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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: S5W-32963

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what pilot schemes have been introduced to address accidental/wind-blown litter in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S5W-32941

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what targeted support it will provide to local authority areas that showed a negative change in recycling rates between 2018 and 2019.

In the Programme for Government 2020-21 we announced the establishment of a £70 recycling fund to improve local authority collection infrastructure, along with the development of a route map to achieving our 2025 recycling targets. We will work in partnership with COSLA and local authorities to develop and deliver the fund to ensure it supports further improvements in local recycling rates.

Alongside Zero Waste Scotland, we will provide a range of other support to local authorities to ensure high quality recycling, including evaluating the Household Recycling Charter, evaluating its supporting Code of Practice and supporting effective communications with householders.

Question reference: S5W-32957

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its most recent assessment is of the financial impact of littering.

Question reference: S5W-32962

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken since 2014 to encourage businesses to collaborate when commissioning waste collection services, and how many such partnerships have been formed each year.

Since 2014, Zero Waste Scotland, SEPA & local authorities
have engaged with several thousand businesses regarding
compliance with the Waste (Scotland) regulations 2012 and
wider resource efficiency measures. Where appropriate, this
engagement included advice on sharing waste collection
services. Data on the number and nature of business
collaborations is not available.

Additionally, through Resource Efficient Scotland, guidance
was provided to businesses to improve waste management
practices. This includes detailed information on the collaborative
commissioning of waste collection services. Support was
provided to Business Improvement Districts as part of this piece of work.https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/
ImprovingWasteManagementGuideBusinessGroups%20RES.pdf

Question reference: S5W-32940

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest household waste statistics from SEPA, which state that the recycling rate in Scotland’s two largest cities either declined or remained stagnant between 2018 and 2019.

Two thirds of local authorities improved their recycling rate between 2018 and 2019. We are aware that some local authorities face specific challenges in improving their recycling rates.

Alongside Zero Waste Scotland, we will continue to work with local authorities to support further progress. As part of this approach, our Programme for Government 2020-21 announced a £70 million recycling fund, to support local authorities in improving recycling collection infrastructure; and the development of a route map to achieving our ambitious 2025 recycling targets.

Question reference: S5W-32943

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund have been (a) received and (b) approved since it opened in August 2020, and when the first payments will be made.

The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund was opened for applications on 21 August 2020 with the closing date for applications on 18 December 2020, with funding awards being made in January 2021. As of 9 November 2020, there have been no applications submitted or approved, but please note that we would not expect there to be in receipt of a substantive number of applications at this stage with over a month left for organisations to apply.

We have received considerable interest in the fund, with over 50 enquiries from Registered Social Landlords, Local Authorities and Energy Supply Companies.

Information webinars and application support continue to be provided throughout the application window and we anticipate receiving a high number of applications for low carbon social housing projects.

Question reference: S5W-32961

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it has provided in each year since 2014 to customer loyalty schemes that reward people for resource efficiency, as set out in Zero Waste: Towards a Litter-free Scotland: A Strategic Approach To Higher Quality Local Environments.

Question reference: S5W-32508

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many public waste bins each local authority has had in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S5W-32506

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it and (b) its agencies have spent on tackling litter in each of the last five years.

Responsibility for dealing with litter primarily rests with local councils as part of their role in delivering waste services.

Zero Waste Scotland have spent the following amount of money on tackling litter from 2015 to 2020:

Year	Spend on tackling litter
2019-20	£92,397
2018-19	£119,081
2017-18	£379,465
2016-17	£480,786
2015-16	£658,647

The Scottish Government and Crown Estates Scotland have funded Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB), for their ‘Upstream Battle’ marine litter campaign. The details are as follows:

	Financial Year	Funding
Scottish Government	2018-2019	£30,000
Crown Estates Scotland	2018-2019	£25,000
Crown Estates Scotland	2020-2021	£20,000

The Scottish Government does not separately account for staff time dedicated to work on tackling litter.

Question reference: S5W-32502

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to develop advice and support services for community food redistribution projects; what services have been developed; where they have been deployed, and which projects have benefited from them.

Zero Waste Scotland has carried out a mapping of the redistribution landscape in Scotland, including analysis of the challenges and barriers facing redistribution activities and engagement with stakeholders on the potential solutions and support needs.

We also remain committed to consulting on the Scottish Government’s proposals for an obligation for food retail sites over a certain size to ensure that they redistribute edible products in due course that will inform the development and scope of what an advice and support service for community redistribution projects could deliver and how.