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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-36720

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the delivery of the Recycling Improvement Fund once it concludes in 2026.

Question reference: S6W-36183

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-32791 and S6W-32788 by Mairi Gougeon on 8 and 17 January 2025 respectively, and in light of recent media coverage, including a video showing discarded fish on the seabed, what (a) progress it has made toward the implementation of fish landing obligations to make the rules regarding discarding more effective, (b) action it has taken to ensure that it achieves the bycatch objective when it is allocating quotas, (c) progress it has made with the development of future catching policy in addressing discards and (d) its position is regarding to what extent (i) remote electronic monitoring and (ii) an increase in fines would help prevent illegal discarding.

Firstly, the landing obligation was fully implemented in Scotland on 1 January 2019. Prior to this date, the landing obligation was phased in gradually, starting with pelagic fisheries in 2015 and extending to demersal fisheries in 2016, with the final phase bringing all Total Allowable Catch (TAC) species under the obligation, except those that are exempt via de minimis or survivability exemptions.

In relation to the allocation of fish quota, the Scottish Government has taken action to promote the use of selective fishing gear and therefore help reduce discards. For 2025, the Scottish Government is primarily allocating a portion of West of Scotland cod following an application process which places the use of selective fishing gear and/or fishing methods associated with a lower environmental impact at its core. The Scottish Government has also acted to allocate a greater share of quota to the 10 metre and under non-sector fleet. This grouping of vessels (which are more limited in the time they can spend at sea and the distance they can travel than larger vessels) is associated with the use of more selective fishing gear (such as the use of handlines).

The Future Catching Policy workshops were completed in autumn last year, with a combination of industry and eNGO input across all fleet segments. The proposals for future technical measures are being finalised and further engagement with stakeholders will take place this year prior to the formal consultation.

On REM, it is our position that the use of REM will have a positive impact on illegal discarding, providing a strong deterrent and an effective monitoring tool. That is one of the reasons why we are deploying it on pelagic fishing vessels and will roll-out further in the future.

Finally, we are committed to reviewing the current penalties regime as part of our Fisheries Management Strategy and will consider the role of fines as part of that.

Question reference: S6W-36188

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030 before the end of the current parliamentary session.

There are no plans to review Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy before the end of the current parliamentary session. This is a ten year strategy and most of its actions relate to the ongoing delivery of our management functions. The progress being made with these is in the updated Scotland's Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030 Delivery Plan which was published on 20 March 2025.

The delivery plan is a live document and it will continue to be updated as progress is being made.

Question reference: S6W-36189

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030 Delivery Plan.

Question reference: S6W-36654

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent fire at the Blairlinn industrial estate, what plans it has to conduct a review of safety procedures at waste management and/or recycling centres.

Question reference: S6W-36716

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24241 by Lorna Slater on 10 January 2024, whether it will provide an updated breakdown of any projects funded through the Recycling Improvement Fund to date showing the (a) expected tonnage increase in recycled material and (b) funding allocated to each project.

Question reference: S6W-36710

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of soft plastics collected in Scotland are recycled in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36709

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any recycling facilities that manage soft plastics, and, if so, where they are located.

Question reference: S6W-36717

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of dedicated textile recycling collection services operating across the (a) household and (b) commercial sector.

Question reference: S6W-36653

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many fires there have been at waste management and/or recycling facilities in each of the last five years.