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-04759

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 18 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of (a) lowland raised and (b) upland blanket bog have been used for opencast coal mines in each year since 2001.

Question reference: S4W-04762

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 18 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether planned or currently operating opencast coal mines impact or will impact on protected sites and, if so, what those impacts are.

Where planned or currently operating opencast coal mines could impact on protected sites, planning conditions will apply to ensure that impacts are avoided or mitigated, for example through habitat management plans. Such conditions are framed by planning authorities in consultation with SNH, SEPA and other organisations as appropriate with the aim of maintaining the integrity of the protected site.

Question reference: S4O-00582

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs is doing to ensure that diversity is represented in broadcasting and the arts.

Question reference: S4W-04780

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 11 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to publish the reports required under section 37(2) of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 on the emissions of greenhouse gases that have been “produced by or otherwise associated with the consumption and use of goods and services” for (a) 2010 and (b) 2011.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing options for reporting on the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Scotland’s consumption of goods and services in order to determine the most suitable approach to fulfilling the reporting duty in section 37 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Given the time lags in the availability of the emissions data that is required to estimate consumption-based emissions (greenhouse gas emissions by industry for Scotland as well as the countries from which we import) and the compilation of the necessary economic and environmental input-output information (domestic and abroad), we anticipate being able to report on 2010 consumption-based emissions in 2013, and 2011 data in 2014.

The Scottish Government will seek to minimise the delay in the reporting period wherever possible providing this does not adversely impact the quality and validity of the information.

In October 2009, the Scottish Government published a time series of Scotland's Ecological Footprint and Greenhouse Gas Footprint for the period 1992-2006. This is available online at the following address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/10/28101012/0.

Question reference: S4W-04569

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to select corporate sponsors for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Commercial sponsorship for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games is a matter for the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee. The organising committee will seek to engage commercial partners across a range of sponsorship categories that are considered to be in the best interests of the games. Potential sponsors will be evaluated against a number of criteria including service provision, brand relevancy, financial offer, ability to activate, financial robustness and image/record. The organising committee will undertake due diligence checks to ensure that financial, legal and ethical considerations are factored into decisions around potential commercial partners for the games.

Question reference: S4W-04570

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 10 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether clear evidence of (a) human rights abuses, (b) environmental crimes or (c) tax evasion will exclude a company from sponsoring the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Question reference: S4W-04573

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how it has assessed the climate impact of the investment proposals in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011.

As set out on page 13 of the Infrastructure Investment Plan, a high-level initial assessment of how projects and programmes are expected to contribute to the four prioritisation criteria has been undertaken. The four criteria are delivering sustainable economic growth, managing the transition to a low carbon economy, supporting delivery of efficient and high quality public services and supporting employment and opportunity across Scotland. Some projects and programmes within the pipeline are still at an outline stage, so this high-level assessment provides an initial indication of whether the project will have a positive impact on managing the transition to a low carbon economy, which will be developed further as part of more detailed business cases.

Question reference: S4W-04572

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it undertook a strategic environmental assessment for the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011.

Question reference: S4W-04574

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive which projects deliver which of the four prioritisation criteria outlined in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011.

The assessment of proposed projects and programmes against the prioritisation criteria is an initial high-level assessment of the outcome. This provides a reasonable overview of the likely outcomes from the full suite of investments, but providing the assessment for each of the individual projects and programmes could be misleading, as these are at different stages of development and will be refined and updated, as more detailed business cases are developed.

Question reference: S4W-04575

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 9 January 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how it has dealt with conflict between prioritisation criteria in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011.

Scottish ministers decide on the priorities given to the range of potential investments in the light of the government’s purpose and the four prioritisation criteria that are derived from that purpose. Prioritisation occurs at two levels: each cabinet secretary considers the top priorities in their portfolio in delivering the purpose and their core objectives, and collectively the cabinet considers the balance between portfolios within the Scottish Government’s overall programme of investment.