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: S4O-03907

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the Committee on Toxicity’s investigation into the use of organophosphate products by farmers and crofters in the 1980s and 90s.

Question reference: S4W-23696

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Aileen McLeod on 18 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what messages the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform took to the international community at the recent United Nations climate conference in Lima.

I attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 20^thsession of the Conference of the Parties in Lima last week to help influence stronger global commitment to action by sharing Scotland’s ambition on climate change and our championing of climate justice, as well as participating in discussions on the importance of non-state actors, human rights and gender issues.

I took the message that Scotland is ready to play its part in delivering an ambitious climate change treaty. We have already unilaterally set challenging targets both pre and post-2020, with a world-leading target of at least a 42% emissions cut by 2020 and 58% by 2027 in line with what the climate science tells us we will have to do. Scotland’s emissions in 2012 were 26.4% lower than the 1990 baseline and we generated 46.6% equivalent of our gross electricity consumption from renewables in 2013. Our solid progress has been praised by our independent assessors the Committee on Climate Change. We have committed almost £1 billion of Scottish Government funding over the next two years for climate change action. Scotland is putting human rights at the heart of climate change action, championing climate justice and building trust between developed and developing countries through our innovative Climate Justice Fund which is supporting some of the poorest and most climate vulnerable people in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Rwanda.

The Lima Call for Climate Action has kept the international negotiations moving forward, although with important issues, principally the overall level of global ambition, yet to be resolved. Our Cabinet Sub-Committee on Climate Change will meet in 2015 to discuss our actions to support delivery of our ambitious climate change goals. We know our targets are not easy but they are at the level the international community needs to match if the new climate treaty in Paris in 2015 is to stand a good chance of limiting global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius.

Question reference: S4W-23515

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 15 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors SQA attainment levels for (a) looked-after and (b) vulnerable children.

Qualifications in Scotland are part of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, which is administered by the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership.

The tariff scores of looked after children are obtained by linking their data (as collected by the Children and Families Analysis statistics team) to the overall attainment data (which is collected and published by the Pupil and School Statistics team in Summary statistics for attainment, leaver destinations and healthy living http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/06/9242 using Scottish candidate numbers of looked after school leavers where available. This information is published annually in Education outcomes for Scotland's looked after children http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/09/6499.

These figures represent a snapshot of the attainment of this group, capturing only children looked after on a particular day, and by extension excluding those children who had left care by that date.

There is no single definition of a vulnerable child; no specific group of ‘vulnerable children’ is monitored in this way. However, the annual publication “Summary statistics for attainment, leaver destinations and healthy living” contains summaries of attainment based on various demographic variables including deprivation, based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, which could be adapted for use as a broad proxy measure.

Question reference: S4W-23616

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the final report of the Agricultural Holding Legislation Review Group.

I am delighted to announce that the work of the Agricultural Holding Legislation Review Group will be completed before Christmas 2014 and that we will be publishing the final report early in 2015.

The report will be available on the Scottish Government website. Copies will be sent to the main industry representative bodies and a copy lodged with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number 56510). Copies will also be available to anyone on request to the Scottish Government’s agricultural holdings team.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues on the review group for the hard work and effort they have brought to this review over the past year. Their experience and knowledge of the tenant farming sector has been invaluable to our work.

I am also grateful to the main industry bodies, the National Farmers Union Scotland, the Scottish Tenant Farmer’s Association and Scottish Land and Estates as well as to the many individuals who have engaged so effectively with this process.

I am confident our recommendations lay the road for a vibrant and sustainable future for the tenant farming sector and I look forward to continuing to work with the industry as we consider how best to implement the review’s recommendations.

Question reference: S4O-03847

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Falkirk Council and West Lothian Council regarding the upgrading of the A801 River Avon Gorge crossing.

Question reference: S4O-03804

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what benefit it expects the additional £10 million being invested in funding and empowering communities to bring.

Question reference: S4W-23395

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 2 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many air quality management areas there are in the Falkirk Council area and where they are.

There are four air quality management areas in the Falkirk Council area:

Location	Pollutants	Description
Grangemouth	Sulphur dioxide	An area encompassing Grangemouth petrochemical complex and adjacent areas.
Haggs	Nitrogen dioxide	An area encompassing parts of Banknock and Haggs around the junction of the A803 and M80.
Falkirk	Nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter	An area encompassing part of Falkirk town centre.
Banknock	Particulate matter	An area to the west of Banknock.

Further information on these air quality management areas, and on air quality in general, can be found on the Scottish air quality website:

www.scottishairquality.co.uk

Question reference: S4W-23168

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on progress being made by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership in setting up schemes to boost economic growth on both sides of the Border.

I met regularly with the Chair of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to consider areas of common interest and identify projects where Scotland and the North East of England can work together for mutual benefit.

At our most recent meeting on the 8 October 2014 it was agreed to focus on promoting initiatives which build on shared strengths in the energy sector, both in terms of offshore renewables and through oil and gas related activities and services, before extending the collaborative approach to other sectors with joint economic and employment growth opportunities. Engagement with the LEP is ongoing to develop these opportunities.

Question reference: S4O-03764

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Falkirk Council regarding its obligation to provide a flexible approach to parental choice for early learning and childcare.

Question reference: S4W-23137

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 November 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Falkirk Council regarding the promotion of tourism in Falkirk district.