Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-09557

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement that local authorities will have the power to run bus services, whether this will affect the entitlement to free bus travel for people who currently receive it.

Question reference: S6W-09478

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to translate the full 72-page publication, Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland?, into other languages.

Question reference: S6W-09767

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09142 by Mairi Gougeon on 6 July 2022, for what reasons it has taken over one year for the report on bird stomach contents to be finalised and published.

Question reference: S6W-09733

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of all meetings of the industry advisory group for talent.

Question reference: S6W-09732

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government who sits on the industry advisory group for talent.

Membership of the Industry Advisory Group for rUK Talent Attraction comprises:

Shona Artale; Q 2 Solutions (Life Sciences); Justin Black; Hays (Recruitment); Craig Clark; Space Scotland (Space Sector); Mark Cowan; Scottish Leather Group (Advanced Manufacture: Mechanical); Shona Darroch; Diodes (Advanced Manufacture: Electronic); Steven Grier; Microsoft (UK) (Tech Sector); Colin Halpin; Scottish Financial Enterprise (Financial Services); Gordon McGuinness; Skills Development Scotland (Skills Agency); Julie Morrison; Scottish Enterprise (Enterprise Agency); Sarah Ronald; Nile HQ (FinTech); Greig Rooney; Valneva (Inward Investment); Ross Tuffee; Digital Technology Skills Group (Tech Sector); and Morag Watson; Scottish Renewables (Renewables).

Question reference: S6W-09734

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the industry advisory group for talent has met, and when it is next due to meet.

Question reference: S6W-09735

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in connection with the industry advisory group for talent, what locations in the rest of the UK have been identified as places to seek to attract talent from, and which specific skills it is seeking to attract from each of those locations.

Question reference: S6W-09464

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 18 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided for motor neurone disease (MND) research in the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-09142

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the report on the analysis of bird stomach contents, provisionally reported on in June 2020, will be published and available to local fishery organisations who supported the study.

Question reference: S6W-09141

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported concerns over the impact of seals entering rivers, what information it has on where in Scotland the seal, Spearmint, is due to be relocated to; how seals released from captivity, or which have had previous interaction with humans, are monitored and assessed for any (a) unusual behaviour and (b) impact on their local environment, including foraging in rivers, and whether it will provide details of any such monitoring to date.

The juvenile grey seal Spearmint was released on the Farne Islands, Northumberland on 30 June 2022.

Grey seals are regularly found injured or sick along the UK coastline. In most cases these animals are taken to rescue centres where, following a period of rehabilitation, are released back to the wild at the locations where they are found. The Scottish Government is not aware of any monitoring that takes place with regards to the release of rehabilitated seals from these centres.

Grey seals are widely distributed around the Scottish coast and in some limited cases, individual animals may enter river systems. The Scottish Government recognises that seal predation is one of several pressures affecting wild salmon in rivers, which is why it continues to work with the sector, stakeholders and scientific community to explore practical ways to address these interactions.

Tell us your views

Chamber and committees