Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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: S6W-37060

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) reasoning and (b) supporting evidential basis is for its decision to split the Fisheries Management and Conservation Group (FMAC) into separate commercial fishing and Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations, also known as eNGOs, groupings, and what its position is on how this decision impacts the principle of inclusivity in fisheries management, as set out in the Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030.

Question reference: S6W-37059

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published Evaluation of Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups (RIFG), which highlighted that a majority of marine stakeholders believe that the 15-year-old RIFG model is not delivering on its remit, whether it is considering other co-management models, including English IFCAs, and what the reasoning is for its decision.

Question reference: S6W-37100

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the definition of "natural range" in NatureScot's, Beaver Management Report - January 2023 to April 2024, (a) differs from that in the Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations and (b) does not align with the precedent set by the European Commission's 2018 ruling that naturalised populations should be considered "within range" on the River Ebro, Spain.

Question reference: S6W-37101

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason naturalised beaver populations that arose through illegal release, accidental release or natural dispersion from authorised populations are not considered "within range" by the existing definition of "natural range" for beavers in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36309

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its inshore Marine Protected Areas and Priority Marine Features consultation, how long from the beginning of the consultation it anticipates it will take for any necessary protections to be implemented and enforced.

Developing evidence-based and effective fisheries management measures, and robustly undertaking statutory requirements, for more than 160 sites and areas within the inshore region is a complicated and challenging process. It is on a scale not previously undertaken therefore it is not possible to give a definitive timeline for how long it will take following the consultation as this will be impacted by a number of factors including: the length of the consultation, number of responses and the output of the statutory assessments. We are continuing to work at pace to ensure progress is made as quickly as possible.

Question reference: S6W-36310

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29794 by Gillian Martin on 20 September 2024, what its position is on whether it has sufficient time to consult on and adopt measures regarding inshore Marine Protected Areas and Priority Marine Features before the end of the current parliamentary session.

Scottish Ministers have statutory processes they must adhere to in developing and implementing fisheries management measures. As outlined previously in PQ S6W-29794, developing evidence-based and effective fisheries management measures for more than 160 sites and areas within the inshore region is a complicated and challenging process.

For inshore MPAs and PMFs, we are continuing to work at pace to robustly complete the necessary statutory social, economic and environmental assessments. These are currently all being undertaken and we are progressing them as a matter of urgency in preparation for the launch of the public consultation.

We will consult on the proposed fisheries management measures for inshore sites and areas following the completion of these assessments in line with the current Programme for Government.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-36038

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking in rural areas, particularly in the Highlands, to improve (a) mental health services for vulnerable people and (b) adult social support.

The Scottish Government recognise that people in rural areas, particularly those who are vulnerable, can experience particular challenges in relation to their mental health, wellbeing and social care support.

Decisions around the provision of mental health services are a local responsibility and are delivered through a mixture of NHS, local authority and third sector organisations. Mental Health services will vary depending the local population needs and will be guided by clinical decision making.

While we expect service decisions to be taken locally, we have invested £66 million in our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults since 2021. The Fund has a strong focus on prevention and early intervention and prioritises a range of ‘at risk’ groups including those people disadvantaged by geographical location (particularly remote and rural areas) with over 900 awards being made to community projects supporting people disadvantaged by geographical location (including rural areas) since its inception.

Social care funding has been increased by this government to ensure quality care is delivered in Scotland. We expect all partners involved to work together for the benefit of people supported in care across Scotland and ensure the continuity of care for all those who need it.

While we are investing almost £2.2 billion for social care and integration we do recognise that there are particular challenges faced in rural areas such as the Highlands and despite substantial funding increases, significant these challenge remains – prevention, early intervention and reform remain critical to delivering an effective, efficient and sustainable health and social care system.

Question reference: S6F-04007

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2025

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on when the Scottish Government expects to respond to the Loch Long salmon farm planning application.

Question reference: S6W-36037

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the composition is of the single-use coffee cups and lunch boxes used in the Parliament, and where the location is of the facility for composting such single-use packaging.

Takeaway meal containers (lunch boxes) and single use coffee cups in the Garden Level Restaurant are fully compostable, made from a fibrous by product of sugar cane. Single use coffee cups at the coffee bar are made from paper, paperboard and recyclable materials and are designed for industrial composting.

Compostable items are placed in the food waste bins located throughout the building and are taken by a commercial food waste recycling company to the Anaerobic Digestion Plant at Millerhill just outside Edinburgh.

19 tonnes of food and compostable packaging were taken to the Anaerobic Digestion Plant at Millerhill in 2024/25. This represents 26% of our operational waste stream.

For the period of April 2024-March 2025, 36% of hot beverages sold were served in single use cups. And for the same period, 31% of sales made in the Garden Level Restaurant were in single use lunch boxes.

In partnership with our catering supplier we are implementing many measures to reduce the consumption of single use disposable items such as;

continuation of the disposable hot drink cup charge to encourage colleagues to use their reuseable cups.
Removal of disposable cutlery and placing collection caddies at each tea point to return metal cutlery back to the kitchen for cleaning
Introduction of reusable take away food containers and various campaigns to encourage uptake.
Actively exploring further options to support reusables and educating users on environmental benefits
Holding a stock of reuseable hot drink cups for customers on a return basis

More information about our Sustainability Plan including waste minimisation is available on our website Sustainability | Scottish Parliament Website.

Question reference: S6W-36761

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the Single Building Assessment (SBA) to facilitate the delivery of the Cladding Remediation Programme defines the term (a) development, (b) building and (c) stairs, and whether this definition is applied consistently across all cladding-related policies and reporting.

The Single Building Assessment (SBA) is a comprehensive evaluation designed to assess fire safety risks associated with external wall systems in Scottish buildings. However, specific definitions for the terms (a) development, (b) building, and (c) stairs within the context of the SBA are not explicitly detailed in the definitions of the Housing Cladding Remediation (Scotland) Act 2025.

Development: The term development is not specifically defined within the SBA. Generally, in Scottish planning context, development refers to the carrying out of building, engineering, mining, or other operations in, on, over, or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land.

Building: While the SBA specification does not provide a specific definition of building, it refers to in-scope buildings as those eligible for assessment under the programme.

The Cladding Remediation Programme aims to address risks in domestic multi-residential buildings that meet the following criteria:

have at least one flat
Have cladding
are 11 meters or more in height
were either
- constructed between 1 June 1992 and 1 June 2022
- developed between 1 June 1992 and 1 June 2022

Stairs: The term stairs is not explicitly defined in the SBA-related documents. In general construction terminology, stairs refer to a set of steps leading from one floor of a building to another.