Asked by: Hoy, Craig (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - South Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it and its agencies have taken to dredge the River Esk in Langholm.
Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy
The Scottish Government and its agencies have not taken any actions to dredge the River Esk in Langholm.
Local Authorities are responsible for producing local flood risk management plans, and developing, delivering and maintaining flood protection actions. Dumfries and Galloway Council put forward a flood protection scheme for Langholm in its 2015 Local Flood Risk Management Plan, but it was withdrawn due to a lack of community support.
While dredging can play a role in certain flood-management and river-management situations, it is not always effective in reducing water levels and can, in some cases, increase flood risk downstream. It also has the potential to cause significant environmental harm if carried out without the proper due diligence.
Where dredging is appropriate, it can be undertaken subject to certain regulatory controls. Further information is available on the SEPA website at Dredging | Beta | SEPA | Scottish Environment Protection Agency including specific advice for land managers Dredging –A land managers guide to the rules.
Asked by: Dowey, Sharon (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - South Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many windfarm applications have been submitted in the last two years, broken down by how many were not approved.
Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy
Since 1 January 2024, the Energy Consents Unit has received 57 applications for consent to construct, extend and/or operate wind farms under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.
Two of these applications have been approved in this time, with the remaining 55 currently being processed by the Energy Consents Unit and awaiting determination by Scottish Ministers.
Asked by: Ewing, Fergus (Independent - Inverness and Nairn)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the content of the application by Offshore Solutions Group (OSG) for an exemption from undertaking a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its proposed Moray FLOW-park development, whether OSG has disclosed in its application the presence of a war grave within the proposed development location, and, if not, what action the Scottish Government will take in light of this.
Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy
I can confirm that Offshore Solutions Group sought a screening opinion, from the Scottish Ministers which is currently undergoing statutory consultation in line with the environmental impact assessment regulations, including with Historic Environment Scotland. Following, and in consideration of the representations received, Scottish Ministers will determine whether or not a marine licence application for the proposed works must be supported by an environmental impact assessment report. This decision is based on the likelihood of significant effects on the environment. To maintain the integrity of our well-established marine licensing process, it would not be appropriate for Scottish Ministers to comment further on live casework.
Asked by: Ewing, Fergus (Independent - Inverness and Nairn)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the requirements that apply when an application for a proposed marine development is located within an area containing a war grave, whether it will provide information on (a) what action an applicant is required to take in relation to such matters, (b) whether any applicant who is aware that there is a war grave within the proposed development area has a duty to disclose this, and, if so, to whom, (c) what penalty or sanction applies should an applicant fail to make such a disclosure and (d) whether such an application would be automatically rejected on the grounds of misrepresentation and failure to disclose.
Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy
Any application for a marine licence would be accompanied by environmental information to enable consideration of likely effects on the environment (including the historic environment). This would then be subject to public consultation and a range of statutory and non-statutory consultees including Historic Environment Scotland would be invited to make representations on the application. All representations made to Scottish Ministers are considered during the decision-making process.
Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for communities in South Lanarkshire that are concerned about a reported increase in littering and fly-tipping.
Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy
Local authorities are responsible for addressing litter and fly-tipping on public land and other land for which they have responsibility, in line with the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. Communities should contact their local council in the first instance to report concerns or request action. The Scottish Government continues to work with councils and delivery partners to drive national action through the National Litter and Fly-tipping Strategy.
Communities in South Lanarkshire can also access support from the Scottish Government’s delivery partner, Keep Scotland Beautiful. Through its Community Litter Hub, local groups can access practical resources, guidance and campaign materials to organise litter picks, promote behaviour change and take action to tackle litter. As part of the Strategy’s Year 3 action plan, the Hub is being expanded to include practical information and guidance on tackling fly-tipping.
Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what resource will be provided to local authorities to implement the "workforce alignment" recommendation in the report, Additional Support for Learning: A Review of System Delivery for Learners, in light of the reported failure of the current national additional support for learning framework to prevent parents in Lanarkshire from having to leave the workforce to care for neurodivergent children.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
The expert Review carried out by Professional Education Advisor Janie McManus’ said that clearer expectations, stronger pathways to support across education, health and social care, and early interventions should underpin the next steps in delivering Additional Support Needs (ASN) provision in schools.
I welcomed publication of the review and accepted the six recommendations made.
Whilst work on delivering against these recommendations will require sustained partnership across government, local authorities and national bodies, it will be for the incoming government to consider how to take forward the specific approach.
Asked by: Burgess, Ariane (Scottish Green Party - Highlands and Islands)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of information obtained by Animal Equality UK through a Freedom of Information request, which reportedly indicates that SEPA recorded 103 non-compliances at Scottish salmon farms in 2025, representing a 243% increase on the figure recorded in 2024, including 47 classified as major non-compliances, and that three quarters of sites found to be non-compliant over the last three years remain classified as non-compliant, whether it will commit to reviewing SEPA’s enforcement powers in relation to aquaculture.
Answered by Gougeon, Mairi - Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
The Scottish Government has no plans to review the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) enforcement powers in relation to aquaculture.
SEPA already has a number of options in its enforcement toolkit, ranging from informal advice and guidance to the use of formal enforcement measures including final warning letters, statutory notices, monetary penalties, and reports to the Procurator Fiscal recommending prosecution.
For the purpose of environmental protection, SEPA places licence conditions on marine fish farm operators and SEPA’s enforcement action is designed to secure compliance using the most appropriate and effective method. Decisions on enforcement are taken in line with its publicly available Enforcement Policy and guidance on the use of enforcement action. The form of enforcement action (which may be used alone or in combination with other approaches) will differ depending on the nature of the non-compliance, the harm caused and the history of the responsible person in question. SEPA also considers what immediate action is needed for the protection of the environment.
Any instance of non-compliance is concerning. SEPA’s new Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (EPAS) will provide a common standard to rate the environmental performance of SEPA-authorised operators and drive improvements in compliance.
SEPA will publish EPAS ratings when its new digital systems are in place which is anticipated to be during 2027.
Asked by: Hamilton, Rachael (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has issued any guidance to local authorities on appropriate levels of screen use for primary school pupils in classroom settings.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Decisions about the delivery of education are devolved to local authorities. As such the Scottish Government has not issued guidance on specific or appropriate levels of device or screen use in classroom settings. It is for councils to decide how and when digital technology is used to support learning, in line with their local education and digital strategies. We have published guidance for parents on screen time for school-aged children via Parent Club.
The term screen use covers a wide range of activities with varying levels of educational value. In schools, digital activity is typically planned, structured and directly linked to learning objectives, and is therefore not directly comparable to recreational or passive screen use outside the classroom. The Parent Club guidance reflects this noting, what they’re watching or doing is just as important as counting the number of minutes.
The Scottish Government would expect content and activities available on school managed devices to be carefully curated by local authorities to support learning and teaching. Devices should be appropriately secured, filtered and monitored, with access to inappropriate or non-educational content restricted, providing pupils with an age appropriate and supervised digital environment.
Digital technologies are one tool among many available to support learning. Teachers are trusted to exercise their professional judgement in deciding when digital approaches add pedagogical ,inclusive or practical value, and when other approaches are more appropriate, as they do with any learning resource.
Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment to align with European Union standards where appropriate, what assessment it has made of the EU Environmental Crime Directive (2024/1203), which Member States must transpose by May 2026, and how a proposed ecocide offence could bridge any gap between existing Scottish law and the new EU "qualified offence" standard for the most serious environmental harms.
Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy
The Scottish Government is continuing to consider the EU Environmental Crime Directive (2024/1203) against our alignment policy. We consider that the existing offence of causing significant environmental harm at section 40 of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 is reasonably closely aligned with the Directive’s introduction of “qualified offences” for more serious environmental damage.
Asked by: Ewing, Fergus (Independent - Inverness and Nairn)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what increase in capacity of pumped storage hydropower in Scotland it estimates there will be in each of the next five years.
Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy
Long duration electricity storage, such as pumped hydro storage, plays a vital role in providing flexibility services to the grid and ensuring a resilient electricity system.
There is currently 0.74 GW of pumped hydro storage operational in Scotland, with 4.79 GW awaiting construction and 4.20 GW awaiting a planning decision. It is not possible for the Scottish Government to estimate when projects will become operational as these are commercial decisions.
We have co-commissioned the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to develop a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan for Great Britain to provide greater clarity on the shape of our future energy system.