scottish Government continues to engage regularly with the OIM and has discussed measures already taken to restrict supply or manufacture single-use items, and will continue to do so in relation to any future policy.

Question reference: S6W-33191

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many animal disqualification and deprivation orders were issued in the period 2022-24; how this compares with 2017-22, and what underlying causes are behind any increase in number.

Question reference: S6W-32656

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of animal cruelty were reported to the police in 2023-24; of these cases, how many resulted in a (a) prosecution and (b) conviction, and, of those that resulted in a conviction, what proportion resulted in a custodial sentence.

There is no single crime of animal cruelty and such crimes are identified differently in the annual Accredited Official Statistics publications on Recorded Crime in Scotland and Criminal Proceedings in Scotland. These publications are based on separate and unlinked data sets and cannot be considered as proportions of each other.

Recorded Crime in Scotland is based on a count of crimes reported to Police Scotland. The year is based on when any crime(s) were reported to police. Animal cruelty offences are only identifiable at crime level. In 2023-24 there were 274 offences of animal cruelty reported to Police Scotland. This breaks down into 49 offences of cruelty to protected animals (excluding dogs), 177 offences of cruelty to dogs, 15 offences of cruelty to wild animals and 33 offences of hunting with dogs.

Criminal Proceedings in Scotland is based on a count of people proceeded against in court (and the number of those resulting in conviction). Data for 2023-24 is not yet available.

Question reference: S6O-04188

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to transform participation rates for women in entrepreneurship.

Question reference: S6W-32471

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31982 by Gillian Martin on 17 December 2024, what plans it has to assess any land contaminated by historic metal mining.

Question reference: S6W-32390

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31828 by Gillian Martin on 10 December 2024, what quantity of single-use plastic items has been seized from individuals and/or businesses in contravention of the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 since the regulations came into force.

The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 do not include a power to seize single use plastic items. They do, however, allow the taking of samples of articles or substances found in any premises that the enforcement officer enters. These samples, which could include single use plastic items, can then be retained for the purposes of examination and testing and to be used in evidence in any proceedings for an offence under the Regulations. Information on any samples taken and retained may be available from the enforcement authorities.