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-06586

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 April 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of comments from the Auditor General for Scotland that demand-side transport policies such as road-pricing schemes and workplace parking charges "that have not been attractive in the past might have to be considered", what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment has had on this matter and with whom.

Question reference: S4W-06426

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment will meet representatives of Unite the Union to discuss proposals to review the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board.

Question reference: S4W-06425

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 30 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what form the new favourable condition targets for sites of special scientific interest and other notified nature conservation sites will take.

Question reference: S4W-06424

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 30 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue new favourable condition targets for sites of special scientific interest and other notified nature conservation sites.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work in partnership with a range of public bodies and private land managers to improve the condition of Scotland’s protected nature sites. We have therefore asked Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to develop and provide advice on a range of options for one or more specific targets to guide the future programme of work that it will take a lead role in delivering. This advice will be completed by the summer and will be used to inform the development of SNH’s and partner bodies’ strategies and plans for implementation from April 2013. The revised Scottish Biodiversity Strategy will set out a new approach to our delivery of biodiversity conservation in Scotland and will provide the basis for the form that the target or targets will take.

Question reference: S4W-06121

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent meetings it has had with other UK administrations to discuss the ecological coherence of the network of marine protected areas in the UK and Scottish marine areas.

Question reference: S4W-06119

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how the contribution of Scotland's marine protected areas (MPA) to the ecological coherence of the MPA network across the Oslo-Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) area will be assessed.

Question reference: S4W-06118

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how the ecological coherence of the network of marine protected areas under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 is assessed.

Guidance has been developed under the Oslo-Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) to support the agreement on development of a network of Marine Protected Areas. The guidance outlines key design features associated with ecological coherence. The Key elements are:

Representation – To support the sustainable use, protection and conservation of marine biological diversity and ecosystems, areas which best represent the range of species, habitats and ecological processes (for which MPAs are a suitable measure) should be considered for inclusion.

Replication – Replication of features in separate MPAs in each biogeographic area is desirable where it is possible in order to contribute to resilience and the aims of the network.

Size of site – The appropriate size of a site should be determined by the purpose of the site and be sufficiently large to maintain the integrity of the feature for which it is selected.

Adequacy – the MPA network should be of adequate size to deliver its ecological objectives.

Connectivity – the MPA network should take into account the linkages between marine ecosystems and the dependence of species and habitats on processes that occur outside the MPA concerned.

Management – MPAs should be managed to ensure the protection of the features for which they were selected and to support the functioning of an ecologically coherent network.

The guidance is being used to develop the MPA network in Scottish waters. When finalising advice based on the MPA guidelines, SNH and JNCC will consider the extent to which proposals for inclusion in the network will contribute to an ecologically coherent network and ministers will report progress on contributing to a network of MPAs in accordance with sections 79 (2) and 103(3) of the Marine (Scotland) Act.

A report on the status of the OSPAR network of MPAs is prepared on an annual basis. The reports summarise the number and locations of MPAs included in the network and assesses whether the network is coherent based on assessment of the spatial distribution of the network and coverage of OSPAR threatened and/or declining habitats and species. Further details can be found in the latest 2010 Status Report on the OSPAR Network of Marine Protected Areas:

http://www.ospar.org/documents/dbase/publications/p00548_Status%20report%20MPAs.pdf.

Question reference: S4W-06120

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent meetings it has held with other states parties to the Oslo-Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) to discuss the ecological coherence of the network of marine protected areas across the OSPAR area.

As part of the UK representation at relevant OSPAR meetings, Marine Scotland has participated in OSPAR discussions on progress and guidance on MPA network development. The last OSPAR Biodiversity Committee was held in February 2012 and the last OSPAR Intersessional Correspondence Group on MPAs met in September 2011. Marine Scotland officials meet regularly with UK Government, Department for Environment Northern Ireland, and Welsh Assembly Government officials to discuss MPA issues and the last meeting was held in Edinburgh on 26 January 2012.

Question reference: S4O-00821

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to address female unemployment in Fife.

Question reference: S4O-00803

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an industrial operation may operate outwith the permitted hours specified in its planning permission.