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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-10282

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board last met.

The Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) last met on 24 August 2022. Updates on the work of the Board, including minutes of meetings and the Board’s Terms of Reference, are available on the Scottish Government website . In relation to the ARIOB publishing its findings,

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05896 on 7 February 2022 and S6W-08269 on 6 May 2022. 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

Question reference: S6W-10284

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board's work, including when it anticipates that the board will publish its findings.

Question reference: S6W-10287

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board has adapted to deal with any different issues that farmers may be facing compared with when it was first commissioned.

Question reference: S6W-09974

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many acres of peatlands were restored in 2021.

The Scottish Government gathers data on peatland restoration carried out by the Peatland ACTION programme each financial year in hectares (ha). The total number of restored hectares of peatlands in 2020-21 was 5,658ha; and the total number of restored hectares of peatlands in 2021-22 was 5,370ha.In 2022-23, we are on track to deliver a substantial increase in the number of hectares restored.

We are committed to further increasing the annual area of peatland we restore. To support this we are gathering evidence on the key bottlenecks as well as how we can best target restoration activity to deliver maximum value for money in terms of carbon, biodiversity and just transition outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-09545

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 29 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of its workshop on 14 June 2022 on ethical principles in deer management.

The workshop exploring the seven principles and deer management welfare was organised by the John Muir Trust and OneKind and attended by Scottish Government officials alongside colleagues from Forestry and Land Scotland and NatureScot.

As the Scottish Government did not organise the workshop, we do not have any minutes to publish. I understand however that OneKind will shortly publish a blog about the workshop on their website.

Question reference: S6F-01286

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2022

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will respond to reported calls by the industry to establish a Gamekeeping Taskforce to tackle abuse of rural workers.

Question reference: S6W-09159

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw (on behalf of the SPCB) on 23 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S6W-04506 by Jackson Carlaw on 2 December 2021, whether it will provide an update on its considerations regarding the publication of all or part of the central register of interests held by the People and Culture Office.

The SPCB undertook to consider this and can advise that the central register of interests for SPCB staff who are members of the Parliament’s Leadership Group is now publicly available, as of this week. The register can be found here. The SPCB considers that publication of declared interests for Leadership Group members is in the public interest for reasons of transparency and maintaining trust and confidence. As before, Leadership Group members will be required, on an annual basis, to review their register of declared interests.

Question reference: S6O-01298

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve water quality in Scotland's rivers.

Question reference: S6T-00818

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported warnings from a leading scientist that its opposition to gene-edited crops goes against the scientific consensus.

Question reference: S6W-08672

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many foxes there are in Scotland, and how the size of this population has changed annually since records began.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

A 2018 report by the Mammal Society under contract to Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage, which reviewed the status of British mammal populations including the red fox, is the most recent survey to have been carried out.

The full report can be found at: http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5636785878597632