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-26209

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Aileen McLeod on 22 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for the future of forestry.

The forestry sector is important to Scotland because of its contribution to our economy and the wider social and environmental benefits that our forests provide. Forestry is already a devolved matter and forestry policy in Scotland is determined by Scottish Ministers, but the management of our national forest estate and other forestry functions are still provided by the cross-border Forestry Commission, with the powers and duties in relation to those functions resting with the Forestry Commissioners. I believe that now is a good time to complete the devolution of the arrangements for the management of forestry in Scotland by agreeing a transfer of Forestry Commissioners’ powers and duties, as they relate to Scotland, to Scottish Ministers. We have agreed with the UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that officials will work jointly to consider options for taking this forward and I will announce further details of this work in due course.

Question reference: S4W-25906

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 10 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the procurement of large catamaran-type vessels for future Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services.

In 2009, CalMac Ferries Ltd commissioned a study to ascertain whether catamarans would be suitable for operating on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry network. This study concluded that monohulls were better suited than catamarans given the sea and weather conditions experienced in the area.

In general, the catamarans are much wider than any of the existing pier and harbour infrastructure on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry network could accommodate without extensive modifications to the pier and harbour facilities. In addition, and in general, catamarans have a lesser weight carrying capacity than their monohull equivalents.

Question reference: S4W-25739

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it will consult community councils as part of the sewage sludge review.

Question reference: S4W-25649

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many grants have been awarded in the Falkirk Council area under the CashBack for Communities scheme since inception and to which groups.

CashBack funding is not allocated on a geographical basis. Rather, the Scottish Government allocates available funds to partner organisations who are responsible for running projects across Scotland, delivering outcomes to give our young people positive, purposeful and constructive opportunities to contribute to Scottish society.

An overview of CashBack investment by organisation delivering activity in the Falkirk Council area is detailed in the following table:

Cultural Activities

Early Years

Mentoring and Youth Employability

Youth Work

Falkirk	Creative Scotland	Working on Wheels	Princes Trust Development Awards	YouthLink Scotland	Youth Scotland
2008-09				£73,598
2009-10	£11,260			£31,803	£3,430
2010-11	£11,260			£52,162	£7,848
2011-12	£24,808	£2,164	£500	£60,837	£16,634
2012-13		£1,648	£886	£21,249	£4,400
2013-14	£10,950	£1,463	£1,104	£16,844	£17,307
Partner total	£58,278	£5,274	£2,490	£256,493	£49,619

Sporting Activities and Facilities

Falkirk	Amateur Boxing Scotland	Basketball Scotland	Scottish Football Association	Scottish Rugby	Scottish Sports Futures	sportscotland (sport facilities)
2008-09		£2,134	£9,990	£1,978
2009-10		£3,433	£26,938	£6,752
2010-11		£5,151	£30,755	£6,076
2011-12	£7,333	£5,350	£17,793	£22,264	£17,132	£70,000
2012-13	£20,500	£5,886	£27,015	£23,837	£25,341
2013-14		£6,022	£26,977	£24,535	£13,520	£40,000
Partner total	£27,833	£27,977	£139,468	£85,441	£55,993	£110,000

Falkirk	Yearly total
2008-09	£87,700
2009-10	£83,616
2010-11	£113,253
2011-12	£244,814
2012-13	£130,761
2013-14	£158,722
Total	£818,867

Information on 2014-15 investment by local authority area should be available before the end of the summer.

Question reference: S4O-04404

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of fiscal work orders.

Question reference: S4O-04304

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in expanding Gaelic medium education outwith Gaelic-speaking areas.

Question reference: S4W-25419

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Futures Programme that is supporting the delivery of the new common agricultural policy 2015.

The Scottish Government’s Futures Programme is the new online rural payment and services system that will administer over £4 billion of payments to farmers and rural Scotland in the first five years alone as part of the new common agricultural policy (CAP) where the Single Farm Payments based on historical activity are replaced by payments based on land areas.

The new system has been designed for the seven year CAP cycle but can be expected to last considerably longer. It has more benefits than the current system, and is designed to reduce risk of significant financial disallowance from the EU and also errors for farmers completing their single application forms through real time checking and validation functions built into the system.

The total cost estimate for the five year programme is £178 million representing around 4% of the payments expected to be issued in this CAP period. This cost covers a range of aspects such as the IT system, staff training and stakeholder communications. So far, just over £74 million has been spent on the IT system and just over £15 million on other areas such as business change, staff training and stakeholder communications.

The government is making every effort to reduce costs – for example, we are in discussion with HMRC on the potential reimbursement of VAT incurred so far. All activity and costs are under continuous monitoring and scrutiny and are subject to final agreement with ministers.

The new system officially opened in January 2015 and over 17,000 businesses have registered. The window for applicants to submit their single application form opened on 16 March 2015 and they have until 15 June 2015 to do so, following the decision to extend the deadline by one month. As of 27 April 2015, over 2,000 applications have been submitted and we continue to encourage as many people as possible to submit their application through the online system. People can, however, still submit their applications manually through the paper versions that have also been available since the opening of the application period. We recognise that many farmers do not submit their applications until later in the application window but urge all applicants to do so well before the 15 June 2015 closing date.

Question reference: S4O-04243

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with the development of carbon capture and storage electricity generating plants.

There are two large scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) developments in Scotland. At Peterhead power station, SSE and Shell are proposing to develop the world’s first full-scale gas carbon capture and storage project. The project is expected to make a final investment decision towards the end of 2015 and aims to become operational in 2018-19.

The other CCS project is the Caledonia Clean Energy Project, a low-carbon power generation project proposed by Summit Power to be built in Grangemouth. The Scottish and UK Governments have jointly agreed to provide £4.2 million funding for this project.

Question reference: S4O-04250

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to help NHS boards to maintain GP numbers.

Question reference: S4W-25183

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the proposed review of the trade and importation of exotic animals for the pet trade in Scotland.

As noted in the Scottish Government news release on 16 February 2015, the review of the importation and trade of exotic animals for the pet trade is part of a wider review of pet welfare, which is a substantial and on-going piece of work.

Stakeholder meetings to discuss the issue of exotic pets are being planned and we expect them to take place over the next few months. These will feed into the wider work being conducted on a range of pet welfare issues.

Once initial considerations of pet welfare are complete, we will discuss how best to proceed with stakeholders. Any new or revised legislation would, of course, be preceded by full public consultation.