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: S4W-01088

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 11 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 2011 SNP manifesto commitment to "look at ways of extending the land available for allotments using unused or underused publicly-owned land" requires legislative change.

Question reference: S4W-01094

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 11 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what role the Grow Your Own Working Group will have in implementing the recommendations of its report.

Question reference: S4W-01093

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 11 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue its response to the recommendations of the report of the Grow Your Own Working Group.

Question reference: S4W-01091

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 11 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it is considering increasing the amount of land available for (a) allotments and (b) community gardens.

Question reference: S4W-01092

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 11 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it gives local authorities on producing an allotments strategy.

Question reference: S4W-01373

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 11 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that a local development plan could contradict the national planning framework in relation to section 25 of the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 and, if so, what the effect of this would be for the determination of planning applications.

Following changes made by the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006, section 16 of Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 requires planning authorities to take account of the National Planning Framework in preparing their local development plans.

Section 25 of the Act requires planning applications to be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. If the planning application is for a national development, Section 25 also requires the determination to be made in accordance with any statement in the National Planning Framework expressed as applying for the purposes of development management to the effect that the development could or should occur, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Statements in the National Planning Framework which do not fall into that category are to be treated as material considerations.

In the event of any incompatibility between the National Planning Framework and the development plan, whichever of them is the later in date is to prevail.

Question reference: S4W-01324

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 11 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last nominated or recommended a Scottish representative for the Board of Forestry Commissioners to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Question reference: S4W-01095

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 11 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue its response to greenspace scotland’s report, Community growing in Scotland - Towards a Framework for action.

The Greenspace Scotland’s report Community Growing in Scotland – Towards a Framework for Action was commissioned by the Scottish Government to underpin the work of the Grow-Your-Own Working Group. The Working Group are using the Greenspace report to help them take the lead role in delivering their recommendations. The recommendations put forward by the Grow-Your-Own Working Group are to focus the groups activities and the group remain open and inclusive to ensure that the recommendations can be implemented.

Question reference: S4W-01327

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of non-native trees have been approved for planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

Question reference: S4W-01326

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of native trees have been approved for planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.