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-12674

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that its procurement contracts safeguard jobs in Scotland.

The Scottish Government uses community benefit clauses in public procurement contracts to achieve our national outcome of more and better employment opportunities for people in Scotland.

Since the Scottish Government published guidance on Community Benefits in Procurement in 2008, commitments by the Scottish public sector to employ over 3,500 new workers via targeted recruitment and training opportunities has been achieved.

We intend to use the forthcoming Procurement Reform Bill to introduce a statutory requirement that public sector bodies include community benefit clauses in all new major public contracts and that those in receipt of major public contracts publish their commitments and target updates on training, apprenticeships and performance.

Question reference: S4W-12668

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-114714 by Fergus Ewing on 6 December 2012, what progress has been made with the plans for the stakeholder event in Spring 2013.

Following my very useful meeting with stakeholders on 9 November 2012, I have arranged a further stakeholder event for 30 April 2013.

Since the meeting in November I have written to payday loan companies in the UK and I am pleased that representatives from some of the payday loan companies, including the Consumer Finance Association have expressed an interest in discussing the pressing issues we have debated in Parliament in the last couple of weeks.

I will continue to work with stakeholders to fully consider the issues and to find further solutions to the problems faced by indebted people in Scotland who have found themselves in difficulties because of payday borrowing.

Question reference: S4W-12676

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the potential benefits of wind farms outweigh those of established activities such as tourism.

It is not a question of whether the benefits of one outweigh the benefits of the other. We are committed to ensuring that the renewable energy sector and the tourism industry continue to flourish side by side. Therefore, we have already committed to examining the need for further research into the impact of wind farms on tourism.

In its report on the achievability of the Scottish Government’s renewable energy targets of 23 November 2012, the Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Committee stated that it “has seen no empirical evidence which demonstrates that the tourism industry in Scotland will be adversely affected by the wider deployment of renewable energy projects, particularly onshore and offshore wind.“ and that “no witness has provided the Committee with robust, empirical evidence, as opposed to anecdotal comment and opinion, that tourism is being negatively affected by the development of renewable projects.”

Question reference: S4W-12667

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have benefitted from the small business bonus scheme in (a) East Lothian, (b) Midlothian and (c) Scotland.

Official Statistics published on 24 October 2012 show that 89,087 business properties across Scotland are benefitting from the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) in 2012-13. This is an increase of almost 4,000 from the previous year.

In East Lothian 1,556 and in Midlothian 1,127 business properties are benefiting from the SBBS.

In 2012-13 it is estimated that the SBBS has saved small businesses in East Lothian and Midlothian £4.5 million.

The Scottish Government has committed to maintain the SBBS for the lifetime of this Parliament.

Question reference: S4W-12236

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of any potential water pollution as a result of unconventional gas exploration and extraction and whether it is considering commissioning further research.

Following the investigation of two seismic tremors experienced near Preese Hall, Lancashire during fracking operations in 2011, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society conducted a wide ranging and authoritative review of the scientific and technical evidence on the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing for shale gas, and published a report in June 2012. Their overall conclusion is that the risks can be managed effectively in the UK as long as operational best practices are implemented and enforced through current regulation, a position shared by The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

Whilst we and SEPA believe that the current regulatory tools provide a high level of protection, it should be noted that shale gas activity, including hydraulic fracturing, is only exploratory and there is no experience of production operations in the UK as yet. Therefore we will monitor any future activity to ensure that the current tools are effective in protecting the water environment and if not will look at further measures at that point.

Question reference: S4O-01796

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what events it will hold to promote the Year of Natural Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-12238

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 29 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when the updated National Flood Risk Assessment will be published.

The first ever National Flood Risk Assessment (NFRA) for Scotland was published in December 2011 and is only the first step in a new risk-based approach to managing the impacts of floods, where the focus of plans and actions to manage flooding are targeted on where the need and benefits are greatest. The next step is for SEPA to publish new flood risk and flood hazard maps in December 2013. The NFRA will form a regular part of the new Flood Risk Management Planning Cycle, and will be updated by 22 December 2018, as required by the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009.

Question reference: S4O-01724

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the results of the Bank of Scotland’s December 2012 survey of purchasing managers.

Question reference: S4W-10999

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its policy on fuel poverty, what its position is on claims by Ignacio Galan of Iberdrola that Scottish Power is the only energy utility company in the UK losing money.

The Scottish Government is working to tackle fuel poverty and protect Scottish consumers. We are tackling fuel poverty through a range of initiatives, including working with each of the big six energy supply companies, and a range of other key interests, to maximise support for Scottish households, particularly those who are vulnerable. In addition, the Scottish Government is committing £65million per year to the National Retrofit Programme to ensure maximum support to hard-pressed households to install energy efficiency measures and help them manage their energy consumption more efficiently. The scheme aims to make Scotland as attractive as possible for energy companies to meet their environmental obligations and help vulnerable households.

Ofgem, the independent UK energy regulator, is responsible for regulation of the energy markets in England, Scotland and Wales. To ensure Scottish consumers can get the best possible energy deal, the Scottish Government is pressing Ofgem and energy companies to deliver a simpler, clearer, fairer and more competitive energy market for all consumers. In doing so, we believe energy companies must strike the right balance between profit, investment in improving Scotland’s grid network infrastructure, ensuring Scottish consumers get the best deal and helping to tackle fuel poverty. We are also pressing the UK Government to deliver its recent commitment to legislate to ensure companies move customers onto the lowest tariff.

Question reference: S4W-11000

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 20 November 2012

To ask Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the correlation between increased expenditure for the personal care of older people in their own homes and quality of care provision.