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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-38483

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to increase the number of breeding (a) cattle and (b) sheep.

The Scottish Government does not set targets for the number of breeding cattle or sheep in Scotland. Livestock numbers are primarily driven by market conditions and individual business decisions.

However, we are committed to supporting a resilient and sustainable livestock sector. This includes continued investment in schemes such as the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme, which provides £40 million annually to support beef producers and encourage improvements in herd efficiency, and the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme to provide support to breeding hill flocks.

We also provide broader direct support to sheep and cattle producers through the Basic Payment Scheme and Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme payments – in stark contrast to the UK Government approach.

Through our Vision for Agriculture and ongoing reform programme, we will continue to work with farmers and crofters to ensure future support enables productive, sustainable farming.

We remain concerned that recent UK trade deals, agreed without meaningful consultation with the Scottish Government, risk undermining domestic livestock production by allowing imports produced to lower environmental and welfare standards—potentially increasing global emissions and undercutting Scotland’s high-quality producers.

Question reference: S6W-38412

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to recover the £5 million reportedly owed in unpaid confiscation orders.

Question reference: S6W-38474

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Young Carer Grant is only available to carers aged 16 to 18, in light of many young carers being younger than this.

The Young Carer Grant is part of a package of measures to support young carers alongside non-cash support through the Young Scot Young Carers Package, which is available to young carers aged 11-18 and provides tailored discounts and opportunities including high value e-vouchers, wellbeing boxes and vouchers for family days out.

The eligibility criteria for Young Carer Grant were developed with carers and those that represent and support them. As highlighted in the Equality Impact Assessment for the grant it is “…targeted at young adults at a transition point in their lives. There was a firm consensus among stakeholders that it would be inappropriate to pay benefits to people under the age of 16.”

The interim evaluation of the Young Carer Grant, published in 2021, showed the grant was having a positive impact on young carers' ability to take part in opportunities that are the norm for their peers and that stakeholders were generally supportive of the age criteria.

Question reference: S6W-38415

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what legal or enforcement powers are available to ensure the payment of confiscation orders.

Question reference: S6W-38464

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37894 by Jim Fairlie on 3 June 2025, whether it will provide the information requested, specifically regarding what its position is on what role precision agriculture has in reducing nitrous oxide emissions from fertiliser use, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

The answer to question S6W-37894 referred to a range of economic and environmental benefits that the Scottish Government believes can be delivered through the use of precision agriculture. These are understood to include the reduction of nitrous oxide emissions through more targeted use of fertiliser. An example of this in practice can be found on the website of the SG funded Farm Advisory Service at Optimise your Nutrient Management with Precision Manure Spreading Technology | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service

Question reference: S6W-38115

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to move towards surgery for ovarian cancer patients being undertaken after three cycles of chemotherapy, for those being treated with neoadjuvant regime, in light of its previously reported commitment to achieve this by April-June 2024.

Jenni Minto: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have and are continuing to take action to simplify scheduling of these complex cases. They have advised that achieving surgery within three cycles of chemotherapy for this patient group remains a Board priority. There is an improvement plan in place to achieve this, with actions being closely monitored.

Ongoing improvement work includes:

Early access to radiology scanning
Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meeting one week after scan results
Efficient scheduling of colorectal input for joint surgery cases
Additional colorectal surgical time being allocated to work with gynaecology oncology team
Maximum use of protected 14 weekly theatre sessions

NHSGGC has advised that the number of patients receiving more than three cycles of chemotherapy while waiting surgery has significantly decreased.

Question reference: S6W-38523

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any legislative or policy options to address the reported legal and regulatory challenges posed by "ownerless" contaminated sites like Tarbolton Moss landfill site.

Scottish Government officials continue to consider the issue of ownership at Tarbolton Moss, engaging with partners, including South Ayrshire Council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

There are provisions in the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 and the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003 to require companies to make adequate financial provisions for landfill aftercare, and this requirement will also be included in the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025. However, in the case of Tarbolton Moss the company was dissolved without any such funds remaining.

Officials continue to work with SEPA to understand how this occurred to ensure that the risk for similar future scenarios is minimised.

Furthermore, to minimise risk of further site abandonment, we continue to work closely with local authorities and commercial operators to examine challenges faced before the commencement of the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste on 31 December 2025.

Question reference: S6W-38466

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), last reviewed in 2020, to ensure that they provide sufficient consideration of proximity to children’s spaces and safeguards in family-dense areas, with particular reference to the impact on small rural communities.

Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) are subject to continuous improvement rather than there being a specific review cycle. In 2022, MAPPA national guidance had an extensive update while MAPPA responsible authorities work individually and collectively at a local level to improve processes, information sharing and best practice.

In additional to individual risk assessment, which is an embedded feature of the justice system, every new offender on initial registration under MAPPA is subject to an Environmental Risk Assessment which includes a review of their housing and its suitability. This risk assessment is part of the wider National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders in Scotland (NASSO) which seeks to provide housing for sex offenders while managing any potential risk to the wider community. The placement of sex offenders in stable accommodation can support ongoing risk management and address risk with further offending.

Question reference: S6W-38703

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the alternative green route, along the other side of the glen, for the A83 Rest and Be Thankful section should be re-evaluated to assess whether it would be a more proportionate or cheaper alternative route for the road to take.

Question reference: S6W-38708

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to each local authority to support the implementation of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy 2023-24.