- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 9 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it provided to NHS Shetland regarding the handling of the two applications to open community pharmacies in Scalloway and when the advice was provided.
Answer
None. It is not for the Scottish Government to provide legal advice. Should NHS Shetland ever require legal advice on any matters, it should seek that advice from its own solicitors.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 9 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what public funding has been provided to the Intellectual Assets Centre to run Project VIA Food & Drink; whether further funding is to be provided, and, if not, what the reasons are.
Answer
The amount of public funding that has been provided to the Intellectual Assets Centre to run Project VIA Food & Drink and whether further funding will be provided for this activity is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I have asked the Chief Executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise to provide you with a response to your question.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 4 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what its reasons are for not acting on the suggestion from two local authorities, in response to the Consultation on Marine Licensing for Scotland, that the business and regulatory impact assessments should have recognised the option of delegating marine licensing responsibilities to public authorities and costed these.
Answer
The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 delivers stakeholders'' requirements for a streamlined and simplified licensing regime that delivers consistent results across Scotland and the UK. The creation of the Marine Scotland Licensing Operations Team (LOT) as a one stop shop for all marine licence applications, allows efficient, streamlined and consistent decision making across Scotland. LOT is located in the Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen and benefits from the best available scientific expertise and experience. An efficient, streamlined and consistent licensing regime is essential for Scotland to fully exploit the development of its marine renewables potential.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 4 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will monitor the issues raised by the two local authorities that suggested, in response to the Consultation on Marine Licensing for Scotland, that the business and regulatory impact assessments should have recognised the option of delegating marine licensing responsibilities to public authorities and costed these.
Answer
The Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment carried out by Marine Scotland to inform the incoming fees structure, gives a commitment to review the costs to the Scottish Government of administrating the new licensing regime. Marine Scotland will follow up on that commitment and will implement procedures to monitor the performance of the Licensing Operations Team under the new licensing regime.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 1 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive , further to the answer to question S3W-38568 by Roseanna Cunningham on 26 January 2011, whether there are circumstances in which satisfactory accommodation under the terms of the Croft House Grant Scheme could be a one-bedroom property, for example where an assignation is made and agreed by the Crofters Commission to a single person tenant where there was no other applicant for the vacant croft.
Answer
The purpose of the Croft House Grant Scheme is to improve and maintain the standards of croft housing. If there is an existing one bedroom house on the croft, assistance would be available for any necessary refurbishment or enlargement.
The Croft House Grant Scheme will not assist the construction of a new one-bedroom property. Assisted new houses must have a minimum of three bedrooms and one living area, in addition to the kitchen and bathroom.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 1 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many representations the Section 36 team of its Energy Consents Unit has received (a) in favour of and (b) against the development of each onshore wind farm application received since 1 January 2000.
Answer
This type of aggregate information is not held centrally. The Energy Consents Unit uses a casework method to process applications and has handled in excess of 100 wind farm applications since 2000, details are held separately on each specific case.
If the member can state the cases which are of interest then information on a case by case basis can be readily supplied.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken or will undertake research into the beneficial impact on bee populations of the bans imposed on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that have been introduced in France, Slovenia, Italy and Germany.
Answer
The Scottish Government takes issues related to bee populations very seriously and monitors developments in relation to pesticides and insects carefully.
To develop an understanding of these issues the Scottish Government has contributed to a £1.8 million study led by the University of Dundee on An investigation into the synergistic impact of sublethal exposure to industrial chemicals on the learning capacity and performance of bees, which is part of the UK wide £10 million Insect Pollinators Initiative.
Bans imposed on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in other member states can result from a number of different reasons, for example Germany and Slovenia have had labelling issues, whereas Italy and France have imposed bans as a precautionary measure. It is too early to assess the impact of such bans on bee populations.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received since 2008 regarding the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on crops and what the terms of such representations were.
Answer
Since 2008 the Scottish Government has received four parliamentary questions and twenty-two letters about neonicotinoid pesticides on crops. In general, this correspondence expressed concerns over the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, and the potential impact on wildlife.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken research since 2008 into the impact on bees of the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on crops in Scotland.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39257 on 24 February 2011. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
Regulations regarding active substances in pesticides are initially evaluated at European Community level and then, if the substance meets safety requirements, may be authorised at member state level. The UK has stringent procedures in place before a pesticide can be sold or used (which include assessments of the toxicity of each product and the ways in which spray operators, the public or environment, in particular honey bees, may be exposed to it and, checks to ensure the risks that can arise from use of the product is not unacceptable).
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 26 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what changes to the guidelines for applicants to the Croft House Grant Scheme it last instructed the Crofters Commission to make and what the reasons for them were.
Answer
The last changes to the Croft House Grant Scheme Guidance were definitional in all but one respect. That related to a requirement for assisted new houses to have a minimum of three (previously two) bedrooms and one living area, in addition to the kitchen and bathroom. The reason for this was to add to the housing stock in the crofting areas for the benefit of future generations, rather than just for the needs of the occupant at the time financial assistance was sought.
