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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-08787

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31522 by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020, what subsequent work has been carried out by SEPA and Circularity Scotland to ensure that carbon impact monitoring of the deposit return scheme is ready in time for launch, and whether it will provide an update on current progress with these efforts.

The environmental benefits of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will be realised by the increased collection and recycling of drinks containers that the scheme entails. As scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland will be required to report regularly against collection targets to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA); these are set at 80% for 2024 and 90% for each subsequent year.

Significant programmes of work are underway within both Circularity Scotland and SEPA to prepare to deliver its obligations, and monitor its compliance with these obligations, respectively.

Question reference: S6W-09003

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-08786

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 10 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-28705 by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 May 2020, what subsequent monitoring took place; what impacts on industry this identified, and what additional steps were considered necessary to proceed with the deposit return scheme.

Question reference: S6W-08785

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 10 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01103 by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2021, what subsequent meetings have been held with small brewers regarding the deposit return scheme.

Since 21 July 2021 representatives of the small brewing sector have met the Scottish Government on a number of occasions to discuss Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS); most recently, representatives of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) discussed DRS with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy on 24 March 2022.

SIBA is also a member of the DRS System-Wide Assurance Group, which ensures that the views of small brewers continue to be heard as industry implements our DRS.

Question reference: S6W-08623

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08230 by Lorna Slater on 11 May 2022, whether it will provide a further list of any reports commissioned that were never made, or have ceased to be made, publicly available by Zero Waste Scotland.

ZWS commissions research and policy reports for a variety of reasons. In some cases ZWS commissions reports which are intentionally aimed at wider public audiences, and in other cases, ZWS commissions reports to inform the development of programmes and interventions, or of Scottish Government policy.

In addition to the reports listed in my answer to S6W-08230, ZWS may have commissioned additional work that was not intended for publication. This includes commercially sensitive work that was undertaken specifically for individual organisations, work solely undertaken in-house by Zero Waste Scotland staff, and data generated to inform input to further published reports or to assist Zero Waste Scotland’s Strategic development.

Question reference: S6W-08624

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 6 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08232 by Lorna Slater on 11 May 2022, whether it will provide a breakdown of the use of the reusable nappy vouchers that shows how (a) many have been used, (b) much the scheme has cost and (c) many families have switched permanently to reusable nappies.

The following table details the number of reusable nappies provided each year through the Baby Box reusable nappy voucher scheme and the cost.

Families who take up the nappy offer are offered a discounted package should they wish to continue with reusable nappies. From June 2020 – April 2022, 224 families have used the discount and purchased further reusable nappies. The supplier started recording the data from June 2020 and we do not have a record of voucher redemptions before that period.

Year	Total Nappy Vouchers Redeemed	Cost
2019 (starting from June)	4,912	£62,677.12
2020	7,192	£91,769.92
2021	5,864	£77,298.65
2022 (up to 30 th of April)	1,290	£18,229.72

Question reference: S6O-01184

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next propose a parliamentary debate on reaching net zero.

Question reference: S6W-08522

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to strengthen existing requirements for waste pre-treatment to extract as much recyclable material as possible.

The Pollution, Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012) (the “PPC regulations”) require that permits for the incineration or co-incineration of municipal waste contain such conditions as SEPA considers necessary to ensure, where practicable, that no waste including non-ferrous metals or hard plastics is incinerated or co-incinerated.

The recently published report on the Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy makes a provisional recommendation on strengthening requirements for pre-treatment for residual waste. We are carefully considering all recommendations made in the report and will set out our initial response in June.

Question reference: S6W-08523

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-08526

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it operates a list of countries that it will not allow to receive Scottish waste exports, and, if so, what the reason is for applying the restriction in each case.

The export of waste is a reserved matter.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes is the international Convention that governs the movement of hazardous waste, to which the UK is a party. The Convention, as implemented in UK legislation, bans all exports of hazardous waste to developing countries. Control mechanisms on the shipment of other types of waste from Scotland to countries outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are governed by retained European legislation.

While waste export legislation is a matter for the UK Government, we continue to actively discuss waste shipment regulations, in light of our commitment to a truly circular economy, to ensure our environment is protected, and that all waste is managed responsibly and sustainably.

To meet these objectives, we are calling for further action from the UK Government to deliver its existing commitment to ban plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries, and bring forward further measures to influence global markets and reduce imported and exported emissions. This includes making progress on the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendation to “phase out” exports of waste by 2030, which would support Scotland’s transition to a fully circular economy.