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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-28408

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any landowners in Scotland have been issued more than one notice under section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 since 1996.

Section 10 notices can be issued to a land occupier by SEPA and local authorities. SEPA advises that it has issued multiple Section 59 notices to 26 individuals between 2005 and 2023 (earlier data is not available due to the cyber attack on SEPA in 2020). It is not possible to identify when a notice has been issued to a land occupier who is also the land owner. Data on Section 10 notices issued by local authorities is not held centrally.

Notices issued under section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 since its establishment in 1996
Year	Total Issued	No. of Recipients	No. of Recipients receiving multiple S59 Notices
2024*	7	6	1
2023*	8	7	1
2022*	5	5	-
2021*	4	4	-
2020	2	2	-
2019	6	4	1
2018	5	5	-
2017	8	8	-
2016	11	11	-
2015	19	15	3
2014	19	12	3
2013	5	5	-
2012	29	25	4
2011	20	18	2
2010	22	19	2
2009	23	19	3
2008	32	27	4
2007	16	14	2
2006	13	13	-
2005	1	1	-
1996 - 2004	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
* Snapshot of Enforcement records at 01-0-/2024.

Question reference: S6W-28409

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many notices SEPA has issued under section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 since its establishment in 1996.

SEPA advises that it has issued a total of 255 Section 59 notices between 2005 and 2024. Data from 1996-2004 is not available due to the cyber-attack on SEPA that happened in 2020.

Notices issued under section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 since its establishment in 1996
Year	Total Issued	No. of Recipients	No. of Recipients receiving multiple S59 Notices
2024*	7	6	1
2023*	8	7	1
2022*	5	5	-
2021*	4	4	-
2020	2	2	-
2019	6	4	1
2018	5	5	-
2017	8	8	-
2016	11	11	-
2015	19	15	3
2014	19	12	3
2013	5	5	-
2012	29	25	4
2011	20	18	2
2010	22	19	2
2009	23	19	3
2008	32	27	4
2007	16	14	2
2006	13	13	-
2005	1	1	-
1996 - 2004	Not Available	Not Available	Not Available
* Snapshot of Enforcement records at 01-07-2024.

Notes on recovered Registry data (2005 - 2020):

SEPA have access to partially recovered records prior to the cyber-attack on 24/12/2020. The data is a download of the Enforcement Tracking Database (ETD) which was backed up just before the cyber-attack.

Question reference: S6W-28350

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the report for the 2021 missed emissions target under section 36 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 in the first week of September 2024, following its commitment to the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland that this report would be laid in the Scottish Parliament before summer recess and subsequently saying that it cannot publish the report during the pre-election period, and in light of reports that this report has already been substantially delayed and is critical to understanding how the Scottish Government plans to learn from its failures in order to reach its net zero targets.

Question reference: S6W-28273

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to assist Glasgow Airport in increasing passenger numbers.

The Scottish Government has always recognised the importance of Scotland’s international connectivity and we are committed to working with all Scotland’s airports to help grow international connectivity.

Our International Strategy, published earlier this year, makes reference to that commitment and our overall ambition is for Scotland to be at least as well connected as peer nations.

Transport Scotland, along with VisitScotland and Scottish Development International, works to help Scotland’s airports grow international connectivity and secure new routes that are essential for inbound tourism, business connectivity and the economy as a whole. This includes work to grow our connectivity to the US and Canada given the importance of these links for business, exports and tourism. That role is a complementary one with each airport competing on their own merits for new routes and capacity.

Representatives from the Scottish Government recently took part in the route development forum Routes Europe 2024, meeting with a number of airlines to discuss future opportunities and promote Scotland as a market that can sustain more direct connectivity. We also have regular engagement with airlines to discuss future opportunities to further develop Scotland’s connectivity to North America. These discussions are commercially sensitive and I am unable to share specific details.

Question reference: S6W-28205

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that every NHS board has a designated renal counsellor for adults with kidney disease.

Recruitment and training of registered mental health professionals is a matter for employers such as NHS boards and Local Authorities. These bodies make informed decisions about recruiting counsellors and psychotherapists or training new mental health practitioners, according to the needs of local service providers and working with relevant professional bodies. The Scottish Government expects employers to apply standards and frameworks which are appropriate to the specialism being recruited for.

In September 2023, we published Mental Health Core Standards , initially applying to adult secondary mental health services. These outline national expectations to boards regarding staffing levels and appropriate skills.

Question reference: S6W-28271

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the cost to the public of producing the report, Scottish Government Pain Management Panel: Report on Phase 2 of engagement with the panel, regarding chronic pain information compiled by The Lines Between, which was the private firm commissioned by the Scottish Government.

In summer 2022, the Lines Between were commissioned to recruit, support and engage a diverse cross-section of people with chronic pain across Scotland to establish a Pain Management Panel to help inform the Pain Management Implementation Plan. The total cost of the contract with The Lines Between was £40,000 exclusive of VAT. The cost of formatting the report for publication on the Scottish Government website was £516.58.

Question reference: S6W-28269

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of supporting the Pain Management Task Force has been since it started meetings in June 2022, including a breakdown of any payments for (a) workers, (b) secondments, (c) members, (d) travel costs, (e) IT and (f) other expenses.

Question reference: S6W-28272

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help Glasgow Airport to secure the return of transatlantic flights.

Question reference: S6W-28487

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it had (a) completed all the work required to produce and (b) finalised a draft response to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment, prior to the commencement of the purdah period for the 2024 General Election.

Question reference: S6W-28482

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government in what way any technological and connectivity restrictions have impacted its ability to deliver its planned national digital academy.