- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what interim measures are being implemented to reduce emissions from diesel passenger trains before 2045.
Answer
Decarbonisation of Scotland’s Railway is undertaken on a phased basis. The line to Barrhead was decarbonised in December 2023. The line to East Kilbride is next, completing in December 2025. Other lines will follow.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the results of the Instrumental Music Service Survey 2024 to be published.
Answer
The survey is not a Scottish Government survey. It is carried out by the Improvement Service on behalf of Heads of Instrumental Tuition Scotland (HITS).
For further information please contact the Improvement Service at research@improvementservice.org.uk
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its policy and guidelines regarding people with alcohol use disorder in the justice system, with a view to addressing any gaps in implementation.
Answer
The Scottish Government is currently working on a National Treatment Specification for Alcohol and Drug Treatment in Scotland.
This document will be informed by numerous sources including the forthcoming UK Clinical Guidelines for Alcohol Treatment and the recently published Public Health Scotland review into Alcohol Brief Interventions as well as key independent reports such as Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problem’s (SHAAP) paper on alcohol use disorder in the justice system.
Officials will work closely with colleagues within the Scottish Prison Service to ensure that the National Treatment Specification fully reflects the importance of the justice system including those resident in the prison estate as an integral part of Scotland’s alcohol treatment provision.
- Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent as part of the Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund, in each year since 2018.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer provided to S6W-31489 on 5 December 2024, which provides the relevant information. 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: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether the revised railway decarbonisation plan includes specific targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Answer
Details of decarbonisation of the Scottish rail network will be outlined in the refreshed Decarbonisation Action Plan.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide support to the Scottish Prison Service in order to upscale the provision of alcohol treatment services to individuals resident in the prison estate.
Answer
The Scottish Government is currently working on a National Treatment Specification for Alcohol and Drug Treatment in Scotland.
This document will be informed by numerous sources including the forthcoming UK Clinical Guidelines for Alcohol Treatment and the recently published Public Health Scotland review into Alcohol Brief Interventions as well as key independent reports such as Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problem’s (SHAAP) paper on alcohol use disorder in the justice system.
Officials will work closely with colleagues within the Scottish Prison Service to ensure that the National Treatment Specification fully reflects the importance of the justice system including those resident in the prison estate as an integral part of Scotland’s alcohol treatment provision.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what it can do to support the Norwegian-UK Strategic Partnership declared on 16 December 2024 as it relates to Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government has long recognised the importance of developing strong ties with Norway to fully realise our shared ambitions in devolved areas such as culture, education, energy and climate. The First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs, and Culture both met with the Norwegian Ambassador to the UK when he last visited Scotland for the Nordic Music Days festival. Additionally, the Minister for Climate Action recently visited Stavanger, where he led engagement with the Scottish and Norwegian port sectors. Scottish Government officials, both here in Scotland and overseas in our Nordic office, will continue to engage regularly with Norwegian partners.
While we are broadly supportive of the new Joint Declaration on the Norwegian-UK Strategic Partnership, it was disappointing that the Scottish Government was not given the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the drafting of the declaration, nor have we been asked to help operationalise it despite the fact that many of the commitments pertain to devolved policy areas.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the cost is of replacing a light (a) bulb and (b) fixture in the Parliament canteen.
Answer
The general maintenance of lighting is included within the building maintenance contract and only additional maintenance spends are on parts or replacements if they fail. The cost of bulb varies from fitting to fitting and is sourced through a wholesaler by the current contractor for best value at time of purchase. Both types of fittings in the canteen are original and bespoke to the Parliament. To date no fitting/fixture has been replaced in this area and there are no plans to. Therefore, no cost of fitting/fixture for either is known.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to prevent so-called "ghost fishing".
Answer
“Ghost fishing” results from abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear and has a negative impact on our environment. Some loss is unavoidable because of weather, snagging or gear failure, and fishers make every effort to retrieve this gear where possible. Marine litter resulting from fishing gear is a shared global problem and we will continue our work in Scotland set out in our Marine Litter Strategy, and internationally through the Oslo Paris Convention (OSPAR) and the Global Ghost Gear Initiative to help tackle it.
Marine Directorate Coastal Offices currently operate a mechanism for reporting gear loss with an aim of helping fishers work together to recover and identify lost gear. Additionally, in 2020 we introduced The Gear Marking (Scotland) Order, which makes it a legal requirement for a fishing vessel to deploy buoys made for that purpose displaying their name and registration number. This builds on the Best Practice Guidance for Marking Static Fishing Gear we published in 2018 and gives the best possible chance for fishers to be reunited with displaced gear. We are also encouraging the industry to develop voluntary codes of conduct to reduce instances of gear conflict, and our national network of Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups are the correct medium for such proposals to be developed.
Throughout 2025 we will promote improved gear design to help reduce the risk of loss and resulting environmental impact using the European standard for circular design of fishing gear and aquaculture equipment, published in November 2024. The standard will also support our work with industry to improve the collection and recycling of end-of-life fishing gear when it is brought ashore. We will use the learning from our extensive research over the last 3 years to develop policy options that could help our fleets with their waste management and support the growth of our circular economy. Fishers' professional training modules will continue to educate on the issue of plastic pollution and environmental impact. We will also continue to fund KIMO’s Fishing for Litter programme which is now active in 32 Scottish harbours, enabling the landing of passively caught waste including fishing gear, as well as encouraging responsible waste management.
The intentional disposal of gear at sea remains an offence covered by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) regulations which are enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). We will continue to report information regarding intentional dumping from any fishing vessel through our intelligence system to the MCA.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31999 by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024, in light of its answer that it "routinely increases the Local Government budget in-year, including through transfers from other portfolios", for what reason it does not allocate these funds to local government in the initial presentation of its Budgets, instead of later transferring funds between portfolios.
Answer
Individual policy teams within portfolios routinely allocate funding to local government to deliver our shared priorities. The intended allocations at the start of the financial year are set out in table 4.12 of the 2025-26 Scottish Budget, providing transparency to parliament. While the funding is included in the weekly revenue and monthly capital payments made to individual local authorities from the start of the financial year, the budget is formally processed at ABR and SBR – which are also published for transparency.
The Scottish Government’s intention in terms of funding available to local government is fully set out in the budget in the initial presentation, and given full effect as a technical increase to the general revenue or capital grants at ABR and SBR.
