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: S5W-27045

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 3 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what carbon offset deals between it and private sector actors are (a) in place and (b) under discussion, broken down by (i) the time period for each and (ii) how much CO2 will be offset.

Question reference: S5W-27046

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 3 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the total financial value will be of the carbon offset deals that are (a) in place and (b) under discussion.

Question reference: S5O-04098

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when the environment secretary last met communities living near the natural gas and ethylene plants at Mossmorran.

Question reference: S5W-27084

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 28 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) development work and (b) stakeholder engagement has taken place regarding the strategic research programme on agriculture, environment, food and land.

Question reference: S5W-27083

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 28 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it will align the strategic research programme on agriculture, environment, food and land with (a) the climate change plan, (b) the declaration of a climate emergency, (c) its proposed Good Food Nation Bill and (d) its proposed Agriculture Bill.

Question reference: S5W-26989

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it plans to take in response to the Clean Air for Scotland review recommendation in relation to reducing smoke pollution as a result of muirburn.

The Scottish Government is currently considering the report of the independently led review of the Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy. The conclusions and recommendations from the review will be used to develop a new air quality strategy which will be issued for consultation later this year. We are also taking account of these conclusions and recommendations as we consider the recommendations for further regulation of muirburn made by the Grouse Moor Management Review Group in its recent report to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S5W-26908

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 24 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many early deaths in each NHS board area have been linked to air pollution (a) in each of the last five years and (b) since April 2019.

Question reference: S5W-27006

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting people with PGCE qualifications obtained in England to access permanent teaching jobs in Scotland.

Teachers with PGCE qualifications gained in England are more than welcome to teach in Scotland, as long as they satisfy the criteria for registration set by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS). The GTCS has arrangements in place to register teachers who have qualified outside Scotland.

The University of Edinburgh’s Return to Teaching programme is aimed at professionals who have a teaching qualification and are eligible for registration by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and wish to teach in Scotland for the first time in either the primary or secondary sector. This programme has been developed with funding support from the Scottish Government and aims to support participants to both understand and engage with current national education policy and the professional teaching standards in Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-04068

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how its planning policy is guiding the siting of thermal electricity generating capacity under 50MW.

Question reference: S5W-26934

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent so-called ghost gear from damaging marine wildlife.

The Scottish Government’s Marine Litter Strategy promotes better fishing waste management both here and abroad to reduce fishing related marine litter, supporting KIMO and the Global Ghost Gear initiative.

In our 2018 Programme for Government we prioritised action to tackle the issue of fishing litter and lost gear. This included a session at our International Marine Conference in February 2019, and focus at the first British-Irish Council Environment Ministers Marine Litter Symposium. The British-Irish Council members are now working together to improve recycling opportunities for gear and marine litter education within the fishing industry to prevent this material becoming ghost gear.

We are also reducing this waste source by working towards implementing the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive with an Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for fishing gear while considering how its design can be developed to improve recyclability and contribute to our circular economy. In addition we will action the Port Reception Facilities Directive, ensuring adequate waste disposal facilities at all ports, including fishing gear.

And to ensure that fishing vessels are discouraged from disposal of end of life gear at sea, we are considering the mechanisms by which we could establish littering from vessels as an offence, as per our Future of Fisheries Management in Scotland: National Discussion Paper.

To reduce the amount of gear lost accidentally as a result of being dragged to another location in situations of gear conflict, we are implementing the recommendations of the 2015 Gear Conflict Task Force with the publication of Best Practice Guidance for marking static fishing gear. Furthermore, a Scottish Statutory Instrument is being laid in Parliament in early 2020 regulating the marking of static gear.