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: S3W-34400

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to promote the Eat More Fish campaign in each of the next six months.

Question reference: S3W-34393

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the Eat More Fish campaign to have been successful to date and, if so, on the basis of what criteria.

The Eat More Fish Campaign was launched in May 2009 to increase awareness of the health and environmental benefits of eating at least the recommended two portions of fish a week.

Seafood Scotland, the cross industry body representing stakeholders from across the fishing and fish processing industry has been responsible for running the campaign on the industry''s behalf and has achieved the following:

Raised consumer awareness of the health and environmental benefits of eating fish through work with schools, retailers, the food service sector and fishmongers.

Run a Scotland wide competition to find the country''s best young seafood chef, over 42 chefs entered.

Launched an award winning web portal giving consumers a single source of advice on buying and eating Scottish fish, including recipe ideas.

Held seafood promotions at public events, including the Taste Festival in Edinburgh.

According to Seafish, the campaign helped to generate a significant increase in retail sales of seafood in Scotland - by £8.6 million in value and 6 per cent in volume between May and October 2009.

The Eat More Fish Campaign was extended earlier this year and will continue until March 2011. A full evaluation of the campaign will be carried out then.

Question reference: S3W-34394

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken research to establish what effect the Eat More Fish campaign has had on Scottish (a) nutritional and (b) market habits and, if so, what the results were.

Question reference: S3W-34390

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many tonnes of farmed (a) salmon, (b) whitefish and (c) shellfish were produced in Scotland in each of the last five years and how many tonnes were destined for markets in (i) Scotland, (ii) Europe excluding Scotland and (iii) North America in each case.

Production statistics for Scottish finfish and shellfish are published by Marine Scotland Science at the following site:

http://www.frs-scotland.gov.uk/Delivery/standaloneCM.aspx?contentid=770.

The Scottish Government does not hold centrally information on the tonnage of each product which went to Scotland, Europe excluding Scotland, or North America. This information can be sought from the relevant producer organisation or from Business and Trade Statistics:

http://www.worldtradestats.com/.

Question reference: S3W-34397

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met stakeholders to discuss the effectiveness of its Eat More Fish campaign.

Question reference: S3W-34213

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to make changes to its carbon management plan in the next 12 months.

Question reference: S3W-34214

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the buildings comprising its estate, broken down by Energy Performance Certificate bracket A to G.

The Scottish Government has gone beyond the minimum requirements of the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008 and has produced energy performance certificates (EPCs) for 16 of the larger buildings on its core estate. The ratings generated are:

Building	EPC Rating
Atlantic Quay, 150 Broomielaw, Glasgow	C
Cameron House, Albany Street, Oban	F
Freshwater Laboratory, Faskally, Pitlochry	F
Highlander House, 58 Waterloo Street, Glasgow	D
Leith File Store, 139 Leith Walk, Edinburgh	E
Longman House, 28 Longman Road, Inverness	D
Rex House, 75 Bothwell Street, Hamilton	E
Southlands, Reidhaven Street, Elgin	E
St James House, 25 St James Street, Paisley	D
Strathbeg, 3A Clarence Street, Thurso	F
Strathearn House, Lamberkine Drive, Perth	C
Tankerness Lane, Kirkwall,	G
Thainstone Court, Inverurie	F
Thistle House, 91 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh	E
Tweedbank, Cotgreen Road, Galashiels	F
Victoria Quay, Edinburgh	D

In addition, EPCs are being produced in respect of St Andrew''s House, Regent Road, Edinburgh and Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh.

Question reference: S3W-34210

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to take additional action to reduce the amount of (a) energy derived from fossil fuels and (b) electricity used on its estate, in addition to the measures outlined in its carbon management plan.

Since the Scottish Government''s Carbon Management Plan was prepared in 2009 the creation of Marine Scotland has significantly increased the estate portfolio. A report on progress on the existing plan will be produced by autumn of this year with a revised plan available during spring 2011.

Work has continued to identify and implement additional projects aimed at reducing demand on electricity and fossil fuel derived energy. These include:

A pilot to assess the suitability of server-based computing technology which consumes around 75% less electricity than the most efficient of the PC units currently in use across the estate. With minimal moving parts, no data storage, reduce power consumption and longer life expectancy, this technology should also provide benefits in relation to labour costs and waste.

Improvements in existing power management features on PCs are also being explored further in an effort to reduce the amount of time taken to revert to lower power states.

A programme to install automated meter reading equipment across the estate to ensure appropriate and relevant data is readily available to better inform future discussions on targeting energy reduction measures.

At Saughton House in Edinburgh solar thermal panels have been installed to displace around 6,000 kWh of the annual heating demand from the domestic hot water system.

Sixty desktop videoconferencing units are soon to be distributed to individual business areas to reduce the need for business travel.

Question reference: S3W-34212

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made changes to its carbon management plan in the last 12 months.

Question reference: S3W-34211

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to take additional action to increase the energy efficiency of its estate in addition to the measures outlined in its carbon management plan.