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-33520

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-32071 by Richard Lochhead on 15 March 2010 indicating that the Marine Strategic Studies Forum met only once, whether it considers that stakeholders have been sufficiently involved in the creation of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan Framework.

Question reference: S3O-10530

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth last met representatives of Orkney Islands Council.

Question reference: S3W-33124

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 09 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spends on renewable energy initiatives, also broken down by (a) directorate and (b) funds channelled through agencies.

Question reference: S3W-33125

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 09 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spends on energy reduction initiatives, also broken down by (a) directorate and (b) funds channelled through agencies.

Question reference: S3W-33126

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 09 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) energy reduction, (b) energy efficiency and (c) renewable energy budget reporting requirements it must fulfil under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Section 94 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act requires an annual carbon assessment of the Scottish Budget, with the Scottish Government producing a report describing the direct and indirect impact on greenhouse gas emissions of its expenditure plans.

The first such carbon assessment was published alongside the Draft Budget in September 2009, including the impact of both energy efficiency and renewables expenditure.

Question reference: S3W-33123

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 09 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spends on energy efficiency initiatives, also broken down by (a) directorate and (b) funds channelled through agencies.

The following table illustrates the expenditure allocated to energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives for financial year 2010-11. For the purposes of our policy and programme objectives, energy efficiency initiatives and energy reduction initiatives are treated as the same thing.

In addition to the expenditure outlined below, energy efficiency and renewables are supported through a number of other schemes that focus on other policy objectives. It is not possible to accurately estimate the level of energy efficiency and renewables expenditure which such schemes will incur in 2010-11. Similarly, energy efficiency and renewables expenditure by agencies is an operational matter for those agencies.

Directorate	Available 2010-11 Expenditure for Energy Efficiency/Reduction Initiatives (£ million)	Available 2010-11 Expenditure for Renewable Energy and Microgeneration Initiatives (£ million)
Energy	12.5	32.4
Housing and Regeneration	70.9*	0
Total	83.4	32.4

Note: *Includes the Energy Assistance Package''s core budget of £45.9 million, aimed at increasing incomes and reducing fuel bills, as well as improving the energy efficiency of homes.

Question reference: S3W-33297

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the take-up to date of the Scottish quota for (a) haddock, (b) whiting, (c) cod, (d) saithe, (e) hake, (f) monkfish and (g) nephrops in the (i) North Sea and (ii) west coast fishing waters and what the result is.

Question reference: S3W-33300

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with fisheries stakeholders on the implications of any early closure of white fish and nephrops fisheries due to 2010 quotas running out before the end of the year and what the outcome was.

Scottish Fish Producer Organisations are responsible for managing the uptake of quotas allocated to them in a way that best suits their members. The Scottish Government monitors their performance.

The Scottish Government has drawn the attention of the producer organisations and other fisheries stakeholders to the fact that the continuation of fishing activity at its current rate could lead to the early closure of whitefish and nephrops fisheries. On a number of occasions in recent weeks it has discussed with representatives of the fishing industry how fishing opportunities might best be managed in the context of the opportunities available and the uptake to date in terms of both landings and fishing effort.

The following table notes uptake of available quota on 28 April 2010:

	% Uptake
Stock	North Sea	West of Scotland
Haddock*	34	53
Whiting	49	95
Cod*	31	58
Saithe	56	53
Hake	51	30
Monkfish	19	58
Nephrops	27	18

Note: *For West of Scotland Haddock and Cod, figures quoted are for ICES Area Via.

Consultations with the fishing industry have involved stakeholders from all parts of the country and from each of the industry sectors. They have focussed on a number of points, including ways in which available fishing opportunities can be increased; methods by which the uptake of opportunities can be better rationed over the course of the year, and, ways in which greater flexibility can be introduced into licensing and other regulatory arrangements to provide fishing businesses with greater scope to adapt and grow.

The government is committed to working closely with the catching sector to help ensure a full year fishery, and will manage the non-sector vessels for which it has direct responsibility to achieve that outcome. It is for producer organisations to assess the consequences for the marketing of their produce of any failure to ensure continuity of supply.

Question reference: S3W-33299

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to action that it could take to help avoid early closure of white fish and nephrops fisheries due to 2010 quotas running out before the end of the year.

Question reference: S3W-33298

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the potential impact on (a) fish catching, (b) fish processing and (c) ancillary fisheries support businesses of any early closure of white fish and nephrops fisheries due to 2010 quotas running out before the end of the year and what the outcome was.