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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-38198

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published Cost of Living Research 2025 report by Disability Equality Scotland, which highlighted issues that disabled people are having with ferry travel, what steps it is taking to ensure that all ferry services are accessible to everyone, and what consideration it has given to extending free ferry travel to disabled people.

I welcome the report and note the ferry recommendation.

The recently published Strategic Approach of the Islands Connectivity Plan sets Accessibility as one of four priorities for future ferry services and identifies a number of actions to support the delivery of this priority, including development of a Ferries Accessibility Standard and reopening of the Ferries Accessibility Fund.

The Scottish Government has recently introduced free travel on inter-islands ferries for under 22 year olds and an extension of the ferry journey voucher scheme to 19-21 year olds and there are no current plans to extend this further. However, we invest significantly to keep ferry fares affordable for all, including on Road Equivalent Tariff and islander fares, as well as the Older and Disabled Persons Concessionary Travel Scheme. In addition, a number of local authorities already provide concessionary ferry travel for disabled people.

Question reference: S6W-38106

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the statement at page 21 of the detailed Project Willow report by EY-Parthenon that "across all scenarios, the direct GVA impact in total across projects is negative", how it plans to keep the nine projects identified in the Project Willow report operational.

The Scottish Enterprise and UK Office for Investment have established the Grangemouth Investor taskforce which is focussed on identifying and attracting investment in the proposals outlined in Project Willow, with a particular focus on opportunities that the Grangemouth Just Transition Fund could support to ensure they become market investible.

The Scottish Government is not the developer nor owner of any of the nine potential projects suggested through Project Willow. The responsibility for assessing the commercial viability of a project rests solely with the project developers.

Question reference: S6W-38108

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the detailed Project Willow report by EY-Parthenon, what its position is on whether it is feasible to use approximately 240,000 hectares of agricultural land for the production of cover crops for Project 6 (HEFA), as set out at page 124, and, if it considers it to be feasible, whether it has any concerns regarding competition with food production.

Question reference: S6W-38105

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the detailed Project Willow report by EY-Parthenon, what Government decisions that are to be made before the end of 2025 in respect of Project (a) 5, (b) 6, (c) 7, (d) 8 and (e) 9 are being referred to at page 44.

Question reference: S6W-38067

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to section 3(3) of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, by what date the Scottish Ministers will (a) lay the national good food nation plan before Parliament under section 1(1) and (b) deliver a statement setting out details of any (i) representations, (ii) resolutions and (iii) reports mentioned in subsection (1)(b); what changes they made to the plan in response to any such (A) representations, (B) resolutions and (C) reports, and what the reasons were for any such changes.

Question reference: S6W-38151

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the enforcement of the wrasse fishery licensing conditions, how many fixed penalty notices (FPN) have been issued since April 2021, and how many of those went unpaid; of those FPNs that went unpaid, how many have (a) been referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) proceeded in the courts, and, of any that resulted in convictions, what the (i) nature of the offence, (ii) value of the original FPN and (iii) court disposal was.

Question reference: S6W-38200

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund is not continued, what assessment has been undertaken of any impact that this will have on the ability to deliver against the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy delivery plans.

Question reference: S6W-38139

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what weight is given to (a) local authority planning refusals and (b) the findings of a public inquiry reporter in a final ministerial decision on renewable energy developments.

Question reference: S6W-38137

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its response to an Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 request on 22 April 2025 (reference 202500456071), regarding the 10 renewable energy application decisions since January 2020 in which the Scottish Ministers decided against the recommendations made by public inquiry reporters, on what specific planning, legal, environmental, or policy grounds each of these decisions was made, and whether a summary of the rationale behind each decision will be published.

Question reference: S6W-38066

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to section 3(1)(b)(ii) and (iii) of the Good Food Nation Act (Scotland) 2022, when the cut-off date is for any (a) resolution relating to the proposed national good food nation plan to be passed by the Scottish Parliament and (b) report relating to the draft plan to be published by any committee of the Parliament.