- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the publication of a "progress report on delivery" of the recommendations that are set out in the paper, Investor Panel: Scottish Government Response to Investor Panel Recommendations.
Answer
The Scottish Government has committed to publishing an update on progress on the Investor Panel recommendations and intends to do this in the coming months. The update will be published on the Scottish Government’s Investor Panel webpage.
- Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any modernisation of the energy consenting regime, as it relates to the UK Electricity Act 1989, to make pre-application community engagement mandatory.
Answer
The Scottish Government agreed with the UK Electricity Networks Commissioner that changes are required to modernise Scotland’s consenting regime under the UK Electricity Act 1989 to accelerate determinations and put pre-application community engagement on a statutory footing. This would improve public engagement and confidence in the consenting process, drive better applications and reduce delays to applications caused by insufficient information.
Prior to the General Election announcement, Scottish Government and UK Government officials had been discussing the scope of a potential review of Scotland’s consenting regime, in line with the commitment made in the UK Government’s Transmission Acceleration Action Plan. The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy recently wrote to the UK Government to urge that this wider work continues at pace and we will re-engage with an incoming UK Government as a matter of priority.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to any (a) current and (b) future mineral mining exploration and related activities in Scotland, what plans it has to ensure that just transition principles are applied to support any communities in Scotland that are affected by such activities.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a just transition to net zero for all communities in Scotland, working with those most impacted to provide a fairer, greener future for all. Our approach is therefore being informed by communities, businesses, workers and their trade unions across Scotland.
Where new development proposals come forward, Policy 33 of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) sets out that development proposals for the sustainable extraction of minerals will only be supported by that policy where relevant criteria are met. This includes where it is demonstrated that there are no significant adverse impacts on nearby homes and local communities, provision of an adequate buffer zone between sites and settlements, and the inclusion of schemes for a high standard of restoration and aftercare.
Where any mineral extraction takes place, relevant environmental permitting and licensing requirements will apply ensuring continuing environmental protection.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement NatureScot has had with the Bat Conservation Trust regarding the protection of bat species from the loss of roost sites.
Answer
NatureScot considers bat surveys submitted as part of a licence application against the Good Practice Guidelines developed by the Bat Conservation Trust. NatureScot also contributed to the creation of these guidelines. The guidelines ensure that bat roost sites are appropriately surveyed to inform species licensing decisions and allow NatureScot to assess what is the appropriate level of mitigation and compensation to protect bat species.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27509 by Ivan McKee on 30 May 2024, whether it will release (a) copies of the letters sent by the minister and (b) the responses received from the (i) chairs and (ii) chief executives mentioned.
Answer
My recent letter to chairs and chief executives of public bodies can be viewed at www.gov.scot/publications/making-the-most-of-resources-letter-to-public-bodies/ .
In my letter, I reminded chairs and chief executives that it is incumbent on each public body to adhere to the statutory duties to which it is subject, which for many includes reporting requirements in Part 3 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.
No substantive response from chairs and chief executives has, so far, been received to this letter.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints regarding unlicensed short-term let operators have been investigated by Police Scotland since the introduction of the short-term let licensing scheme.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold the information that has been requested. I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27902 on 11 June 2023. 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 .
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much the potential designation of a new national park has cost to date.
Answer
The Scottish Government has received nominations from five areas which wish to be considered for designation as a new National Park.
The delivery costs to date, excluding staffing costs and expenses, are £331,409.05.
These costs are broken down as follows:
£100,000.00 funding to NatureScot for New National Parks
£27,387.77 on consultation activities
£48,269.22 on impact assessments
£147,653.06 on nominations support funding
In 2022 NatureScot was asked to undertake public consultation and stakeholder engagement in order to provide advice to the Scottish Government on the future of National Parks in Scotland. More information is available here: National Parks Advice to Ministers - February 2023 | NatureScot.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to (a) reviewing and (b) deleting, if found to be infringing UK GDPR and/or ethical standards for health research, the data gathered from 134,000 children who participated in the Health and Wellbeing Census survey in 2022 reportedly without being informed of what the Information Commissioner’s Office has described as the "serious risks" of being able to identify individuals by using their Scottish Candidate Numbers as part of their email addresses.
Answer
The HWB Census underwent an Ethics Peer Review in line with the Scottish Government social research: protocols and guidance. Scottish Government social research: protocols and guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
In light of the ICO's recommendations, the Scottish Government is introducing enhanced technical and organisational measures to ensure that any data which contains the SCN and is processed for statistical and research purposes will have a pseudonym created. The SCN and the method of pseudonymisation will be held separately. These enhanced measures have been agreed with the ICO.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to add the data from 134,000 children gathered in the Health and Wellbeing Census to the Administrative Data Research Scotland system; what its position is on whether the data was captured ethically and legally, and whether it will implement measures to mitigate any risks of being able to link the data back to the respondents, in light of the Information Commissioner's Office advice to the Scottish Government in August 2023 that the arrangements for processing the data did not meet requirements of Article 4(5) of the UK GDPR around pseudonymisation, and Article 25 around Data Protection by Design and Default.
Answer
The Scottish Government is fully committed to making best use its data, including making this available for further statistical analysis and research, subject to data protection legislation. The 2021-22 Health and Wellbeing Census data was added to Administrative Data Research Scotland (ADR-S) in May 2024. Further information on ADR-S can be found here: ADR Scotland - ADR UK
The HWB Census underwent an Ethics Peer Review in line with the Scottish Government social research: protocols and guidance. Scottish Government social research: protocols and guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Data provided into the ADR-S infrastructure does not include the Scottish Candidate Number (SCN). The SCN is replaced with a pseudonym for this purpose.
In light of the ICO's recommendations, the Scottish Government is introducing enhanced technical and organisational measures to ensure that any data which contains the SCN and is processed for statistical and research purposes will have a pseudonym created. The SCN and the method of pseudonymisation will be held separately. These enhanced measures have been agreed with the ICO.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24385 by Shona Robison on 22 January 2024, whether it will provide an updated list of any current (a) ministerial taskforces, (b) Cabinet committees, (c) Cabinet sub-committees, (d) ministerial working groups and (e) other ministerial committees.
Answer
Kate Forbes: Information on Cabinet and Cabinet Sub-Committees is available on the Scottish Government website here; any change to these structures would be updated on these pages:
Cabinet and Ministers - gov.scot ( www.gov.scot )
Cabinet sub-committees: factsheet - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
There is also a range of other Ministerial groups and taskforces that are co-ordinated by individual portfolios. These are developed as required and change over time, therefore a comprehensive list of such groups is not available.
