Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-31716

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29293 by Jim Fairlie on 24 September 2024, whether it will provide more detailed information distinguishing between public and private deer management, and, if so, by what date it will do so.

As stated in the answer to question S6W-29293, NatureScot data does not differentiate between culls undertaken by the private and public sector.

Included below is the information that is held and shows reported culls for the last two years for overall deer cull in Scotland and reported culls for known public owned land. Please note that some areas of public land may be reported through private leases.

Season	Property name	Species	Male	Female	Calves/ Kids	Total
2022-23	Reported Cull - All Properties	all	52317	57385	26409	136111
2023-24	Reported Cull - All Properties	all	52620	57878	28046	138544
2022-23	Total Reported cull - Public	all	16159	13761	9717	39637
2023-24	Total Reported cull - Public	all	18050	15094	11018	44232

Public Owned Land only
2022-23	MOD	all	91	128	17	236
2022-23	RPID	all	54	57	25	136
2022-23	Scottish Water	all	105	88	103	296
2022-23	Crown Estate	all	142	240	142	524
2022-23	NatureScot	all	385	320	123	828
2022-23	FLS	all	15334	12879	9277	37490
2022-23	Perth & Kinross Council	all	7	10	10	27
2022-23	Aberdeen City Council	all	30	25	8	63
2022-23	East Dunbartonshire Council	all	11	14	12	37

2023-24	MOD	all	101	145	25	271
2023-24	RPID	all	91	135	57	283
2023-24	Scottish Water	all	36	86	45	237
2023-24	Crown Estate	all	209	346	186	741
2023-24	NatureScot	all	458	416	177	1051
2023-24	FLS	all	17115	13923	10497	41535
2023-24	Perth & Kinross Council	all	5	9	8	22
2023-24	Aberdeen City Council	all	22	19	8	49
2023-24	East Dunbartonshire Council	all	13	15	15	43

Question reference: S6W-31889

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the classification of wildlife habitats such as marsh, trees, ponds and scrub as "ineligible features" in any future guidance issued in connection with its agriculture support regime.

Question reference: S6O-04074

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it will ensure that all appropriate roads have a safer speed limit of 20mph by 2025.

Question reference: S6O-04050

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what consideration has been given to reviewing its parental leave policies.

Question reference: S6W-30839

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations in the Asthma + Lung UK Scotland report, Clearing the Air: Transport + Lung Health.

We welcome the Asthma + Lung UK Scotland report and make the following comments in response to the recommendations on air quality and transport:

WHO guidelines - the review of Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 will consider the current air quality objectives. The 2021 WHO guideline values will be a factor in our considerations.
Monitoring - air pollution hotspots will generally be where high levels of traffic coincide with locations where large numbers of people are regularly present. The monitoring network and the supporting methodologies are sufficiently robust to ensure that any areas of concern will be picked up.
Alert system - Know & Respond is a free service to subscribers in Scotland sending registered users an alert message if air pollution in their area is forecast to be moderate, high or very high. Air pollution episodes are rare in Scotland, but this early warning service allows people with medical conditions that may be affected by pollution, to take action to protect their health during periods of higher air pollution.
Scrap peak rail fares - the final evaluation of the pilot clearly shows that the ScotRail Peak Fares Removal Pilot has not achieved its aim of encouraging a significant shift from car to rail, and therefore it ended on 27 September 2024.
Accelerate the roll out of electric trains and buses and reduce the proportion of routes using diesel vehicles – we are committed to decarbonising the passenger rail network. Details of how this is to be achieved are set out in the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan. The Decarbonisation Action Plan commits to all passenger diesel trains being replaced; the order and programme in which that is done will depend on business cases and available budgets.
Utilise the powers of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to support bus travel - we have delivered all the bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to enable local transport authorities to consider all the powers available to them, including partnership working, franchising and local authority run services which sit alongside their ability to subsidise services.
Greater incentives to purchase new ultra-low emissions vehicles - since 2011 we have provided over 8,000 interest free loans worth £223,178,275 million which has funded 8,514 ultra-low emission vehicles.
Audit the electric vehicle charging network annually - we recognise how important a reliable public EV charging network is for instilling confidence in drivers. While we cannot comment on the reliability of commercial charging networks, reliability across the Charge Place Scotland CPOS network is typically very good with charge points on the network available for around 95-98% of the time each month. Where faults do occur they are usually rectified remotely and swiftly with minimal impact on EV drivers.
Implement Low Emission Zones (LEZ) in further cities and large towns - local authorities have been given the powers to introduce and administer Low Emission Zones as appropriate through the Transport Scot Act 2019. To date four local authorities have used this power, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Local authorities can apply to amend their LEZ if so required following due process and according to legislative requirements. Any other local authority can submit an application for a LEZ to Scottish Ministers following the due process and according to legislative requirements.
Vehicle idling - we are undertaking a review of the current guidance on vehicle idling with local authorities.

Question reference: S6O-04004

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s latest report on road policing.

Question reference: S6W-30403

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation within the Scottish Land Commission's report, Land Reform and Taxation: Advice to Scottish Ministers, to (a) establish "a programme to bring all land onto the valuation roll" and (b) commit to "the development and use of a consistent and comprehensive cadastral approach which would enable the integration of information on land ownership, use and value, building on the current work of Registers of Scotland".

The Scottish Government is committed to land reform and improving transparency of those who own and control land in Scotland is at the heart of our land reform objectives.

The Scottish Government will continue to review any evidence – including that arising from the Scottish Land Commission’s report on land and property taxation – and assess this as part of our wider approach to tax policy

Registers of Scotland are currently working to deliver the benefits of a completed land register through their Unlocking Sasines project. This uses spatial data to help ‘unlock’ the historic information in the Sasine register, which means that they can link Sasine property search sheets to a map for the first time, making it visually more helpful and accessible. Additionally, the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will improve transparency and help ensure that large scale land holdings deliver in the public interest. The Bill will place legal responsibilities on the owners of the very largest landholdings to set out – through Land Management Plans - how they use their land and how that contributes to key public policy priorities, like addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature.

Question reference: S6O-03863

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting local transport authorities to franchise bus services.

Question reference: S6W-30299

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether a local authority that introduces a workplace parking levy under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 could set local exemptions for workers (a) with incomes below a certain level, (b) who work particular hours, for example early or late shifts, and (c) with an electric vehicle.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides local authorities with a discretionary power to set up workplace parking licensing (WPL) schemes. Section 71 of the 2019 Act defines what constitutes a workplace parking place.

The liability for licences and associated charges is the responsibility of the occupier of the premises providing workplace parking spaces, and not employees or workers. There is no licence charge payable by workers and therefore no scope to vary such charges.

Local authorities do, however, have the discretion to make local exemptions beyond the fixed national exemptions to support their local objectives and circumstances. For example, a local authority could apply WPL to only certain parts of the local authority boundary, exempt premises with fewer than a specified number of parking places, exempt parking places for use by certain types of vehicles or for specified uses, or specific premises or premises of a specified description. A WPL scheme may also provide for descriptions of persons or motor vehicles to be exempt from the scheme or from paying charges under the scheme.

In addition to providing for exemptions, a WPL scheme may make provision for different charges (or no charge) to apply in different cases. This can include provision for different charges to apply on different days, at different times of day, to different part of a licensing area and to different descriptions of persons. Different charges could also be applied to different descriptions of premises and to different classes of motor vehicles.

Question reference: S6W-30300

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether a local authority that introduces a workplace parking levy under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 could set different levels of licence charge for workers (a) with incomes below a certain level, (b) who work particular hours, for example early or late shifts, and (c) with an electric vehicle.

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