Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-01148

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people had a serious adverse reaction to any of the COVID-19 vaccines, and how many required (a) hospital or (b) medical treatment from their GP as a result of any such adverse reaction.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the UK as this a statutory function of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The MHRA produces a weekly summary of Yellow Card reporting and includes other safety investigations carried out by the MHRA under the COVID-19 Vaccine Surveillance Strategy. On 1 July this report was updated to include new data up to 23 June 2021. The MHRA does not currently break down these data by treatment required at secondary or primary clinical care settings.

The number of suspected ADR reports received in the UK for COVID-19 vaccines up to and including 23 June were as follows:

Table 1

Country	Pfizer / BioNTech	Oxford University / AstraZeneca	Moderna	Brand unspecified
England	62,531	176,810	5,602	483
Wales	4,259	9,279	236	46
Northern Ireland	1,685	2,483	2	8
Scotland	6,047	14,658	528	86

The number of suspected thrombo-embolic events with concurrent thrombocytopenia ADR reports received for the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK up to and including 23 June were as follows:

Table 2

Country	Number of reports
England	315
Wales	13
Northern Ireland	9
Scotland	32
Unknown	26

For further details on other ADRs being monitored please refer to the full report at: .

Question reference: S6W-00943

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) ceasing to be managed by Keep Scotland Beautiful on behalf of the Scottish Government from 30 June 2021, what plans are in place to support communities to tackle climate and nature emergencies in the future.

We have provided over £110 million through our Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) to enable communities to play their part and we will continue to support community-led climate action as a key part of our just transition to net zero.

We are building on the achievements of the CCF by developing networks of regional Community Climate Action hubs and Climate Action Towns. These initiatives will run alongside the recently launched Net Zero Nation campaign which aims to showcase and inspire climate action across Scotland, including in our communities, using COP26 as a catalyst.

Question reference: S6W-00809

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 14 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to preserve and increase the stock of grey partridge.

Work to preserve and increase the stock of grey partridge has traditionally been led by shooting interests such as the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).

GWCT lead on the PARTRIDGE project in the UK, supported by the EU via the Interreg North Sea Region programme. It show-cases how new and improved management solutions can improve biodiversity and ecosystem services at 10 demonstration sites across the region. There are two demonstration sites in Scotland at Balgonie Farm in Fife and Whitburgh Farms in East Lothian promoting land management techniques specifically to benefit grey partridge .

More widely, the protection of Scotland’s biodiversity is a key priority for the Scottish Government, and we are committed to doing more to safeguard our species and habitats. Our high level Statement of Intent on biodiversity, published in December 2020, signalled our ambitions for biodiversity in Scotland, and the development of a new post-2020 biodiversity strategy. We have committed £7 million to date to the Biodiversity Challenge Fund and recently launched a new £10 million Nature Restoration Fund to help finance projects that support nature recovery and address climate change. Action to restore biodiversity is also central to our Green Recovery from Covid-19.

Question reference: S6W-00810

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what financial assistance is available to farmers and landowners who wish to preserve and increase the existing stock of grey partridge on their land.

Although the Scottish Government’s Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) does not have any options specifically for grey partridge, it does provide funding for options that benefit the habitats of grey partridge, namely:

Beetlebanks,
Creation of Hedgerows,
Management or restoration of existing hedgerows,
Forage Brassica Crops for Farmland Birds,
Grass Strips in Arable Fields
Retention of Winter Stubble for Wildlife and Water Quality
Species Rich Grassland Creation and Management
Species Rich Grassland Management only
Stubbles followed by Green Manure in an Arable Rotation
Unharvested Conservation Headlands for Wildlife
Wild Bird Seed for Farmland Birds

The Scottish Government has committed to spending £66.16m towards these options from 2016 through to 2025. 1,838 businesses have these options in their AECS contracts, with over 29,000 Ha due to be managed throughout Scotland in 2021.

Further information about the scheme and how to apply can be found at

Question reference: S6W-00808

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the health of the grey partridge population.

Question reference: S6W-00399

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what area of land Forestry and Land Scotland and its predecessor, Forest Enterprise Scotland, has disposed of in each year since 2007-08, also broken down by how much was raised.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and its predecessor Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) has sold the following under the New Woodland Investment Programme (2021 - 2017) / Repositioning Programme (2007 – 2016). The figures in the following table include 6,598 hectares sold / transferred to communities and NGO’s under the National Forest Land Scheme and Community Asset Transfer Scheme:

Financial Year	Area (Ha)	Proceeds (£)
2007-2008	2,960.35	6,957,864
2008-2009	2,906.41	12,316,593
2009-2010	5,418.28	14,505,670
2010-2011	6,635.73	12,057,479
2011-2012	5,795.61	14,922,765
2012-2013	3,592.35	10,464,333
2013-2014	4,826.25	14,468,081
2014-2015	1,061.07	4,285,000
2015-2016	9,244.82	15,669,100
2016-2017	2,474.40	3,658,000
2017-2018	1,786.66	7,301,089
2018-2019	1,911.30	5,755,656
2019-2020	1,628.23	14,572,952
2020-2021	1,914.85	5,523,000
Totals	52,156.31	142,457,582

Excluded are sales of ‘surplus’ assets, typically buildings and small parcels of land, sold under the Rationalisation policy.

The funds for disposals have been used for the following:

Acquiring land for planting;
Cost of woodland creation;
Maintenance and management of new woodland creation;
Starter Farms initiative;
Transaction and programme costs both for acquisitions and disposals.

The New Woodland Investment programme was closed at the end of FY 20-21 and there will be no further land sales as part of the programme. Further acquisitions / residual obligations (to cover future costs as detailed above) remain to be discharged over the following four year period.

As announced as part of last year’s Capital Spending Review, FLS were allocated £30M of capital funding over the next five years (starting in FY 21-22) to purchase land for woodland creation and expansion of Scotland’s national forests and land.

The woodland sold by FLS / FES remains managed as woodland. Using the proceeds to subsequently purchase and plant additional land has ensured that the area of woodland in Scotland continues to increase.

Question reference: S6W-00407

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 21 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what area of land Forestry and Land Scotland and its predecessor, Forest Enterprise Scotland, has purchased in each year since 2007-08, also broken down by (a) how much this cost and (b) what area has subsequently been planted for woodland creation.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and its predecessor Forest Enterprise Scotland have acquired the following under the New Woodland Investment Programme (2017 - 2021) / Repositioning Programme (2007 – 2016):

Financial Year	Area (Ha)	Price (£)	Woodland Created (Ha)
2007-2008	2,855.80	8,150,900	30.00
2008-2009	2,112.00	9,624,000	890.00
2009-2010	423.43	1,920,491	740.00
2010-2011	3,039.98	9,572,600	840.00
2011-2012	2,039.15	10,722,001	1,320.00
2012-2013	2,804.34	7,816,050	850.00
2013-2014	490.38	2,397,290	620.00
2014-2015	2,623.09	8,398,500	400.00
2015-2016	1,447.50	670,000	710.00
2016-2017	6.10	90,101	1,060.00
2017-2018	1,163.78	4,495,101	870.00
2018-2019	2,105.46	1,788,154	1,030.00
2019-2020	1,043.13	2,928,137	270.00
2020-2021	1,401.83	4,808,469	542.00
Total	23,555.97	73,381,794	10,172.00

Sites acquired can vary in cost per hectare depending on the location, type of land (bare land or land with forestry and buildings), and potential constraints therefore a higher cost does not mean necessarily more land. The range can be from around £3,000 per hectare for restored Vacant and Derelict Land to over £10,000 per hectare for better quality bare land with minor constraints.

In addition to sites acquired specifically for woodland creation, funds from forest sales have also been used for strategic acquisitions of established forests, typically where they abut existing landholdings (for example the 2,340ha of nationally important Caledonian Pinewoods acquired at the heart of the Cairngorms), the Woodlands In and Around Towns (WIAT) programme and the Starter Farms programme.

Please note that statistics for the area of sites acquired which have been planted are not available directly as such plantings are aggregated with new woodland created on the existing estate.

It should also be noted that there is a lag of several years between the acquisition of a site and its subsequent planting. This is due to the forest planning (including approval) process and to integrate planting of new sites with the restocking of existing harvested sites.

In agreement with Scottish Ministers, the New Woodland investment programme was closed at the end of FY 20-21 - the winding up process for this is likely to take up to five years due to residual obligations and commitments.

Question reference: S6W-00248

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a colony of honeybees having to be destroyed in the Stanley area of Perthshire due to the discovery of a hive at an apiary being infected with American Foulbrood (AFB), how common is AFB in Scotland, and what measures it is taking to limit how often it occurs.

American foulbrood (AFB) is a notifiable disease of honey bees. Figures of the disease incidence in GB are publically available in BeeBase, the database used by Scottish Government and the National Bee Unit in England and Wales. Last season in 2020, AFB was found in 8 honey bee colonies in 5 different apiaries.

Since 2015 there has been 60 honey bee colonies diagnosed with AFB in Scotland.

For context the number of inspections in Scotland recorded in BeeBase varies between 3,000 and 8,000 per year and there are currently 2830 beekeepers with a total of 17,783 honey bee colonies in 3,754 apiaries registered.

The Scottish Government takes the matter of honey bee health extremely seriously. Our honey bee health team continues to work with the affected beekeepers on disease control measures and has established a surveillance area to detect possible spread of disease to other colonies.

Although AFB has been historically present in Scotland, the work of the Scottish honey bee health team has achieved a significant reduction in the incidence and spread of the disease in Scotland. Unfortunately, as the causative bacterium is spore forming it can remain dormant on infected equipment and outbreaks continue to occur.

Beekeepers have a significant role to play in preventing and controlling disease within their apiaries and they have a legal obligation to report suspicion of a notifiable disease to their bee inspector. Training and education in biosecurity, good hygiene best practice and the ability to recognise diseases are essential aspects of beekeeping which are supported by Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6O-00004

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to address the problem of ice falling from the cables of the Queensferry Crossing.

Question reference: S5W-35688

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Perth Airport is not included in the Non Domestic Rates (Coronavirus Reliefs) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, and what consideration it has given to excluding other similar-sized airports.

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Chamber and committees