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 3602 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-28947

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 23 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not provided a substantive response to question S4W-28321, which received a holding answer on 20 November 2015, and when it will provide such a response.

Question reference: S4W-28832

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) resource accounting cost and (b) budgeting charge is for providing student loans, also expressed as a percentage of initial loan outlay.

Question reference: S4W-28833

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has modelled the impact of increasing the student loan repayment threshold on the cost of the resource accounting and budgeting charge for providing student loans and what opportunity there is to do so in the current non-cash departmental expenditure limit.

As part of our consideration of increasing the student loan repayment threshold, the impact upon the resource accounting and budgeting (RAB) charge has been modelled.

As any increase in the repayment threshold would impact on the RAB charge and would require additional ring fenced non-cash Resource Delegated Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget arising from UK budget consequentials, varying the threshold of student loan repayments is a matter under continuing consideration.

Question reference: S4W-28830

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much non-cash departmental expenditure limit it required to cover the cost of providing loans to Scottish-domiciled students in each of the last four years, and how much the Treasury provided toward meeting this.

The figures are provided in the following table:

Year	Final expenditure as in Scottish Government accounts	Final budget as published in spring budget revision*
2014-15	£149.4 million	£181.6 million
2013-14	£126.9 million	£183 million
2012-13	£215.6 million	£280.4 million
2011-12	£146.3 million	£87.5 million

*This budget is provided by HM Treasury based on Scottish Government estimates of in year requirements.

Question reference: S4O-05224

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out of the number of beds needed in the proposed new Balfour hospital in Orkney.

Question reference: S4W-28755

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 15 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what action it has taken and (b) how much it has spent in each of the last five years to protect woodland in remote and rural places, including in Orkney.

Question reference: S4W-28781

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 14 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on target to meet its statutory requirement under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to eradicate fuel poverty by November 2016 and, if not, whether it will set a revised target.

Question reference: S4W-28693

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 10 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4T-01189 by Aileen Campbell on 24 November 2015 (Official Report, c. 3), what steps it took to advise the Parliament of the decision to dissolve the Getting It Right for Every Child Programme Board.

Question reference: S4W-28694

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding it has given to universities in each of the last five years toward funding projects that are being carried out at CERN.

Question reference: S4W-28754

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 10 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each of the last five years on the protection of woodland.

Over the past five years the Scottish Government has invested a total of nearly £61 million in the protection of woodlands in Scotland. An additional £3 million was invested as part of the tree health programme over the past two years to protect our woodlands and forests from the impacts of tree pests and diseases.

This investment includes support through the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) Forestry Grant Scheme, where a range of measures is available, such as the removal of livestock, control of non-native species, browsing management and encouragement of natural regeneration. Private land owners also invest considerable amounts to protect their own forest and woodland assets.

Additionally as part of the tree health programme, the Scottish Government supports the management of tree pests and diseases, coupled with longer term resilience building measures, to maintain and expand healthy woodlands in Scotland and to sustain the related ecosystem services.

On the National Forest Estate investment is also made in appropriate protection and management of woodland, including ancient woodland, through actions such as deer management.

A breakdown of this investment is as follows:

Year	Scotland’s Rural Development Programme	National Forest Estate	Tree Health
2014	£ 1.5 million	£ 11.6 million	£ 2.3 million
2013	£ 1.6 million	£ 10.9 million	£ 0.6 million
2012	£ 0.9 million	£ 12.1 million
2011	£ 0.9 million	£ 10.1 million
2010	£ 1.3 million	£ 10.1 million

The Scottish Government is a partner with the UK Government in commissioning research to support the protection and expansion of Britain's forests and woodlands. The Science and Innovation Strategy for forestry details the activities related to woodland protection.

Forestry Commission Scotland does not routinely collate data on individual protection schemes and is therefore unable to provide a detailed breakdown of expenditure in remote locations. However for example, the SRDP supported £3.4 million of forest protection in the Highlands and Islands Conservancy area over the past five years.

A breakdown of this investment is as follows:

Year	Highlands and Islands Conservancy
2014	£ 1.1 million
2013	£ 0.8 million
2012	£ 0.5 million
2011	£ 0.5 million
2010	£ 0.5 million