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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 25 March 2026 [Draft]

25 Mar 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Silica Air Pollution
Ruskell, Mark Green Mid Scotland and Fife Watch on SPTV

In the 14 years that I have been an MSP, I have encountered many examples of environmental injustice. Perhaps the worst case that I have come across is at Burrowine moor quarry, near Kincardine, where the community has been suffering from silica dust pollution for many years, alongside noise and light pollution.

The community’s view is that SEPA’s and the council’s regulatory responsibilities are not working. Our planning process seems blind to the health issues, and the review of mineral permissions around quarries is stuck in the 1970s.

What further work can be done between the health and planning parts of the Scottish Government to ensure that those concerns are addressed and that the planning process puts health more centrally into its considerations during the next parliamentary session?

In the same item of business

2. Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green) Green
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential public health impact of silica air pollution. (S6O-05702)
The Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health (Jenni Minto) SNP
The Scottish Government has not undertaken any recent assessments of the potential public health impact of silica air pollution.Due to the nature of their wo...
Mark Ruskell Green
In the 14 years that I have been an MSP, I have encountered many examples of environmental injustice. Perhaps the worst case that I have come across is at Bu...
Jenni Minto SNP
I thank Mark Ruskell for his supplementary question, and I recognise the point that he makes about planning and health. As part of my role as the Minister fo...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur) LD
A brief question from Carol Mochan.
Carol Mochan (South Scotland) (Lab) Lab
The prevalence of respiratory issues such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in my South Scotland region causes concern. We know about the inequalities...
Jenni Minto SNP
Ms Mochan raises a fair point—one that I know she presses whenever she asks a question about inequalities in relation to public health. I should highlight th...