- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to support livestock farmers in reducing methane emissions, in line with the Climate Change Committee's 2045 net zero pathway.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting our livestock farmers in playing a full part in Scotland’s journey to net zero, including by reducing methane emissions in ways that strengthen farm productivity and resilience. The Scottish Government has no policy to reduce the national herd, our approach focuses on reducing emissions intensity rather than livestock numbers, through improvements in genetics, low-methane breeding, and we continue to explore opportunities around appropriate uptake of methane-suppressing feed products.
We also recognise the importance of evidence and practical tools for supporting change on-farm. That’s why we’ve introduced new calving interval conditionality to the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme, helping farmers increase efficiency while lowering emissions. We are also supporting farmers through data-driven tools like MyHerdStats, which provides herd performance metrics to help identify opportunities for improvement.
We will continue working with the sector to ensure it thrives as part of a climate-smart food system, while recognising the importance of Scotland’s livestock products to UK and international markets.
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the debate on motion S6M-17186 (Best Start New Model of Neonatal Care) on 30 April 2025, what the timeline is for implementing the Best Start model of neonatal care by 2026, and by what date each neonatal unit will be operating under its new designation.
Answer
Implementation is already underway in the East region with Fife babies transferring to Edinburgh, and in the West Region with Ayrshire babies being transferred to Glasgow.
The Scottish Government has requested progress updates from the three regional chief executives in response to the timelines indicated within the three regional plans. These updates are expected to be provided by 31 May 2025.
Over the course of this year we will continue to work with the Regional Chief Executives and NHS Boards to continue to implement this service change.
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37428 by Jim Fairlie on 12 May 2025, and in light of reported errors within the February 2025 version of the general licence to arrange a fair, market, show, exhibition or other gathering involving the collecting together of birds in Scotland (EXD 178 (AI) (S)), whether it sought legal advice whilst drafting the general licence, and, if not, for what reason it chose not to do so.
Answer
Scottish Government sought legal advice whilst drafting the general licence.
The licence is made under article 4(1) of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Order 2007 and issued by a veterinary inspector. It permits the collection of birds at fairs, markets, shows, exhibitions or other gatherings subject to the conditions set out in the Schedule. A veterinary inspector shall only grant a licence if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, in accordance with article 4(2) of that Order, and the veterinary inspector is satisfied that the gathering and the transit of birds to and from the gathering would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus (in particular of virus of the subtype H5N1). These licences are regularly reviewed to reflect the changing risk from avian influenza. General licence changes will also take into consideration feedback from industry and members of the public.
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the debate on motion S6M-17186 (Best Start New Model of Neonatal Care) on 30 April 2025, and in light of the previous national neonatal clinical lead for the Scottish Perinatal Network stepping down in autumn 2024, when a new national neonatal clinical lead will be appointed, and whether they will join the Task and Finish Group for the implementation of the Best Start new model of neonatal care.
Answer
The Scottish Perinatal Network (SPN) undertook recruitment to this role in December 2024 and a preferred candidate was offered the role. Finalisation of contracts and backfill recruitment is currently taking place.
The Task and Finish Group is chaired by the three regional Chief Executives and they determine membership of the group. The SPN are currently members of the group and this will be reviewed as work progresses.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many "school hubs", for pupils to be in school but not in a classroom setting, have been in operation in each local authority in each year since 1999.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, education is the responsibility of local authorities.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether any extra resources will be made available to local authorities to hire additional waste management and operative staff, ahead of the design of a statutory Household Recycling Charter.
Answer
The 2025-26 budget provides local government in Scotland with record funding of over £15.1 billion, a real terms increase of 5.5% and the Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently.
As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them. This includes for waste services on the balance of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.
The Scottish Government is working in partnership with local government representatives to design the methodology for the co-design of the Code of Practice. This collaborative work will help to ensure that the project draws on best available evidence whilst also being deliverable and affordable.
This partnership working will also ensure that any new commitments or changes to existing policy that have a financial cost for local government, will be considered and approved through the formal financial governance process. This requires agreed recommendations from the joint Scottish Government and COSLA Officers’ Settlement and Distribution Group (SDG) and political agreement from Scottish Ministers and COSLA political Leaders.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the development of markets for recycled plastic flexibles and films.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working to support the development of markets for recycled plastic flexibles and films through a combination of policy commitments and infrastructure investment.
As part of its broader strategy to enhance recycling services, the Scottish Government has committed to introducing household collections for recyclable plastic film and flexible packaging by 31 March 2027. This initiative aims to increase the availability of recyclable materials and increase demand for recycled products.
To bolster recycling capabilities, the Scottish Government has provided funding through the Recycling Improvement Fund. For instance, Fife Council received £470,000 to develop plastic film recycling services locally. This assisted in the installation of advanced sorting equipment, allowing the council to accept flexible plastics at the kerbside and process them into high-quality materials for the market.
Scottish Enterprise would also consider supporting growing businesses in this area, particularly if they are directly aligned with their mission to boost capital investment.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to (a) identify any points of confusion and conflict in waste legislation and (b) develop a coordinated strategy to ensure the optimal sequencing of upcoming waste policy actions.
Answer
Scottish Government officials engage regularly with waste industry stakeholders to ensure clarity and avoid misunderstanding of Scottish waste legislation and to assist with any changes in regulatory approach.
In terms of strategy, the Scottish Government published Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030 in December 2024, following extensive collaboration and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. The Route Map sets out how we will deliver priority actions to accelerate more sustainable use of our resources across the waste hierarchy. It takes a whole system approach to deliver coordinated, properly sequenced actions, designed to deliver cumulative impact and wider benefits to Scotland.
The Route Map can be viewed at the following link - Scotland's circular economy and waste route map to 2030 - gov.scot
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to help any small and medium-sized enterprises that are impacted by its waste policies to identify viable markets and outlets for residual waste.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to work with the sector and associated bodies, such as RMAS, the Resource Management Association Scotland, to consider and discuss issues relevant to the sector. This includes a recent meeting on 29 April (plus continued follow-up discussions) on sector challenges faced by small and medium sized enterprises (SMES) with SEPA and RMAS (who represent SMEs in the waste and resource management sector).
- Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide copies of all technical reports and test results in full from the investigation into the presence of radon at Inverness Justice Centre.
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.