- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 August 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether any ring-fenced funds are being provided to local authorities to cover the cost of installing (a) ventilation aids, such as fans, and (b) CO2 monitors in all public buildings, including schools and community groups.
Answer
The Scottish Government provided Scotland’s local authorities with an additional £1.2 billion in direct support during 2020-21 through the local government finance settlement – over and above their regular grant payments to combat COVID-19. Taken together with the additional £259 million confirmed for this year, this brings the value of the overall COVID-19 support package for councils up to over £1.5 billion.
£10 million of funding was announced on 3 August to enable local authorities to undertake CO2 monitoring to assess the ventilation levels in all learning, teaching and play spaces by the October break.
Further to initial recommendations from the Short Life Working Group on Ventilation, funding of up to £25million to support businesses with ventilation was announced on 28 September. Due to be open for applications in November, further details will be available in due course.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what records Forestry and Land Scotland kept in 2020 to ensure that mothers killed were matched to calves killed; how it ensured that all alternatives were tried first in every forest, in keeping with the conditions for an out-of-season culling licence for deer; what information it has on whether this approach was taken prior to the out-of-season dear cull in September 2021, and what its position is on whether such licences are needed in all national forests.
Answer
All data collected associated with deer culled on National Forests and Land (NFL) is recorded in FLS Wildlife Management System (WMS) database. The following table is derived from this database. This is managed by robust supervision of cullers and checks to match the juvenile GPS data to the adult female GPS data; however there are many factors that may influence the ratio demonstrated in the following below.
| Species | No. of Adult Females | No. of Juveniles | Ratio |
Sept 2020 | Red Hinds | 287 | 210 | 0.73 |
Sept 2020 | Roe does | 327 | 239 | 0.73 |
Sept 2020 | Sika Hinds | 116 | 107 | 0.9 |
Survey data showing current high background levels of resident and inwardly migrating deer across NFL coupled with associated damage level data requires FLS to reduce deer numbers/densities at local and landscape-scale across NFL.
The FLS approach to reduced deer fencing, increased culling and the use of Out of Season shooting has been developed over many years of professional and large-scale management of all four species of deer, across a very wide range of terrains and habitats across Scotland. This has been an iterative process, where alternatives have in the past been considered and tested and informed by the continuous gathering of data from a number of rolling survey programmes such as deer damage impact assessments.
The scale of Scotland’s national forests and land means that FLS takes a pragmatic and cost effective approach to deer management to deliver multiple public benefits and sustainable land management.
FLS’s comprehensive deer management database WMS and new ARCGIS dashboard (in development), records a very large volume of information relevant to how FLS assesses the need for culling and the need for Out of Season authorisations. This includes deer damage impact levels, deer density levels (including on neighbouring ground where available), and an extensive history of the exact location of culling and relevant biometrics for each deer shot on NFL.
Wild deer are mobile, can travel considerable distances and need to feed 365 days of the year, day and night, and FLS therefore has to utilise all available, legal and approved means in order to protect its tree crops and other natural assets throughout all twelve months of the year. This includes using Out of season, Night Shooting and thermal imaging equipment.
FLS’s Out of Season culling operation necessarily covers the whole estate. Without the ongoing, diligent application of Out of Season authorisations, the resultant deer damage impacts would quickly build-up and prevent FLS from delivering many of its management objectives across NFL.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of £25 million of funding for businesses to improve ventilation, whether funding will also be made available for community halls for public use.
Answer
We are taking forward a number of recommendations made by the Short Life Working Group on Ventilation in order to improve airflow in settings where transmission of Covid-19 is most likely to occur. As the First Minister stated when she announced this £25 million package of funding, the support will focus on the hospitality and leisure sectors although the specific sectors and premises that will be eligible for financial support through this fund is still being determined and community halls are being actively considered as part of this process.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, what its response is to ATM providers reportedly being charged a higher level of business rates by local authorities for operating so-called through-the-wall machines, and, in light of the 2020 Supreme Court ruling for England and Wales, which said that no additional business rates could be charged on ATMs for having them onsite, what measures it is taking to support ATM providers in Scotland facing such business rates.
Answer
The valuation of all non-domestic property is a matter for the independent assessors, who follow applicable statute and case law in making their decisions on non-domestic property valuations. The 2020 Supreme Court ruling for England and Wales is not binding in Scots law, although I am aware that dialogue is ongoing between assessors and agents regarding the rating of ATM sites following that decision.
The Scottish Government provides the most generous non-domestic rates regime in the UK, and in 2021-22 delivered an unprecedented reduction in the poundage mid-revaluation; returning it to pre-COVID levels, which saves Scottish Businesses over £120 million compared with a standard inflationary increase.
The Scottish Government have continued to ensure that the sites of standalone ATMs in rural areas are exempt from rating. Other ATMs may benefit from as much as a 100% rates relief through the Small Business Bonus Scheme.
Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, each local Council has wide-raging powers to create rates reliefs to reflect local needs. This may apply to a sole business, sector or area. The relief may be an adaptation of an existing national relief scheme or a unique standalone scheme.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what guarantees it can provide that dependent deer calves will be killed along with their mothers during Forestry and Land Scotland’s out-of-season deer culls.
Answer
Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS), deer culling operatives are qualified and trained, are registered ‘Fit and Competent’, have Deer Stalking Certificates 1&2 and hold ‘Trained Hunter’ status.
FLS’s culling activities are robustly supervised and monitored and all operatives are briefed that, if there is any possibility of orphaning a dependant calf that a shot must not be taken, all dependant calves must be culled before the mother.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (OPG) is experiencing a backlog of power of attorney applications, and, if so, what support it is offering the OPG to ease this backlog.
Answer
Due to Covid-19, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) have a backlog of Power of Attorney deeds awaiting registration. The Scottish Government has provided funding of £238,000 to the Office of the Public Guardian to fund the power of attorney Covid recovery plan.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the country’s grouse moors, and, in light of the recent report published by the University of Northampton, Sustainable Grouse Shooting?, which stated that “It is unlikely that the alternative uses [to grouse shooting] that are proposed by some groups for the moorlands would deliver the same positive economic impacts, at least for a number of generations”, what analysis it has carried out of the economic impact of these moors.
Answer
As we stated when we published our response to the independent Grouse Moor Management Group report (the ‘Werritty Review’) in November 2020 we recognise the important contribution grouse shooting makes to the rural economy.
Alongside the Werritty review, the Scottish Government commissioned Scotland’s Rural College and the James Hutton Institute to undertake extensive research into the biodiversity and economic Impacts of grouse moors to address some of the knowledge gaps regarding Scottish driven grouse moor management.
The research was carried out in two phases and the reports, which were published in 2019 and 2020 can found on the Scottish Government website at Socioeconomic and biodiversity impacts of driven grouse moors in Scotland | SEFARI
and
Phase 2 Grouse Research - Socioeconomic and biodiversity impacts of driven grouse moors and the employment rights of gamekeepers | SEFARI
The findings of this research, alongside other available evidence were taken into account when we developed our response to the Werritty review.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report published by the University of Northampton, Sustainable Grouse Shooting?, which stated that “We believe that our conclusions, detailed above, are supported by the currently available evidence. However, we are conscious of the danger of legislation being driven by public (non-evidence based) perceptions of issues such as animal welfare, muirburn, rewilding etc. It is important that policy makers are presented with evidence, in a form that they find useful. This report will help in the production of this useful evidence”, and whether it will take the findings of the report into account when making decisions regarding how it supports grouse moor management.
Answer
We published our response to the recommendations of the Grouse Moor Management Group, an independent group tasked by the Scottish Government with assessing the environmental impact of grouse moor management, on 26 November 2020 – Grouse Moor Management Group recommendations: Scottish Government response - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
And as we set out in 2021 Programme for Government we will – ‘deliver the recommendations of the Grouse Moor Management Review Group as a matter of urgency, including the licensing of grouse moors. Licensing or further regulation will cover the key areas identified in the review, including muirburn, wildlife control, he use of medicated grit and wildlife crime.’
A full public and stakeholder consultation will be undertaken as part of this process.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that grouse moor management is fully supported, in light of the recent report published by the University of Northampton, Sustainable Grouse Shooting?, which stated that “Compared with upland areas where grouse shooting does not take place, the biodiversity of ‘grouse moors’ seems to be at least as rich, if not richer” and the reported comment by the First Minister that she has an “unwavering commitment to address biodiversity loss across all ministerial portfolios”, and what analysis it has carried out of the biodiversity of these moors.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises that well-managed grouse moors can produce favourable habitats for certain species such as curlews and that land managers have an important role to play in enhancing biodiversity.
As I set out in my response to question S6W-03211 on 20 October 2021 the Scottish Government commissioned Scotland’s Rural College and the James Hutton Institute to undertake extensive research into the biodiversity and economic Impacts of grouse moors and the findings of this research were taken into account when we developed our response to the Werritty review. The research found that whilst some land management actions undertaken on grouse moors could enhance biodiversity, the findings were clear that there could also be a negative impact resulting in species decline.
Our Statement of Intent on biodiversity notes that Scotland’s land delivers multiple benefits to people, providing homes and water supplies, producing food, timber and space for leisure, as well as supporting biodiversity. We have a distinctively strong connection between people, place and nature which makes Scotland special in terms of landscape and access. All landowners and managers have an important role to play in helping to improve the state of nature.
All of these factors will be taken into account when we publish our new biodiversity strategy in Autumn 2022 followed by an underpinning 5 year delivery plan, including changes in the way we use and manage land and our approach to protecting habitats and ecosystems. We have also announced that we will introduce a Natural Environment Bill in year 3 or the current session, which will include statutory, enforceable targets for nature restoration, and actions to deliver on our ambitious voluntary commitment to protect 30% of Scotland’s land and seas by 2030, with 10% highly protected. We will invest at least £500 million in the natural economy over the course of this Parliament, including £150 Million for forestry, ongoing investment in peatland restoration and multi-year funding for the Nature Restoration Fund.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 19 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that it has led to charges being introduced on some previously free-to-use ATM machines in Scotland, and other machines being withdrawn, what discussions it has had with LINK regarding its decision to reduce the interchange fee.
Answer
An increase in pay to use ATM’s, or the removal of existing ATM’s, will undoubtedly add to the uncertainty faced by communities and businesses on their ability to access essential services. Through engagement with the banking sector, via bilateral ministerial meetings and the Financial Services Industry Advisory Board (FiSAB), we will continue to urge all banks and ATM providers to listen to and address concerns customers have on their ability to access services.
The regulation of financial services is, however, reserved to the UK Government and as such Scottish Ministers are unable to intervene directly in the commercial decisions made by financial services companies. The Scottish Government stands ready to work constructively with the UK Government, banks and other stakeholders to ensure that customers, communities and businesses have access to the banking facilities they need.