- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16710 by Jamie Hepburn on 16 May 2023, whether all parties to the Bute House Agreement agree with this policy.
Answer
The Scottish Government supports the position set out in S6W-16710, which outlined the Scottish Government’s commitment to being guided by the democratically expressed wishes of the people of Scotland on these matters.
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: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16710 by Jamie Hepburn on 16 May 2023, what mechanism or measure it would potentially plan to use to determine whether “the people of Scotland wish that to be the case”.
Answer
The Scottish Government will always be guided by the democratically expressed wishes of the people of Scotland on constitutional matters.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to comments by the chief executive of the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers, reported on 11 May 2023, that short-term lets licensing in Edinburgh constitutes a "de facto ban" on small holiday let operators, "in favour of big business".
Answer
Scotland is not alone in regulating short-term lets globally. We are doing this in two ways. The first, licensing, has been introduced to ensure short-term lets are safe and the people providing them are suitable. Guests can have confidence that licensed hosts and accommodation have reached a recognised standard of assurance complying with mandatory conditions for fire, gas, water and electrical safety. Many hosts are already complying with these through existing law or best practice, and we do not consider them onerous. Licensing authorities may also apply additional conditions to address local issues such as noise, antisocial behaviour and littering. Licence applications must be granted unless there are grounds to refuse them, for example, if anybody named on an application is not a fit and proper person. We are unable to comment on the specific short term let licensing policy in Edinburgh, due to ongoing legal proceedings.
The second, control areas, can be designated by councils where short-term lets are causing problems for neighbours and making it harder for people to find homes to live in. From the point of designation, the change of use to provide short-term lets in accommodation that is not a host’s only or principal home will always require planning permission. It is for councils to decide whether a control area is needed to help them manage high concentrations of short-term lets.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline any wetlands that have been considered for designation as a Ramsar site but were not granted this classification in each year since 2007.
Answer
All wetlands considered for Ramsar designation since 2007 have been granted this classification. A decision on an extension to the existing Caithness & Sutherland Peatlands Ramsar site to include areas of former plantation forestry that have been restored to blanket bog will be made later this year.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many suspected invasive non-native species have been reported via Scotland’s Environment website in each year for which data is available.
Answer
The following table provides annual figures for the total number of reports of suspected invasive non-native species (INNS) submitted via Scotland’s Environment website. The two reports in 2015 are test reports submitted by project partners; the system went live to the general public in 2016.
A small number of the following reports listed were not verified as INNS due to misidentification. Twenty of the more recent reports from 2023 are pending verification while further information is gathered.
Year | Number of reports |
2023 (up to 23/5/23) | 34 |
2022 | 82 |
2021 | 93 |
2020 | 152 |
2019 | 71 |
2018 | 72 |
2017 | 14 |
2016 | 8 |
2015 | 2 |
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 5 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy will next visit Ferguson Marine to discuss the matters raised in his statement to the Scottish Parliament on 16 May 2023.
Answer
I look forward to meeting with the CEO and speaking with the workforce of Ferguson Marine. My visit to the shipyard will take place during summer recess.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendation from the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme to automatically refer all eligible victims to the scheme.
Answer
The Scottish Government has noted the report of the independent review of the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS) as published on 12 May, including the recommendation that victims be automatically referred to a new Victim Contact Team (itself subject to a separate recommendation in the report) to be offered enrolment on the VNS, given information on the process, and their rights and entitlements.
As the report makes clear, a number of organisations have a role to play in delivering the current scheme (including the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Prison Service and the Parole Board for Scotland).
Therefore, the Scottish Government intends to consider the report’s recommendations (including the automatic referral recommendation) in collaboration with stakeholders in the current months to fully explore their implications. This approach is particularly important for recommendations that are likely to have a direct impact on victims. We intend to take forward these discussions in the coming months as a matter of priority, and to publish a formal response to the report in due course.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13756 by Keith Brown on 20 January 2023, and in light of the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme, for what reason it does not hold data on eligibility for the scheme; whether it has plans to obtain this data in the future, and what its position is on whether the efficacy of the scheme, with regard to its stated aims, has been limited by the absence of such data.
Answer
The independent review of the VNS was commissioned by the then Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans in March 2022, in line with a Victims Taskforce recommendation. The Scottish Government’s commissioning of the review reflects its commitment to ensuring that the justice system is person-centred and trauma-informed.
The review’s report was published on 12 May this year. It made 22 recommendations, including a recommendation on key data. This recommendation involves identification of key data for the VNS in order to determine how efficient and effective the scheme is, and for related purposes.
The Scottish Government intends to consider the report’s recommendations (including the recommendation on key data) in collaboration with stakeholders in the current months to fully explore their implications. We intend to take forward these discussions in the coming months as a matter of priority, and to publish a formal response to the report in due course.
The Scottish Government itself has a role to play in delivering the VNS for victims of people in the forensic mental health system who are subject to a Compulsion Order and Restriction Order (“the CORO VNS”). This means that it holds information on this aspect of this scheme. However, taking into account the small number of COROs imposed each year, the numbers of registered victims on this scheme are very small. Therefore, the Scottish Government does not publish data on the CORO VNS because this could risk identifying a victim.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendation from the
Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme that in any instance of temporary release where an offender might come into close proximity
with a victim, the victim is notified of this release every time.
Answer
The Scottish Government has noted the report of the independent review of the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS) as published on 12 May. As the report makes clear, a number of organisations have a role to play in delivering the current scheme (including the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Parole Board for Scotland, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Prison Service).
It is therefore crucial that the Scottish Government considers the report’s recommendations (including the recommendation on information for victims in instances of temporary release where an offender might come into close proximity with a victim) in collaboration with these organisations, and other stakeholders. We intend to take forward these discussions in the coming months as a matter of priority, and to publish a formal response to the report in due course.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16961 by Paul McLennan on 2 May 2023, what discussions it has had with SafeDeposits Scotland regarding deposits being returned to tenants or landlords when SafeDeposits Scotland was experiencing “teething issues” with its new system, including reports of a response time to emails of over five working days, which reportedly led to some deposits being returned without taking into account all of the evidence submitted by either the tenant or landlord during the 10-day Alternative Dispute Resolution process, and in the event that no such discussions have yet taken place, whether it plans to discuss this matter with SafeDeposits Scotland.
Answer
As highlighted in answer to question S6W-15794 on 22 March 2023 Scottish Government officials have had regular engagement on progress throughout the implementation of the Safe Deposits Scotland (SDS) system upgrade and will continue to do so. Officials have discussed the concerns raised by Mr Greene as part of this engagement.
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