Seòmar agus comataidhean

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 1079 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-09922

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what action can be taken to assist people who discover mine workings on their properties.

The Coal Authority is responsible for public safety relating to land subsidence caused by coal mining operations.

The Coal Authority provides an emergency response service to incidents which pose a risk to public safety. An emergency call out service deals with incidents on a 24-hour basis, every day of the year.

The Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 is used to administer any claims for damage to land, buildings and structures resulting from subsidence damage. Depending on where an individual lives, responsibility for dealing with any claim will rest either with a mining company or the Coal Authority. The responsible party has a duty to take remedial action by either undertaking repairs or making compensation or depreciation payments in respect of the damaged caused.

Question reference: S4W-09833

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 23 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken longer to publish the responses to any consultation other than the Registration of Civil Partnerships, Same Sex Marriage consultation since May 2007.

Information on the period of time between the closure of all Scottish Government consultations since May 2007 and the publication of responses to those consultations could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

This consultation received the largest number of responses to a consultation since devolution.

On 25 July 2012, we published the non-confidential corporate responses to the consultation on the Registration of Civil Partnerships and Same Sex Marriage http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/07/9221.

Question reference: S4W-09923

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what responsibilities conveyancing solicitors have to ensure that property searches identify any disused mine workings.

<>The Law Society of Scotland has guidance notes on coal mining searches http://www.lawscot.org.uk/rules-and-guidance/section-f/division-c-conveyancing/guidance/coal-mining-searches.

Solicitors are advised to consider whether a coal mining search should be made in any particular transaction dealing with land in coal mining areas.

The details of service to be provided by a solicitor to the purchaser of a property are a matter to be settled between the solicitor and the purchaser.

If a client has concerns about the service provided by their solicitor, they should first raise this with the solicitor concerned. If the matter remains unresolved the person can then raise a complaint with the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission http://www.scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk/how-to-complain.aspx.

Question reference: S4O-01376

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the priorities will be for the proposed employability fund in 2013-14.

Question reference: S4W-09749

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 4 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what action is taken to control gull colonies in residential areas.

Where gull colonies are causing a problem in urban areas there is a range of actions open to local authorities, including modifying buildings, removing food sources, clearing nests and eggs, and lethal control. Where necessary these actions are licensed under Scottish Natural Heritage General Licence No. 3/2012, which authorises the killing or taking of certain species of gulls for the purpose of preserving public health and safety and for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease.

The Scottish Government also draws the member’s attention to the "Dumfries Gull Report – Use of Falcons to Displace Nesting Gulls from an Urban Area” which was a research report commissioned by the Scottish Government and was published on 18 May 2006. The report is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/05/18113519/0. It is hoped that local authorities across Scotland will be able to implement the recommendations in the report, and learn from measures deployed in Dumfries, to help reduce this problem across Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-09751

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on waste transfer facilities being located adjacent to housing.

Scottish Planning Policy states that “Planning authorities should consider the need for buffer zones between sensitive receptors (for example, houses) and some waste management facilities. A 250m buffer may be appropriate for operations such as outdoor composting, anaerobic digestion, mixed waste processing, thermal treatment or landfill gas plant. 100m may be appropriate for recycling facilities, small scale thermal treatment or leachate treatment plant. Greater separation distance may be appropriate for landfill sites. Appropriate buffer zones will depend on the specific characteristics of individual sites.”

The policy is a guide not a legal requirement.

Question reference: S4W-09642

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on legal fees relating to each freedom of information request received since 2007.

The Scottish Government only incurs legal fees for external legal advice in relation to an FOI request when an appeal is made to the Court of Session against a Decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner. Apart from the ongoing appeal which is the subject of question S4W-09641, there have been only two such appeals since 2007. The total cost of both appeals, after VAT recovery was £50,060.

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.

Question reference: S4W-09640

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 28 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-00132 by John Swinney on 2 May 2011, how much it spent on legal fees relating to the freedom of information request regarding the advice that it received on its proposed local income tax.

Question reference: S4W-09752

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring is carried out on the long-term effects on health that might arise from living adjacent to waste transfer facilities.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any studies which look specifically at the health effects from living adjacent to waste transfer facilities. Monitoring of such facilities for emissions to air, water and land is routinely required by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) as part of licence conditions. The primary purpose of this is to ensure emissions are identified in a timely manner and that any necessary action to mitigate those emissions is taken by the operator.

Question reference: S4W-09750

Asked by: Patricia Ferguson, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what action is taken to assist communities in eradicating fly infestations.

Action would depend on the source of the infestation, but in the first instance affected communities should contact their local authority. The Scottish Government recognises that insect nuisance can sometimes be an issue and, in 2009, insect nuisance was added to the list of statutory nuisances defined in section 79 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, enabling local authorities to investigate such issues and determine whether a statutory nuisance exists.

There is no objective measure for what constitutes a statutory nuisance – each individual case is for investigation by an environmental health officer or equivalent who will decide whether the law is being breached according to the specific circumstances of the case. In determining whether a particular infestation amounts to a statutory nuisance it is necessary for a local authority to consider whether it is prejudicial to health or a nuisance. Procedural guidance on statutory nuisance is available on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/01/23142152/0

Where the infestation is caused by a facility regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), SEPA will take the lead in attending to the issue. Any breach of the licence or permit conditions will result in the appropriate enforcement action being taken by SEPA against the operator.