Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-10353

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the maximum fine of £40,000 for the offence of fly-tipping.

Question reference: S6W-10357

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalties for the offence of fly-tipping have been issued in each year since 2007, and how many of these have been paid.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of fixed penalties issued for the offence of flytipping, nor information on how many of these have been paid.

This detailed information can be obtained by contacting individual issuing authorities. Authorised officers from Local Authorities, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Police Scotland and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park can issue penalties for the offence of flytipping.

Question reference: S6O-01352

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics.

Question reference: S6W-10354

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the £80 fixed penalty fine for the offence of littering.

The Scottish Government recently consulted on proposals for our new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, including measures to strengthen enforcement measures.

The Scottish Government aims to deliver a strong and consistent enforcement model across Scotland that is fit for purpose, promotes positive behaviours and acts as a proportionate deterrent and effectively stops people from littering and flytipping.

We will publish the final Strategy later this year, taking account of consultation responses.

Question reference: S6W-10356

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the £200 fixed penalty fine for the offence of fly-tipping.

The Scottish Government recently consulted on proposals for our new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, including measures to strengthen enforcement measures.

The Scottish Government aims to deliver a strong and consistent enforcement model across Scotland that is fit for purpose, promotes positive behaviours and acts as a proportionate deterrent and effectively stops people from littering and flytipping

We will publish the final Strategy later this year, taking account of consultation responses.

Question reference: S6W-10355

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalties for the offence of littering have been issued in each year since 2007, and how many of these have been paid.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of fixed penalties issued for the offence of littering, nor information on how many of these have been paid.

This detailed information can be obtained by contacting individual issuing authorities. Authorised officers from Local Authorities, Police Scotland and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park can issue Fixed Penalty Notices for the offence of littering.

Question reference: S6F-01338

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2022

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of overtime in Scotland’s NHS.

Question reference: S6W-09856

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the potential impact of avian influenza on the upcoming shooting season.

The Scottish Government is meeting regularly with key stakeholders such as the poultry industry, captive/wild bird association representatives (including those from the gamebird and environmental NGO’s sector) and other UK administrations to discuss the risks posed by avian influenza and the associated impacts, including significant impacts for our seabird populations as a whole including gulls, terns, auks and shearwater, and potentially devastating impacts on some species which were already considered to be at risk, such as great skua and northern gannet, as well as potential impacts on the upcoming shooting season.

NatureScot are leading a Task Force to co-ordinate activity to monitor and minimise the impact of avian flu on wild bird populations in Scotland. The task force will continue to monitor the avian influenza outbreak and develop recommendations for managing and mitigating the impacts.

Question reference: S6W-09855

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 15 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make funding available in the future to support sporting businesses that may be negatively impacted by any lack of gamebirds and associated financial losses, in light of the avian influenza outbreak.

The UK is currently experiencing the worst ever outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Prior to this, the largest outbreak involved 26 cases of HPAI in the UK in 2020/2021 and 13 cases in 2016/2017. In contrast, as of 28 July 2022, there have been 127 premises confirmed as infected with HPAI H5N1 within the UK: eleven in Scotland, five in Wales, six in Northern Ireland and 105 in England.

Of the total cases in the UK, only three have been gamebird premises, with none of these being in Scotland.

However, what has impacted the UK gamebird industry this year is the considerable number of HPAI cases in France, where approximately 80% of partridge chicks and 50-60% of pheasant chicks for the UK industry are sourced. Many of these source farms are caught up in disease control zones. Therefore, movement restrictions on both live birds and eggs are in place.

The Scottish Government supports farmers during the ongoing UK-wide avian influenza outbreak through the provision of timely advice and guidance to poultry and other captive bird keepers on risks, legal requirements and biosecurity. This information is made available through social media, news releases and on gov.scot, as these continue to be vital tools in protecting birds.

Compensation is paid for birds humanely euthanased as part of our disease response in line with valuation tables, which are updated regularly by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on behalf of the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government do not compensate for any dead or visibly ill birds, which is in line with the policy in England and Wales.

The Scottish Government has reminded keepers that the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ), and associated robust biosecurity measures, remain in place across Scotland (and the rest of GB). These measures include keeping their flocks separate from wild birds.

If a larger poultry or other captive bird business is situated in a disease control zone, there may be trade issues associated with regionalisation. The Scottish Government works with the Defra Market Access and Veterinary Trade Facilitation teams, who liaise with poultry industry stakeholders and the APHA Centre for International Trade (CIT) to understand and address issues and priorities for poultry exports.

Defra Market Access also liaise with British Embassy colleagues globally to answer trade related queries from Central Competent Authorities, provide updates to third country trading partners and seek clarity in terms of trade where required. The Scottish Government works with a range of partner organisations and agencies to support affected businesses where required.

The Scottish Government has also made an additional £1 million of funding available to APHA to cover the agency’s additional expenses associated with tackling the current avian influenza outbreak.

Question reference: S6W-09604

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02233 by Graeme Dey on 10 September 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many times since January 2019 train services between North Berwick and Edinburgh Waverley have been cancelled for (a) all and (b) part of its journey due to (i) track problems, including signalling and flooding, and (ii) track congestion.

ScotRail advise that between 6 January 2019 [the start of 2018-19: reporting period 11] and 25 June 2022 [the end of 2022-23: reporting period 3], there were 340 full cancellations and 95 part-cancellations on the North Berwick lines as a result of infrastructure issues. As the member will know, Rail Infrastructure is a reserved matter.

While full or part-cancellation as a result of track congestion are not reported separately, ScotRail also advise that there were a further 41 full cancellations and 35 part-cancellations to ScotRail services as a result of the actions of other train operating companies.

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Chamber and committees