Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-01795

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the final design for the dualling of the A9 Perth to Inverness road between the Pass of Birnam and the Tay Crossing will be published.

Question reference: S6O-01760

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what impact its draft Budget for 2023-24 will have on schools.

Question reference: S6O-01726

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to review the legislation on licensing of short-term let accommodation, in light of the reported unintended consequences for existing providers that have emerged.

Question reference: S6W-12641

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what due diligence was done into the financial health of Recycling Technologies prior to a reported award of £1.7 million in public funds from Zero Waste Scotland in 2018.

I am aware that Recycling Technologies Ltd. and Group Plc, which are involved in the Scottish recycling project, Project Beacon, have recently gone into administration.

Zero Waste Scotland awarded Recycling Technologies £1 million on 24 August 2017 as part of the Circular Economy Investment Fund. There is a two-stage application process for this Fund. Each stage includes financial due diligence including a credit check at stage 1 and commercial review at stage 2.

Given the ongoing administration process, it would be inappropriate to comment further on this matter at this stage.

Question reference: S6O-01706

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that NHS boards comply with public procurement rules in relation to the purchase and operation of specialist medical equipment.

Question reference: S6T-01018

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 December 2022

To ask Scottish Government what its response is to comments from the Auditor General that it underspent its budget by £2 billion in the financial year 2021-22.

Question reference: S6O-01669

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment is made of the financial health of businesses and the viability of projects prior to the award of a grant of public funds.

Question reference: S6W-12366

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing the actions set out in the Scottish Wild Salmon Strategy published on 14 January 2022.

Question reference: S6W-12011

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether any liability could accrue due to damage caused to third parties by a tree falling as a consequence of activity by beavers.

Question reference: S6W-12073

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to pig producers experiencing rising costs and price competition from imports.

Last August we launched the Pig Producers Hardship Support Scheme. This scheme initially provided £715,000 of funding to producers and was specifically aimed to support those affected by the temporary closure of the Quality Pig Processors plant at Brechin and the loss of the plant’s export licence to China. We extended the scheme twice for producers who supplied QPP Brechin, with the total support delivered via the scheme now amounting to approximately £1.8 million. We were also aware of the issues in the sector with regard to the shortage of butchers and introduced a private storage aid scheme in Scotland to support processing.

Scottish pig producers have also been impacted by the UK Government decision to avoid implementing import controls earlier this year. That decision has left our domestic producers at disadvantage.

We are also consulting, alongside the UK Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland DAERA on contractual practices in the UK pig sector with the aim of supporting a competitive and resilient sector that delivers benefits for producers.

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