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-07105

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity's comment to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, on 25 January 2022, that glass is not to be mechanically crushed as part of its Deposit Return Scheme, whether this replaces any previous plans for such glass to be crushed in reverse vending machines (RVMs); whether this will require different and more expensive RVMs to be used; what inquiries the minister or her officials have made on the cost implications of requiring that glass not be crushed; whether this will necessitate more frequent collections of glass recyclate, and, if so, what consideration has been given to that and any consequential costs and additional carbon emissions, and what its position is on whether it or Circularity Scotland have obtained sufficient information in order to be certain that this will not require additional costs to be incurred in operating the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-07100

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that waste captured by the Deposit Return Scheme could be processed outside Scotland, what assessment it has made of whether the economic benefits of a closed-loop glass recycling system would accrue to businesses based in Scotland.

I am not aware of any reports that glass captured through our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) could be processed outside Scotland.

There is a significant reprocessing industry for glass in Scotland. While it will be for Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) as scheme administrator to enter into reprocessing agreements on a commercial basis, I would note that the cost of transporting glass means the Scottish glass industry should have a competitive advantage due to the closer physical proximity to CSL.

I therefore anticipate that our glass industry will benefit from the increased quantity and quality of glass recyclate that DRS will make available.

Question reference: S6W-07019

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Sea Transport Solutions has ever tendered for a ferry contract on the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Network, and, if so, (a) on what dates and (b) for which tenders.

Question reference: S6W-07018

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times it has met Sea Transport Solutions in relation to ferries since 2007, and on what dates.

Question reference: S6W-07091

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the impact of the proposed Deposit Return Scheme on producers in Scotland, how many producers it estimates are operating in Scotland, and of those, how many it consulted directly.

We estimate that 4,100 businesses will qualify as producers for the purposes of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

We have extensively consulted the drinks producer sector during the development and implementation of our DRS. Our Implementation Advisory Group included a range of representatives of the sector, and drinks producers, like any stakeholder, were consulted through the two consultations on DRS that ran from June-September 2018 and September-December 2019.

Question reference: S6W-07043

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme will reopen for new applications for development funding and capital funding.

Applications for development and capital funding are open. More information can be found on the Local Energy Scotland website here www.localenergyscot.org . Loan and grant capital funding is currently available to communities developing renewable energy, heat decarbonisation, and local energy system projects through the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).

Funding is dependent on project needs and type. The CARES team work with projects from inception to completion and continue to offer a flexible package of support to a wide range of renewable energy projects and will also soon offer support through a framework of specialised technical consultants to make it quicker and easier for communities to explore options. More information on this will be published shortly on the Local Energy Scotland website.

From April 2022 CARES will also give greater focus to the decarbonisation of heat in buildings in line with the ambitions set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-07223

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many residential drug rehabilitation spaces were provided in the Highlands and Islands region from the £5 million that was allocated before the end of the 2020-21 financial year.

In January 2021, the First Minister announced an additional investment of £250 million to tackle drug deaths, £100 million of which was allocated to develop residential rehabilitation services and associated aftercare over the next five years. Alongside this, the Scottish Government provided Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) with a £13.5 million uplift per year, over the next five years, £5 million of which has been allocated to support additional residential rehabilitation capacity across Scotland. However, this uplift did not start until the 2021-2022 financial year.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has published an interim monitoring report on statutory funded residential rehabilitation placements between 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021. The figures for the Highlands and Islands region are as follows:

Argyll and Bute 9 placements (total cost £78,111),

Highland 48 placements (£222,797),

Shetland number of placements unavailable due to data suppression (£29,450).

Orkney and the Western Isles submitted nil returns.

Public Health Scotland are due to release a further monitoring report on statutory funded placement figures in April 2022, which will cover the period of October to December 2021.

Question reference: S6W-07102

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that re-processing of recycled material captured in Scotland may not occur in Scotland due to a lack of facilities, what its position is on the likely impact of the Deposit Return Scheme on the quality and quantity of recycled glass that is available to manufacturers in Scotland.

I am not aware of any reports that glass captured through our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) could be processed outside Scotland.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-07104 on 18 March 2022, DRS will significantly increase the quantity and quality of glass recyclate. Local authorities will continue to collect glass not captured by DRS in line with the duty in the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

I am therefore confident that DRS will have a significant positive impact on the quality and quantity of recycled glass that is available to manufacturers in Scotland.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-07099

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that waste captured by the Deposit Return Scheme could be processed outside Scotland, whether it has fully considered the additional carbon impact of transporting the 560 million glass containers that are estimated by Zero Waste Scotland to be in scope of the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-07104

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the comment by the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity at the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 25 January 2022 that the Deposit Return Scheme “will significantly increase the quantity and quality of glass recyclate”, what the precise evidence is on which this comment is based, and whether it will publish this evidence.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment Addendum, published on 14 December 2021, shows that our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will increase the quantity of glass recyclate by more than 1.3 megatonnes over 25 years. It is available here: Supporting documents - A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland: Strategic Environmental Assessment Addendum - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

I understand that Circularity Scotland Ltd intends to collect and transport glass separately from other materials under Scotland’s DRS. This will reduce contamination which is currently a problem with glass collected at the kerbside. I am therefore confident that our DRS will significantly increase the quality of glass recyclate.