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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-23713

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland's National Marine Plan will address the Scottish Government’s ambitions for increased and long-term oil and gas revenue and a reduction in carbon emissions.

The National Marine Plan as laid before Parliament makes clear that the Scottish Government supports a low carbon economy which involves a transition from fossil fuel based energy consumption towards investment in renewable energy and increased energy efficiency. The plan is also clear that oil and gas are set to remain a vital source of energy while this transition takes place and therefore it is sensible to secure reserves domestically as far as possible for as long as required. Chapter 9 of the plan sets out the objectives and policies for oil and gas. Policy and objectives relevant to a reduction in carbon emissions are set out in General Policy 5 (climate change) which applies to all marine development and use and in a number of sector chapters, particularly Chapter 10 on Carbon Capture and Storage and Chapter 11 on Offshore Wind and Marine Renewable Energy.

Question reference: S4W-23711

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland's National Marine Plan will balance conflicting demands on the same sea space.

Paragraph 3.15 of the National Marine Plan as laid before Parliament sets out how the plan provides guidance on resolving potential competition and conflict.

The plan stipulates a set of General Policies which apply to all development and use of the marine environment. General Policy 4 encourages development and activity which enable coexistence with other development, sectors and activities. It also encourages development or use which does not result in areas being unsuitable for future use by others. Where different activities are incompatible or mutually exclusive, it provides criteria by which regional marine plans may select areas for preferential use by specific sectors.

Question reference: S4W-23707

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what measures Scotland's National Marine Plan provides to enable the enhancement of the natural marine environment.

General Policy 9 of the National Marine Plan as laid before Parliament stipulates that development and use of the marine environment must protect and, where appropriate, enhance the health of the marine environment. The accompanying policy provides additional detail on how this may be achieved. This reflects the contribution of Marine Protected Areas and includes actions to enhance the status of Priority Marine Features where appropriate. The policy also states that consideration should be given to opportunities to enhance biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, including recovery and/or enhancement of degraded habitats or species populations.

Chapter 12 (Recreation and Tourism) also contains a specific objective and a policy which support enhancement of natural resources and paragraph 11.39 notes the potential opportunities for enhancement in exclusion zones around energy generation infrastructure.

Question reference: S4W-23710

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland's National Marine Plan ensures that its ambitions for sectoral growth can be achieved without exceeding the environmental capacity of the natural marine environment.

Question reference: S4W-23712

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what measures Scotland's National Marine Plan will provide to prioritise natural marine heritage.

The National Marine Plan as laid before Parliament stipulates a set of General Policies which apply to all development and use of the marine environment. General Policy 9 states that development and use of the marine environment must (a) comply with legal requirements for protected areas and protected species (b) not result in significant impact on the national status of Priority Marine Features and (c) protect, and where appropriate, enhance the health of the marine area. The accompanying policy text provides additional detail as to how this may be achieved, as do specific sectoral policies which ensure the natural marine environment is protected.

Question reference: S4O-03858

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regarding the reorganisation of control room facilities.

Question reference: S4W-23462

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government in how many residential properties renewables have been installed in (a) existing and (b) newbuild properties in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

However, partial information can be provided relating to the UK Government’s feed-in-tariff scheme. The following table and shows the cumulative numbers of domestic installations that are receiving a feed-in-tariff for a renewable generation project, as at the end of September 2014. No breakdown is available between (a) existing and (b) new build properties.

Cumulative installations confirmed on the central feed-in-tariff register by local authority, as at end of September 2014¹

Local Authority	Domestic Installations
Aberdeen City	702
Aberdeenshire	3,794
Angus	1,292
Argyll and Bute	1,057
Clackmannanshire	327
Dumfries and Galloway	2,297
Dundee City	448
East Ayrshire	814
East Dunbartonshire	509
East Lothian	683
East Renfrewshire	343
Edinburgh, City of	1,112
Eilean Siar	297
Falkirk	695
Fife	2,894
Glasgow City	1,449
Highland	3,193
Inverclyde	205
Midlothian	398
Moray	1,198
North Ayrshire	818
North Lanarkshire	1,275
Orkney Islands	884
Perth and Kinross	1,769
Renfrewshire	741
Scottish Borders	1,802
Shetland Islands	140
South Ayrshire	850
South Lanarkshire	1,848
Stirling	1,253
West Lancashire	732
West Lothian	1,095
TOTAL	36,914

Source: Department of Energy and Climate Change sub-regional feed-in-tariffs statistics

Notes:

1. Data are sourced from the central feed-in-tariff register maintained by Ofgem as extracted on 3 July 2014. The register is continually being updated and revised, so statistical reports extracted at a later date may not exactly match the totals presented here.

Question reference: S4W-23463

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 15 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many residential properties have been retrofitted for energy efficiency through the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland scheme, broken down by (a) year and (b) local authority.

Question reference: S4O-03803

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of an aging population on pensioners' rights.

Question reference: S4O-03783

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to support local authorities in meeting demand for care home provision.