Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart has today sought an update on Scottish Government consideration of new bomb disposal technology that would help reduce the impact on marine life compared to traditional disposal methods.

In a Holyrood Environment question session today Ms Wishart said:

“It’s estimated that there is over 100,000 tonnes of unexploded munitions in British waters. Many will be on sites in Scotland earmarked for offshore windfarm development. As the Scotlink Orca Species Champion, I’m concerned about the impact of clearing munitions on cetaceans. Detonations and explosions can displace animals and cause permanent hearing loss and fish breeding grounds can also be impacted.

“I’ve had correspondence with the Cabinet Secretary about new disposal technology, low-order deflagration. What progress has been made to bring forward a policy change to make use of the technology to help protect marine life?”

The Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment recognised the potential benefits of deflagration technology on reducing acoustic impacts but said the government is awaiting further evidence that the technique is commercially viable.

Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart has called for urgent action from government to resolve issues hampering Scotland’s fishing industry. Ms Wishart made the comments after a statement in Holyrood on the management of Scotland’s fisheries.

During the statement, Ms Wishart noted that the Shetland fleet is “bitterly disappointed” by the content of the Brexit fisheries agreement. She sought assurances from the Rural Economy Secretary that the local industry be fully involved in designing a workable catching policy to replace the CFP landing obligation.

Ms Wishart is calling on the UK Government and Scottish Government to work together to urgently resolve trade issues damaging Scottish seafood exporters and make sure they are adequately compensated.

Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart has welcomed the announcement of approximately £3 million in additional support for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses in the islands. The move follows representations from Ms Wishart to the Scottish Government to help businesses affected by lockdown measures.

Ms Wishart and her colleague Orkney MSP Liam McArthur pushed for discussions between the Scottish Government and local government to secure funding to help island businesses affected by coronavirus restrictions but who were excluded from support available in Level 4 areas.

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Beatrice Wishart MSP has called on the Scottish Government to urgently publish clear and detailed guidance to help students prepare for the new academic term, following confirmation that the majority of university students will have online learning until the end of February.

The Minister for Further and Higher Education announced today “detailed sectoral guidance will be published as soon as possible next week”, despite the new timetable applying from January the 5^th.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are also repeating their calls for students to get rent rebates.

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Beatrice Wishart MSP has today encouraged the Scottish Government to consider how it can tackle racist incidents in schools after research from the party revealed more than 2,200 incidents in the past three years. 

Freedom of information requests answered by 28 of the 32 local authorities recorded 2,251 racists incidents between 2017-18 and 2019-20. Four local authorities (Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Highland and West Lothian) did not provide figures. 

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Beatrice Wishart MSP has today warned of the “tremendous toll” of mental health absences among staff at Scottish schools, as she revealed that 550,000 school staff days have been lost for mental health reasons since April 2017. 

Figures from 25 out of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, uncovered by Scottish Liberal Democrats under freedom of information legislation, reveal: 

• 548,439 teacher and support staff days have been lost for mental health reasons since 2017-18.
• The number of staff days lost has risen from 139,979 in 2017-18 to 181,191 days lost in 2019-20, the last full year for which data was available. 
• Glasgow had the largest number of staff days lost in 2019-20 with 20,821 days lost, followed by Highland on 17,667 and Edinburgh on 13,464. 

Isles representatives, Alistair Carmichael MP, Beatrice Wishart MSP and Liam McArthur MSP have called for the Government to explore options for mass testing at points of entry to the Scottish islands. Writing to the Scottish health ministers, the Orkney and Shetland MP and MSPs suggested that the deployment of testing at the Channel ports could guide the introduction of improved controls to prevent further coronavirus outbreaks in island communities.

Scottish Liberal Democrat representatives, Alistair Carmichael MP, Jamie Stone MP, Beatrice Wishart MSP and Liam McArthur MSP have together written to the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps calling for special support measures for food producers in light of recent export restrictions. The group wrote to Mr Shapps yesterday calling for extra support to be put in place for Highlands and Islands businesses which risk being disproportionately impacted by restrictions due to the long distances involved in exporting from rural and island areas of Scotland. While restrictions have been partially lifted on exports via France, there are concerns that greater disruption is to come with the arrival of new trade barriers in the new year.

Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart is seeking an urgent update from the Scottish Government and NHS Shetland following reports that there are challenges getting the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to remote communities.

Ms Wishart has written to Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman, and NHS Shetland Chief Executive, Michael Dickson, to seek clarity on the rollout in Shetland following BBC reports that vaccine hasn’t been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for transport by sea or air once its thawed after leaving a freezer.

Scottish Liberal Democrats today said the SNP Government is "systematically stripping expertise from nurseries" after it was revealed that the number of teachers working in Early Learning and Childcare has fallen to 729, compared to 1,200 in 2014 - a drop of 39%.

The number of two year olds from the least well-off backgrounds using the entitlement to funded ELC also decreased.