Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-23117

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether the requirement in General Licences 01/2019, 02/2019 and 03/2019 for birds for the authorised person using the licence to be satisfied that there is no satisfactory solution other than controlling wild birds is compliant with section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Question reference: S5W-23116

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the use of General Licences 01, 02 and 03 for birds, including the number of birds taken or killed and compliance with the requirement that there is no other satisfactory solution.

As this is a delegated matter, this responsibility lies with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). SNH requires users of these general licences to report on the numbers of birds killed or taken for those species which may have suffered notable declines in number or range. SNH is satisfied that the use of General Licences is not causing any such declines.

In view of the legal challenge in England, SNH is consulting with legal advisers and will consider if any changes may be required to its licences. SNH has also decided to bring forward its consultation on general licensing, originally planned for 2020, to later this year.

Question reference: S5W-23114

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of non-target capture were reported to Scottish Natural Heritage in 2018 by operators using meat bait in Larsen mate and Larsen pod traps under the terms of General Licences 01, 02 and 03.

Question reference: S5W-23115

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in the light of the recent decision by Natural England to revoke three General Licences for controlling certain wild birds, what evidence it has that Scottish Natural Heritage is compliant with the requirement under Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 that no licence should be granted unless it is satisfied that there is no other satisfactory solution, as it relates to General Licences 01/2019, 02/2019 and 03/2019.

As the issuing of licences is delegated to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the responsibility falls to them, as the appropriate authority, to ensure compliance with this requirement.

SNH has previously gathered information, including from public consultations, literature review and its own commissioned research, in order to inform this legal test.

In view of the legal challenge in England, SNH is consulting with legal advisers and will consider if any changes may be required to its licences. SNH has also decided to bring forward its consultation on general licensing, originally planned for 2020, to later this year.

If SNH conclude that they need to revise their approach, they have made clear that they will seek to work collaboratively with stakeholders to ensure there is an effective, proportionate and legislatively compliant approach to licensing in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-23118

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many operators making use of General Licences 01, 02 and 03 for birds in 2018 notified Scottish Natural Heritage of their intention to use meat-based baits in Larsen mate or Larsen pod traps and were permitted to do so by acknowledgement of the information.

Question reference: S5W-22683

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 13 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will deliver the Bonn Challenge target of 3,000 to 5,000 hectares of new native woodland planted during 2019-20.

Question reference: S5W-22932

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the levels of the pollutant, bisphenol A, are at potential point sources such as landfill, sewage and paper sludge and in the wider environment.

Further to my answer to S5W-20266 14 December 2018, SEPA have analysed BPA in surface waters since 2007 at over 20 sites. These are prioritised based on populace and inputs from sewage treatment works or denser concentrations of septic tanks. Annual mean concentrations at these sites ranged between 14 and 1150 ng/l, with the majority of the annual means being 50 ng/l or less (278 out of 334). A previous EU Risk Assessment Report for the substance identified a threshold for potential adverse effects in freshwater aquatic life as 15,000ng/l, and as 1500ng/l for marine waters. Based on current available data SEPA determine the risk to aquatic life to be low. Groundwater data at a sample of sites generally associated with industrial activities showed generally no detection of BPA between 2007 and 2018. In relation to potential point sources such as landfill, sewage and paper sludge sites, SEPA holds a limited quantity of sewage and trade effluent monitoring data for BPA. In addition releases of BPA have been reported to the Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI) since 2005; these concern releases from sewage treatment works. SEPA do not hold any BPA data for landfill leachates or for sites creating paper sludge effluents. BPA’s use in thermal paper was restricted in the EU from December 2016.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Question reference: S5O-03234

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that communities are protected from the effects of aircraft noise.

Question reference: S5W-22710

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what involvement it has in the establishment of regulatory standards and processes in relation to the rollout of 5G technology.

Legislative and regulatory powers regarding telecommunications are currently reserved to the UK Government under the policy reservation provisions of the Scotland Act (1998).

As such, the Scottish Government has no direct locus in the establishment of regulatory standards and processes in relation to the rollout of 5G technology. More generally, the day to day regulation of telecommunications is the responsibility of the UK telecommunications regulator, Ofcom.

Scottish Ministers and our officials do have regular engagement with Ofcom and seek to try to positively influence their policies, and those of UK Ministers, to try to ensure they work in the interests of Scottish consumers.

Question reference: S5W-22866

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what options have been explored to close the 2021 landfill capacity gap through waste prevention.

We are examining options to address the landfill capacity shortfall which has been identified in the recently published waste markets study.

Waste prevention is high on the Scottish Government's priorities and this is why we have introduced an ambitious food waste prevention target to reduce all food waste arising by 33% by 2025. In addition, the Food Waste Reduction Action Plan published in April 2019 calls for coordinated action across all sectors.

Other options to help support progress towards achieving our targets include the Waste Prevention Implementation Fund which is available to small or medium sized enterprises through Zero Waste Scotland. It is recognised that while organisations understand the benefits of waste prevention, they often do not take action, lacking the finance and support to make the necessary changes. The Investment Fund has been designed to help organisations overcome these barriers to undertake a particular project with a focus on raw materials savings, carbon savings and the movement of waste material up the waste hierarchy.

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