- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) guidance it provides and (b) measures it takes to ensure high levels of bee husbandry and bee health, in order to avoid Varroa and other parasites, and non-native bee species, being imported.
Answer
I refer to the previous answer S6W-03362 on 22 October 2021 which details the guidance available on the Scottish Government and National Bee Unit websites, including changes in import conditions made since EU Exit:
Requirements include registration on the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), notification of imports on the system, entry via an appropriate route (usually a border control point), provision of a health certificate and post import checks.
The legal framework surrounding international trade requires certification of freedom of notifiable diseases and pests. Imports from areas where certain diseases of pests are present is not allowed, for example areas of Italy affected by Small Hive Beetle (SHB).
Beekeepers also have a significant role to play by ensuring disease management within their own apiaries is in order, by being proactive in making themselves aware of the signs of diseases and sourcing bees that are healthy.
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
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with short-term lets businesses and sole traders regarding its proposed short-term lets licensing scheme and planning control area legislation, and how many of these individuals and businesses are based outside of the City of Edinburgh Council area.
Answer
In developing proposals for the regulation of short-term lets we have engaged extensively with a range of stakeholders across Scotland, including short-term let hosts and operators and organisations representing their interests, through three public consultations, the Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group and through other meetings with Ministers and officials. Across the three public consultations, we have received over 3,000 responses, of which over half were from hosts and operators, and considered over 1,000 letters and e-mails from all types of stakeholders. We have engaged directly with self-caterers, B&B owners and Airbnb hosts. We do not have this data broken down by area but, of those responses supplying a postcode, only around 14% of responses to the 2021 consultation supplied an EH postcode.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors imports and exports of honey bees.
Answer
All imports of Queen Honey Bees into GB must be notified through the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) and Scottish Government officials monitor the system daily.
The Scottish Government bee health inspectors and bee health diagnostic team at SASA ensure that all imports of Queen Honey Bees are compliant with the post import requirements of returning the original cages and attendant bees within 5 days of arrival for testing for notifiable pests and diseases.
In addition to the import certification requirements, Scottish Government bee health inspectors carry out risk based post import checks.
Equivalent procedures are in place for exporting bees from Scotland. Export certification requirements are dependent on the country of destination and are currently certified by Scottish Bee Inspectors.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what actions it takes to ensure that people who wish to take up beekeeping are made aware of its guidance on importing and exporting bees.
Answer
International trade represents a risk for the spread of pests and diseases of honey bees. To protect the health of bees in Scotland we have a framework of legal requirements and trade rules to minimise these risks.
Scottish Government works with the Animal and Plant Health Agency's (APHA) National Bee Unit (NBU) in providing guidance on their website Beebase - Beekeeping information resource for Beekeepers (nationalbeeunit.com) including a section on import and export requirements.
Specific guidance for export and import of honey bees following changes made after EU Exit is also available on the SG website: Importing bees into Scotland: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )
As part of the Honey Bee Health Strategy changes in policy are discussed with stakeholders in advance and highlighted to beekeepers through articles in the Scottish Beekeepers Association magazine and the Bee Farmers Association magazine, talks to local associations and Bee Health training days.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions its ministers have had with short-term lets businesses and sole traders in (a) North Ayrshire and (b) Inverclyde regarding its proposed short-term lets licensing scheme and planning control area legislation.
Answer
In developing proposals for the regulation of short-term lets we have engaged extensively with a range of stakeholders across Scotland, including short-term let hosts and operators and organisations representing their interests, through three public consultations, the Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group and through other meetings with Ministers and officials. Across the three public consultations, we have received over 3,000 responses, of which over half were from hosts and operators, and considered over 1000 letters and e-mails from all types of stakeholders. We have engaged directly with self-caterers, B&B owners and Airbnb hosts. We do not have this data broken down by area.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a threshold for COVID-19 infection in schools, at which further mitigation actions will be taken.
Answer
This Government has made clear that whilst a cautious approach to removing or reducing mitigations will continue to be taken, we do not want mitigations to be in place in schools any longer than is necessary. Therefore, as confirmed on 19 October existing safety measures are to remain in schools for now, following advice from senior clinicians.
As has been the case throughout Scotland’s response to the pandemic, all decisions related to schools draw on expert advice, including that received from the Advisory sub-group on children’s issues , and consider the valuable feedback from partners and stakeholders, including the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group?(CERG) . There is no fixed threshold for decisions to either increase or decrease mitigations, but instead a range of indicators are monitored. All adjustments to mitigations in schools, and other education settings, are made after very careful consideration of all available advice and continue to be kept under regular review in light of emerging scientific evidence.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any agreements in place with any preferred installers or providers of interlinked fire alarms.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no agreement in place with any preferred installers or providers of interlinked fire alarms.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA) for its short-term lets licensing scheme and planning control area legislation, how the draft short-term lets licensing proposals support the (a) National Performance Framework and (b) Scottish Government's commitment to being a Wellbeing Economy Government.
Answer
(a) The regulation of short-term lets supports the following National Performance Framework objectives:
- We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy.
- We have thriving and innovative businesses, with quality jobs and fair work for everyone.
- We tackle poverty by sharing opportunities, wealth and power more equally.
- We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe.
- We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment.
- We are creative and our vibrant and diverse cultures are enjoyed widely
(b) Building a Wellbeing Economy is a top priority for the Scottish Government. This means building an economy that is inclusive and that promotes sustainability, prosperity and resilience, where businesses can thrive and innovate, and that supports all of our communities across Scotland to access opportunities that deliver local growth and wellbeing. Our proposals for regulating short-term lets balance the needs and concerns of local communities with wider economic and tourism interests; getting this balance right means that responsible and sustainable tourism businesses can thrive and local communities’ wellbeing is safeguarded.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00882 by Mairi Gougeon on 7 July 2021, whether it will provide an update on the number of landings that have been reported by wrasse fishers through (a) their standard reporting requirements and (b) the new weekly reporting required under the point 11 of the licence conditions applying to the harvesting of wrasse, since 1 May 2021.
Answer
As referenced in my response to S6W-03059 on 28 September 2021 Marine Scotland does not collect information from wrasse fishers on the number of individual landings by creek or aquaculture facility. The data that is collected by Marine Scotland is outlined in my previous answer.
I am unable to provide the level of detail you seek, as that may lead to individuals vessels being identified, but between 1 May and 9 October 2021, reports were received by Marine Scotland that the number of individual Wrasse landed totalled 365,826. Please note that these figures are provisional and may be subject to change.
You may be interested to know that once the season has ended and provisional figures have been finalised, Marine Scotland intend to report on data collected relating to Wrasse fishing over the course of this season.
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
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 October 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to create a Peace Institute by 2022, including its (a) location, (b) cost and (c) remit.
Answer
Discussions on creating a Scottish Peace Institute are at an early stage and its location, cost and remit are yet to be determined.