- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has examined the environmental benefits of raising salmon smolts in closed containers.
Answer
The recently published renewed strategic framework for Scottish aquaculture, A Fresh Start, has as an outcome for one of its working groups that the aquaculture industry will use the most appropriate equipment or facilities for containment at freshwater sites. The working group will consider the best published evidence and consider whether further research is required before coming to its conclusion on the best means to achieve this outcome.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 15 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether central heating systems installed under the (a) current and (b) previous central heating programmes are guaranteed and, if so, what the guarantee period is.
Answer
All central heating systems installed under the central heating programme and under Stage 4 of the Energy Assistance Package are covered by a full parts and labour warranty for 12 months, following the date of installation.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24239 by Richard Lochhead on 5 June 2009, whether it is aware that the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has issued a consultation on the welfare of racing greyhounds.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware that the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has issued a consultation on the welfare of racing greyhounds.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24371 by Richard Lochhead on 5 June 2009, whether it will reinstate the Moray Firth seal management plan section of its website so that stakeholders can see documents such as the Moray Firth Seal Management Code of Practice.
Answer
We are currently updating the seal management section of the Scottish Government website. Full information on seal management in the Moray Firth, including the Code of Practice, will be available shortly.
The Code of Practice was a working document developed specifically for the Moray Firth Seal Management Plan pilot. It was made available to stakeholders but never formally published.
The Code of Practice is available in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 48276).
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 15 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the National Salmon Fjords initiative in Norway and whether it considers that a similar designation could be introduced for Scottish sea lochs that have important native salmon and sea trout runs.
Answer
We are aware of this initiative. There is an existing presumption against aquaculture development on the east coast of the Scottish mainland. Nevertheless, the Scottish Government is keen to share learning with the Norwegian Government, and hopes to do so under the auspices of the developing Memorandum of Understanding on Aquaculture with the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing regulations under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to ban the use of wild animals in circuses.
Answer
The Scottish Government is unable to introduce secondary legislation under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to ban the use of wild animals in circuses because the Radford Report, issued on 20 November on the welfare of non-domesticated animals in travelling circuses, concluded that there was a lack of evidence to show that there were welfare problems with these animals. Regulations made under Part 2 of the act must be for the purpose of securing the welfare of animals.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24371 by Richard Lochhead on 5 June 2009, when the Scottish Seals Forum will next meet to start consideration of the animal welfare issues arising from the proposed licensing scheme for seal killing.
Answer
No date has been fixed for the next meeting of the Scottish Seals Forum. It is likely to take place in the autumn, when it will discuss the proposed new seal licensing system.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has given any consideration to the possibility of introducing a levy on chewing gum and, if so, what conclusions it has reached.
Answer
Carelessly discarded chewing gum, like all forms of litter, is ugly and harms the environment, however it does not happen by itself. We need to acknowledge that it is members of the public who cause litter. We believe it is important that people take personal responsibility for their own actions and how they affect others.
It is important that people care for their environment and dispose of their litter correctly. To get this message across to the general public, the Scottish Government provides the core funding to the independent environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB), who run a number of anti-litter campaigns designed to raise public awareness of the problem. In particular, they co-ordinate local level clean-ups all over Scotland involving community groups, tenant associations and schools. Further information about the work of KSB is available at http://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/.
We have no plans to introduce a levy on chewing gum.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 10 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that setting point targets for combating climate change without considering cumulative emissions increases the possibility of climate feedback by exceeding a safer level of total emissions over the longer term and thereby mitigating any point reduction achieved.
Answer
The cumulative effect of greenhouse gas emissions is recognised by the emissions reduction framework in the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill.
By setting batches of annual targets based on expert advice there will always be between 12 and 17 years for which Scotland''s total permissible cumulative emissions are defined. For example, by October 2011, ministers must have set statutory annual targets up to 2027. That will fix almost half of the total emissions reduction trajectory to 2050.
In retaining the sensible flexibility necessary to respond to the many uncertainties which lie ahead in the four decades to 2050, the Bill contains the safeguard that the Scottish ministers must always seek expert advice before setting any batches of annual targets. The Bill also requires that the Scottish ministers must have regard to a number of target-setting criteria, the first of which is expert advice on climate change.
- Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 June 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to extend the waiving of charges for the registration of septic tanks.
Answer
No. The waiving of SEPA''s charges for registering septic tanks has already been extended by two months to 31 May 2009, in response to a significant increase in septic tank registrations at the end of March, when the overall waiver of SEPA''s charges for most new permits ended. I believe a further extension of the waiver would be confusing to the public, and is unnecessary, as SEPA does not intend actively to pursue unregistered septic tanks.
