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: S5W-07861

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 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated for each of the next three years for the Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (a) New Capital Grant Scheme, (b) New Entrants Start-Up Grant Scheme and (c) Young Farmers Start-Up Grant Scheme.

The SRDP 2014-20 assumes £20M of support for Young Farmers and New Entrants across the programme life. This includes an indicative budget for the New Entrant Capital Scheme of £12M and £8m of support for start-ups. Of the latter £2m is aimed at new entrants of smaller units (with no age restriction) and £6m to young farmers (no more than 40 years old as governed by EC regulation).

SRDP funding is subject to the outcomes of spending reviews and decisions taken by the UK Government including any loss of EU funding post Brexit.

Question reference: S5W-07814

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many accidental house fires there have been in the North East Scotland region in each of the last five years, also broken down by local authority; how many of these fires were caused by electricity, and what steps it is taking to reduce the number of such fires.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) publishes statistics on accidental dwelling fires, broken down by local authority, however this data is not broken down into specific causes.

These statistics are available on SFRS’s website, and can be found at this link http://www.firescotland.gov.uk/about-us/fire-and-rescue-statistics.aspx

The SFRS has a statutory duty to promote fire safety across Scotland. In the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016, Scottish Ministers require SFRS to contribute fully to improving the safety and well-being of Scotland’s communities and to ensure that there is a clear process for working with partners to identify the risks faced by communities and individuals so that activity can be targeted using a risk-based approach.

The SFRS considers how best to reduce dwelling fires, including those caused by electricity, what the focus of its preventative action will be, and with which partner organisations it will work to achieve this.

In addition to a programme of fire safety awareness campaigns and community safety engagement events, the SFRS carried out 71,743 Home Fire Safety Visits in 2015-16. The SFRS website also carries safety information for householders on a range of issues, including home appliances and electrical safety.

Question reference: S5W-07869

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 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to open its Beef Efficiency Scheme to new applicants.

Question reference: S5W-07412

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the proportion of landings of pelagic fish in Scottish ports.

The Scottish Government has encouraged Scottish pelagic fishing vessels to increase voluntarily the proportion of fish that they land into Scotland. The Government is at present reviewing whether progress has been made during the recently completed mackerel fishing season, and will consider what further steps may be required to encourage increased landings into Scotland. While this consideration, and consultation with interested parties, is under way, the Government has decided to retain, and not allocate, 12 per cent of the mackerel quota available to Scotland in 2017. The Government remains committed to the establishment of a Scottish landings target for Scottish fishing vessels.

Question reference: S5O-00732

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that remote and rural schools are not disadvantaged compared to those in urban areas.

Question reference: S5W-07052

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, since 2012, how many applications it received for starter farms on public land; of these, how many applicants established starter farms, and how much funding it allocated to fund starter farms on public land.

Since 2012 ten starter farm units have been established on public land in Scotland.

The Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspection Division (SGRPID) received six applications for their one starter farm unit on the outskirts of Inverness. The total cost to establish the starter farm unit was £0.07million.

Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) received seventy one applications for their nine starter farm units across Scotland’s National Forest Estate. The total cost to establish those starter farm units was £7.1million, of which £5.45million was associated with the costs of purchasing land and buildings.

Question reference: S5O-00711

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the completion rate of community payback orders.

Question reference: S5O-00680

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to prevent the spread of diseases that affect woodland and forestry.

Question reference: S5W-05827

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) designing and (b) implementing the National Basic Payment Support Scheme has had any impact on the ability of area offices to (i) calculate and (ii) deliver full common agricultural policy (CAP) payments.

Question reference: S5W-05087

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many college places have been made available in the North East Scotland region in each year since 2005, broken down by local authority area.

FTEs (Full-Time Equivalents) at North East Scotland College by Local Authority of residence

LA	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire	Angus	Dundee	Other	Total
2005-06	3,988	4,599	127	57	1,312	10,083
2006-07	4,260	4,678	149	49	1,660	10,795
2007-08	4,273	4,857	130	104	1,534	10,897
2008-09	4,055	4,653	138	64	1,341	10,252
2009-10	4,111	4,699	141	63	1,561	10,575
2010-11	4,247	4,688	126	27	1,245	10,334
2011-12	3,919	4,622	147	43	1,306	10,038
2012-13	3,554	4,381	132	38	1,105	9,210
2013-14	3,707	4,345	178	53	1,327	9,610
2014-15	3,942	4,354	198	39	899	9,431

Source: Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

FTE includes SFC and ESF (European Social Fund) funded places.

LA is based on students postcode prior to study

FTEs (Full-Time Equivalents) at Dundee and Angus College by Local Authority of residence

LA	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire	Angus	Dundee	Other	Total
2005-06	35	144	2,631	3,704	1,155	7,668
2006-07	38	147	2,597	3,870	1,087	7,739
2007-08	41	139	2,698	3,861	1,037	7,777
2008-09	53	155	2,763	3,943	1,100	8,015
2009-10	25	140	2,843	4,004	1,164	8,176
2010-11	34	171	2,843	4,086	1,140	8,273
2011-12	34	139	2,830	3,711	1,220	7,934
2012-13	37	143	2,634	3,647	1,052	7,513
2013-14	36	129	2,709	3,664	1,013	7,552
2014-15	66	162	2,627	3,925	968	7,748

Source: Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

FTE includes SFC and ESF (European Social Fund) funded places.

LA is based on students postcode prior to study