- Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 26 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on (a) how many border inspection points would be required along the Anglo-Scottish border and (b) where any such inspection points would be located, in an independent Scotland.
Answer
Answer expected on 26 June 2025
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 26 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what assessment has been made of the impact of the email quarantine system on the efficiency of staff management of MSP inboxes.
Answer
Answer expected on 26 June 2025
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what responses have been received from LGBTQ+ staff or organisations that it has consulted with, or been contacted by, since the announcement of its interim policy on Parliament facilities, following the UK Supreme Court ruling.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the response to question S6O-04050, what the findings were of the review of the terms and conditions of staff employed by MSPs, particularly in relation to parental leave policies.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025
- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether any species licences issued to Forestry and Land Scotland by NatureScot can be transferred to third parties without the prior approval of NatureScot, and whether any such formal consent is in place at present for third party use.
Answer
Any changes, including transferring the licence or modifying its scope, must be agreed upon in writing with NatureScot.
The current years red squirrel licence granted to Forestry and Land Scotland contains a condition (i.e. four) stating that, this licence can only be used by agents if prior permission has been granted by a FLS Decision Maker.
The current beaver licence states in condition seven that, the licence holder may permit agents or assistants to work under the terms of this licence.
The research licence states in condition two that, this licence only covers work carried out for FLS, by FLS employees and registered volunteers.
- Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its Renewed Policy Statement on achieving car use reduction in Scotland.
Answer
I can announce that our Renewed Policy Statement on reducing car use in Scotland that has been developed jointly with COSLA has been published today, 12 June 2025 and is available at: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/achieving-car-use-reduction-in-scotland-a-renewed-policy-statement/.
The statement acknowledges that car use remains the largest contributor to transport greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland and we must reduce those emissions to support our just transition to net zero by 2045. We remain committed to reducing people’s car use, alongside our transition to electric vehicles, to reduce emissions and realise wider societal benefits.
The renewed policy statement reiterates our commitment to reducing car use in Scotland. It recognises the high level of car dependency in many parts of Scotland particularly mainland rural and island areas, and that car use will remain a transport need for many people. Our Programme for Government committed to working with COSLA and regional transport partnerships to develop delivery plans for car use reduction, reflective of different communities and places. Achieving car use reduction requires incentives and the current budget provides over £2 billion for sustainable transport, including providing up to 2.3 million people in Scotland with access to free bus travel. The policy statement also outlines the need to disincentivise motoring, for example through enabling discretionary local road user charging powers for local councils should they wish to use these, and undertaking a regulatory check of existing powers. We will also continue to press the UK Government to address how motoring taxation can support the greater uptake of EV cars, car use reduction generally and work with the 4 nations as how this can be achieved.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish an update on the progress of the actions undertaken by Planning Aid Scotland and Heads of Planning Scotland to work towards ending the housing emergency.
Answer
We are working with Planning Aid Scotland (PAS) to strengthen local elected member training, addressing the housing emergency by building capacity and improve decision-making within the planning system. The Scottish Government supported PAS in producing a high-level training route map for elected member training. The recommendations have been considered and we expect the next stage to involve formulating and testing pilot training.
The Scottish Government supported Heads of Planning Scotland (HOPS) to take forward work on a set of standard templates for common planning conditions, good practice on Section 75 agreements and aligning consents. HOPS will share outputs with authorities once complete.
Our work with partners on stalled housing sites to overcome barriers and accelerate delivery of new homes continues at pace, and our blog of 9 June provides further details on progress. A progress report has been prepared and is available by contacting DirectorPAR@gov.scot.
The Scottish Government provides regular progress updates on all workstreams via it’s e-alerts, on X @ScotGovPlanning and on LinkedIn.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any potential long-term impact on new housing supply of the proposed increase to planning appeal fees, including for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in light of reports that they could be disproportionately impacted.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution of the SME sector to the delivery of the right homes in the right places and their role in tackling the Housing Emergency.
The planning appeal and local review fee structure is designed to correspond with the different scales of planning applications. The fees operate under the same general principle i.e. the smaller the development, the lower the fee. The appeal fees are approximately 60% lower than those which are payable for planning applications.
It is important to note that in recent years, over 92% of planning applications have been approved and so the number of appeals arising is relatively low.
A business and regulatory impact assessment was carried out in relation to the new fees regulations. This considered the potential impacts of the regulations on businesses of all sizes.
We will monitor the implementation of the fees regulations and their impact, including on the performance of the appeals system. This will help us to identify, and in the future address, if necessary, any unintended consequences.
- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many species-specific licences, issued by NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland currently holds; for which species, and for what purposes.
Answer
Forestry and Land Scotland currently holds three species licences. The details of which are as follows:
Licence number | Species | Purpose |
280737 | Wildlife and Countryside Act (as amended) Schedule 1 (breeding and lekking) and 5 (Great crested newts, Otters, and Wildcats | For science, research or education. |
275762 | Eurasian beavers | For the possession, control, transportation of live animals taken by live capture trapping under Licence 248144 to and from locations approved by NatureScot under that licence. |
280378 | Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) | To permit Contractors or Operators as agents of Forestry and Land Scotland to disturb Red Squirrels and damage or destroy their dreys during the course of forestry operations where the actions are licensable, there are no satisfactory alternatives, and actions will not be detrimental to Favourable Conservation Status. |
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress on the actions in the planning and housing emergency delivery plan.
Answer
We are making good progress delivering across the 23 actions outlined in our Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan. Our National Planning Hub is now operational and on 22 May a Chief Planner letter was issued inviting authorities to identify areas for surge capacity, particularly on priority areas including housing.
Our work with key partners to overcome barriers and accelerate delivery of new homes continues at pace, and our blog of 9 June provides further details on progress. We are committed to providing stakeholders regular updates on the Delivery Plan and on 30 April, myself and Chief Planner issued a letter detailing progress across all four themes of policy, delivery, capacity and efficiency.
The Scottish Government provides regular progress updates on all workstreams via it’s e-alerts, on X @ScotGovPlanning and on LinkedIn.
