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-26864

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed by Scottish Natural Heritage's Site Condition Monitoring programme in each calendar year since 2009.

Question reference: S5W-26865

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much Scottish Natural Heritage’s Site Condition Monitoring programme has cost in each calendar year since 2009.

Question reference: S5O-04059

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to third sector organisations that offer social prescribing solutions in rural South Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-26866

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of designated features have been monitored as part of Scottish Natural Heritage's Site Condition Monitoring programme in each calendar year since 2009, and over what area, in hectares.

The following table shows the number and proportion of natural features covered annually through Scottish Natural Heritage’s Site Condition Monitoring (SCM) programme since 2009.

	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
SCM completed	1261	842	772	552	441	464	435	578	522	252	231
Percentage of current features (5,388)	23%	16%	14%	10%	8%	9%	8%	11%	10%	5%	4%

It is not possible to provide a figure for the area covered by Site Condition Monitoring assessments for the principal reason that the subject of monitoring is the natural feature and the extent of coverage is not assessed for all feature types, particularly those which are small and widely scattered.

It would also be extremely difficult to disaggregate the area of coverage where natural features are shared between different designations applying to the same area of land (as is frequently the case between Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Areas of Conservation or Special Protection Areas) or for SSSIs whose notified interests include species whose spatial requirements within the SSSI includes both designated and non-designated habitat to varying degrees.

Question reference: S5O-03981

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 9 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address the reported crisis in primary care services and lack of GPs in Lanark and other rural areas.

I am aware of recent challenges in recruiting and retaining GPs in Lanark. My officials have been in touch with NHS Lanarkshire and have been assured that a comprehensive programme is in place to support the Woodstock Medical Centre. NHS Lanarkshire is now in the process of placing arrangements to ensure continued provision of general medical services in Lanark by:

Providing GP locums, practice nurse support and pharmacists;
Engaging with patients and local communities to inform service redesign; and
Identifying other vulnerable practices and providing assistance early to ensure stability.

Nationally, the Scottish Government is taking action to ensure that general practice is sustainable in every area of Scotland over the long term. We are on track to deliver at least 800 more GPs by 2028. The number of GPs working in Scotland is rising, with recent figures showing the headcount number has increased by 55 on last year to a total of 5,049.

Question reference: S5W-26374

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 27 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it first received reports of suspected illegal trawling at St Abbs in an area protected from trawling or dredging, and when Marine Scotland's compliance activity was triggered to investigate these reports.

Intelligence relating to the current fishing season was first identified in April 2019 and this was fed in to our regular risk assessment and tasking session, as well as being passed to the local Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) patrol co-ordinator for consideration in planning future patrols. The first intelligence regarding the sighting of a squid fishery in the area was identified in August and this again was fed to the RHIB patrol co-ordinator; and intelligence relating to the first suspected incursions were thereafter notified to Marine Scotland Compliance from 11 October 2019. Since then there have been a number of patrols in the area by one of our Marine Protection Vessels.

Question reference: S5W-26168

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in response to reports of alleged scallop dredging inside the Wester Ross marine protected area (MPA) to ensure that the fisheries regulations are being enforced.

Question reference: S5W-26167

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether the status of the maerl beds in the Wester Ross marine protected area (MPA) has recovered, declined or maintained the same since the MPA status was designated in 2015.

Insufficient surveys have been completed since designation of the MPA to determine if the status of the maerl beds has changed. Marine Scotland has an MPA Monitoring Strategy to support the collection of necessary information from the Scottish MPA network to underpin assessment and reporting obligations. The strategy can be found at https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/marine/marine-environment/mpanetwork/MPAmonitoring .

Question reference: S5W-26166

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the requirements set out in the National Marine Plan, what action it has taken to ensure an ecosystem-based approach to the management of fishing that avoids damage to fragile habitats.

A range of fisheries management measures have been undertaken to avoid damage to fragile habitats, in line with the National Marine Plan. Twenty five marine protected areas (MPAs) have fisheries measures to protect fragile habitats. Fisheries management measures are also being developed for a further eighteen inshore MPAs, in conjunction with measures to protect the eleven habitats most vulnerable to pressure from bottom contacting fisheries outside of MPAs. These will be the subject of public consultation during 2020. Additional fisheries management measures for MPAs in offshore waters will be taken forward under national legislation once our future relationship with the European Union is resolved.

Question reference: S5W-26165

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £1.5 million announced in October 2018 to modernise monitoring of the inshore fishing fleet has been spent.

The Modernisation of the Inshore Fleet programme is currently in Inception and Design Phase being led and delivered by Marine Scotland personnel. This work, whilst complex, has drawn upon internal expertise within Scottish Government and therefore no external costs have been borne by the programme to date.

The Inception and Design Phase includes a procurement workstream to secure suppliers of goods and services in delivering this £1.5 million investment, all of which will be channelled into modernising the whole of Scotland’s commercial inshore fleet with appropriate and proportionate vessel tracking and monitoring systems.

The Invitation to Tender, published on Public Contracts Scotland, closed on 3 October and is now in the evaluation and negotiation stage until 20 November. Contracts will be awarded before the end of 2019.