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-05356

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the quantity of electronic waste that is (a) collected, (b) recycled and (c) reused.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013 place take-back obligations on retailers and other distributors who sell electrical and electronic equipment. Obligated retailers or distributors must either; i) join the Distributor Take-back Scheme; ii) offer in-store take-back or iii) provide an alternative free take-back service that is available and accessible to customers. WEEE deposited at such facilities, or at household recycling centres, must be managed in accordance with waste management legislation and local planning requirements. These designated collection facilities track the amount of WEEE going for onward treatment, recycling, reuse and disposal.

SEPA regulates waste management activities in Scotland through Waste Management Licences (WMLs) and Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permits. Operators are required to report waste data to SEPA on a quarterly or annual basis as specified in their licence, permit or exemption. Once these statutory waste data are collected and quality assured, they are used to check compliance with the licence or permit, and to fulfil statutory and non-statutory reporting obligations.

Question reference: S6W-05357

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what research it is (a) undertaking and (b) aware of on turning waste into fertiliser.

Question reference: S6W-05188

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 18 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the temporary notification directive for incineration application, which covers new and existing applications, also applies to projects that have already begun construction but on which consultation is still being undertaken.

The Energy from Waste (incineration and advanced thermal treatment) Direction 2021 relates to new and existing live planning applications in the planning system.

If an energy from waste project already has planning permission and is under construction, there is no requirement under the terms of the Direction for that project to be notified to Ministers, unless for example a revised or additional planning application for the development is submitted.

Question reference: S6W-05355

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what research it is (a) undertaking and (b) aware of on utilising household waste and crop waste to manufacture bacterial cellulose for use in the production of yarns and other textile applications.

Question reference: S6O-00643

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what staffing resources it has allocated to the preparation work for a new independence referendum.

Question reference: S6W-05187

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 12 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times since 1 September 2021 (a) Ministers, (b) Scottish Government officials, (c) Zero Waste Scotland and (d) SEPA have met with representatives of the incineration industry.

Representatives from the waste industry may represent multiple areas of the waste sector. For example, companies may operate both incineration and recycling facilities, and trade bodies represent companies which operate across the waste sector.

The information below, therefore, represents the number of meetings with representatives from the waste industry where the intention was to discuss incineration, or topics related to incineration (e.g. carbon capture and storage from energy from waste facilities) in at least part of the meeting.

Since 1 September 2021, (a) Ministers have met once and (b) Scottish Government officials have met twice with representatives from the waste industry to discuss incineration in at least part of the meeting.

Data on the number of times that (c) Zero Waste Scotland and (d) SEPA have met with representatives of the waste industry are not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-05229

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity decided to postpone the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-05230

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity was aware of the findings of the Deposit Return Scheme (a) Gateway Review and (b) Assurance Plan, which called for the scheme to be delayed beyond July 2022, before her statement to Parliament on 17 November 2021.

The Gateway Review into Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) took place on 14-16 June 2021 and the follow-up Assurance of Action Plan took place on 21-23 September 2021. Subsequently, I carried out extensive engagement with industry and other stakeholders, in particular Circularity Scotland Ltd, to agree a final timescale and clear milestones for delivery. These were announced to the Scottish Parliament on 14 December 2021.

Question reference: S6W-05059

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether a review has been carried out on the mechanism used to apply tax rates to waste soils and what role (a) Revenue Scotland and (b) SEPA played in any review process.

As set out in the Scottish Landfill Tax (Qualifying Materials) Order 2016, sub-soils qualify at the lower rate of Scottish Landfill Tax. However, top-soil, soil containing hazardous materials or soil from contaminated land will always be chargeable at the standard rate of Scottish Landfill Tax. The Qualifying Materials Order was introduced following consultation with industry and other stakeholders.

The Scottish Landfill Tax legislation approved by the Scottish Parliament gives Revenue Scotland the authority to set out a direction that material can be regarded as qualifying material if it qualifies as such but for the presence of a small amount of non-qualifying materials. Revenue Scotland’s current guidance in this area was developed following detailed consideration and a specific consultation, involving SEPA, was held on the treatment of soils.

Question reference: S6W-05333

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) small and (b) large retailers it estimates have a 24-month preparedness time, as indicated in the Deposit Return Scheme Gateway Review.

The Gateway Reviewers for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme interviewed representatives of both small and large retailers. Their report, which was published on 14 December 2021, gives a preparedness estimate of 12-24 months for individual stakeholders including retailers. This informed their judgement that a full implementation date of July-September 2023 was possible albeit with significant risk.

Retailer preparedness cannot be viewed in isolation but depends on key design decisions being taken by Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) as scheme administrator. To supplement the Gateway Review we carried out direct engagement with a range of stakeholders, including retailers and CSL, to develop a delivery timetable that is both ambitious and deliverable in line with the findings of the Gateway Review.

A list of stakeholders consulted during this process is provided on p13 of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published on 22 December 2021: .