Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for ��˿�� to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-38710

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalty notices for (a) littering and (b) fly-tipping have been issued in each year since 2019, and what percentage of these were paid in full.

The Scottish Government does not hold centralised annual data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for littering and flytipping, or on payment rates. Responsibility for issuing and managing fixed penalties rests with local authorities and other designated bodies, such as Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority.

However, the National Litter & Flytipping Strategy’s Flytipping Baseline Report, published in October 2024, includes data submitted by some local authorities on the number of fixed penalty notices issued in recent years. This forms part of wider efforts under the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy to build a more consistent and accessible national picture.

Question reference: S6W-38716

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on developing a new national online reporting system for littering and fly-tipping, and when this will be operational.

The National Litter and Flytipping Strategy identifies the need for a new national online reporting system and this remains an ambition. Initial work has been undertaken to consider requirements for future reporting improvements, taking into account learning from previous approaches and the recommendations of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy Baseline Report, which considered available flytipping data and changes that may be needed in the future.

Work is ongoing through the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy Data Management Group, which includes SEPA and local authorities, to explore options for improving data collection and sharing.

Question reference: S6W-38718

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any financial impact of fly-tipping on (a) rural landowners and (b) farmers, and what measures it is taking to support the removal of dumped waste on private land.

The Scottish Government has assessed the wider costs of fly-tipping in Scotland through the Litter and Flytipping: Scale and Cost report, published in 2023. This estimated that the overall direct cost of litter and flytipping in Scotland was £81.2m. Direct costs to public and private bodies, excluding local councils, was estimated to be £20.5m. The research also contains the cost broken down by a number of sectors, including nature-based attractions (including farmland), food and retail/commercial. Insufficient information was received to assess the costs of flytipping for these sectors.

We recognise the financial pressure on private landowners. In 2023-24, the Private Landowners Grant Fund provided targeted support to prevent fly-tipping, including measures such as fencing, signage and surveillance. This extended into 2024-25 to also cover clean-up activities. We continue to explore other ways to support landowners, including involvement in multi-agency enforcement partnerships and clarification of responsibilities under Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended by the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024.

Question reference: S6W-38715

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the construction, agricultural and retail sectors to prevent commercial fly-tipping, and what outcomes have resulted from any such discussions.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to continue to address flytipping from commercial sources and has been consistently working with delivery partners under the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy to do so. For example, through SEPA's partnership enforcement activity and digital disruption online actions. Ongoing measures by SEPA to further strengthen how they regulate waste activities will also have an impact.

These activities, alongside cross-agency engagement including through the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT) Environmental Waste Crime Working Group and Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC), are helping to build collective understanding and partnership working across the sector.

Question reference: S6W-38709

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measurable reductions in (a) littering and (b) fly-tipping have been recorded since the implementation of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy 2023-24 Action Plan, and whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of (i) any such data and (ii) the number of incidents reported within this timeframe.

The National Litter and Flytipping Strategy is a six year plan. According to Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Local Environmental Auditing Monitoring System (LEAMS) data, 92.7% of audited street sites met acceptable litter standards in the most recent survey, a 1.7 percentage point increase from the previous year. LEAMS data by local authority area is available on KSB’s website.

As noted in the response to S6W-38714 on 24 June 2025, flytipping data is held at local authority level.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-38717

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific support it is providing to rural local authorities and communities to address fly-tipping in remote and sparsely populated areas, in light of the commitments in the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy 2023-24.

The Scottish Government recognises the particular impact of flytipping on rural and remote areas and is taking steps to address this through National Litter and Flytipping Strategy. The Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) is represented on the Strategy’s Delivery Group to ensure rural issues are considered and reflected in implementation plans.

Relevant actions include the Private Landowners Grant Fund, administered by Zero Waste Scotland, which ran for two years and supported a number of applicants with measures such as fencing, surveillance cameras and signage to help prevent repeat flytipping incidents. Support is also provided to rural local authorities and communities through enforcement collaboration, data-sharing and best practice exchange coordinated by the Strategy delivery partners.

Question reference: S6W-38719

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it had with rural and agricultural stakeholders in the (a) development and (b) delivery of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy 2023-24 Action Plan, and whether it maintains any ongoing engagement with any such stakeholders.

The Scottish Government engaged with rural and agricultural stakeholders during both the development of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy and the 2023-24 Action Plan. During the 2022 public consultation on the draft Strategy, responses were received from organisations including NFU Scotland and Scottish Land & Estates, highlighting the specific challenges faced by landowners and farmers in addressing flytipping.

The Scottish Government and the Strategy delivery partners (SEPA, ZWS and KSB) continue to engage with relevant stakeholders and networks, including Scottish Land & Estates and the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime, who are represented on the Strategy’s Delivery Group.

Question reference: S6W-38562

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32826 by Jim Fairlie on 16 January 2025, whether it will provide an update on Transport Scotland's consideration of new vessels for the Dunoon to Gourock ferry route, and when a decision will be taken.

A range of new vessel options for the Gourock to Dunoon and Kilcreggan ferry services are being considered within the wider Outline Business Case for investment in the routes, which also includes port infrastructure upgrades. When complete, the Outline Business Case will be reviewed by Transport Scotland Investment Decision Making Board in the first instance, currently expected to be around the end of 2025, and then presented to Ministers for decisions.

Question reference: S6F-04224

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that several local authorities are delaying the introduction of a visitor levy.

Question reference: S6W-38518

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30469 by Fiona Hyslop on 1 November 2024, whether it will provide an update on the number of commercial (a) vehicles carried and (b) vehicle lane metres used in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025, broken down by individual routes.

Transport Scotland does not hold this information. However, CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL) has provided the information as they do capture the number of Commercial Vehicles carried, and the number of Commercial Vehicle lane metres used.

A table has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib Number 65902) that provides a breakdown, by individual routes and calendar year from 10 October 2024 up until June 2025, detailing the total number of Commercial Vehicles carried and the total number of Commercial Vehicle lane metres used only.

This information will now be available via the CalMac website by following the link