Parliamentary questions
Maurice Golden
1,697 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
13 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the response to question S5W-32957 by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 November 2020, whether it has since updated the research on the financial impact of littering.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: As part of the development of the refreshed National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, we will commission research on the scale and cost of litter and flytipping in Scotland shortly. This research will provide an update on the cost of litter and flytipping to p…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01363 by Graeme Dey on 6 August 2021, whether it will provide a more precise date by which it will publish the route map for meeting its target to reduce car use.
Answer · Graeme Dey: As set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update published in December 2020, a route-map will be produced by the end of 2021, assuming the pandemic has moved to a phase to allow this.
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list all incinerators in Scotland broken down by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) decile of the area they are located in.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is a relative measure of deprivation which ranks 6,976 small areas (called data zones). Rank 1 represents the most deprived data zone in Scotland and 6,976 represents the least deprived data zone in Scotland. …
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many current incineration operators have indicated that they have set aside funds to offset the costs of decommissioning their sites should they go out of business.
Answer · Lorna Slater: SEPA requires adequate financial provision to be in place for all incineration facilities to ensure the site is closed safely and cleared of waste should it cease operation. As with other industrial facilities, the financial provision required by SEPA does n…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how much public funding has been spent on clean-up and decommissioning work in relation to incinerator plant closures in the last 10 years.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Scottish Government is not aware of any public funding being provided for the clean-up and decommissioning of any incineration plant in the last 10 years.
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the current energy from waste efficiency rating is of each incineration plant in Scotland, and how this compares with the efficiency rating stated at the planning/approval stage for each plant.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The following table shows reported efficiencies of each incineration plant for 2020. Installations are required to meet a 20% electrical efficiency from date of commissioning as set out in the Thermal Treatment of Waste Guidelines 2014 (TTWG 2014). Plant …
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which energy from waste plants are monitoring their CO2 emissions.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Waste incinerators are required to monitor and report their carbon dioxide emissions as a ‘Part A process’ under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012. The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 require permi…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding introducing a tax on waste incineration services.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Climate Change Plan sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to develop a Routemap to meet our ambitious 2025 waste and recycling targets in a way that maximises carbon saving potential. The Scottish Government is working with partner organisations t…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of any pilot or other exploratory schemes that have been undertaken on the biostabilisation of waste being sent to landfill.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Zero Waste Scotland has not commissioned any pilot or exploratory schemes for biostabilised waste being sent to landfill. However, Zero Waste Scotland has commissioned a study to better understand the potential for biostabilisation as a municipal residual was…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding using Scottish Landfill Tax to incentivise biostabilisation of waste.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Climate Change Plan sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to develop a Routemap to meet our ambitious 2025 waste and recycling targets in a way that maximises carbon saving potential. The Scottish Government is working with partner organisations …
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the forthcoming review of the role of incineration will take oral evidence from stakeholders, either in person or virtually.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02164 on ? 31 August 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commi…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how long the forthcoming review of the role of incineration is anticipated to last, and what the estimated timeframe is for it to publish its findings.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02164 on ? 31 August 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commi…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the forthcoming review of the role of incineration will be independent of it, and, if so, who will conduct it.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02164 on ? 31 August 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commi…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the forthcoming review of the role of incineration will examine issues beyond waste management such as potential impacts on (a) health, (b) local communities and (c) local authority finances.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02164 on ? 31 August 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commi…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00122 by Michael Matheson on 3 June 2021, whether the review will have the option to recommend a moratorium on new incinerator construction should it consider such a recommendation is warranted.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is committed to review the role that incineration plays in Scotland’s waste hierarchy, and are considering options to take forward this review. Parliament will be updated on plans for this in September, when we will outline the scope, …
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many visits there have been to the Recycle for Scotland website in each year since 2014-15.
Answer · Lorna Slater: The total visits, from 2014-15 to now, are split across the Recycle for Scotland (RfS) site, when it was standalone, and the new How to Waste Less (HTWL) site, which the RfS site was incorporated into in April 2020. Year Total Users Total Visits Website b…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the percentage of the public that have had an awareness of the Recycle for Scotland brand in each year since the baseline estimate in 2014-15.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) no longer have recognition rate information for the Recycle for Scotland brand year-on-year as they stopped their tracker in 2015. The Recycle for Scotland website and associated pages have also been incorporated into ZWS’s How To Wa…
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress on the implementation of an electronic system for recording waste data, as outlined in its publication, Making Things Last: A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland, which stated that “We will move towards making the use of the electronic 'ed…
Answer · Lorna Slater: We are taking forward this commitment as part of our work to implement an electronic waste tracking system, as set out in our update to the Climate Change Plan. We are working with the UK Government, other devolved governments, and agencies such as SEPA, to …
9 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Zero Waste Scotland had an impact target of Scotland achieving a household waste recycling rate of at least 60% by 2020, which was agreed by the Scottish Government in 2016.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Zero Waste Scotland does not have an impact target for achieving the 2020 household waste recycling target. The 60% household waste recycling target is a Scotland wide target. Making progress towards all of our ambitious waste and recycling targets requires …
5 Aug 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what projects were funded through the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund in 2020-21, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Full details of the projects funded through the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund in 2020-21 can be found on the VisitScotland website. Rural Development Fund - Funding | VisitScotland.org .
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the welfare of animals that have been stolen.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: To date the Scottish Government has made no formal assessment on the possible welfare consequences for animals that have been stolen.
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on reviewing whether provision should be made for a specific offence of theft of a pet.
Answer · Keith Brown: The need for a review of the merits of a specific offence of pet theft is written into the recently enacted Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020, to be completed no later than 1 st April 2025. It is the Scottish Governm…
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of recent reports regarding an increase in dog theft.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is dismayed by the reported rise in the theft of dogs and would encourage dog owners to report any concerns to Police Scotland, be extremely vigilant, ensure dogs are microchipped, and also report the loss/theft to the microchip databa…
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle pet theft.
Answer · Keith Brown: The primary responsibility for the prevention and investigation of theft lies with Police Scotland. The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 stipulates that the Chief Constable of Police Scotland is responsible for the policing of Scotland, and is accou…
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01103 by Michael Matheson on 21 July 2021, who the attendees were at the meeting.
Answer · Michael Matheson: On 2 July 2021 Scottish Government officials met with two representatives of the Society of Independent Brewers to discuss Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). We will consider their views alongside the findings of the Gateway Review into DRS.
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00674 by Michael Matheson on 23 July 2021, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding whether it has carried out a feasibility study on building a new plastic recycling plant, whether as part of its deposit return scheme or…
Answer · Michael Matheson: A feasibility study has not been carried out on building a new plastic recycling plant. As part of the assessment identified in the answer to S6W-00674, Zero Waste Scotland have commissioned work to better understand and forecast the volumes of materials, inc…
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00674 by Michael Matheson on 23 July 2021, whether it will provide a breakdown of the measures that it has implemented since 2014 to increase the amount of plastic waste recycled within Scotland, and what effect these measures have had on the tonnag…
Answer · Michael Matheson: Since 2014, there has been a 45% increase in household plastic waste recycling. Plastic recycling rose to 57,379 tonnes in 2019, which is the most recent data available, continuing the trend of increasing each year for the last eight years. While we don’t hav…
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the plastic waste produced by the construction and demolition sector, and what sector-specific action it plans to take to reduce this.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There were 5,902 tonnes of plastic waste produced from the construction and demolition sector in 2018 in Scotland. Waste (from all sources) (sepa.org.uk) UK official waste figures for Construction and Demolition show that plastic waste is around 0.05% of t…
26 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00670 by Michael Matheson on 23 July 2021, whether it will provide an update on progress with the electronic waste tracking system, and when it anticipates this will be ready for implementation.
Answer · Michael Matheson: As set out in our update to the Climate Change Plan, we will take steps to improve waste data by working with the UK Government, other devolved governments, and agencies such as SEPA, to develop and implement the electronic waste tracking system. This step ch…
9 Jul 2021 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00672 by Graeme Dey on 7 July 2021, what its position is on conducting analysis on the potential increase in microplastic waste from electric vehicles, and whether it will commit to carrying out such analysis ahead of the phasing out of the sale of …
Answer · Graeme Dey: Regulations relating to the construction of road vehicles and tyres remain matters reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government continues to monitor applied research into issues relating to zero emission vehicles, we have not yet conducted specific…