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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-24892

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent the loss of the grass species, or landrace, Scots’ Timothy (phleum pratense).

Question reference: S4O-04209

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the provision of PE in schools.

Question reference: S4W-24895

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to monitor the long-term implication of noise pollution from wind turbines.

Question reference: S4W-24894

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the report on turbine noise that was compiled by Professor Ursula Walsh on behalf of the Northern Ireland Assembly's Committee for the Environment as part of its wind energy inquiry.

Question reference: S4W-24893

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reviewing the guidelines regarding noise pollution from onshore wind developments.

Responsibility for dealing with any complaints about noise and nuisance, including from onshore wind developments rests with local authorities, who have a duty to investigate such complaints under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. In support of this the Scottish Government issued guidance on these provisions in January 2009:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/01/23142152/0. Further guidance specifically relating to noise from wind turbines – Wind Farm Noise Statutory Nuisance Complaint Methodology – and aimed at all of the UK was published in April 2011:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69222/pb-13584-windfarm-noise-statutory-nuisance.pdf

The Institute of Acoustics published A Good Practice Guide to the Application of ETSU-R-97 for the Assessment and Rating of Wind Turbine Noise in May 2013. The Scottish Government recognised that the guidance represented industry good practice in correspondence with the Institute of Acoustics. The view of the Scottish Government is that the provisions currently in place in respect of planning and environmental health provide an appropriate and practical level of public protection from noise concerns arising from the development and operation of wind farms in Scotland. We are aware that some people in Scotland are concerned about possible health impacts from wind farms. In line with our approach to other public health issues, the Scottish Government receives evidence-based advice from Health Protection Scotland, our national health protection experts, and also from Public Health England. They have the expertise to assess the scientific literature available on this topic, and keep it under review. At the current time, there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that wind farms have negative health impacts. In this context the Scottish Government will study the Northern Ireland Assembly wind energy inquiry report for any lessons.

The Scottish Government has also commissioned research looking at whether the impacts predicted by developers prior to approval at 10 onshore wind farm developments were consistent with the impacts experienced with those wind farms now that they are operating. The study is looking specifically at visual, shadow flicker and noise impacts. Whilst the study results are not expected to be representative of the wind farm sector as a whole, as they relate only to 10 wind farms where there have been known complaints, it is expected to lead to further changes in planning advice and guidance to help manage the future impacts of wind farms.

Question reference: S4W-24783

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 20 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many times stocks of O negative blood dropped below six days in the last 12 months.

Question reference: S4W-24782

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 20 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many days' stock of blood there are, broken down by type.

Blood stock levels are provided in the following table for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) processing sites and represent number of units stock and work in progress (units being processed), expressed as a ratio of average daily issues. The average stocks of the eight blood groups, classed by ABO and Rhesus typing, are as follows:

Blood group	Average number of days stock (by year) and work in progress
O negative	7.6
O positive	8.2
A negative	7.8
A positive	9.5
B negative	7.8
B positive	10.5
AB negative	9.0
AB positive	17.5

Please note that a similar amount of stock is normally held by NHS Scotland hospital blood banks. In June/July 2014 SNBTS stocks were increased in preparedness for the Commonwealth Games, so the average for the year is higher than normal. The average data by year is taken from June 2014 onwards as this is when the SNBTS automated system went live, so the year represents the average from 5 June 2014 to 28 February 2015.

Question reference: S4O-04175

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when the rules on eligibility of blood donors were last reviewed.

Question reference: S4O-04126

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to expand the range of foreign language courses available in schools.

Question reference: S4W-24484

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that biomass energy plants do not inflate the price of timber for other sectors, in light of its Electricity Generation Policy Statement - 2013.

Timber production in Scotland is increasing and the Forestry Commission’s long term forecasts for the availability of future potential softwood indicate increased wood availability up to the 2030s with likely increased availability of small roundwood and sawmill co-products, wood types used by both the wood panel and wood fuel industries. The Scottish Government’s 15 megawatt cap on support for new electricity biomass plants in Scotland has removed the incentive for new large scale electricity only biomass plants. Increased demand for wood fuel is likely largely to come from the developing smaller scale renewable heat market where growth in demand for wood fuel will be incremental and at a sustainable level. By contrast there is no such 15 megawatt cap south of the border.