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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S4W-12987

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many wind turbines have experienced gearbox or brake failure as a result of high winds since 2007.

Question reference: S4W-12988

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider introducing new regulations to increase the safety of wind turbines in the event of failure during high winds.

Health and safety legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the UK Department for Work and Pensions.

In its report on Health and Safety in the New Energy Economy (December 2010), the HSE considers that the general provisions of the existing Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 provides the basis of a fit for purpose regulatory framework for renewable energy generation across both onshore and offshore health & safety regimes.

This framework will be kept under review.

Question reference: S4W-12986

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many wind turbines have imploded or caught fire as a result of a mechanical error during high winds since 2007.

Question reference: S4W-13239

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research by Professor Gordon Hughes of the University of Edinburgh that found that wind turbine efficiency drops by half after 15 years in service.

We believe the analysis by Professor Hughes to be fundamentally flawed and based upon a fallacy that wind turbines that are already approaching 15 years of operation could be considered to “represent a relatively mature technology”. By definition turbines that are approaching 15 years of operation were deployed 15 years ago, precisely when the technology was still at early maturity.

Across the UK, projects in the tenth year of operation represent a maximum of 8.4% of all turbines, and the data behind the projects in the fifteenth year of operation, just 3.6%.

Analysis from independent sector experts Bloomberg New Energy Finance points to four main stages of evolution of turbine technology with earlier models seeing an acknowledged degradation in performance over time. The cause of this degradation varied but included grid incompatibly and mechanical issues such as gearbox problems. However, as the technology has evolved such failings have been addressed and overcome. Modern turbines increasingly use gearless direct drive mechanisms and have greater performance, efficiency and operational availability.

Question reference: S4W-13240

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will adjust its energy policy in light of research by Professor Gordon Hughes of the University of Edinburgh, which found decreasing load factors on ageing wind turbines.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13239 on 19 March 2013, in which I stated that we believe the research to be fundamentally flawed. We therefore do not propose changing energy policy in light of this research.

While wind will play a key role, the Scottish Government is committed to a mix of sources of electricity. Renewable energy supports 11,000 jobs in Scotland and last year renewable generation contributed a greater proportion of Scotland’s electricity than ever before.

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: S4F-01225

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2013

To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to reform the school education system.

Question reference: S4W-13132

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 4 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-10543 by Derek Mackay on 7 November 2012, what arrangements it has in place to ensure compliance with the terms of the Aarhus Convention.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring public access to environmental and planning information, and the participation of the public throughout the decision-making process. The Scottish Government has ensured this is achieved primarily through the 2008 amendments to the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations. This amendment introduced a secondary period of consultation for members of the public and included additional advertising of determinations and greater clarification of the process through which any aggrieved party could challenge a decision.

Question reference: S4W-13133

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish its response to the questions regarding its Renewables Routemap to 2020 that it was recently asked by the Compliance Committee of the UN's Economic Commission for Europe.

A response to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee from the UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has been published on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe website and is available, along with the submission referred to in the response, at the following links:

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/pp/compliance/C2012-68/Communication_with_Party/frUKC68_11Feb13/frUKC68_11Feb13.pdf

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/pp/compliance/C2012-68/Communication_with_Party/frUKC68_11Feb13/frUKC68_11Feb13_Attachment.pdf.

Question reference: S4O-01848

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 27 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase participation in higher education by people from poorer backgrounds.

Question reference: S4W-12789

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many sites in Scotland are infected with ash dieback.

As of 15 February 2013, as indicated in a letter of 19 February 2013 to the RACCE Committee, the number of sites in Scotland where ash-dieback had been confirmed was 42, out of 378 across the UK including two nurseries in Scotland, 32 recently planted sites and eight sites in the wider environment.

As survey work continues, infections may be found at more sites although at this time of year it should be stressed that these represent the discovery of sites already infected and not sites that have become infected since the initial rapid survey, as the disease is dormant during the winter months.