- Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2024
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2024
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the licensing conditions for wrasse harvesting and its evidence base for carrying out an appropriate assessment of wrasse fisheries management in special areas of conservation, in which months of the year the gonads of the (a) goldsinny, (b) rock cook, (c) corkwing, (d) ballan and (e) cuckoo species of wrasse (i) are most developed and (ii) spawn.
Answer
Under the Habitats Regulations there is a requirement to carry out an appropriate assessment where an activity is capable of affecting a designated feature of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Wrasse are not a protected feature in any Scottish SAC.
At the introduction of the licence variation ,The Scottish Government was not required to carry out an Appropriate Assessment (AA) for the wrasse fishery under the Habitats Regulations, as wrasse are not protected features in any of Scotland’s Special Areas of Conservation. The licence condition brought control to a fishery that previously had no management measures. There is an association between wrasse and rocky reef, however an appropriate assessment would only be required if evidence showed pots had a significant impact on the reefs. We will continue to work with NatureScot and if evidence shows an AA is necessary, one will be undertaken. Therefore, at this present time, the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested. Additional data collected through the licence condition to fish for wrasse will be published in the coming months.
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the licensing conditions for wrasse harvesting and its evidence base for carrying out an appropriate assessment of wrasse fisheries management in special areas of conservation, in relation to the (a) goldsinny, (b) rock cook, (c) corkwing, (d) ballan and (e) cuckoo species of wrasse, what length the (i) male and (ii) female fish are on their (A) first, (B) second, (C) third, (D) fourth and (E) subsequent breeding season(s).
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25557 on 25 March 2024. 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: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to question S6W-25694 by Tom Arthur on 4 March 2024 and S6W-25695 by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2024, what consideration it has given to amending the conditions of grants, loans and its contracts with third parties to preclude parties that have transferred jobs overseas, commonly referred to as offshoring, from such support and agreements.
Answer
Contract terms & conditions are focused on the delivery of the contract, and are proportionate and relevant to the contract subject matter. Procurement rules require equal treatment, transparency, and proportionality in public procurement processes, precluding the exclusion of companies who conduct their business lawfully.
Grants entered into by Scottish Ministers and any public body subject to the Scottish Public Finance Manual are subject to the principles set out in the manual and have appropriate terms and conditions applied to protect public resources.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its policies on animal welfare in Scotland, whether it plans to engage with the Competition and Markets Authority's review of vet charges across the UK, and, if so, how.
Answer
Scottish Government officials engaged with the Competition and Markets Authority as part of its initial review. Once more details are known regarding the Authority’s formal investigation we will consider what level of engagement will be appropriate.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Christina McKelvie on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it (a) is taking and (b) will take to ensure that any barriers to (i) full-time and (ii) volunteer firefighters carrying and administering naloxone to treat opioid overdoses are removed.
Answer
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) naloxone programme was launched in February 2022, backed with investment of £89,000 from Scottish Government. The programme aims to establish a network of fire officers who will carry naloxone and be trained to administer it in the event of an emergency.
Since then, all SFRS staff have been invited to complete online training to learn more about drug deaths in Scotland and how naloxone can help someone in the event of an opioid overdose. To date, 3,379 out of all 7,619 staff have voluntarily completed the training.
There is additional training for Flexi Duty Officers (FDOs) who have volunteered to carry naloxone and there are now 31 trained FDO volunteers within SFRS who are able to do this. It is expected that over the next 6 weeks a further 130 FDO volunteers will be trained and equipped to carry and administer naloxone.
The carrying and administering Naloxone is considered by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to be a form of emergency medical response which currently sits out-with the role map of firefighters. SFRS has a desire to broaden the role of firefighters which would incorporate emergency medical response but this is dependent on reaching agreement with the FBU.
SFRS and Scottish Government are determined to fully implement this programme and will continue to work closely with all parties, including representative bodies, to overcome any barriers to its full implementation.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will adopt the recommendations in the report, Consideration of the effectiveness of the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan, which was published by Environmental Standards Scotland in February 2024.
Answer
The Scottish Government welcomes the report by the Environmental Standards Scotland published in February 2024. As outlined in their report, the previous 2018 Climate Change Plan received recommendations from committees of the Scottish Parliament and the Climate Change Committee. The Scottish Government responded to these recommendations in March 2021, accepting 66 of the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations, with a commitment to delivering many of these through the practical implementation of the Climate Change Plan update, with the next Climate Change Plan also identified as the mechanism to address any other recommendations.
This remains the mechanism and, as such, Scotland’s next Climate Change Plan will set out our approach to delivering on Scotland’s net zero ambitions up to 2040 and provide information on the costs and benefits of all policies contained within the Plan. Work is ongoing to ensure the next Climate Change Plan provides a credible and robust pathway to deliver Scotland’s ambitions and the recommendations outlined by ESS in their report are being considered as part of that process. We will, of course, consult widely on the new Plan, including with ESS.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to data reportedly showing that over 7,300 patients waited longer than 24 hours for emergency treatment in Scottish hospitals in 2023.
Answer
As set out in answer S6F-02918, I emphasise again that all long waits are unacceptable. We continue to work hard with health boards to reduce delays for patients.
A and E performance is impacted by pressures from right across the wider health and social care system, which is why our unscheduled care collaborative programme is taking a whole systems approach as we work with health boards in delivering sustained improvement. Through the programme, a range of actions is being taken to improve patient flows in order to reduce A and E delays. Those include actions to strengthen arrangements to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, such as same-day emergency care services; expanding our hospital-at-home services; and optimising flow navigation centres. Those actions support patients, to ensure that they receive the right care in the right place while also reducing pressure on our very busy acute sites.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government allocating £685 million for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete mitigation and management works within its NHS estate up to 2024-25, whether it will provide an update on what consideration it has given to providing money to NHS boards in Scotland for this purpose.
Answer
There have been no consequentials forthcoming to the Scottish Government as a result of the UK Government decision to allocate funding for RAAC mitigation works. If rectification is required on RAAC within the NHSScotland Estate that will have to be managed from existing budgets.
Where RAAC has been found there has been no immediate disruption or concern although some rectification works will be required in addition to monitoring and management in all cases. NHS Boards will continue to consider their buildings with RAAC on an ongoing risk based approach to the management of those assets.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how progress towards the 58 actions published in its The Entrepreneurial Campus report will be monitored, and when any progress report will be published.
Answer
The Scottish Government has been progressing delivery of the 10 year Entrepreneurial Campus Blueprint through integration with existing policies. This includes brokering new partnerships between Techscaler and key universities, aligning with the National Innovation Strategy, 13 funded projects via the Ecosystem Fund as well as a £5.5m uplift to the University Innovation Fund. These activities will be monitored and reported on through existing mechanisms as well as case studies to demonstrate the use of the uplift.
