– in the Scottish Parliament at on 4 March 2021.
Maurice Corry
Conservative
A Helensburgh-based constituent of mine who is seeking to develop their electrical business has been unable to make any progress on their planning application with the council because the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, having been subject to a cyberattack in late December 2020, has been unable to receive and respond to planning consultations or to assist with supplementary information. Will the First Minister elaborate on the discussions that the Scottish Government has had regarding the disruption experienced by SEPA, given its detrimental effect on and the delay that it causes for numerous projects?
Nicola Sturgeon
Scottish National Party
In general, undoubtedly the cyberattack has had a significant impact on SEPA’s systems and therefore on its work. SEPA is working hard to rebuild the systems and to reduce any backlog caused by the attack.
I will ask SEPA to write directly to Mr Corry with more detail of the work that is under way and the stage that it is at. It is not appropriate for me to comment directly on planning applications or issues, but I will ask SEPA to address the particular issue that the member has raised.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
