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-22206

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, following the European Court of Justice ruling in the case, Alands Vindkraft AB v Energimyndigheten [the Swedish Energy Agency], how an independent Scotland will fund (a) existing and (b) planned renewable energy schemes and what impact this will have on consumers.

As detailed in the answer to question S4W-22205 on 26 August 2014, this decision does not affect the proposals for funding renewables set out in Scotland’s Future.

The report by the independent Expert Commission on Energy Regulation argues that the market arrangements which support renewable generation currently operating, or financially committed at the point of independence, should be grandfathered and the commercial arrangements honoured with the historic costs spread across all UK consumers as at present.

The UK Government’s binding renewables targets and legislation mean that suppliers across the rest of the UK will still need to buy Scottish power after independence, while Scottish renewables projects will be very well placed to compete for support under the new Contracts for Difference mechanism.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-22205

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the European Court of Justice ruling in the case, Alands Vindkraft AB v Energimyndigheten [the Swedish Energy Agency] will have on the Scottish Government's plans for renewable energy in an independent Scotland.

The European Court of Justice ruling in this case does not prohibit EU member states from paying subsidies for renewables generated in other member states, if they choose to do so.

The UK Government has already indicated, in a document published on 4 August 2014, that it is considering subsidising lower cost renewables generation located outside the UK under its new Contract for Difference mechanism, the introduction of which was enabled by the 2013 Energy Act. Indeed, the UK has previously explored the option of sourcing renewable electricity from Ireland.

We believe that the extremely competitive renewable energy projects situated in an independent Scotland will continue to play a vital part in helping the rest of the UK to meet its legally binding EU targets.

Question reference: S4W-22207

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 21 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications it received for the Welfare Reform Resilience Fund 2014-15.

The Welfare Reform Resilience Fund received 33 applications from 29 local authorities. These applications were considered by a panel of representatives from the Scottish Government, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Improvement Service, with 11 projects selected for funding in 2014-15. A list of the successful projects can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/welfarereform/WRRF2014-15Update

Question reference: S4T-00779

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 August 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Bank of England in relation to a currency union.

Question reference: S4W-21775

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 24 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what materials and publications (a) it and (b) Education Scotland has approved or recommended to teach about same-sex marriage in primary schools since the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 came into force.

Question reference: S4W-21776

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 24 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government which of the books recommended by Stonewall Scotland for use in primary schools (a) it and (b) Education Scotland has approved since the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 came into force.

Question reference: S4F-02222

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2014

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to remarks made by the chief executive of the NHS regarding the movement of emergency patients.

Question reference: S4W-21646

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 19 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the home report system.

<>Prior to the introduction of the home report, Scottish Ministers gave a commitment to carry out a full policy review after five years of its operation. This review began with a public consultation on 5 December 2013. This consultation, which formed the first stage of the review, closed on 27 February 2014. All responses have now been analysed and the report published on the Scottish Government website on 7 May 2014. The report can be found at the following link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/05/2311

The second stage of the review will take the form of a research study and focus groups. A research company has been appointed and this phase is now under way. The review is due to be completed by the end of 2014.

Question reference: S4W-21473

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the volume of oil that is recoverable from Scottish territorial waters up until 2015.

Oil and Gas UK estimate that there are up to 24 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves remaining under the North Sea. Recent research by Professor Alex Kemp of the University of Aberdeen has suggested that around 98.8 per cent of North Sea oil production and around 60 per cent of gas production in the 30 years from 2011 will come from Scotland's geographical share of the current UK continental shelf.

The Oil and Gas UK Economic Report 2013 is available at:

https://publ.com/N6D1Taa#8

The Scottish Government published the third Oil and Gas Analytical Bulletin on
28 May 2014; this focuses on the outlook for the industry over the next five years.

It is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0045/00451335.pdf

Question reference: S4W-21577

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when the transport plan for the Armed Forces Day National Event in Stirling will be signed-off at ministerial level.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with Stirling Council to support their preparation of the transport plan and other aspects of the various events across Stirling's 'Big Weekend'. The most recent draft of this transport plan, as prepared by Stirling Council, was received by officials on 6 June 2014.

The Armed Forces Day National Event is an event bid for and organised by Stirling Council. As such, signing-off a robust transport plan is a matter for Stirling Council rather than Scottish Ministers.