Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-36202

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the value of whisky exports since 2016, broken down by (i) region and (ii) country.

Please find information in the following tables.

Table 1. UK Exports of Scotch Whisky between 2016-2020, by Region (Ranked by 2019 Value)
			Value (£000’s)
			2016	2017	2018	2019	2020*
Scotch whisky (1)			4,008,996	4,367,424	4,712,119	4,924,614	3,813,023
	1	European Union	1,241,428	1,381,710	1,407,504	1,488,132	1,264,923
	2	North America	1,040,651	1,116,054	1,260,322	1,284,294	904,016
	3	Asia and Oceania	894,557	980,380	1,127,532	1,238,504	998,003
	4	Latin America and Caribbean	339,186	336,372	368,441	378,207	259,680
	5	Middle East and North Africa	233,927	262,021	274,630	239,093	120,961
	6	Sub-Saharan Africa	150,690	172,224	158,150	176,090	137,389
	7	Western Europe excluding EU	91,134	94,935	84,681	83,141	92,692
	8	Eastern Europe excluding EU	17,407	23,705	30,829	37,120	35,357
	9	Stores and Provisions	16	24	31	33	2

Source: HMRC OTS, accessed 12 March 2021. Includes BTTA estimates and unscheduled revisions.

* Provisional figures; (1) Includes all varieties of Scotch whisky using the CN8 codes 22083030, 22083041,
22083049, 22083061, 22083069, 22083071, 22083079;
‎

Table 2. UK Exports of Scotch Whisky between 2016-2020, by Top 10 Country
		Destination and Value (£000’s)
		2016		2017		2018		2019		2020*
Scotch whisky (1)		4,008,996		4,367,424		4,712,119		4,924,614		3,813,023
	1	USA	855,583	USA	921,737	USA	1,039,490	USA	1,068,942	USA	728,923
	2	France	416,698	France	427,577	France	437,399	France	426,810	France	371,423
	3	Singapore	224,730	Singapore	290,705	Singapore	319,873	Singapore	299,633	Singapore	246,944
	4	Taiwan	174,911	Germany	186,304	Germany	176,907	Taiwan	205,358	Taiwan	181,829
	5	Germany	164,063	Spain	168,951	Taiwan	168,389	Germany	187,297	Latvia	176,503
	6	Spain	159,891	Taiwan	160,348	Spain	166,203	Spain	174,321	Germany	140,605
	7	UAE	131,303	UAE	129,750	UAE	146,874	India	166,208	Japan	114,392
	8	Mexico	111,487	Latvia	120,509	India	138,798	Japan	146,836	Australia	113,090
	9	Australia	100,286	S. Africa	114,200	Mexico	131,543	Latvia	142,595	China	106,941
	10	India	96,514	Mexico	111,050	Latvia	131,116	Mexico	120,902	Spain	105,023

Source: HMRC OTS, accessed 12 March 2021. Includes BTTA estimates and unscheduled revisions.

* Provisional figures; (1) Includes all varieties of Scotch whisky using the CN8 codes 22083030,
22083041, 22083049,
22083061, 22083069, 22083071, 22083079;
‎

This information has been extracted using HMRC’s Overseas Trade Statistics data files available at:
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/

Question reference: S5W-36201

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the value of food and drink exports since 2016, broken down by (i) region and (ii) country.

Please find information in the following tables.

Table 1. Scottish Exports of Food and Drink between 2016-2020, by Region (Ranked by 2019 Value)
Region			Value (£000’s)
Region			2016	2017	2018	2019	2020*
Food (1)			1,424,802	1,641,589	1,602,219	1,778,883	1,656,553
	1	European Union	982,085	1,110,378	1,082,092	1,166,360	1,076,179
	2	Asia and Oceania	155,278	216,446	216,604	228,642	147,135
	3	North America	115,795	151,599	151,606	185,735	130,489
	4	Western Europe	61,422	58,611	65,725	88,633	200,622
	5	Middle East and North Africa	69,362	67,090	59,119	78,023	64,357
	6	Sub-Saharan Africa	28,708	20,495	14,430	14,588	13,102
	7	Eastern Europe	5,725	7,336	5,790	9,304	17,854
	8	Latin America and the Caribbean	6,427	9,634	6,853	7,598	6,815
Drinks (2)			3,763,779	4,018,531	4,281,323	4,479,740	3,592,188
	1	European Union	1,197,190	1,246,730	1,316,625	1,391,418	1,220,125
	2	North America	1,182,923	1,244,743	1,280,365	1,282,242	975,318
	3	Asia and Oceania	716,883	818,787	947,572	1,049,759	856,403
	4	Latin America and the Caribbean	252,990	253,964	278,278	291,800	200,219
	5	Middle East and North Africa	191,355	208,863	215,282	196,908	103,917
	6	Sub-Saharan Africa	116,597	131,369	128,579	145,419	109,691
	7	Western Europe	87,571	87,982	81,242	84,187	89,285
	8	Eastern Europe	18,270	26,093	33,380	38,007	37,230
	9	Ships and Stores (Non-EU)	..	..	0	..	..

Source: HMRC RTS, accessed 18 March 2021

* Provisional figures; (1) Includes all divisions in SITC Section 0; (2) Includes SITC Division 11.

Table 2. Scottish Exports of Food and Drink between 2016-2020, by Category (Ranked by 2019 Value)
Category			Value (£000’s)
Category			2016	2017	2018	2019	2020*
Food (1)			1,424,802	1,641,589	1,602,219	1,778,883	1,656,553
	03	Fish and seafood	768,412	946,602	917,620	1,020,197	875,106
	08	Animal feed	146,735	174,293	157,183	190,851	240,963
	04	Cereals and cereals preparations	173,207	179,973	165,886	177,482	166,941
	01	Meat and meat preparations	96,875	99,200	113,846	108,382	97,382
	05	Vegetables and fruits	63,642	62,192	67,348	82,716	75,450
	02	Dairy products and eggs	44,116	49,278	47,865	57,128	53,189
	00	Live animals	60,912	44,955	47,626	51,804	65,749
	09	Miscellaneous and edible products	35,662	41,398	48,251	49,523	48,692
	06	Sugars and honey	18,201	23,082	17,767	20,724	14,216
	07	Coffee, tea, cocoa and spices	17,040	20,616	18,827	20,076	18,865
Drinks (2)			3,763,779	4,018,531	4,281,323	4,479,740	3,592,188
	11	Drinks	3,763,779	4,018,531	4,281,323	4,479,740	3,592,188

Source: HMRC RTS, accessed 18 March 2021

* Provisional figures; (1) Includes all divisions in SITC Section 0; (2) Includes SITC Division 11.

Table 3. Scottish Exports of Food and Drink between 2016-2020, by Top 10 Country
		Destination and Value (£000’s)
		2016		2017		2018			2019			2020*
Food (1)		1,424,802		1,641,589		1,602,219			1,778,883			1,656,553
	1	France	378,143	France	448,278		France	438,700		France	505,060		France	458,612
	2	Ireland	160,780	Ireland	175,671		Ireland	181,122		Ireland	178,938		Ireland	159,827
	3	Spain	120,645	Spain	123,162		USA	129,451		USA	151,628		Norway	125,122
	4	USA	89,921	USA	122,758		Spain	115,229		Spain	112,891		USA	100,005
	5	Italy	73,920	Italy	84,694		Italy	79,236		Australia	76,370		Spain	86,358
	6	Germany	60,299	Netherlands	64,477		Germany	65,156		Italy	75,547		Netherlands	71,514
	7	Netherlands	51,895	Australia	60,838		Netherlands	60,830		Germany	71,718		Germany	63,001
	8	Australia	39,710	Germany	60,233		Australia	60,510		Netherlands	66,700		Italy	61,883
	9	Norway	36,655	China	56,794		China	54,115		Norway	54,009		Poland	43,929
	10	Belgium	35,003	Belgium	36,552		Norway	41,102		China	41,786		Belgium	38,665
Drinks (2)		3,763,779		4,018,531		4,281,323			4,479,740			3,592,188
	1	USA	992,737	USA	1,041,625		USA	1,056,945		USA	1,064,635		USA	794,710
	2	France	366,686	France	364,174		France	373,972		France	369,237		France	324,854
	3	Spain	169,850	Singapore	216,684		Singapore	232,936		Singapore	230,372		Singapore	182,278
	4	Singapore	167,993	Spain	168,458		Spain	169,349		Spain	175,039		Latvia	161,349
	5	Germany	153,008	Germany	152,873		Germany	147,099		Taiwan	168,926		Taiwan	145,302
	6	UAE	108,323	Taiwan	119,201		Taiwan	137,050		Germany	147,544		Germany	130,350
	7	Canada	101,554	Canada	114,604		Australia	122,381		Latvia	131,178		Australia	125,754
	8	Australia	101,208	Australia	105,648		Canada	117,701		India	129,769		Canada	114,831
	9	Taiwan	100,407	UAE	105,339		Latvia	117,572		Japan	124,752		Japan	103,479
	10	Mexico	88,626	Latvia	101,822		UAE	115,976		Australia	124,266		Spain	102,668

Source: HMRC RTS, accessed 18 March 2021.

* Provisional figures; (1) Includes all divisions in SITC Section 0; (2) Includes SITC Division 11.

This information has been extracted using HMRC's Regional Trade Statistics data files available at: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/

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Source: HMRC RTS, accessed 18 March 2021

Question reference: S5W-36203

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the value of salmon exports since 2016, broken down by (i) region and (ii) country.

Please find information in the following tables.

Table 1. UK Exports of Atlantic Salmon between 2016-2020, by Region (Ranked by 2019 Value)
			Value (£000’s)
			2016	2017	2018	2019	2020*
Atlantic Salmon (1)			450,480	608,630	509,517	627,968	453,999
	1	European Union	204,235	290,671	254,754	332,516	290,859
	2	North America	160,023	203,741	143,024	183,234	109,075
	3	Asia and Oceania	73,536	98,483	99,637	96,768	37,449
	4	Middle East and North Africa	10,575	12,011	8,312	11,105	4,821
	5	Western Europe excluding EU	1,736	3,108	3,308	3,587	3,941
	6	Eastern Europe excluding EU	190	133	157	464	7,648
	7	Latin America and Caribbean	116	427	234	221	138
	8	Sub-Saharan Africa	70	57	91	72	68

Source: HMRC OTS, accessed 12 March 2021. Includes BTTA estimates and unscheduled revisions.

* Provisional figures; (1) Atlantic salmon is shown by CN8 code 03021400.

Table 2. UK Exports of Atlantic Salmon between 2016-2020, by Top 10 Country
		Destination and Value (£000’s)
		2016		2017		2018		2019		2020*
Atlantic Salmon (1)		450,480		608,630		509,517		627,968		453,999
	1	USA	154,109	USA	193,022	France	167,771	France	225,215	France	187,077
	2	France	138,419	France	191,536	USA	139,090	USA	178,463	USA	104,367
	3	China	52,872	China	68,691	China	68,350	China	59,077	Poland	31,076
	4	Ireland	26,917	Ireland	35,186	Ireland	31,867	Ireland	25,631	Ireland	17,586
	5	Germany	9,928	Taiwan	15,945	Taiwan	21,834	Germany	23,479	Taiwan	15,220
	6	Taiwan	8,950	Germany	12,982	Germany	15,502	Taiwan	23,266	China	14,177
	7	Poland	8,511	Poland	11,371	Belgium	8,510	Belgium	15,319	Belgium	13,451
	8	Belgium	7,964	Canada	10,719	Denmark	8,466	Poland	11,761	Germany	12,640
	9	Canada	5,865	Belgium	9,856	Poland	7,687	Denmark	10,420	Netherlands	12,286
	10	Lebanon	5,075	Netherlands	8,805	Japan	5,531	Japan	9,158	Belarus	5,811

Source: HMRC OTS, accessed 12 March 2021. Includes BTTA estimates and unscheduled revisions.

* Provisional figures; (1) Atlantic salmon is shown by CN8 code 03021400.

This information has been extracted using HMRC’s Overseas Trade Statistics data files available at: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/

Question reference: S5W-36208

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much has been spent on average per person on environmental protection in Scotland since 2016-17, and what information it has on how this compares with (a) England and (b) Wales.

The Scottish Government publishes data on spending for environmental protection in the annual Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) report. Average annual spend for the last four years on Environmental Protection was £1,258 million per year, which is on average £231 per person in Scotland.

Using a slightly different methodology, the HMT Country and Regional Analysis 2020 Report provides a comparison between Scotland, England and Wales. A summary of the data for agriculture, fisheries and forestry has been provided in the following table with additional information on spending per capita provided by Scottish Government.

A summary of the data on environmental protection has been provided below with additional information on spending per capita provided by Scottish Government.

Table 1: Total spend on Environmental Protection in Scotland, England and Wales and spend per person

Year	Scotland		England		Wales
	Total £ million	£ per person	Total £ million	£ per person	Total £ million	£ per person
2016-2017	1,231	228	8,598	156	609	195
2017-2018	1,241	229	9,318	168	617	197
2018-2019	1,281	236	8,606	154	616	196
2019-2020	1,364	250	9,103	162	675	214
Total (£)	*5,118	*942	*35,626	*639	*2,516	*803
2016-2020 Average	1,280	235	8,907	160	629	201

*Total different due to rounding

Question reference: S5W-36205

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage share of new woodland planted in the UK since 2016-17 has been in planted in Scotland, and what information it has on how this compares with new woodland planted in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Scotland has accounted for about 80% of woodland planting in the UK in recent years. Forest Research publishes National Statistics on the area of new woodland creation, which can be found on its website: Forestry Statistics and Forestry Facts & Figures - Forest Research

The following table shows the amount of woodland creation in the UK between 2016 – 2020, and the percentage share that was created in Scotland.

Forestry Statistics: Woodland creation and planting 2016 - 2020 in thousand hectares. Published by Forest Research

Year ‎ (ending 31/3)	England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	UK	% share of woodland creation in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK
2016	0.82	0.11	4.63	0.05	5.61	83
2017	1.15	0.41	4.76	0.21	6.52	73
2018	1.5	0.2	7.14	0.21	9.05	79
2019	1.42	0.67	11.21	0.24	13.54	83
2020	2.34	0.08	11.05	0.2	13.66	81

Question reference: S5W-36204

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much has been spent on average (a) per year and (b) per person, in each year since 2016-17 on (i) agriculture, (ii) fisheries and (iii) forestry in Scotland, and what information it has on how this compares with (A) England and (B) Wales.

The Scottish Government publishes data on spending for agriculture, fisheries and forestry in the annual Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) report. Average annual spend for the last four years in agriculture, fisheries and forestry was £908 million, which is on average £167 per person in Scotland.

Using a slightly different methodology, the HMT Country and Regional Analysis 2020 Report provides a comparison between Scotland, England and Wales. A summary of the data for agriculture, fisheries and forestry has been provided in the following table with additional information on spending per capita provided by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not routinely publish comparisons for the individual categories for agriculture, fisheries and forestry and there is no comparative information held in the HMT report either.

Table 1: Total spend for ‘Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’ in Scotland, England and Wales and spend per capita

Year	Scotland		England		Wales
	Total £ million	£ per capita	Total £ million	£ per capita	Total £ million	£ per capita
2016-2017	929	172	3,247	59	464	149
2017-2018	908	167	3,159	57	498	159
2018-2019	924	170	3,655	65	519	165
2019-2020	880	161	3,853	68	500	159
Total (£)	3,642*	670*	13,914	249	1,981	632
2016-2020 Average (£)	911	168	3,479	62	495	158

*Total different due to rounding

Question reference: S5W-36016

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the NHS will continue on the emergency footing that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport announced on 10 September 2020.

I want to thank our health and care system for their magnificent work over this winter. It has been an enormously challenging period where they have had to manage a resurgence in cases, the emergence of new variants and the on-going demands of providing vital services to those requiring care.

The last few months have highlighted the nature of this pandemic and the continued requirement that NHS Scotland and its partners are able to be agile in their response to the new and emergent challenges we face.

We now have our Strategic Framework in place to help signal our direction of travel as a society and how we can support people and the communities in which they live, back toward the normality of life that we all wish for. That is, however, a journey that will take a number of months and, all the while, we must be mindful of the challenges that may still lie ahead. That may mean the need for further action to be taken on either a local, regional or national basis to support our health system. I am also committed to supporting and protecting the staff who have worked so hard, and for such a long time, in response to this unprecedented pandemic.

With this in mind, I have decided that NHS Scotland will remain on an emergency footing until at least 30 June 2021. It will, of course, be a matter for any incoming Health Secretary and their Government to review this when they take office following the election.

Question reference: S5O-05150

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the short review into cancer pathway arrangements and reimbursement of travel expenses for patients in Dumfries and Galloway, which it committed to carrying out on 24 November 2020.

Question reference: S5W-35577

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 February 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the approach that it will take to the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation groups 1 to 9 have been completed.

We will continue the vaccination programme in line with the independent expert scientific and clinical advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI). We are making excellent progress through the first JCVI priority cohorts. Once we have offered vaccination to these groups, we will therefore continue to follow recently published JCVI advice by inviting adults under 50 who have not yet received the vaccine in age cohorts, as follows:

All those aged 40-49 years
All those aged 30-39 years
All those aged 18-29 years

The JCVI’s recommendation continues to be that an age-based approach is the best way to address the risk of severe illness and mortality associated with the virus and this approach helps us to do that as quickly as possible. This approach will be taken by the 4 Nations across the UK and we will continue to vaccinate as quickly as supplies allow.

Our priority is to save lives, and vaccination remains one of the most important tools we have as we work our way out of this pandemic, alongside our Test and Protect system and the restrictions we all must, for now, continue to live with. We would ask everyone who is invited for a vaccine to go, and I am grateful for the patience of those who we are yet to reach as we roll the programme out further.

Question reference: S5W-35528

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the refreshed Diabetes Improvement Plan.

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