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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: S6W-11778

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10333 by Mairi Gougeon on 13 September 2022, whether it will provide details of the terms and timeline of the review of the British Wool Board.

The review of the British Wool Board is being conducted by Defra in collaboration with British Wool and the Devolved Administrations. The review is intended to produce a set of recommendations for improvements to the current model which will be agreed by UK and Devolved Ministers. In part this will be looking at:

The merits of the current model for UK producers and Administrations and what improvements could be made within the existing framework:
An Assessment of the changes that would be needed to the legislation, along with a timescale for implementation

The final report and recommendations is expected to be completed and signed off by all Ministers by the end of the year.

Question reference: S6O-01470

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the progress that has been made on a Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-11235

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 18 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10660 by Maree Todd on 27 September 2022, what its position is on whether questions around eating disorders should be incorporated into future Scottish Health Surveys, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact that eating disorders can have on people's lives. Questions on eating disorders will be considered, alongside other requests for new questions submitted as part of the recent review of the Scottish Health Survey content , for possible inclusion in the survey from 2024, if some existing questions can be removed. A report will be published by summer 2023 detailing the findings of the review and decisions on the survey content going forwards.

Question reference: S6W-11282

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10252 by Michael Matheson on 7 September 2022, for what reason no monitoring activity was undertaken in areas of high population and high population density, such as Aberdeen City, Dundee City, East and West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire, and how it plans to monitor potential risks in those areas.

Sampling was carried out in the Chemical Investigation Programme 2 (CIP2) Scotland in areas of high density and low dilution wastewater treatment works (WwTW) at inland watercourses to identify WwTW at the greatest risk of non-compliance with the Priority Substance Directive. A selection of WwTW were chosen to represent influent, effluent, upstream and downstream of WwTW in order to keep the cost of testing the extensive suite of substances affordable. CIP2 Scotland consisted of over 160,000 results.

Aberdeen City, Dundee City, East & West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire are served by WwTW that discharge to coastal waters rather than inland waters. In CIP3 Scotland, sampling is being carried out at WwTW which discharge to coastal & transitional waters. Sampling is being carried out from Dalmuir & Ardoch WwTW which serve East & West Dunbartonshire and Shieldhall WwTW which serves East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire.

Question reference: S6W-11366

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 17 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02434 by Lorna Slater on 13 September 2021, what progress has been made on the waste compositional analysis, and whether it will be possible to publish updated food waste data before the full analysis is completed.

Question reference: S6W-10831

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 11 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Deposit Return Scheme public awareness campaign launched; how long it will run for; what budget has been allocated to it, and what engagement has been recorded from the public to date.

Question reference: S6W-11185

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 4 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10419 by Lorna Slater on 20 September 2022, whether it will provide the information requested and provide a list of the meetings held by the board, and which ministers attended each meeting, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

The programme board overseeing delivery of the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste by 2025 is chaired by senior Scottish Government officials and comprises representatives from SEPA, Cosla, Solace and Zero Waste Scotland. Scottish Ministers do not attend meetings of the board, though are regularly updated on its progress.

The programme board has met five times since its inception, on the following dates: 17 March 2021, 08 July 2021, 05 November 2021, 01 June 2022 and 06 September 2022.

Question reference: S6T-00897

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to meet air quality limit values, in light of the recent report from Environmental Standards Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-11018

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 30 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10331 by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022, whether support from the Circular Textiles Fund is available without capital expenditure requirements.

Question reference: S6W-11017

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10335 by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022, what metric it uses to assess and direct support for Scottish wool producers in the absence of data on the quantity of Scottish wool used in manufacturing.

A wide range of Scottish Government support is available to Scottish wool producers and manufacturers through the Find Business Support webpage ( https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/ ) and our enterprise agencies who work with companies to discuss their specific needs. This includes grants (e.g. Business Innovation and Growth Grants), other funding, advice, help and events.

The £2m Circular Textiles Fund (CTF), administered by Zero Waste Scotland and backed by the Scottish Government assesses projects on the basis of how effectively they will accelerate a circular transition in Scotland. Information on eligibility criteria for applicants to the Circular Textiles Fund is available at: https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/faqs-circular-textiles-fund .

More broadly, the Scottish Government will consider the quality of land available for grazing when directing support payments to sheep farms.

For example, the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) and the 2022 Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS) provides additional support to maintain sheep flocks in farms reliant on poorer quality rough grazing found in Scotland’s Basic Payment Region three.

These payments help farmers and crofters maintain the social and environmental benefits that sheep flocks bring to these areas.