Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-03571

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider funding in full complex optical prescription lenses through the NHS.

There are currently no plans for patients to be given full funding towards the cost of complex prescription lenses. However, children, those under 19 who are still in full time education and adults who are in receipt of certain state benefits are entitled to optical vouchers to help towards the cost of glasses and/or contact lenses. The value of these vouchers range from £86.90 to £215.50 dependent on the patients prescription.

Question reference: S5W-03914

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-09882 by Michael Matheson on 23 October 2012, what advice is available to construction companies operating in Scotland, and their workers, regarding the health dangers of crystalline silica dust.

Regulation of workplace health and safety is an issue reserved to the UK Government. The Health and Safety Executive has produced a range of guidance on controlling exposure to silica dust, use of respiratory protective equipment and health surveillance for those exposed to respirable crystalline silica.

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives to provide information and advice to employers and employees on health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace. This includes advice on carrying out risk assessments, use of personal protective equipment and guidance on health surveillance.

Question reference: S5W-03915

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-09882 by Michael Matheson on 23 October 2012, what legislation there is that protects construction workers from the health risks of crystalline silica dust.

Question reference: S5T-00146

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will take following the recent report on the performance of the Borders Railway.

Question reference: S5W-03253

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to minimise occurrences of the incidental entanglement of cetaceans in fishing nets and to promote effective disentanglement that protects both the animal and fishing equipment where this occurs.

All cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are protected in the UK under the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994 (as amended) and the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 2007 (as amended), which make it an offence to intentionally kill or injure cetaceans and require the monitoring of incidental capture or killing of those species, including all cetaceans, listed under Annex IVa of the Council Directive (92/43/EEC) on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Habitats Directive). They are further protected by mandatory observation, monitoring and bycatch (the incidental catch on fishing gear) mitigation work under Council Regulation 812/2004.

While the Council Regulation has direct effect in UK and Scottish law, the Scottish Government introduced the Prevention and Monitoring of Cetacean Bycatch (Scotland) Order 2005 on 8 June 2005, which provides for the creation of penalties, offences and enforcement powers to enable enforcement of this Council Regulation in Scotland. Scotland (in partnership with the other UK fishery administrations) has fully implemented Article 2 of Council Regulation 812/2004.

All relevant vessel owners and masters have been advised of the provisions of the Regulation, and relevant training for enforcement officers has been provided. No additional legislative measures are considered necessary at present.

Question reference: S5W-03254

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing with fishing communities to minimise the equipment damage and animal injury caused by incidental catches of cetaceans in nets.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with the other UK Fisheries Administrations and nature conservation agencies in establishing the UK Small Cetacean Bycatch Response Strategy. This strategy identifies measures, including the use of acoustic deterrents and better monitoring of populations and bycatch, that can be taken to work towards reducing small cetacean bycatch to below the target set by the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS) in 2000. One of the recommendations of the strategy is to develop an overarching bycatch monitoring system to investigate levels of bycatch in UK fisheries.

Marine Scotland continues to contribute funding to a dedicated protected species bycatch monitoring programme aimed at determining the levels of bycatch per haul in each fishery and thus help identify specific fisheries causing the largest amount of bycatch in each region. This work has focused on monitoring the effectiveness of acoustic deterrent devices in reducing bycatch, and on monitoring a range of fisheries, including some for which monitoring is not required under Council Regulation 812/2004, but where cetacean bycatch is likely to occur at high enough levels to warrant monitoring under Article 12 of the Habitats Directive. This project is carried out under contract by the Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, who provide an annual report on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) 812/2004.

Question reference: S5W-03255

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing a working group to examine the impact of incidental cetacean entanglement on (a) the whale population and (b) fishing communities.

Question reference: S5W-01827

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01495 by Derek Mackay on 3 August 2016, whether the insertion by paragraph 6 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013 (SSI 2013 No. 37) at 4(e) and (f) of “and the person entitled to possession of the lands and heritages has submitted an application to the rating authority” means that submitting an application is a mandatory condition to establish that a property has been unoccupied and therefore entitled to empty property relief; what guidance has been issued to local authorities on the implementation of the conditions to be met to access the Fresh Start initiative, and whether fresh start relief is unavailable if no application for empty property relief has been made.

Two of the conditions for rates relief under regulation 4 of The Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (Scotland) Regulations 1994, referred to as 'Fresh Start', are submission of an application to the rating authority, and that for a continuous period of 12 months immediately prior to being occupied the person or persons entitled to possession of the lands and heritages during that period were in receipt of relief under section 24 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966. There is no statutory requirement for an application to the rating authority for empty property relief, although in practice councils make application forms available to enable ratepayers to notify vacancies. Information on rates reliefs for local authorities is published by the Scottish Government at: www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/local-government/17999/11203/nondomratesinfo

Question reference: S5W-01495

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 August 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether, under the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013 (SSI 2013 No. 37) paragraph 6, which inserts “Lands and Heritages to be treated as unoccupied” at 4 (f), it is mandatory that an application has been submitted, in particular that failure by a previous occupant to formally submit an application would prohibit an incoming tenant from accessing a rates discount under the Fresh Start initiative.

Question reference: S5W-00388

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 9 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which cabinet secretary has responsibility for animal welfare issues.