Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-36569

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 30 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Israeli parliament’s reported decision to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating inside Israel coming into effect on 30 January 2025, what plans it has to provide funding for UNRWA in 2025-26.

The Scottish Government provided £750,000 to the UNRWA Flash Appeal for Gaza in November 2023. This funding was used to provide lifesaving food, medical aid and shelter to displaced people across the Gaza strip. Although we do not regularly fund UNRWA and currently have no plans for further contributions in 2025-2026, we remain steadfast in our support for the agency's continued operation.

UNRWA has a direct mandate from the UN to provide humanitarian aid and essential services across Gaza and the West Bank and there currently is no alternative for providing the scale of humanitarian aid which is so desperately required. Even since the Israeli Parliament's ban on UNRWA came into force on January 2025, at immense personal risk, UNRWA staff have continued to provide food and other essential humanitarian supplies to 2 million people in Gaza.

I am deeply concerned by Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA from operating in the occupied Palestinian Territories and urge them to reverse this decision. Israel must abide by its international obligations, end its siege and allow vital humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.

Question reference: S6W-36649

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 30 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its policy not to provide support for the manufacture of munitions through its enterprise agencies, how it defines "munitions".

Question reference: S6W-36652

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the human rights checks that are carried out by Scottish Enterprise when determining whether to issue a grant, including the guidance that is issued to the agency's staff when completing these.

Question reference: S6W-36650

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it and its enterprise agencies determine whether companies that have been linked to breaches of international humanitarian law can be excluded from receiving grants.

The Scottish Government’s Guidance on due diligence: human rights sets out recommendations on how we, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an investment relationship with them.

As the guidance makes clear, this should include an assessment of whether an individual or company, including any parent or subsidiary, has been associated with human rights abuses anywhere in the world.

It is for the Accountable Officer of each agency and non-departmental public body to ensure that their organisation complies with guidance issued by Scottish Ministers.

In operationalising the Scottish Government guidance, Scottish Enterprise’s Customer Due Diligence Procedure sets out the process it follows in undertaking human rights due diligence checks on companies it works with. The other enterprise agencies have similar processes in place.

Question reference: S6W-36648

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the timeline is for establishing the review of Scottish Enterprise’s human rights checks; what the scope of the review will be, and how the terms of reference will be agreed.

Following the debate in Parliament on 26 February on Scottish Enterprise Funding to Arms Companies, a Parliamentary motion was passed calling on Scottish Enterprise to “review its human rights due diligence checks to ensure that they take account of where products’ end use is, and that they fully comply with legal obligations under the Export Control Act 2002 and international law”.

In line with the motion, Scottish Enterprise immediately began work on its review. The Scottish Government continues to stay in close contact with Scottish Enterprise on this work, and I will update Parliament and wider stakeholders once the review has concluded.

Question reference: S6W-36568

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that people across Scotland are able to exercise their legal rights to (a) assembly, (b) demonstrate and (c) peacefully protest, without fear of undue harassment or victimisation by law enforcement.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting people’s rights to public assembly and protest. The operational policing of protests and demonstrations is rightly a matter for Police Scotland and their priority will always be maintaining public safety. The Scottish Government supports Police Scotland, as a rights-based organisation, to take appropriate and proportionate action in response to any criminal offences and to maintain public order at, and around, such events. We have funded the Centre for Good Relations to run training courses to upskill stewards and marshals involved in facilitating marches, parades and protests. This training is available free of change and has received very positive feedback in 2024-25, which is why we are continuing to support this in 2025-26.

Question reference: S6F-03968

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to prevent instances of water scarcity in 2025.

Question reference: S6W-36019

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action NatureScot is taking to (a) carry out strategic environmental assessments (SEA) of new catchments for beaver release and (b) streamline the SEA process.

Question reference: S6W-36020

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to landowners for the (a) creation and (b) management of riparian buffer strips for beaver reintroduction.

Question reference: S6W-35999

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what communications it has had with the (a) UK Government and (b) Maritime and Coastguard Agency to improve the welfare of seafarers and offshore workers on vessels that use Scottish ports.

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