- Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2023
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2023
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed in the meeting between the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic on 30 August 2022.
Answer
The Deputy Minister and I had a constructive meeting at the Bled Strategic Forum in August last year during which we discussed the priorities for Czechia’s EU Council presidency.
The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions. However, Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to meet and engage with the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) in light of possible strike action by its members, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government on this matter.
Answer
We regularly discuss matters relating to the operations of the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) with the NLB and the UK Government and have discussed the issue of potential industrial action by NLB employees with both the NLB and UK Government counterparts. As an Arm’s Length Body of the UK Department for Transport, the NLB is responsible for the detailed negotiation of their annual pay remit, and is subject to the pay setting arrangements outlined in the UK Civil Service Pay Guidance.
- Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many items of contraband have been detected by the Scottish Prison Service, to date, through the photocopying of prisoners' mail.
Answer
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. After clarifying the specifics of the question with the member, her response is as follows:
- How many items of contraband have been detected by the photocopying of mail?
- Photocopying of mail does not detect contraband. The process for establishments that have this in place is that original mail items are photocopied and the prisoner is given the copy with the option to destroy the original or have this placed in their property for issue upon release. If during the opening of correspondence an item is suspected to be suspicious then this is sent to security for testing on the rapiscan machine.
- How many items of contraband have been detected by the rapiscan machine since the introduction of this policy?
- Since the introduction of the photocopying of prisoners correspondence 2,677 items have tested positive on the rapiscan machine.
- Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has had with the British Medical Association (BMA) regarding any potential strike action by junior doctors in Scotland.
Answer
On 8 December 2022, the BMA Scottish Junior Doctor Committee (SJDC) officially announced their intention to ballot for industrial action. Since this date, the Scottish Government has exchanged correspondence with the BMA on the following dates:
• 12 and 15 December 2022
• 26 January 2023
• 9, 21 and 24 February 2023
• 16 and 17 March 2023
• 5 April 2023
Prior to the BMA SJDC officially confirming their intention to ballot for industrial action, the Scottish Government corresponded with the BMA SJDC on the subject of Junior Doctors pay on:
• 7 October 2022
• 11 and 30 November 2022
• 1 and 7 December 2022
I met with BMA on 11 April 2023 to discuss their concerns around pay and then again on 20 April when we entered into negotiations with Junior Doctors to secure a pay award for 2023-24.
- Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it last evaluated the work of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, and what the results of its last evaluation were.
Answer
The Scottish Violence Reduction Unit has been central to making Scotland a safer place since this government took office, with recorded non-sexual violent crime reducing by 25% since 2006-07. The work of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit is overseen by a governance board and is delivered through various programmes which are evaluated and measured for effectiveness. While progress has been made to reduce violence across Scotland, we recognise we must continue to do more.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-01276 by Lorna Slater on 21 March 2023 and in relation to her comment that Circularity Scotland “does not provide a public service”, on what evidentiary basis it determined this to be the case, in light of the statement on the Circularity Scotland website that it is a “company created to benefit everyone in Scotland”.
Answer
Circularity Scotland provides services to drinks producers and retailers to help them comply with their obligations under the Deposit Return Scheme Regulations.
By helping these companies do so, they will ensure the benefits of Scotland’s DRS will be achieved.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15780 by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2023, what its position is on conclusion 7 of the report, Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury? Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland, that “Scotland should not construct more capacity than it needs and only some of the currently planned capacity should be built”, and, if it accepts this conclusion, what its position is on whether ascertaining which of those planned developments should be built can only be determined based on the forthcoming capacity cap, which may indicate a lower capacity than is currently in development.
Answer
The first report of the independent review of incineration conducted a capacity analysis. It recommended that the Scottish Government ensure no further planning permission (i.e. beyond that already in place) is granted to incineration infrastructure within the scope of the Review, unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity, subject to certain limited exceptions. Our response to the Review set out our intentions to set out in National Planning Policy that the Scottish Government does not support the development of further municipal waste incineration capacity in Scotland, with very limited exceptions. Following the adoption and publication of National Planning Framework 4 on 13 February 2023 that action is now complete.
To support future planning decisions, we accepted the review’s separate recommendation to develop an indicative capacity cap. However, it is important that any indicative cap is as robust as possible and developing such a cap will be a significant piece of work.
Where relevant consents and permissions have already been granted, the review noted that it is ‘unlikely that all facilities in the pipeline will be built, especially those that have not yet secured full financial backing’. The Review did suggest some principles, based on stakeholder feedback, that might be applied to determine which of the pipeline facilities would be best to build and which might be deprioritised, in light of the potential overcapacity predicted. These included:
- Proper appreciation of resource and waste management as a complex and interdependent system.
- Application of the proximity principle (that waste should generally be managed as near as possible to its place of production) at a sub-national level.
- Consideration of access to low-carbon transport, especially where longer distances are involved.
- Opportunities for synergy with other activities. For incineration, this should prioritise access to heat offtake and, in due course, carbon dioxide offtake options.
- Local environmental and social impacts.
- Wider environmental impacts, such as the carbon and other benefits from recycling to avoid virgin raw material production.
We would encourage those involved in the development of these facilities to take into account capacity and the principles set out by the independent review of incineration.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what commercial benefits it anticipates that financial partners, including Hampden & Co and Lombard Odier Investment Managers, will receive as part of the private finance investment pilot to mobilise £2 billion in landscape scale restoration of native woodland.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15873 on 24 March 2023. 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: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has issued to local authorities on future pandemic preparations.
Answer
In Scotland, guidance in relation to preparing for emergencies is generally structured around key consequences or themes, rather than specific risks. The Scottish Government’s suite of emergency planning guidance, “Preparing Scotland” ( https://ready.scot/how-scotland-prepares/preparing-scotland-guidance ), covers topics such as response, exercising, scientific and technical advice, preparedness assessments, public communications, and recovery from emergencies, which are all directly relevant to pandemic preparedness.
This guidance is developed in consultation with the organisations which have legal duties in relation to emergency preparedness under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which includes all local authorities.
