Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-11244

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 27 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how marine (a) planning and (b) licensing decisions will manage competing demands for the use of the sea while protecting the marine environment until the National Marine Plan and its strategic environment assessment process are in place.

Question reference: S4W-11183

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 27 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what status draft marine sectoral plans will have in guiding development.

Draft sectoral marine plans and the related reports and documents issued to build the plans are non statutory. The published sectoral marine plans will be a statement of ministers policy, including ministers spatial policies for the sector being covered. Sectoral planning actively incorporates consideration of environmental impacts at all levels and includes strategic environmental appraisal (SEA) and habitats regulations assessment (HRA) to guide development. The SEA and HRA are both required under legislation and statutory consultation is required under SEA legislation to guide development of sectoral plans. These plans and assessments would be relevant considerations in guiding development.

The spatial output of marine renewable sectoral plans will be integrated into the National Marine Plan. This will give the outputs of the sectoral plans full statutory weight.

Question reference: S4W-11182

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 27 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what planning and policy framework will be in place until the first National Marine Plan is introduced in 2014.

Until the National Marine Plan is adopted, decisions regarding marine activities and developments will continue to be made under existing frameworks which include: Scotland’s marine licensing regime and terrestrial planning policy, in addition to sectoral plans and policy such as aquaculture planning and fisheries management policy. These existing frameworks take account of social and environmental impacts, promoting a sustainable approach to planning and licensing decisions for Scotland’s seas.

Question reference: S4O-01427

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will publish its National Marine Plan.

Question reference: S4W-10013

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government who will be responsible for any shortfall in funding for projects funded by tax incremental financing.

The Executive Note for the Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2010 (SSI 2010/391) outlines that:

The local authority undertakes the borrowing and is therefore liable for the repayments. The local authority takes any risk associated with the additional non-domestic rate revenue generated by the project not materialising in the way that is expected and the local authority keeps nothing if receipts are below the amount required to generate an amount for it to retain.

Question reference: S4W-10088

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what funding allocations it has made to local authorities to improve the cycle route (a) along the A90 between Edinburgh and Fife and (b) from the Barnton roundabout to the Forth Road Bridge.

The Scottish Government has allocated a total of £600,000 for the City of Edinburgh Council to work in partnership with Sustrans to upgrade the A90 cycle route between Edinburgh and Fife. The council will match that amount for works to the sections of the route between Edinburgh and Fife, including from the Barnton roundabout to the Forth Road Bridge.

All councils are welcome to submit match funded bids to Sustrans for cycle paths and community links in their areas.

Question reference: S4W-10036

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 29 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government who will be responsible for any shortfalls in funding for projects funded by tax incremental financing if anticipated additional business rates revenue is not realised.

The Executive Note for the Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2010 (SSI 2010/391) outlines that:

The local authority undertakes the borrowing and is therefore liable for the repayments. The local authority takes any risk associated with the additional non-domestic rate revenue generated by the project not materialising in the way that is expected and the local authority keeps nothing if receipts are below the amount required to generate an amount for it to retain.

Question reference: S4W-09908

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland has to deal with care providers when complaints are upheld.

Question reference: S4W-09906

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding the council's recently-launched investigation into the care of an older couple in the Bellevue area.

Question reference: S4W-09909

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what requirements Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland has to report complaints to the (a) relevant local authority and (b) the Scottish Government.

There is no statutory requirement on the Care Inspectorate to report individual complaints to either individual local authorities or to the Scottish Government. The Care Inspectorate will bring matters to the attention of a local authority or the Scottish Government where they have significant concerns about quality or safety but they also have powers to take action themselves under the regulatory framework created by the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

Further, information regarding the nature of any upheld complaints is made publicly available on the Care Inspectorate website www.careinspectorate.com.

Chamber and committees