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-09391

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 8 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many ministerial visits there have been in Scotland in the last 12 months, broken down by Parliamentary constituency.

Ministerial visits between May 2016 – April 2017:

Aberdeen Central: 25

Aberdeen Donside: 12

Aberdeen South and North Kincardine: 3

Aberdeenshire East: 5

Aberdeenshire West: 2

Airdrie and Shots: 2

Almond Valley: 13

Angus North and Mearns: 7

Angus South: 1

Argyll and Bute: 12

Ayr: 4

Banffshire and Buchan Coast: 2

Caithness, Sutherland and Ross: 5

Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley: 10

Clackmannanshire and Dunblane: 11

Clydebank and Milngavie: 2

Clydesdale: 3

Coatbridge and Chryston: 8

Cowdenbeath: 3

Cumbernauld and Kilsyth: 6

Cunninghame North: 5

Cunninghame South: 4

Dumbarton: 4

Dumfriesshire: 5

Dundee City East: 9

Dundee City West: 23

Dunfermline: 8

East Kilbride: 6

East Lothian: 5

Eastwood: 1

Edinburgh Central: 85

Edinburgh Eastern: 16

Edinburgh Northern and Leith: 30

Edinburgh Pentlands: 15

Edinburgh Southern: 11

Edinburgh Western: 19

Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire: 6

Falkirk East: 5

Falkirk West: 11

Galloway and West Dumfries: 7

Glasgow Anniesland: 3

Glasgow Cathcart: 8

Glasgow Kelvin: 53

Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn: 19

Glasgow Pollok: 14

Glasgow Provan: 7

Glasgow Shettleston: 21

Glasgow Southside: 31

Greenock and Inverclyde: 3

Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse: 6

Inverness and Nairn: 29

Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley: 11

Kirkcaldy: 8

Linlithgow: 4

Mid Fife and Glenrothes: 6

Midlothian North and Musselburgh: 15

Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale: 13

Moray: 7

Motherwell and Wishaw: 3

Na h-Eileanan an Iar: 26

North East Fife: 3

Orkney Islands: 6

Paisley: 5

Perthshire North: 8

Perthshire South and Kinross-shire: 14

Renfrewshire North and West: 7

Renfrewshire South: 2

Rutherglen: 5

Shetland Islands: 6

Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch: 17

Stirling: 7

Strathkelvin and Bearsden: 6

Uddingston and Bellshill: 10

Question reference: S5W-09396

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of statistics, which suggest that there have been 2,371 accidents on the A75 since 1979.

Transport Scotland assesses the safety performance of the trunk road network, including the A75, on an annual basis by screening all locations where three or more personal injury accidents have occurred in the preceding three year period. Further investigations are carried out and where appropriate, mitigation measures are prioritised and delivered. This ensures that the limited funding available can be targeted at those locations that provide the greatest accident casualty savings.

Alongside accident clusters, we also look at accident patterns and rates in the form of Route Accident Reduction Plans. This ensures that the fullest possible consideration is given to accidents that may be spread along a corridor.

The long term trend displayed in overall accident figures on this route indicates a reduction of 46% from 1979 to the most recent figures available.

Question reference: S5W-09394

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Transport and the Islands will meet the Thornhill station action group.

We are aware of current aspirations for a new railway station at Thornhill through discussions with the Local Regional Transport Partnership, SWestrans and as an issue raised at the Dumfries & Galloway Transport Summit held in August 2016.

Subject to parliamentary business, I would be happy to meet with the Thornhill Station Action Group, failing that I will ensure that my officials are available.

Question reference: S5W-09395

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 31 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what recent steps it has taken to increase the number of affordable homes for (a) rent and (b) purchase in rural communities.

The Scottish Government understands how important good quality housing is for Scotland’s future prosperity and for the strength and diversity of our communities. That is why over the lifetime of this Parliament we are investing over £3 billion to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes across Scotland, in both rural and urban communities, 35,000 of which will be for social rent.

Through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme we have various housing initiatives designed to increase the number of affordable homes for rent or purchase which will benefit rural Scotland. However, we understand that people in rural areas can face particular and specific difficulties in finding affordable homes to rent or buy. To this end we launched a £30 million Rural and Islands Housing Fund in 2016 to run for three years until 2018-19. This fund is open to a wide range of organisations and aims to increase the supply of long term affordable housing of all tenures in rural areas. It provides capital funding (grant or loan) to enable provision of both new build and refurbishment of empty properties and contributions of up to £10,000 for feasibility work.

Question reference: S5O-01031

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to improve safety at the junction 21 slip road on the M74 where it joins the B7076.

Question reference: S5W-08344

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it defines "an obvious error" by farmers in a single application form, and how many such errors were identified in 2016.

An obvious error is one of a purely clerical nature that is obvious to us during a simple examination of a customer’s Single Application Form (SAF). It could also be an error we find during our coherence checks which reveals a contradiction in the information provided on a SAF or supporting documentation. We are still processing SAF 2016 so figures are not yet available for the number of cases where obvious errors have been identified.

The consequences for a failure to supply the correct information when completing the Single Application Form can be severe, with restricted scope for the Scottish Government to address any deficiencies in the information supplied by customers through application of the obvious error provisions. This is why customers are strongly encouraged to check the guidance carefully before completing their application and check the acknowledgment letter they are sent to ensure that they have completed their application form correctly.

Question reference: S5O-00999

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress it is making with the establishment of a south of Scotland enterprise agency.

Question reference: S5W-08343

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers opted not to claim their entitlements under the single application form in 2016.

Question reference: S5W-08887

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what scientific data it used to devise the testing system for bovine viral diarrhoea and whether the information available is in the public domain.

Question reference: S5W-08885

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the method used in Ireland of two-year tissue tag testing for bovine viral diarrhoea.

As part of our role in the industry led Scottish bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) eradication scheme Scottish Government is in dialogue with a number of other countries, including Ireland, to share experience and best practice. However the BVD testing methods used in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the Irish administrations and not for the Scottish Government to consider.