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-27097

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 3 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of its study of the sentences applied in wildlife crime cases.

Question reference: S4W-27152

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement by the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform on 9 June 2015 that energy efficiency will be designated as a national infrastructure priority, what new measures it will take to deliver energy efficiency improvements in the transport sector.

The Scottish Government are delivering a number of energy efficiency improvements across the Scottish transport sector. We are installing LED Road Lighting luminaires on the Scottish Trunk Road Network, which can achieve a 50% reduction in energy consumption, and have procured the world’s two first sea going roll-on/roll-off diesel/electric hybrid ferries. Energy efficiency measures have been embedded within our public contracts. The new ScotRail franchise states that the new operator must ensure that all aspects of running the new franchise consider energy efficiency including rolling stock design, timetable preparation and stabling arrangements. There are additional targets to monitor and minimise train traction energy and invest in energy efficiency at Stations and Depots.

Question reference: S4T-01096

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 August 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with National Museums Scotland regarding the ongoing pay dispute.

Question reference: S4W-26499

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when planning decisions will be taken on the Allt Duine, Sallachy and Glencassley proposals for renewable development.

A decision has been taken on Allt Duine. The planning application was refused by Scottish Ministers on 30 July 2015.

In respect of Glencassley and Sallachy, the consideration that officials and ministers have been required to give to these proposals, including the associated environmental impact assessments, has been complex and time consuming. This meant we were unable to facilitate decisions before the change to Scottish Planning Policy in June 2014, at which point we had to consult further.

Now that the further consultation is complete Scottish Ministers should be in a position to make decisions shortly.

Question reference: S4W-26501

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring and enforcement tools it has put in place to ensure that fishing vessels comply with the pelagic discard ban; how many warnings have been issued to fishing vessels in Scotland for infringing the ban; how many infringements have been recorded; whether there have been prosecutions in Scotland for infringement of the ban, and, if so, how many.

Marine Scotland deploys three ocean-going marine protection vessels and two specialist maritime surveillance aircraft to monitor compliance with the pelagic discard ban and all other fisheries legislation in the Scottish zone.

In addition Marine Scotland operates a satellite based vessel monitoring system (VMS) which allows it to track the movements of all fishing vessels over 12 metres in Scottish waters.

No infringements have been detected in Scottish waters since the pelagic discard ban came into effect on 1 January 2015 and consequently no warnings or prosecutions have been initiated.

Question reference: S4W-26500

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how the implementation of the pelagic discard ban has affected the pelagic fleet and what evaluation it has undertaken of the success of the ban.

The pelagic landing obligation came into force on 1 January 2015. Those fisheries affected by its introduction are traditionally ‘clean’ fisheries, meaning that historic levels of discarding are recorded as negligible. Although no formal evaluation of the pelagic discard ban has yet taken place, Scottish Government officials engage regularly with the pelagic fishing industry and the impact on the fleet is considered low.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with the fishing industry and the regional groups of member states to understand the impact of the pelagic discard ban and to learn lessons which can be applied ahead of the introduction of the demersal landing obligation, starting on 1 January 2016.

Question reference: S4W-26498

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement on 9 June 2015 that energy efficiency would be designated as a national infrastructure project (Official Report, c. 60), whether the new scheme under the Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland will set specific targets for improving the energy efficiency of domestic properties.

The detail and design of Scotland’s energy efficiency programme which will lie at the heart of the national infrastructure priority will be developed in close co-operation with stakeholders across Scotland. We need an approach that can take account of the diversity of the housing stock and households across Scotland, therefore before we set out further detail we will work with stakeholders to undertake further modelling and analysis to understand what is possible before setting out specific targets for the programme.

In the shorter term we plan to consult on proposed minimum standards for energy efficiency in private homes later this year. These standards, like our existing standards for social housing, will help to make Scotland’s least energy efficient homes more affordable to run, more comfortable to live in, and help reduce their emissions.

Question reference: S4W-26496

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform’s statement on 9 June 2015 (Official Report c. 58), how it plans to “work together with energy experts, businesses and communities to develop a more holistic approach to these issues over the next year.”

The Scottish Government has a strong track record of working with energy experts, businesses and communities to develop energy efficiency programmes to help meet Scottish needs. We will work closely with relevant stakeholders over the coming months on how we can best involve interests from across Scotland to shape Scotland’s energy efficiency programme and to begin to pilot initial approaches.

Question reference: S4W-26497

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how its announcement on 9 June 2015 that energy efficiency will be designated as a national infrastructure project (Official Report, c. 60) will change its approach to delivering improvements to energy efficiency.

We will set out further details of the national infrastructure priority designation later this year when we publish our refreshed infrastructure investment plan.

We will use the powers recommended by The Smith Commission to build on our successful Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Schemes and existing programmes for business and the public sector to help design and develop fuel poverty and energy efficiency schemes that better suit Scotland’s unique characteristics in the domestic and non-domestic sectors. The programme will also for the first time provide multi-year funding for local authority partners to give them the certainty to develop more ambitious projects on the ground.

Question reference: S4O-04470

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish an updated infrastructure investment plan.