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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-07198

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the percentage cumulative economic growth in Scotland, in terms of increased total GDP, was for the period from May 2007 to May 2016, and how this compares with the equivalent figure for the UK as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-07124

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the estimated cost of fraud of the Deposit Return Scheme reduced from £108 million in the business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA) of 2019 to £74.3 million in the Final BRIA of 2021.

Question reference: S6W-07112

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which items of glass recyclate that are currently capable of being disposed of in existing local authority schemes will not be capable of being recycled in its Deposit Return Scheme; what arrangements will be in place to continue the recycling of such items, and what proportion of the total of glass recyclate these items will constitute, expressed as a proportion of the (a) number and (b) volume of items.

There is a duty in the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 for local authorities to provide a collection for glass. The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is for single-use drinks containers; local authorities will continue to collect all other glass not captured by DRS.

The Scottish Government does not hold figures relating to the proportion of glass recyclate for non-scheme articles. However, including glass in DRS will bring significant environmental and economic benefits. The inclusion of glass will save over 1.2 megatonnes CO2 equivalent over 25 years and will also reduce the amount of harmful glass litter in our environment. In addition, DRS will significantly increase the quantity and quality of glass recyclate, creating an aggregated and high-quality feedstock for reprocessing. This will include clear glass, which we understand to be in high demand.

Question reference: S6W-07110

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity at the meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 25 January 2022 that the annual cost of operating Circularity Scotland “in a steady state” is estimated in the full business case to be £92.9 million, whether it will publish full details of that total; what its position is on whether this is an accurate estimate, and, if it does not consider it to be accurate, what its estimate is, and how many employees it anticipates will be employed through these annual costs.

Question reference: S6W-07108

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on (a) how many reverse vending machines (RVMs) it estimates will be used in its Deposit Return Scheme, (b) the most recent evidence it has regarding the costs of each machine, (c) which companies in Scotland can supply these machines, and how many, (d) any engagement that it has had with any such companies, (e) which companies outside of Scotland supply RVMs, and any engagement that it has had with them and (f) how it will avoid a potential monopoly situation arising in respect of the supply of RVMs that are compatible with its updated requirements for their use and operation.

The number of Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) that will be used in Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), was estimated at 3,021. This information can be found in Table 2 on page 19 of the revised Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA).

The BRIA also indicates that the cost of an RVM could vary from around £19,000 to £25,000 for smaller models, and around £30,000 for a larger machine.

The costs associated with operating of Return Points, including RVMs can be found in Table 1 on page 5 of the Full Business Case Addendum .

The identification and acquisition of DRS-compatible RVMs is a matter for the Scheme Administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd, and retailers to manage. This is consistent with the industry-led approach to DRS.

Question reference: S6W-07122

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it did not include in either the business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA) of 2019 or the Final BRIA of 2021 of the Deposit Return Scheme an estimate of the total annual cost of loss of revenue for retailers that is attributable to the loss of floor space required for RVMs, and whether it will publish these calculations showing the full detail.

As stated in the Final Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, it is anticipated that floor space implications associated with the installation of Reverse Vending Machines (RVM) are likely to be modest. Generally, it is expected that high-volume retailers will choose to introduce RVMs as they will be able to process returns with greater efficiency, while low-volume retailers will choose to operate manual collection and return, as the costs and space requirements of an RVM may be prohibitive.

Whichever method is adopted, retailers will be able to charge a handling fee from the scheme administrator to fully compensate them for the costs involved in the collection, checking and storage of used containers.

Question reference: S6W-07107

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity at the meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 25 January 2022 that "Circularity Scotland intends the reverse vending machines [RVMs] that it advises businesses to install to be compatible with future digital schemes", which includes a digital deposit return scheme, whether this requirement will be mandatory on the part of businesses; what extra costs that will entail to each business in relation to the most recent estimated cost of a minimum of £19,000 per machine; what steps it took to ascertain the cost impacts of requiring businesses to purchase or lease RVMs that are compatible in this way; what checking it undertook regarding whether it is possible to obtain RVMs that are compatible, and what choice there is of RVMs that have this compatibility that will ensure that competition applies in the RMV market.

Question reference: S6T-00610

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with DP World and P&O Ferries regarding the loss of jobs for ferry staff working out of Cairnryan.

Question reference: S6T-00613

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any measures in place to prevent serious violent offenders from changing their names.

Question reference: S6F-00950

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2022

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the Spring Statement.