Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-16033

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has had since he was appointed, broken down by month, and how many of those meetings had (a) civil servants present and (b) minutes prepared.

Information on Ministerial meetings is routinely published on the Scottish Government website and can be found at: www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/ .

Civil servants should be present for all discussions relating to Government business. Where that is not the case any significant content should be passed back to the Private Office as soon as possible after the event, who should arrange for the basic facts of such meetings to be recorded.

We are unable to provide a breakdown of minutes prepared. The basic facts of formal meetings between Ministers and outside interest groups are recorded, setting out the reasons for the meeting, the names of those attending and the interests represented. Routine meetings with policy officials may only require a short note setting out the reasons for the meeting, the names of attendees and any action points or decisions taken. For courtesy conversations where no policy decisions arise it may be sufficient to record within the official diary that the meeting has taken place.

Question reference: S6W-16032

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on TikTok in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-16004

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has decided to end the provision of routine breast screening for women aged over 75, and, if so, what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10348 on 29 August 2022, which outlines that the restart of self-referrals must be conducted in a careful, phased manner in order to understand and mitigate impacts on those for whom screening is recommended, and for whom it has the most benefits.

In November 2022, self-referrals for breast screening appointments were reinstated for those between 71 and 74, and anyone over 75 with a history of breast cancer.

The Scottish Government understands the wish some people have for this to be widened to include all those over the age of 75 without a history of breast cancer, but it is imperative to understand the impact this initial re-instatement is having on both programme capacity and overall wait times, before any further decisions regarding eligibility are taken. The current advice from the UK National Screening Committee is that breast screening should be provided to those age 50-70 years.

These impacts are being regularly reviewed, and an update will be provided to parliament once any decisions have been reached.

Question reference: S6W-15645

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the urgent question by Angus Robertson on 28 February 2023, whether the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture plans to request the addition of a correction in the Official Report, within the 20 working day deadline of 28 March 2023, in relation to his statement that the claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe’s potential offshore wind resource “is now considered to be overtaken by developments”, in light of the UK Statistics Authority’s reported investigation and letter of 7 December 2022 stating that it was never accurate and that “it is good practice for elected representatives to correct their use of official statistics”.

The Scottish Government has accepted that this statistic relating to Scotland’s offshore wind potential needs revising. In response to the issues raised in the UK Statistics Authority’s letter, dated 7 December 2022, the Scottish Government has engaged directly with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) setting out the steps that have been taken to ensure the statistic is not used further, and provided an update on the analytical work that is underway to produce a replacement statistic, which will be published in due course.

Question reference: S6F-01944

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 March 2023

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-15079

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has fully costed the 17,000 return points that will reportedly be required as part of the Deposit Return Scheme, (b) will share the estimated cost for each business required to purchase a return point and (c) plans to support businesses that are unable to meet the cost of the return point and any other costs associated with the scheme.

The final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) and Full Business Case (FBC) Stage 1 Addendum, published on 16 March 2020, represent the Scottish Government’s final assessment of the costs and benefits associated with DRS, at that time, prior to implementation.

Retailers can choose to be either a manual return point, use a reverse vending machine or apply for an exemption if applicable.

In response to feedback from retailers, updated guidance and support was published in December to make it clearer, easier and quicker for retailers wishing to apply for an exemption.

We recommend that Return Point Operators(RPOs) contact Circularity Scotland Limited (CSL) for guidance on support. CSL opened their RPO registration on 1 March 2023.

Question reference: S6W-15159

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether spill data on monitored combined sewer overflows (CSOs), where data is currently reported to SEPA, will be published annually, in light of the commitment in Scottish Water's Improving Urban Waters route map that annual publication of this data would commence by December 2022.

As indicated in Scottish Water’s first annual update to its Improving Urban Waters Routemap, which I referenced in my response to S6O-01493 on 23 November 2022, spill data has been published at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Your-Home/Your-Waste-Water/Sewer-Overflow-Spill-Data .

I refer the member to the Official Report: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-23-11-2022?meeting=14005&iob=126871

Question reference: S6W-15157

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the response to the members' business debate on motion S6M-06148 (Sewage and Scotland's Waters) by the Minister for Environment and Land Reform on 26 October 2022 (Official Report, c. 124), how many of the (a) 40 waste water treatment works and (b) 26 priority storm overflows, which the Minister stated would be improved over the next six years, have since undergone improvement works.

Scottish Water publishes an annual update to its Urban Waters Route Map and the most recent update from December 2022 is available on its website at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/media/ScottishWater/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Urban-Water-Improvements/141222IUW22AnnualUpdateV22.pdf

In its December 2022 update, Scottish Water confirmed that 54 projects have been initiated to develop solutions and support delivery of all high priority discharges by 2027. Following discussions with SEPA, some initially identified needs have been removed/downgraded. Scottish Water intends to target investment towards a revised list of 104 high priority CSO discharges (detailed on its website at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/media/ScottishWater/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Urban-Water-Improvements/110522HighPriorityUIDs.pdf ); this includes 24 storm overflows which have been assessed as potentially impacting water quality. Scottish Water has also initiated projects and is scrutinising options to enable improvement works to be delivered at 39 identified waste water treatment works.

Scottish Water’s capital investment projects involve a significant period of development work, including identifying options, determining costs and completing all land, planning and permitting activities in advance of delivering any scheme on site. The projects identified in the routemap will develop over the next two years, in line with Scottish Water’s capital investment process, to the point where clear timescales for improvements can be agreed. It is anticipated that the majority of improvements will be in place closer to the 2027 target timeframe, but Scottish Water will review all opportunities to deliver improvements in the shortest possible timeframe, where possible. Scottish Water will continue to provide annual updates on its website to outline progress being made in delivering commitments under its Improving Urban Waters Route Map.

Question reference: S6W-15158

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the approximately 1,000 network and treatment works combined sewer overflows (CSOs) which, according to Scottish Water's Improving Urban Waters route map, are "discharging to the highest priority waters (including all designated shellfish and bathing waters)", have had monitoring installed on them, and whether it will provide a list of these CSOs.

As referenced in the answer to S6W-15157 on 13 March 2023, in its annual update to its routemap, Scottish Water confirmed that priority locations have been identified for the 1,000 spill monitors, with installation programmed over 2023 and 2024. Over the past year, Scottish Water has invested significant time in developing a prioritisation approach for monitoring locations, based on amenity levels and predicted spill frequencies, and agreed this with SEPA. This has been published on Scottish Water’s website at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/media/ScottishWater/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Urban-Water-Improvements/EDMmethodology.pdf . Scottish Water has also made considerable effort to review the marketplace to determine the most appropriate monitors to deliver maximum value for customers. A priority list of locations will soon be available on Scottish Water’s website and Scottish Water has committed to providing an annual update on its website to outline progress being made in delivering commitments under its Improving Urban Waters Route Map.

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-15160

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the last inspection of each of the 345 SEPA-licensed and regulated sewer networks in Scotland was carried out; whether any were found not to be compliant with their licence conditions at their last inspection, and, if so, (a) for what reason, (b) whether any work was carried out on them and (c) whether it will provide a list of any non-compliant networks.

Sewer networks are dynamic and non-compliance can be short-lived. At the time of writing SEPA is not aware of any current, ongoing non-compliance with sewer network licences.

The inspection of sewer networks by SEPA can be the result of both planned work and in response to a notification of an issue by a member of the public or by Scottish Water. These inspections are normally targeted to specific areas, such as a pumping station and overflows in the local area which are in themselves part of a much larger sewer network.

SEPA investigations from June 2021 to date found 78 incidences of networks being non-compliant with their licence conditions. Reasons for non-compliance included:

Blockage of downstream sewer,

Sewage debris visible as a result of a discharge,

Significant visible impact on receiving waters due to the presence of oil or grease,

Significant deposition of sewage solids.

Scottish Water investigate reports of non-compliance, which can involve CCTV surveys, and undertake work to rectify issues identified such as clearing of tree roots, fats oils and grease, identifying and deterring illegal disposal of wastes and cross connections, and clearing watercourses and the surrounding areas.

Between 2010 and 2021, SEPA required Scottish Water to improve 279 sewer overflows and 104 wastewater treatment works, which were causing significant pollution. As a result, water quality is now at its highest level to date, with 87% of Scotland’s waters having good or better water quality.

Scottish Water’s route map for improving urban waters sets out actions required by Scottish Water, as well as significant work needed with other partners, to deliver long term improvements. The route map signals Scottish Water’s prioritised investment programme in this area.

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