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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-14919

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14359 by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023, what evidence it used to assert that "there are many companies providing these services in Scotland", in light of its statement that it has not carried out an assessment.

Deposit Return Schemes operate in 44 territories and many companies have developed Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) for use with these schemes.

The Scottish Government and other organisations engaged with other countries operating deposit return schemes through the design, business case development and consultation process for Scotland’s DRS including schemes in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Germany as well as organisations with broad expertise in international Deposit Return Schemes, such as Reloop. As part of this work, it was clear that many companies would be able to provide RVMs that would work with our scheme.

Question reference: S6W-15053

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when Crown Estate Scotland will announce the outcome of the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round for offshore wind projects.

Question reference: S6W-14820

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 9 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many producers have registered for the Deposit Return Scheme, broken down by (a) large companies and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises.

Question reference: S6W-15221

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Deposit Return Scheme, how many (a) return points have been registered and (b) reverse vending machines have been ordered by public bodies that operate any (i) retail and (ii) café premises, to date, broken down by each relevant public body.

Question reference: S6W-15052

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to develop the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas Decarbonisation (INTOG).

The Initial Plan Framework for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas decarbonisation (INTOG) was published on 22 February 2022 and set the parameters used by Crown Estate Scotland to shape their leasing process.

Following the closure of the INTOG lease application window on 18 November 2022, the Marine Scotland Directorate is undertaking assessments to understand the potential impact from proposed INTOG projects on the marine environment and other marine sectors which will inform the development the draft Sectoral Marine Plan for INTOG. Public consultation on the draft plan is targeted for later in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-15222

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any material recycled through the Deposit Return Scheme will be attributed to the overall recycling performance of the local authority area in which it was captured.

The implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will boost household recycling rates across Scotland. The Official Statistics for household waste which report against the national household waste recycling targets will include DRS materials once it is implemented. We are aware that the current guidance to Local Authorities on calculating recycling rates may need to be reviewed as it pre-dates the DRS.

Question reference: S6W-14661

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what process local authorities will be required to follow to redeem deposits from containers entering the kerbside collection system rather than returned through the deposit return scheme.

The DRS Regulations require that from 2025 at least 90% of scheme articles are to be collected through the scheme, therefore the amount of bottles and cans collected by local authorities is likely to be very low.

Local authorities will have flexibility to decide how to redeem deposits from containers entering the kerbside collection and should contact the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland, for advice and guidance.

Question reference: S6T-01200

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the Deposit Return Scheme will launch.

Question reference: S6W-15051

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has begun any legislative consent process to consider whether the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill could be extended to Scotland, and, if it is the case that it has not, what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Scottish Government supports the intention behind this Bill, and the improvements in animal welfare it hopes to achieve. Scottish Ministers would have liked to have given their full support to these measures as part of the now fallen UK Animals Abroad Bill. Sadly this opportunity has now been lost and due to last minute handling by the UK Government, Scottish Ministers have not been given sufficient time to consider the provisions put forward in the Low Welfare Animal Activities Abroad Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01933

Current Status: Withdrawn