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-24477

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), what work will be carried out on strengthening the planning guidance with regard to unconventional oil and gas extraction; which government department or non-government body it will commission to do this; when the work will (a) begin and (b) end; when the findings will be published, and how many full-time equivalent staff will be employed to do this.

Question reference: S4W-27166

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 August 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to use the powers it has over (a) the Renewable Obligations scheme (i) banding and (ii) grandfathering and (b) grace periods for current Renewables Obligation scheme applications to mitigate the impact of the changes to the scheme that were announced on 21 July 2015 by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

The Energy Act 2013 provides the UK Government with the power to close the Renewables Obligation (RO) across the UK. This includes the ability to set grace periods and eligibility criteria. A grace period relates to the closure of the RO and is a provision which allows a developer a certain period of time to accredit a project after the closure date.

The consultation published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change on
22 July 2015 in relation to closing the RO to solar photovoltaic (PV) projects below 5MW from 1 April 2016 was done so on the basis that the proposal would apply in Scotland. The Scottish Government were not consulted on this matter prior to the consultation being published. I have written to the Secretary of State to express my concern about the impact of the proposal and disappointment at the UK Government’s failure to consult.

Decisions on grandfathering policy and support levels under the RO are matters for Scottish Ministers. Grandfathering is a policy decision that once a generating statement is accredited and receiving RO support at a certain level, the level it receives (i.e. the number of RO certificates) would not change for the lifetime of its support under the scheme.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change have excluded solar PV of 5MW and below from the grandfathering policy and proposed a banding review for projects in England in Wales.

As is the case for the wider renewables industry, developers of solar projects need clarity and certainty on the policy environment in order to attract funding and reach financial close. Frequent and unexpected policy changes create huge uncertainty for investors, developers and communities and put at risk important economic developments in Scotland. To maintain a consistent policy framework until the RO closes the Scottish Government is retaining the current policy on grandfathering and support levels for solar PV projects in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-27402

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the current maintenance and repairs backlog is at the (a) 101 service centre in Bucksburn and (b) 999 control room at Queen Street in Aberdeen.

Question reference: S4W-27399

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many police staff have (a) resigned (b) taken voluntary or early redundancy at the (i) 101 service centre in Bucksburn and (ii) 999 control room at Queen Street in Aberdeen since the planned closure of the two facilities was announced in January 2014.

Question reference: S4W-27401

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many police (a) officers and (b) staff were working at the (i) 101 service centre in Bucksburn and (ii) 999 control room at Queen Street in Aberdeen when the planned closure of the two facilities were announced in January 2014 and how many are working there now.

Question reference: S4W-27398

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the cost will be of (a) recruitment and (b) maintenance and repairs at the (i) 101 service centre in Bucksburn, (ii) 999 control room at Queen Street in Aberdeen and (iii) Inverness control room in order for each facility to meet the standards recommended in the recent Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) report into police call-handling.

Question reference: S4W-27400

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many police staff have been recruited to work at the (a) 101 service centre in Bucksburn and (b) 999 control room at Queen Street in Aberdeen since the planned closure of the two facilities was announced in January 2014.

Question reference: S4W-27392

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to questions S4W-26945 and S4W-26943 by Michael Matheson on 19 August 2015, for what reason the Cabinet Secretary for Justice stated that the information sought was not held centrally in relation to the number of police officers and civilian staff carrying out Disclosure Scotland checks, in light of the accountability of Disclosure Scotland to the Scottish Ministers as an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, and whether it will review those responses and now publish the number of (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff carrying out Disclosure Scotland checks.

Question reference: S4W-27211

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it took, prior to the announcement that Fletcher Shipping was to go into administration, to secure the public funds invested in the company through the Scottish Loan Fund.

Question reference: S4W-27210

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £5 million invested in Fletcher Shipping by the Scottish Loan Fund it expects to be repaid following the announcement that the company has gone into administration.