- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has powers to instruct SEPA to (a) review and (b) revise land that it categorises as potentially vulnerable to flooding and, if so, whether it can provide details of these powers.
Answer
The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 establishes a framework for the assessment and mapping of flood risks and the planning in relation to the management of such risks. Under section 9 of the Act SEPA must prepare a flood risk assessment for each flood risk management district providing an assessment of any flood risk for the district. This is commonly referred to as the National Flood Risk Assessment and was last published by SEPA in 2018.
In addition, section 13 of the Act requires SEPA to prepare and submit to Scottish Ministers a document identifying for each flood risk management district any area in the district for which it considers that significant flood risk either exists or is likely to occur. These are more commonly referred to as Potentially Vulnerable Areas.
Under section 14 of the Act SEPA is required to update the document provided to Scottish Ministers on a six yearly basis. Scottish Ministers approved the latest update of the document in December 2024 and it can found on SEPA’s website.
Under section 2 of the Act the Scottish Ministers may give directions or guidance to SEPA in relation to the exercise of its flood risk related functions.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities can access funding from its flood protection schemes for areas that SEPA have not designated as potentially vulnerable and, if so, how they can do so.
Answer
The Scottish Government has allocated £570 million to local authorities through the local authority capital grant settlement for flood protection schemes and flood resilience. The distribution of this funding is agreed by Scottish Ministers and COSLA Leaders. Typically 80% is used to support the delivery of specific flood protection schemes and Flood Risk Management Plans, and the remaining 20% is distributed amongst all Scottish local authorities for wider local authority flood resilience capital projects.
SEPA designate Potentially Vulnerable Areas (PVAs). Around 90% of Scotland’s flood risk is contained within PVAs. PVAs are used to prioritise areas where the risk is highest and the benefits of flood risk management will be greatest.
Flood risk management actions which benefit PVAs should therefore be prioritised, but this does not prevent responsible local authorities and stakeholders from taking forward actions to tackle flooding in areas located outwith the PVAs.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29364 by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024, whether it has now given any consideration to establishing a publicly available real-time map of (a) proposed, (b) ongoing, (c) refused and (d) completed energy infrastructure projects, in light of Aberdeenshire Council producing a similar mapping system.
Answer
The Scottish Government is not considering establishing anything further to the already publicly available information previously noted in the answer to question S6W-29364.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 23 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the prisoners released under the Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025 included some who had broken prison rules.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 23 April 2025
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments made by Jim Watson, Head of Domestic Fisheries Management at the Marine Directorate, to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee on 5 February 2025, that "in the mid-1990s, around 38% of our key stocks were being fished at sustainable levels and, by 2022-23, that had risen to 70%", what the full list of key stocks considered were (a) in the mid-1990s and (b) by 2022-23, and which of those were being fished at sustainable levels in both periods.
Answer
The 38% previously referred to was the sustainability indicator, as outlined in the Scottish Sustainable Fishing Indicator (SFI). This indicator tracks the status of Scotland’s commercial fish stocks and is based on the estimated percentage of commercial stocks that are fished at sustainable levels. It provides a sliding scale for how sustainable fishing levels are.
An updated version of the SFI will be published in the near future, this will provide up to date sustainability indicators for all available stocks.
The full list of stocks assessed in 1995 are outlined below.
- Anglerfish (North Sea, Rockall and West of Scotland, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
- Greater silver smelt (Northeast Arctic, North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
- Greater silver smelt (Faroes grounds and west of Scotland)
- Blue ling (Celtic Seas, western Hatton Bank, and Faroes grounds)
- Brill (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, English Channel)
- Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) NW substock
- Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) SO substock
- Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) VK substock
- Spurdog (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
- Greenland halibut (Iceland and Faroes grounds, West of Scotland, North of Azores, East of Greenland)
- Haddock (North Sea, West of Scotland, Skagerrak)
- Haddock (Rockall)
- Herring (the Northeast Atlantic and Arctic Ocean)
- Herring (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, eastern English Channel)
- Hake (Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas, northern Bay of Biscay)
- Horse mackerel (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
- Megrim (northern North Sea, West of Scotland)
- Megrim (Rockall)
- Mackerel (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
- Norway lobster (West of Scotland, South Minch)
- Norway lobster (West of Scotland, Firth of Clyde, Sound of Jura)
- Norway lobster (northern North Sea, Fladen Ground)
- Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) i(North Sea) and (Skagerrak)
- Saithe (North Sea, Rockall and West of Scotland, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
- Pollack (Celtic Seas, English Channel)
- Golden redfish (Iceland and Faroes grounds, West of Scotland, North of Azores, East of Greenland)
- Sole (North Sea)
- Turbot(North Sea)
- Blue whiting (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
- Whiting (North Sea, eastern English Channel)
- Whiting (West of Scotland)
- Witch (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, eastern English Channel)
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it will begin its process to recruit a new chair of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and whether it will publish details of this.
Answer
The process to appoint the new chair of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise agency, began on 4 March, when I received Alistair Dodds' letter, confirming his retirement.
Once the selection panel's appointment plan has been approved, the vacancy will be published online at Public appointments - Scottish Government Jobs. There will also be an extensive outreach programme to ensure we attract a strong field of applicants.
The appointment process will follow the Ethical Standards Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland. Once the process is complete, the appointment decision will also be published, in line with this Code.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the reported £203 million it spent on external advisers to help administer agricultural support payments to be good value for money.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2025
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35132 by Ivan McKee on 27 February 2025, for what reason it only carried out a partial island communities impact assessment (ICIA), instead of a full ICIA, for the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill prior to the Parliament's consideration of the Bill at stage 1, in light of the assessment in the partial ICIA published in May 2023, which noted that "the geographical remoteness of islands can generate a number of particular challenges".
Answer
Further to the explanation in the ICIA, the basis of the charge being a percentage, it would not be expected to have a significantly different effect on island based tourism businesses to those based on the mainland, Nevertheless, the ICIA does include observations and concerns around issues including the prevalence of smaller hospitality businesses on islands, the high numbers of day visitors, the existing costs of transport to islands, and that islands and island residents have a particular reliance on using overnight accommodation when people travel to and from the mainland because of the need to build in consideration for potential ferry disruption.
I would add that, local authorities have an obligation to comply with their duties under the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018. Additionally, local authorities have the power to charge different rates and exemptions for different geographical areas. Each local authority has a responsibility to publish an assessment of the impacts of introducing a Visitor Levy, including for the different rates and exemptions they may choose to apply. Local authorities also have a statutory requirement to consult with local communities, businesses, and the public, prior to the introduction of a Visitor Levy. You may wish to respond to any consultation in your local area in relation to how they might introduce a scheme.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it has and (b) any of its agencies have consulted muirburn training providers about NatureScot’s reported plans to remove the requirement for the completion of practical muirburn training from the approved training course for muirburn in (i) 2025-26 and (ii) future years.
Answer
NatureScot has discussed training and the challenges of ensuring that all those who need to be trained can undertake training ahead of the next muirburn season with the Muirburn Code Working Group. The Group, which is made up wide-range of relevant stakeholders, also includes training providers.
For the first year of muirburn licences, only the online knowledge-based training will be required. The intention is that practical elements will be required before a licence is issued in future years. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as this develops.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NatureScot is reportedly planning to remove the practical element of muirburn training from the approved training course for muirburn in (a) 2025-26 and (b) future years.
Answer
NatureScot is not planning to remove the practical element from the muirburn training. Practical training is an important part of muirburn training and the Scottish Government encourage all practitioners to undertake this as soon as they are able. However, we also recognise that it is possible that everyone who needs to undertake the practical training may not be able to do so before the end of the current muirburn season. This is because of limited training capacity, possible adverse weather and numbers of individuals requiring training.
NatureScot therefore propose to introduce a transitional period during 2025-26 and allow the granting of a licence on the completion of the knowledge-based training, with a requirement for the practitioner to complete the practical element within a specified period. In future years NatureScot will require completion of the practical element before a licence is granted.
