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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.

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Question reference: S6O-01981

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it engages with local communities to ensure that their transport needs are met.

Question reference: S6W-15244

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the Analysis of the Call for Evidence responses to the Violence Against Women and Girls Funding Review that 65% of respondents expressed a preferred funding period for women's services of at least five years.

The Scottish Government established the Independent Strategic Review of Funding and Commissioning of violence against women and girls services to develop a new funding model to ensure victims have access to high-quality, accessible specialist support.

The call for written evidence is one part of the overall data collection process undertaken by the Review team, which includes around 80 engagement sessions with stakeholders. The final report will be considered by Ministers once complete, and it would be premature to comment on the views expressed by those who submitted responses before the Review has analysed all data collected and made recommendations.

The final report and the evidence provided to the Review will also inform the upcoming refresh of the Equally Safe strategy.

Question reference: S6W-14758

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the available data on the numbers of gamebirds released, and number and locations of release sites, is adequate for the purposes of (a) effectively (i) assessing and (ii) controlling the spread of diseases from gamebirds to wildlife, and (b) monitoring any other environmental impacts of gamebird releases.

Question reference: S6W-15320

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how Marine Scotland’s guidance for a European Protected Species licence in relation to the use of acoustic deterrent devices (a) accounts for the reported uneven distribution of cetaceans across the seabed and (b) has taken recent academic research on cetacean distribution into account.

All applications for a European Protected Species (EPS) licences must provide the number of individual animals affected by the proposed work, and applicants must show how this number was calculated.

Marine Scotland has published a document that provides guidance and advice for any aquaculture production business that wishes to apply for a licence to disturb EPS as a result of ADD use - faq_adds_and_eps_including_annex_1_and_annex_2_-_version_5_-october_2021_-_final.pdf (marine.gov.scot) . The guidance provides links to how areas are defined and the cetacean abundance estimates that should be used for calculations, While this document focuses on finfish farms, the information provided can be of use to anyone applying for an EPS licence.

While not published yet, Marine Scotland are in the process of updating its guidance on the use of finer scale distributions to account for uneven densities of marine mammals across SCANS blocks. Previously, the block estimates from SCANS III (Hammond et al. 2021) were recommended, however finer scale density surfaces are now available: Modelled density surfaces of cetaceans in European Atlantic waters in summer 2016 from the SCANS-III aerial and shipboard surveys (Lacey et al. 2022) . These estimates can be downloaded as shapefiles for each species here , and are considered the best available density estimates to use in EPS license assessments. Finer scale density estimates allow for a better characterisation of uneven distributions within SCANS blocks however the issue of temporal effects remains a challenge. For a specific site, there may be other, more suitable information on the cetacean species likely to be present along with their densities. However, MSS would only recommend using robust, effort-related survey data that is appropriate for absolute density estimation.

Marine Scotland bases its decisions on the best available scientific evidence at any particular time including any relevant peer reviewed literature. Any such literature is subject to a critical review to determine its applicability. Marine Scotland’s decisions will reflect the outcome of this process as well as consideration of information provided by the applicant and any expert advice received.

Marine Scotland is currently updating the above guidance to include finer resolution species density surfaces and this will be published in 2023. All applications for EPS licences will be expected to follow the updated guidance.

Question reference: S6W-15322

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will develop a strategy to tackle so-called pensioner poverty that includes statutory targets.

The Scottish Government does not plan to develop a strategy to tackle pensioner poverty. We already work closely with partners, including through the Older People’s Strategic Forum on a range of issues related to age equality. This includes the Strategic Action Framework ‘A Fairer Scotland for Older People, in which Ensuring Financial Security is a priority area. In addition, the forthcoming Human Rights Bill will include provision for older people.

Our Cost of Living website contains dedicated information on the support available for older people, including benefits and travel.

Question reference: S6W-15186

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will encourage local authorities to extend the opening hours of licensed premises to mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, in light of similar measures having been proposed by the UK Government for England and Wales.

The main piece of legislation that controls the sale of alcohol in Scotland is the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. The administration of the alcohol licensing regime is devolved to independent local Licensing Boards – in effect the 32 Scottish Local Authorities.

Licensing Boards can grant general extensions of licensed hours if they consider it appropriate to do so in connection with a special event of local or national significance.

The Scottish Ministers do not have a power to grant a general extension of licensed hours, unlike the Home Secretary under the England and Wales alcohol licensing regime.

Question reference: S6W-14888

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost is of the refurbishment of Helensburgh Fire Station.

Maintenance of its estate and the allocation of its capital budget is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

SFRS is currently conducting an options appraisal exercise to identify the best and most economic options for the 14 fire stations identified with Reinforced Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (RAAC) roof construction.

SFRS is also continuing to work with partner agencies to explore if there is potential for greater shared services across all of its estate and in particular those fire stations which require significant capital maintenance because of the defective RAAC roofing.

Question reference: S6W-14886

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any plans to relocate Helensburgh fire station to another site, rather than refurbishing the existing building.

Question reference: S6W-14778

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the potential delays to the delivery of the Winter Heating Payment, and when the payments will reach those in need.

There has been no delay to making Winter Heating Payments. Payments started in February and will continue to be made automatically during March to support 400,000 eligible people.

While it was not possible to make payments earlier this year since the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were unable to provide the data required prior to 31 January, the Scottish Government is working with the DWP to review the feasibility of bringing forward payments in future years.

Question reference: S6W-15372

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress towards implementing the recommendations of the June 2021 report to the Scottish Government, Bringing Home the Bacon: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Scottish Pig Sector.

The 'Bringing Home the Bacon: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Scottish Pig Sector' report was part of the Farmer-Led Group initiative to develop advice and proposals for the Scottish Government on how to cut emissions from agriculture. The Scottish Government is grateful to the Pig Industry Leadership Group and the other Farmer Led Groups (FLGs) for the work they undertook in short order to provide recommendations to support our ambitious vision for Scottish agriculture.

The recommendations of the FLGs informed the 'Agricultural Transition in Scotland' consultation, which was carried out between August 2021 and November 2021. This consultation has informed policy development to support the progression of our forthcoming agriculture bill.

To continue our co-design process with industry as part of the Agriculture Reform Programme we established the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) to advise on progressing the broad recommendations of the FLG's and support implementation of policy reform. The ARIOB is comprised of representatives from all key Scottish agricultural sectors including members of the Pig Industry Leadership Group.

In the Bringing Home the Bacon report there was a reference to the role of Carbon Audits in supporting businesses to reduce emissions. As part of the National Test Programme we are funding farmers to undertake carbon audits which establish a business’s carbon footprint, and identify areas where emissions can be reduced.

The report also refers to the need for investment in on-farm slurry storage and management. Through the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme (SACGS) the Scottish Government funded investment in slurry management equipment for farms in 2022 and in 2023 support for slurry storage is available through the Agri-Environment Climate scheme.