The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S7W-03991

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of maternity services will include the downgraded units in Elgin, Galloway and Caithness, including the potential for them to be fully reopened.

Question reference: S7W-03460

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that individuals and groups affected by the proposed fisheries management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas are able to engage with the consultation process in locations where no drop-in consultation event is being held or where access to an event is limited by venue capacity.

The Scottish Government as part of it’s consultation on proposed Fisheries management measures within Scottish inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space is undertaking a series of in person events at 26 locations across Scotland. The capacity of these events is limited by the venue size, with most able to accommodate up to 60 people at any one time. Due to the sessions being drop-in events, with people not being there for whole sessions, it is not considered venue capacity will be an issue in most cases.

If individuals are unable to attend an in person event there are also 16 on line sessions available for them to join. The majority of these are general sessions with some region specific and one aimed at young people. There is a limit of 20 spaces for each on line session however that provides the opportunity for a further 320 people to find the information they need in order to respond to the consultation. The sessions are scheduled over a range of days and times to allow attendance. However, we are happy to run more online sessions should these reach capacity or if there is a demand for more.

Due to the consultation’s complexity and size, there is an extended consultation period to ensure respondents have a full and fair opportunity to have their say. The consultation is open until 18 January 2027.

Question reference: S7W-03462

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to compensate any fishermen adversely affected by its proposed fisheries management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas.

Engagement with the fisheries sector has consistently indicated that fishers place greater value on maintaining access to sustainable fishing opportunities and supporting the long-term viability of fishing businesses than on compensation payments. The Scottish Government is not currently proposing a compensation scheme for any fishers affected by proposed fisheries management measures in inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas. A range of potential measures, including business resilience support, and diversification opportunities are being considered. Any future support measures will be informed by consultation responses, stakeholder engagement and the assessment of impacts.

Question reference: S7W-03458

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to monitor the socio-economic impacts of its proposed fisheries management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas once they are in place and, if so, how.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) based on the methodology co-designed by the fishing industry and environmental NGOs. This SEIA is available as part of the supporting documents for the consultation on proposed Fisheries management measures within Scottish inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space .

Following the Ministerial decision on final fisheries management measures appropriate socio-economic monitoring will be undertaken to assess their impact

Question reference: S7W-03459

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that as many people as possible will be able to respond to its Proposed Fisheries Management Measures for Inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas consultation.

The Scottish Government is seeking as many views as possible to it’s online consultation on proposed Fisheries management measures within Scottish inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space/

To extend awareness and reach, a series of 26 in person drop in events are taking place across Scotland to help people understand what is being presented and to guide them through using the consultation platform. If individuals are unable to attend an in person event there are also 16 on- line sessions available for them to engage with. The majority of these are general sessions with some region specific and an additional session aimed at young people. Further online sessions will be scheduled to meet any emerging demand. These sessions have been arranged over a range of days and times to allow options for attendance.

The geo-spatial element of the citizen space platform has been utilised and respondents are able to choose to respond by marine region or by fishing gear type. Following lessons learned from the Offshore MPA consultation the platform has been specially designed to allow the respondent to easily navigate through the consultation with all relevant information being linked throughout. Within the consultation, responses can be saved and returned to for further editing. The documentation has been written in as accessible as possible language and format.

Should a respondent have difficulty in completing the consultation online, they can provide a written response either by email to marine_biodiversity@gov.scot or by writing to

Inshore MPA and PMF Management Consultation

Scottish Government

Marine Planning and Policy Division

Area 1B North

Victoria Quay

Edinburgh EH6 6QQ

Some of the consultation documents are available in Gaelic and we are happy to receive responses in both English and Gaelic.

There has been widespread engagement with the fishing industry and environmental organisations for over 10 years on the proposed measures, and the launch of the consultation has been widely publicised throughout these networks The Scottish Government held a pre-consultation launch event on the 3 September with key stakeholders to provide insight into the consultation documents and provide opportunity for discussion.

The Scottish Government and NatureScot are working with partners to advertise consultation online and drop-in sessions, utilising local papers and social media channels. Notification of the consultation, online and drop-in sessions have also been publicised through the Scottish Governments Marine Bulletin which has notified 430 subscribers to the newsletter.

Question reference: S7W-03461

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what socio-economic factors it will (a) consider and (b) exclude when assessing proposed fisheries management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas.

The Scottish Government as part of it’s consultation on proposed Fisheries management measures within Scottish inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space undertook a socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA). The SEIA considers the effects of the proposed measures at individual site level for MPAs and at regional level for proposed PMF management areas. It considers the impacts on each of the 11 marine regions with respect to the economic impacts on fishing activities – both for a vessels’ home port and port of landing. This full SEIA is available through the consultation platform.

Question reference: S7W-03463

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the feasibility of ensuring compliance with its proposed fisheries management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas.

The Scottish Government accepts that there are compliance monitoring challenges with the implementation of fisheries management measures for Inshore Marine Protected Areas and Priority Marine Features. This is why compliance officials have been involved in the process from the start and continue to be so. They are currently developing procedures to ensure effective monitoring and control of any measures imposed.

The proposed measures exclude creel and pelagic midwater trawl vessels which significantly reduces the number of vessels requiring monitoring and most other vessels already have monitoring devices, including Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) for all scallop dredge vessels and Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) on vessels over 12m. Work is underway to make it mandatory for all under 12m vessels to have tracking devices and we are exploring what other technology may assist including drones and automation of monitoring. Inshore MPAs and PMF monitoring will form part of a wider Compliance strategy and risk assessment process.

Question reference: S7W-03959

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the joint government and industry communications group established in relation to the bluetongue virus, whether it will provide information on (a) which industry representatives will be members, (b) when the first meeting will take place and (c) how long it expects the group to exist.

Question reference: S7W-03960

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently announced urban deer management pilot scheme in the Central Belt, whether it plans to support future proposed deer management and venison supply scheme in other parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-03395

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to consider the development of policy aimed at reducing herd or livestock numbers in order to achieve climate targets, should other policy approaches prove unsuccessful.

The Scottish Government policy is one of robustly supporting the livestock sector and there are no plans to reduce livestock numbers in Scotland. Livestock farmers will continue to be part of the solution and are working with the sector on reducing emissions through improved animal health, productivity, breeding, feed efficiency and innovation.

Food is a global commodity and as such, were Scotland to cease to produce meat and dairy products, production would simply take place elsewhere, effectively resulting in offshoring emissions.

The Climate Change Plan sets out Scottish Government’s policies and proposals for agriculture to contribute to meeting our carbon budgets in a way that works for rural Scotland and plays to our strengths. Unlike elsewhere in the UK we have maintained direct support to our farmers and crofters, providing more than £600 million in payments every year, including supporting beef numbers with £40 million through the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme and a further £21 million to help farmers invest in more climate friendly activity to make their business more efficient.

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Question reference: S7W-03991

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