- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 3 April 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) statutory guidance, (b) regulations or (c) memoranda of understanding determine what (i) representative organisations and (ii) regulatory bodies of the medical and healthcare professions it must negotiate with over fees and regulations.
Answer
The regulation of healthcare professionals is carried out by UK wide regulatory bodies which are independent of government. These bodies include the General Medical Council, the General Dental Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Each regulator’s governing body determines the level of annual fees they charge for registration, but any proposed change in fees will be subject to public consultation.
Ministers in all four countries have committed to working together to ensure a consistent approach to professional healthcare regulation across national boundaries. The legislation governing the majority of healthcare professional groups is reserved to the UK Parliament; however, responsibility for all new groups and new professional regulatory bodies regulated since the Scotland Act 1998 is devolved and also subject to the scrutiny of the Scottish Parliament.
Therefore any change to healthcare regulation is subject to public consultation and scrutiny prior to consideration by the UK Parliament and also in the case of devolved legislation, the Scottish Parliament.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 1 April 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20084 by John Swinney on 20 March 2014, whether it will provide a breakdown by type of tax of the amounts adding up to the £700 million.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20084 on 20 March 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2014
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2014
To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2014
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 March 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the First Minister’s comment on The Andrew Marr Show on 16 March 2014 that “the Fiscal Commission Working Group set out not just a plan B as you put it, but B, C, D, E and F”, whether it will identify each of the five alternative currency options.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-19732 on 28 February 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 27 March 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 13 February 2014, Pound is best option for independent Scotland and rest of UK, what advice it received from the Fiscal Commission Working Group on the duration of a currency union.
Answer
The first report of the Fiscal Commission Working Group and technical annex provided a detailed assessment of the currency options of an independent Scotland, and concluded that retaining sterling was in the economic interests of both Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Paragraph 2.7, page 19, included the following recommendation:
“Recommendation: the Scottish Government should refine the detail of the proposition set out for a macroeconomic framework which can operate from day one of independence and through any period of transition and indefinitely if required. The framework should ensure monetary and price stability, financial stability and fiscal sustainability.”
The full published report can be found via:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/02/3017.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 March 2014
To ask the Scottish Government which opencast mines ministers were made aware of before they were granted planning consent for restoration, and which of these (a) were called in by ministers and (b) are predicted to have a shortfall in funding to deliver restoration.
Answer
Applications for opencast coal developments are determined by the relevant planning authority as part of the normal planning process. Scottish Ministers are notified of opencast coal mines where development consisting of works connected with the extraction of coal by opencast methods, and other minerals extracted in association with works to extract opencast coal, where the site boundary falls within 500 metres from the edge of an existing community or sensitive establishment.
Since 1997 Scottish Ministers have been notified of some 46 applications for extraction of coal by opencast methods or related applications; of these a total of 20 have been notified since 2007.
Two such applications were ‘called in’ by Scottish Ministers in 2000: Boglea and Cameron Farms, Greengairs North Lanarkshire, and Heatherywood near Thornton, Fife. Both called-in cases were granted planning permission.
Regarding appeals, since 1997 the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals reporters have been involved in five appeal decisions on open cast coal applications: one of these in 2008 the others between 1997 and 2003. All appeals were upheld.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 March 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what the projected demand for coal is from Scotland’s power stations for each of the next 10 years, and what percentage of this will be sourced indigenously.
Answer
Longannet is Scotland’s only coal power station and consumed 4.1 million tonnes of coal in 2012 and 4.3million tonnes in 2013.
Longannet obtained 47% of its coal from Scottish suppliers in 2012. Due to the disruption in supply caused by the liquidation of Scottish Coal and ATH, the percentage of coal from Scottish suppliers dropped to around 15% in 2013.
Scottish Power has a number of long-standing coal-supply agreements in place with suppliers who operate opencast mines in Fife, Lothian’s, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.
The exact details of those agreements and quantum of coal supplies are commercial matters between Scottish Power and its suppliers.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 March 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, other than those associated with opencast coal, what types of developments use bonds to secure funding for long-term (a) environmental maintenance, (b) decommissioning, (c) restoration, (d) aftercare and (e) other work.
Answer
Any development may be associated with a financial bond to secure funding for maintenance, decommissioning, restoration, aftercare or other work and this is normally a matter for the planning authority. Financial guarantees including bonds are typical in the minerals, waste and renewables sectors.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 March 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the experience of the opencast coal industry, what its position is on the risks associated with other types of development using bonds to secure funding for long-term (a) environmental maintenance, (b) decommissioning, (c) restoration, (d) aftercare and (e) other work, and what assessment it (i) has made or (ii) plans of these risks.
Answer
Bonds are but one form of a financial guarantee set out in Scottish Planning Policy in relation to renewables, minerals and surface coal mining designed to safeguard against a range of matters including the routine security against the risk of actions not being undertaken, default on undertakings set out in planning conditions or insolvency.
Finance can also be secured by industry guarantee schemes, insurance policies, ring-fenced cash accounts or parent company guarantees.
The matter of restoration bonds has been discussed with planning authorities and parliamentarians represented on the Scottish Opencast Coal Task Force. A sub group to the task force: the Restoration Bonds Working Group is well established and its work will be taken forward by task force working parties to consider the suite of financial instruments and models available to suit the sequential phases of a development from preparatory works through to restoration and aftercare.
To address the situation experienced in the coal sector the Scottish Government’s recent consultation, Opencast Coal Restoration: Effective Regulation invited views on revisions to planning policy and advice including Planning Advice Note 64: Reclamation of Surface Mineral Workings. Responses received are currently being analysed. The output of the consultation will be considered by the task force; the principles of which may inform consideration in developments other than opencast coal.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 26 March 2014
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the upper estimate for the capital value of the Aberdeen-Inverness rail improvements project in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011: Updated Programme Pipeline (January 2014) has risen to £600 million compared with the previous update.
Answer
Due to a typing error the upper estimate for the capital value for the Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Improvements Project was increased to £600 million, but should read as £500 million.
The Updated Programme Pipeline for January 2014, which was published on 17 March 2014, has since been amended with the correct figures.
