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: S5O-01276

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what policies it is implementing to support the development and progression of the farming industry.

Question reference: S5W-10789

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 13 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what rate of growth there has been in the (a) biorefining and (b) remanufacturing sector in the last three years, and which outputs are being monitored to measure growth success.

Question reference: S5F-01392

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2017

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Audit Scotland update on the CAP Futures programme.

Question reference: S5W-08505

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the remaining common agricultural policy less favoured area support scheme payments for 2015 will be paid out in full.

The Scottish Government very much regret the delay in processing LFASS payments and the impact on affected businesses. We paid £54 million worth of National LFASS loans for 2015, leaving £11.5 million of the £65.5 million annual budget still to pay. Balance payments worth £8.5 million have since issued, and the £3 million remaining represents 4.6% of the total LFASS budget.

We will be able to progress the outstanding LFASS 2015 claims once we have acquired further IT functionality to make these payments. I recognise that the delays have the potential to cause financial hardship and all efforts are being made to progress these claims as quickly as possible.

Question reference: S5O-01067

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to improve GP recruitment.

On 10 March 2017, I announced an additional £71.6 million will be invested in direct support of general practice, helping to transform the way services are delivered in the community. Improving recruitment and retention, reducing workload, developing new ways of delivering services and covering pay and expenses. This forms the first stage of the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide an extra £250 million in direct support of general practice per year by 2021 - increasing the overall investment in primary care by £500 million.

As part of this, I have increased the GP recruitment and retention fund this year from £1 million to £5 million, enabling expansion and continued support to existing and new initiatives across Scotland.

One existing initiative is The Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative – a ten board collaboration involving NHS Grampian. The project will bring together recruitment strategies and support networks for GPs working in remote and rural areas.

Question reference: S5O-01081

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the increase in reported sexual offences in 2016-17.

Question reference: S5W-09382

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a petition signed by over 40 residents, whether it will provide an update on the timescale for cabinet installation in the Richmondhill area in Peterhead to provide improved broadband speeds and services.

Deployment to the Richmond Hill area of Peterhead was initially planned to take place between January and June 2016 however due to on-site legal issues deployment was delayed. These issues have now been overcome and deployment of a cabinet to this area is imminent. It is anticipated that deployment will complete during summer 2017.

The £400 million investment that the Scottish Government and our partners are making through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme will extend fibre broadband access to at least 95% of premises by the end of 2017. Without this investment, only 66% of premises would have been reached.

Residents can keep track of progress by using the interactive map available on the Digital Scotland website: https://www.scotlandsuperfast.com/where-when/#.

Question reference: S5F-01336

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2017

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to provide support for people with dementia.

Question reference: S5W-07859

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of greening regulations will (a) reconsider the requirement to grow two varieties of peas on Ecological Focus Area (EFA) land and (b) consider bringing forward harvest dates for such crops.

On 7 February, the First Minister announced that Professor Russel Griggs will chair a group to review the Scottish Government’s approach to greening. The group will consider changes to greening rules, including the management conditions for nitrogen-fixing crops (such as peas) that are declared as Ecological Focus Areas (EFA). When considering changes to greening rules, the group will take into account the outcome of the European Commission’s Simplification Review. The Commission’s proposals include a ban on the use of plant protection products on EFA nitrogen-fixing crops.

Question reference: S5O-01012

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Queensferry Crossing construction team.