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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: S6W-18227

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that at least 11 sites that have specially protected status, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Ramsar sites and Special Protection Areas, received an intake of sewage overflow in 2022-23, what discussions it has had with Scottish Water on this matter, and what steps are being taken to prevent sewage from entering and damaging protected areas.

Question reference: S6W-18246

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands has to meet with shellfish businesses in Inverclyde, including Inverclyde Shellfish and its 13 staff, regarding its plans for Highly Protected Marine Areas.

It has always been our intention to develop these ambitious proposals in close collaboration with those impacted by them – in particular, people living and working in our island and coastal communities.

Prior to the consultation, we met with over 20 stakeholder groups representing a wide range of marine industries and users. We also ran ten online information sessions from February - April to help anyone wishing to provide a response to our consultation. These meetings included fisheries organisations such as the Communities Inshore Fisheries Alliance.

We continue to engage with communities and industry as we consider the many thousands of responses to our initial, broad consultation.

Local representatives of Scotland’s fishing industry are an important part of that.

Question reference: S6W-18119

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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”.

Question reference: S6W-18169

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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.

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

Question reference: S6W-18148

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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.

Question reference: S6W-18229

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
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.

Question reference: S6W-18092

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-17977

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
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.

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

Question reference: S6W-18046

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 2 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when (a) its representatives and (b) the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights next plan(s) to meet SafeDeposits Scotland, either virtually or in person.

Question reference: S6W-18091

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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.

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.