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 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: S6W-27265

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what national policy Forestry and Land Scotland has for encouraging (a) raptor and owl conservation and monitoring and (b) other community conservation programmes in Scotland’s national forests.

Forestry and Land Scotland do not create policy but follow Scottish Government Policy created by other Scottish Government agencies.

Forestry and Land Scotland a) encourage raptor and owl conservation and monitoring by following the principles within Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy, Scotland’s Forestry Strategy and by complying with all relevant wildlife legislation.

Forestry and Land Scotland b) are engaged with a range of local community conservation programmes, including those supported by Scottish Raptor Study Group. In 2023, FLS launched its Communities Strategy which is an invitation for community groups to come forward with ideas for projects and activities including conservation work on Scotland's National Forests and Land managed by FLS.

Question reference: S6W-27256

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timescale for its commitment to designate at least one new National Park in Scotland by 2026.

The deadline for nominations from communities and organisations that would like their area to be considered for designation as a new National Park was 29 February 2024. Nominations were received from the Galloway, Lochaber, Loch Awe, Scottish Borders and Tay Forest. The nominations are currently being appraised against the criteria outlined in the published appraisal framework - New National Parks: nominations guidance and appraisal framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This appraisal framework was finalised following public consultation.

Following the completion of this appraisal process and the submission of a report, Ministers will decide which of the nominations should be taken forward to the next stage. The National Park proposal(s) will be published and will set out the area which it is proposed should be designated as a National Park.

A statutory process will then commence, starting with a detailed exploration of the National Park proposal that will be led by a ‘reporter’. This process is estimated to take around 9 months and will involve extensive consultation and engagement with local communities, stakeholders, businesses, local authorities, community councils and relevant public bodies and interest groups in order to further develop, test and refine the National Park proposal in light of local views and circumstances.

The reporter’s report to Scottish Ministers will take into account any views on the National Park proposal that are expressed during the consultation. The report will be published and laid before Parliament.

Following the publication of this report, and subject to legal conditions being met, the Scottish Government will then lay a designation order before Parliament in order to establish the new National Park(s). This process will include a 12-week public consultation on the draft designation order. Following this period of consultation a final designation order would then be laid before parliament.

Question reference: S6W-27264

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the current reported breach of Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention, and how any remedies will be implemented before the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee’s deadline of 1 October 2024.

Question reference: S6O-03463

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to consult on the introduction of a carbon emissions land tax for large landowners.

Question reference: S6W-27249

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will report on the timeframe for the creation of a Just Transition Plan for the Mossmorran industrial site developed in partnership with the operators of the plant, workforce and the local community.

The Scottish Government has committed to developing a Just Transition Plan for the Mossmorran industrial complex, work will commence in early 2025. This will allow for a thorough evaluation of the approach taken at Grangemouth to maximise learning and outputs. We will follow the principles of co-design and include a wide range of appropriate stakeholders from the community, industry, workforce and public sector. The Scottish Government intends to publish the plan by the end of the parliament.

Question reference: S6W-27254

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will report on the introduction of a working group for the delivery of the Onshore Wind Sector Deal for Scotland, and the forthcoming publication of a paper identifying the skills needed to deliver Scotland’s climate ambitions.

Oversight and governance of the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal (SOWSD) is led by the Scottish Onshore Wind Strategic Leadership Group (OWSLG).

The OWSLG is accountable for delivery of the Sector Deal, including review and approval of the work programme. The group will publicly report at least annually on progress, including on the forecast of operational onshore wind to 2030 and beyond. The group currently meets on a quarterly basis, with Ministers attending meetings twice a year.

In relation to the commitment on a skills paper, the Scottish Government commissioned research to identify the skills and workforce required to support the deployment of onshore wind up to 2030. This research was published through ClimateXChange on 14 May 2024 Workforce and skills requirements in Scotland’s onshore wind industry | ClimateXChange

Question reference: S6W-27257

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to accelerate woodland creation to 18,000 hectares a year by 2024-25.

Scotland’s woodland creation planting target is set out in the Climate Change Plan. The plan includes ambitious targets for woodland creation, aiming to increase woodland cover from around 18% to 21% of the total area of Scotland by 2032, with the planting target increasing to 18,000 hectares annually.

Although Scotland faces the most challenging budget settlement since devolution, the Scottish Government remains committed to maximising the important contribution forestry makes in tackling the climate emergency.

We fund woodland creation through the Forestry Grant Scheme, which has made £39.2 million available to support woodland creation in 2024-25.

Woodland creation projects, including both planting and natural regeneration schemes are being approved on an ongoing basis and whilst this funding will not allow us to reach this year’s target, it will help create over 9,000 hectares of new woodland. This will help maintain the level of planting close to the average achieved over the last 5 years and allow for increased planting in the future should funding from the UK Government be forthcoming. Putting this in context, it will still allow Scotland to create more woodland than the rest of the UK combined.

Question reference: S6W-27251

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to secure 8GW to 12GW of installed onshore wind by 2030.

As of December 2023, Scotland’s operational onshore wind capacity is around 9.5 GW. Within the project pipeline there is additional 13.9 GW of potential onshore wind capacity in Scotland. This consists of:

1.7 GW under construction.
4.8 GW awaiting construction.
7.4 GW in planning.

Energy Trends: UK renewables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A key industry commitment from the Onshore Wind Sector Deal was to publish a pipeline report on how Scotland may achieve its ambition of 20 GW of onshore wind by 2030. Scottish Renewables have committed to updating the report on a biannual basis. Scottish Onshore Wind Project Pipeline Analysis Dec 23 FULL REPORT (scottishrenewables.com)

Question reference: S6W-27269

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what public consultation process it carries out with local community groups when significant harvesting plans are proposed in areas that could affect national and local conservation projects.

The Scottish Government is committed to the principle that local communities should be involved in the decisions about land that affect them, including those relating to forestry.

Consultations are an essential part of the decision-making process in forestry, and last year Scottish Forestry updated guidance that sets out the Engagement and Consultation Processes for forestry plans and proposals in Scotland.

Where significant harvesting plans are proposed this will normally involve two stages, firstly applicants are expected to engage with communities and neighbours, providing them with an opportunity to input `before plans have been finalised, and secondly Scottish Forestry runs a formal public consultation exercise as part of decision making process for applications involving significant tree harvesting.

Question reference: S6W-27248

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will report on the climate compatibility assessment for the dualling of the A96 route between Inverness and Aberdeen to assess direct and indirect impacts on the climate and the environment.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the A96. This is despite stark challenges we face as a result of the severe budgetary restrictions imposed by the UK Government including an almost 9% cut in our capital budget.

The current plan is to fully dual the route and as part of this process we are undertaking a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme, which includes a climate compatibility assessment and other statutory assessments.

The significant interest in the review’s initial consultation, with nearly 4,600 responses, generated 11,000 options to improve the corridor. It is only right that appropriate time has been taken in order to properly examine and fully appraise these.

It is expected that the draft outcomes from the Review, including the climate compatibility assessment, will be consulted on in the coming months, before a final decision can be reached.