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-25212

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance Historic Scotland follows in deciding whether a proposed new development hides, encroaches on or has other negative impacts on buildings or sites of historic importance.

The guidance followed is set out in Historic Scotland’s ‘Managing Change in the Historic Environment’ guidance series. This guidance is also for use by planning authorities and other interested parties. It includes guidance on setting, providing advice on the principles that apply to assessing developments that impact on the setting of heritage sites, including key viewpoints, and assessment of the impact of change on the setting.

The guidance is available on Historic Scotland’s website at: http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/managingchange.

Question reference: S4W-24558

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on changing bankruptcy legislation to ensure that any problems arising as a result of person being declared bankrupt are not transferred to an innocent party in a property transaction case.

The Scottish Government has already made relevant changes to the law on property rights following bankruptcy. Section 17 of the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Act 2007 made a number of amendments.

In particular, the changes made by section 17 of the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Act 2007 provide that a trustee cannot register title to the property of a debtor for 28 days after the bankruptcy is registered. That enables a third party who has purchased property in good faith from a debtor to complete title by registration.

The Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012, which came fully into force on 8 December 2014, also includes a number of safeguards for those transacting with property and sets out a regime for more effective remedies for some parties who have been subject to property fraud; and a more robust compensation framework where parties suffer loss through certain events.

Question reference: S4W-24557

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 4 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Law Society of Scotland regarding reforms to the Guarantee Fund.

Scottish Government is aware of the terms of Sheriff Principal Bowen’s report in relation to consumer protections in conveyancing cases which makes a recommendation in relation to the Guarantee Fund. The Scottish Government also understands that the Law Society of Scotland has recently received a report following a review of the Guarantee Fund which it had commissioned from KPMG. I have raised the subject of the operation of the Guarantee Fund with the Law Society of Scotland and will seek an early opportunity discuss with the society how it intends to take forward the recommendations arising from both reports and whether any legislative action is required.

Question reference: S4W-24556

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 4 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on clarifying the duty of solicitors acting on behalf of buyers in property transactions.

The Scottish Government expects all solicitors acting on behalf of buyers in property transactions to provide the best possible level of service and advice.

Former Sheriff Principal Bowen’s report to the Council of the Law Society of Scotland on consumer protection in conveyancing has been published. It is available at:

https://www.lawscot.org.uk/media/439009/Law-Society-report-Consumer-Protections-in-Conveyancing-Cases.pdf. The report suggested that thought needs to be given to clarifying the legal duty of a solicitor acting for a purchaser in certain circumstances.

As the report is to the Law Society of Scotland, this recommendation is for the society to consider in the first instance.

I am advised by the society that issues on clarifying the duty of solicitors in conveyancing transactions will be considered by their Property Law Committee at their next meeting in April 2015. Through my regular meetings with the society, I will discuss with them the recommendations in Sheriff Principal Bowen’s report, the action that should be taken and the likely timescales.

Question reference: S4O-04005

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the financial impact on the industry in Scotland, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the oil and gas fiscal regime.

Question reference: S4O-03998

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with its partners about railway timetabling and capacity in the north east.

Question reference: S4O-03954

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils in Aberdeen are being provided with free school meals following its recently introduced policy.

Question reference: S4W-23791

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 20 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on welfare reform mitigation since April 2013 and how much it plans to spend in 2015-16, broken down by type of mitigation.

From April 2013 to 2015-16, the Scottish Government’s current and planned funding will result in an investment of £296 million to mitigate the effects of the UK Government’s welfare reforms.

Details are as follows:

Welfare Reform Mitigation activity	2013-14 (£million)	2014-15 (£million)	2015-16 (£million)	Total from 2013 to 2016 (£million)
Scottish Welfare Fund (£33 million plus admin)	£38	£38	£38	£114
Other Welfare Reform Mitigation*	£7	£8.2	£8.2	£23.4
Council Tax Reduction Scheme	£23	£23	£23	£69
‘Bedroom tax’ – Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP)	£20	£35	£35	£90
Total	£88	£104.2	£104.2	£296.4

*Welfare reform mitigation includes funding for organisations that provide advice and support services to help people affected by welfare reform. This includes funding for Citizens Advice Scotland and continued support for the Making Advice Work grant funding programme and the new Tackling Money Worries grant funding programme administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. The funding also supports actions to tackle poverty, particularly child poverty including activity designed to maximise household resources for vulnerable groups, and initiatives with the third sector, local authorities and others impacted by welfare reform.

Question reference: S4W-23792

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 20 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities have a statutory duty to publish all papers relating to a planning application, in full and on a website that is publicly accessible.

There is a statutory duty on planning authorities under section 36A of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to maintain a list of applications made to them and to publish this on the internet (Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 ).

In respect of each application the details published must include:

The reference number of the application;

The site location;

The name of the applicant and, where an agent is acting for the applicant, the name and address of that agent;

A description of the proposed development; and

The expiry date of the period for representations to be received.

The list of applications must also contain a statement as to how further information may be obtained from the planning authority.

Planning authorities are also required to maintain a register of applications for planning permission (section 36(1) of the Act). The register is to be available for public inspection at an office of the planning authority. The planning authority may make the register available on their website. The information that must be recorded in the register is set out in Schedule 2 of the Development Management Procedure Regulations. The information published in the register is more detailed than the list and includes such items as copies of plans and drawings, decision notices and a report of handling. The report of handling includes, amongst other things; information on representations made by the public and the main issues raised, details of consultation with statutory consultees, any Environmental Impact Assessment or other reports undertaken and details of development plan policies and other material consideration considering in determining the application. The register is in two parts – information on the application on part 1 and then information on the decision (e.g. decision notice, report of handling) on part 2.

Scottish Government guidance on handling planning applications and the publication of the list and register is set out in Planning Circular 3/2013: Development Management Procedures. The Scottish Government has also published guidance, in collaboration with the Information Commissioner’s Office and planning authorities, on publishing planning applications online. When making documents available, the Scottish Government encourages authorities to recognise that publishing information online provides the public with an opportunity to participate in the planning process in a way that is most convenient to them and to promote transparent decision making. The guidance provides ‘good practice’ suggestions and was intended to offer clarification on some of the uncertainties with regard to the publishing information online and complying with data protection principles.

Question reference: S4W-23794

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 14 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it monitors how local authorities deal with planning applications.

The Scottish Government monitors a limited number of applications which it considers are of national and strategic importance.

Scottish Ministers also have a general power to intervene in the determination of a planning application where it appears there may be some matter of genuine national interest at stake. In practice, ministers will exercise this power very sparingly, recognising and respecting the role of authorities in decision making.

The Scottish Government collate and publish statistics on planning authority decision making timescales and also asks authorities to submit an annual planning performance framework setting out details of service provided and a plan for improvement. Ministers also have powers to vary planning application fees for any authority it considers is not performing adequately.

Where a member of the public is concerned about the process by which an application was handled and the decision reached they can submit a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman for consideration.