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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-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.

Question reference: S6W-08525

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 will provide a breakdown of which countries have received Scottish waste exports, and how much each received, in each of the last three years.

That information is not held centrally. This data can be obtained from SEPA.

We are committed to ensuring Scotland takes more responsibility for its own waste, maximising its value and reducing the environmental and carbon impact. A large majority of Scotland’s waste is already managed within Scotland, but around 14% is currently processed elsewhere.

International waste export legislation is a reserved matter, and we are calling for further action from the UK Government to deliver existing commitments and bring forward 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.

Question reference: S6W-08454

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 19 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the risk of multiple people per household applying for a fireworks licence following the introduction of the provisions in the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill.

All of the measures within the Bill, including the licensing system, have been developed following a significant programme of consultation, engagement and evidence gathering. This includes the work of the independent advisory Firework Review Group, who considered all of the evidence available and took an options appraisal approach to make a series of recommendations for change to the Scottish Government. The licensing system implements the Group’s recommendation that mandatory conditions should be introduced at the point of sale of fireworks to ensure that the purchase and use of fireworks is a well thought out and planned transaction.

The licensing system has been carefully developed to ensure that robust checks and balances are in place before a member of the public can purchase and use fireworks. This includes a mandatory requirement to successfully complete a training course, which will inform applicants of how to use fireworks in a safe and lawful manner, as well as understanding the impact that fireworks can have on people and animals.

The policy objective of the licensing system is that those who are permitted to purchase, possess and use fireworks in Scotland know how to do so in a safe, lawful and considerate manner. The licence is therefore held by an individual and while this means that there could be multiple licence holders living at the same address, it is considered that this strikes the balance between introducing proportionate measures without placing overly restrictive barriers on the legitimate use of fireworks by members of the public.

Question reference: S6W-08455

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 19 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken in the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill to prevent the third-party sale of fireworks to non-licence-holders.

The potential for unintended consequences, including a possible increase in illicit firework sales, has been carefully considered throughout development of the Bill.

In terms of how measures within the Bill have been developed to mitigate against illicit sales, the licensing system does not only cover the purchase of fireworks but also their possession and use; and the Bill introduces a new offence to be in possession of a firework or use a firework in Scotland without a valid licence.

In addition, it will be an offence for a firework licence holder to supply fireworks to an unlicensed person.

A person who commits this offence is liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (or both).

Question reference: S6W-08436

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 19 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government further to the answer to question S5W-34970 by Roseanna Cunningham on 4 February 2021, whether it can provide a breakdown of any funding awards it has made since that answer to circular economy textiles projects.

Further to the response provided to S5W-34970, since February 2021 Zero Waste Scotland has awarded tailored consultancy support to two SMEs through the Circular Economy Business Support Service in order to help develop circular textiles propositions. Each support service provided to these organisations had a value of approximately £10,000.

As set out in the 2021-22 Programme for Government, we plan to introduce a new £2 million Textile Innovation Fund in the first half of 2022 to support businesses working in this sector to address issues associated with textile waste and throwaway culture.

Question reference: S6W-08412

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 19 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much was distributed through the Recycling Improvement Fund in the financial year 2021-22.

To date, over £20.3 million has been awarded to 13 local authorities to increase the quantity and quality of recycling in Scotland, marking the beginning of one of the biggest investments in recycling in Scotland in a generation.

Of these awards, £5,267,640 million was allocated in the 2021-22 financial year, with the remainder being phased over subsequent years of the fund, based on the local projects’ spend profiles.

This investment is funding a range of improvements, including more frequent recycling collections, the extension of food and garden waste collections, and boosting Scotland’s capacity to recycle problematic materials, such as plastic films.

This initial investment has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 21,400 tonnes each year - the equivalent of taking 11,400 cars off the road. Further updates regarding new awards will be made in due course.