Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-15782

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12361 by Mairi McAllan on 1 December 2022, whether the Steering Group carrying out the review of its goose management policies shared a draft report with stakeholders in February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-15600

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07730 by Jamie Hepburn on 27 April 2022, whether it will provide an update on what date it anticipates that the consultation on the proposed Scottish Exchange Programme will be launched.

Question reference: S6W-15922

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10628 by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022, whether it will provide an update on when it anticipates the 4G masts in Rackwick and Stronsay in Orkney, as part of the Scottish 4G Infill Programme, will be activated.

Question reference: S6W-15721

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to attend the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik in 2023.

Scottish Ministers have attended the Arctic Circle Assembly (ACA) every year it has been held since 2016. The Scottish Government remains committed to building on the strong partnership that it has established with the Arctic Circle secretariat, with a view to continuing to showcase relevant Scottish expertise internationally and facilitating Scottish-Arctic collaboration. A decision on Ministerial attendance will be made once an official invitation has been received.

Question reference: S6W-15408

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) volume and (b) percentage of Scottish plastic waste was exported to non-UK countries in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022, broken down by that which was exported (A) directly from Scotland and (B) via other sites in the UK.

Details of transfrontier shipments of waste are not published or held by Scottish Government, but are held by SEPA.

Information on exports to other UK countries is not available for the years requested.

Due to the cyber attack suffered by SEPA in 2020, data for that year is unavailable. The 2021 data is expected to be available from 28 March 2023, following publication of official statistics on Waste from All Sources. SEPA does not yet have a complete dataset for 2022, as returns are still being processed.

SEPA’s Waste from All Sources Discover Tool is available here: Waste (from all sources) (sepa.org.uk)

Question reference: S6W-15407

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) volume and (b) percentage of Scottish waste was exported to other parts of the UK in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.

That information is not available for the years requested.

Due to the cyber attack suffered by SEPA in 2020, data for that year is unavailable. The 2021 data is expected to be available from 28 March 2023, following publication of official statistics on Waste from All Sources. SEPA does not yet have a complete dataset for 2022, as returns are still being processed.

SEPA’s Waste from All Sources Discover Tool is available here: Waste (from all sources) (sepa.org.uk)

Question reference: S6W-15404

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government to which countries, including other parts of the UK, Scottish plastic waste was exported in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022, broken down by the percentage exported to each.

Details of transfrontier shipments of waste are not published or held by Scottish Government, but are held by SEPA.

Information on exports to other UK countries is not available for the years requested.

Due to the cyber attack suffered by SEPA in 2020, data for that year is unavailable. The 2021 data is expected to be available from 28 March 2023, following publication of official statistics on Waste from All Sources. SEPA does not yet have a complete dataset for 2022, as returns are still being processed.

SEPA’s Waste from All Sources Discover Tool is available here: Waste (from all sources) (sepa.org.uk)

Question reference: S6W-15500

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what specific steps it is taking to engage with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people to meet the target of recruiting 4% BME teachers in schools by 2030, as recommended in the report, Teaching in a diverse Scotland: increasing and retaining minority ethnic teachers.

The Scottish Government is clear that the continued under-representation of minority ethnic teachers, at all levels, is unacceptable and requires continued action. Through our Diversity in the Teaching Profession and Education Workforce (DITPEW) working group we are taking a range of specific steps - all of which are predicated on engagement with minority ethnic people with anti racist and educational expertise - to meet the 4% target. These include:

Appointing 2 minority ethnic, senior education professionals to co-chair the DITPEW working group and drive forward Professor Arshad's recommendations. DITPEW working group members also have lived experience of racism, professional experience in education and in developing anti-racist practice.
Working with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to develop the new National Race Diversity Lead post which is supported by SG funding in 2022-24. It sees the postholder working across local authorities, regional improvement collaboratives and schools, to facilitate increased racial diversity within the teaching profession.
Working with Dr Khadija Mohammed, Associate Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at University of the West of Scotland in the development of an anti-racist framework for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers. The framework's aim is to ensure that minority ethnic ITE students have an anti-racist experience from initial application stage through to becoming a newly qualified teacher.
Working with minority ethnic teachers to deliver sessions through the Developing the Young Workforce Live platform, aimed at encouraging minority ethnic children and young people to consider teaching as a career.

Key to informing the development and delivery of these ambitions is the annual Scottish Government Diversity in the Teaching Profession Data report, which will be published at the end of March.

Question reference: S6W-15406

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to Recommendation 7 in the first report of the independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy, what consideration is being given in discussions with local authorities regarding the development of solutions to manage residual waste ahead of the landfill ban in 2025.

The independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy recommended that in view of the upcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste, Scottish Government should work with local authorities to ensure they have a solution to manage their residual waste in 2025. The ban is in line with Committee on Climate Change recommendations and will come into force on 31 December 2025.

Through work overseen by a dedicated Programme Board (which includes representation from Cosla, SOLACE, SEPA and Zero Waste Scotland), we are continuing to support local authorities to collaboratively secure landfill ban compliant residual waste treatment options. We are doing this by facilitating collaborative procurement and funding provision of additional technical, procurement and legal support.

We will continue to work closely with local authorities and commercial operators to support those that do not currently have solutions to treat their residual waste ahead of the forthcoming ban.

Question reference: S6W-15405

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on whether any local authorities are currently considering exporting waste as a measure in response to capacity gaps arising as a result of the 2025 landfill ban on biodegradable municipal waste.

Chamber and committees