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: S5W-19084

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government which rail stations in the Mid Scotland and Fife region have platforms that are only accessible via stairs.

Question reference: S5W-18889

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the sea lice trigger levels in the Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture to be effective in safeguarding fish welfare, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S5W-18876

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the publication by The Ferret on 3 September 2018 of photographs and videos that reportedly show salmon at an aquaculture site in Loch Roag, Isle of Lewis that are infested with sea lice and display fin and tail damage.

Scottish Government received reports directly from a member of the public regarding welfare concerns at a fish farm in Loch Roag and responded as outlined in the answer to S5W-18863 on 1 October 2018.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Question reference: S5W-18875

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) inspectors and (b) veterinary officials in the (i) Fish Health Inspectorate and (ii) Animal and Plant Health Agency have expertise in fish welfare.

Question reference: S5W-18877

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many sea lice trigger (a) 3 (notification) and (b) 8 (intervention) enforcement notices have been issued by the Fish Health Inspectorate in each year since 2016.

Steps of enforcement can be viewed here; https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0052/00522428.pdf . Since the introduction of reporting and intervention levels in 2017, one enforcement notice has been issued to an Aquaculture Production Business not having satisfactory measures in place for the prevention, control and reduction of parasites as required by the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2007.

Question reference: S5W-18898

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kezia Dugdale on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will encourage the sale of rose veal in the Garden Level Restaurant.

Currently our catering providers supply chain does not include rose veal, however we will ask them to consider the sale of rose veal in the future. We acknowledge that rose veal production is different from “white veal”. We further note that rose veal is a by-product of the dairy industry and animal welfare organisations support farmers in rearing bull calves for rose veal or beef. Any decision to sell rose veal in the future will only be on the basis that the appropriate accreditation, ensuring high standards of animal welfare, has been obtained.

Question reference: S5O-02432

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-18683

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much direct investment it has made in university sports in each year since 2007, also broken down by (a) capital, (b) revenue and (c) institution.

The Scottish Government routes its funding for sport through sport scotland, the National Agency

for Sport. sport scotland has made the following direct investments in university sport since 2007.

sport scotland has made the following direct investments in university sport since 2007.

sport scotland capital investment into Scottish university* sport since 2007

Year	Applicant	Project	sport scotland Award	Funding Source
2015-16	St Andrew’s University	Indoor Tennis Centre	£250,000	National Lottery
2013-14	City of Edinburgh Council / Heriot Watt University	Oriam – Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre	£2.25 million	Scottish Government
2012-13	University of Edinburgh	Peffermill 3G Synthetic Pitch	£300,000 (Cashback funded)	Scottish Government
2010-11	University of Stirling	High Performance Sports Science & Medicine Facility	£200,000	Scottish Government
2010-11	Aberdeen Sports Village**	Aberdeen Aquatics Centre - 50m pool	£5 million	National Lottery (£4m) and Scottish Government (£1m)

* sport scotland also invested in one college sport facility during this period: 2015-16

project cost | funding source – National Lottery. **Aberdeen Sports Village is a partnership

between the University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council. sport scotland revenue

investment into Scottish university sport since 2007 sport scotland invests Scottish

Government and National Lottery funding into Scottish Student Sport*. Scottish Student

Sport has the aim of ensuring quality and breadth in well-managed sporting programmes,

increasing and promoting involvement in physical activity and aiding and supporting the

development of appropriate professional structures and systems throughout sport in Tertiary

Education in Scotland. Scottish Student Sport are hosted by the University of Edinburgh,

but work across tertiary education institutions in Scotland.

Since 2007, sport scotland has invested the following:

2018-19 - £135,000
2017-18 - £135,000
2016-17 - £130,000
2015-16 - £130,000
2014-15 - £116,250
2013-14 - £56,250
2012-13 - £40,000
2011-12 - £40,000*
2010-11 - £55,025
2009-10 - £55,025
2008-09 - £40,000
2007-08 - £35,000

*Scottish Student Sport is the amalgamation of Scottish Universities Sport and Scottish

Colleges Sport. Prior to 2011-12, sport scotland invested in Scottish Universities Sport.

The Scottish Funding Council also provide direct funding for University Sport.

Project

Institution

Funding amount

Winning Students (H08023)

Winning Students is a network of colleges and universities with the purpose of providing Scotland’s national sports scholarship scheme for elite student athletes. It is managed by the University of Stirling on behalf of both sectors.

University of Stirling

Four separate awards

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-15

2015-19

Total £5,858,785

£316,816

£541,969

£500,000

£450,000

£1,650,000

(£550,000 per year)

£2,400,000 (£600,000 per year)

Sporting Chance initiative (H10068/HR10049) SEEKIT funds

Scottish Centre for Business Innovation in Sport (H15029) SEEKIT funds

The Sporting Chance Initiative (SCI) later re-branded as Scotland’s Centre for Business Innovation in Sport (CBIS).

University of Stirling

Two separate awards

2011-13

2015-18

Total £843,901

£393,901

(£125,558 year 1

£268,343 year 2)

£450,000(£150,000 per year

Scottish College Sport Network (FS100003)

SFC’s support part-funded a co-ordinator post to help develop the Scottish Colleges Sport Network. (predecessor to SSS below)

Scottish University Sport/Robert Gordon University

Two separate awards

2009-10

2010-11

Total £80,000

£50,000

£30,000

Scottish Student Sport (H14042/F17029)

The Scottish Student Sport network aims to improve the student experience in the college and university sectors through sport and physical activity.

University of Edinburgh

Two separate awards

2013-16

2017-21

Total £660,000

£195,000

(£65,000 per year)

£465,000

(135,000 year 1

£120,000 year 2

£110,000 year 3

£100,000 year 4)

Mountain Bike Innovation Project – Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland (H14030)

The Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland, based at Glentress near Peebles, capitalises on the increasing opportunities presented by the sport of mountain biking for Scotland.

Edinburgh Napier University

Three separate awards

2013-16

2014-16

2016-19

Total £469,984

£200,000

(£33,333 year 1

£100,000 year 2

£66,667 year 3)

£20,000

(£10,000 per year)

£249,984

(£83,328 per year)

Additional funded places – Sport at University of Stirling

Additional funded places were awarded to University of Stirling to attract more students to the university who were elite athletes.

University of Stirling

AY 2009-10

AY 2010-11

AY 2011-12

£96,680

£97,620

£58,280

In addition there was an award of £5,000 to the Alliance of Sector

Skills Scotland in 2009-10 for a small research project to establish

the skills requirements needed to deliver the Commonwealth Games.

This is not included above as the award wasn’tto a University

Question reference: S5W-18601

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the long-term remit is of the Scottish Food Commission, and when it will next meet.

Question reference: S5W-18600

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its response to the paper, Recommendations from the Scottish Food Commission for the implementation of, and content for, the Scottish Good Food Nation Bill.

Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy met with the Scottish Food Commission at their final meeting on 28 June 2018 and provided verbal feedback on their recommendations for the Good Food Nation Bill. The Commissioners were thanked for their work and deliberations and assured that full consideration would be given on how best to take forward their recommendations and to incorporate those proposals that were not already happening into the government's work to deliver our ambition to be a Good Food Nation.