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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: S6O-01846

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being considered to tackle crime involving pets.

Question reference: S6W-13772

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on the Scottish Material Flow Accounts and The Circularity Gap Report Scotland from its funding through Zero Waste Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13771

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Zero Waste Scotland has published two different material footprint estimates for Scotland in the Scottish Material Flow Accounts and the The Circularity Gap Report Scotland, which estimate Scotland’s material footprint to be 19.3 tonnes per capita and 21.7 tonnes per capita respectively, and which figure it considers to be more accurate.

Zero Waste Scotland commissions updates to the Scottish Material Flow Accounts to allow for a consistent time-series analysis from the data; these updates provide consolidated data for a variety of stakeholders such as academic and third-sector organisations.

To supplement this research, Zero Waste Scotland also commissioned the Circularity Gap Report (CGR) which was developed by Circle Economy. The methodology used in the CGR allows more detailed inferences to be drawn on the structure of material flows within the Scottish economy. Additionally, as the methodology used in the CGR is consistently applied across multiple countries, it allows the opportunity to compare Scotland’s performance to other nations.

It is Zero Waste Scotland’s view that one estimate cannot be considered more accurate than the other.

Question reference: S6W-13770

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the conclusions of Circle Economy's The Circularity Gap Report Scotland, that only 1.3% of the resources Scotland uses are cycled back into the economy, the lowest circularity score of any nation yet assessed.

Question reference: S6W-13781

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which sources are informing its evaluation of minimum unit pricing in Scotland.

We are currently in the process of evaluating minimum unit pricing (MUP) as a whole over its first five years of operation. Public Health Scotland will be producing a final report on MUP in 2023, which includes assessing the impact of MUP on health, crime, public safety and public nuisance in Scotland, and the impact on the alcohol industry. This will inform our evaluation report which will be laid in Parliament and published in 2023. In addition we will engage with a range of interested parties as set out in Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012.

Question reference: S6W-13782

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to report to the Parliament on its evaluation of minimum unit pricing in summer 2023.

Question reference: S6W-13783

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects Public Health Scotland to publish its final report on minimum unit pricing.

Question reference: S6W-13585

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 19 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the Gateway Review into the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), what consideration it has given to the advice to pursue a "softer" approach to DRS implementation.

The Gateway Review was undertaken more than six months ago and has been superseded. A review carried out in October 2022 concluded that “the DRS Programme has gained increased momentum and is in a much improved position” and that go live in August 2023 is now “feasible”. This is testament to the efforts being made by industry, Circularity Scotland, and the Scottish Government, who are working together to ensure the scheme is implemented in full.

We are committed to a pragmatic approach to implementation. For example, in November 2022, we updated the return point exemptions guidance and in December the application forms to make it easier for retailers to apply for an exemption from acting as a return point, and streamlined the process for retailers and hospitality providers.

Also in December, I announced that we will bring forward amendments to the regulations so that initially only the largest grocery supermarkets will be obliged to provide an online takeback service; all other businesses will be exempt from online takeback obligations.

Question reference: S6W-13584

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 19 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it or its agencies have undertaken to understand the potential impact on glass recycling rates if local authorities cease kerbside collections of glass in light of the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will ensure a higher percentage of glass sent for recycling. Analysis from Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) shows that presently only around 59% of mixed glass is recycled. DRS is expected to capture 80% of glass bottles in the first year of DRS, increasing to 90% thereafter, this will therefore increase the amount of overall glass sent for recycling.

ZWS supports local authorities to assess their recycling collection options to help align services with the Household Recycling Charter Code of Practice, as well as future proofing those services by understanding the impact of other measures such as DRS and Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility.

Question reference: S6W-13581

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether measures contained in its proposed Circular Economy Bill will seek to make local kerbside collections more consistent across local authorities.

The Scottish Government consulted on a Circular Economy Bill and Waste Route Map in summer 2022, setting out proposed actions that must be taken to meet Scotland's waste targets and deliver a circular economy in Scotland. This included a proposal to strengthen the approach to household recycling collection services through new co-designed statutory guidance to provide a clear strategic direction for recycling in Scotland, improve consistency of services for households, and accelerate improvements to both the quality and quantity of recycling collected to help meet our waste and climate change targets .

The analysis of consultation responses to the Bill was published in November 2022. Programme for Government states that the Circular Economy Bill will be introduced in this parliamentary year.