Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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-01718

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives to attract research and development investment.

Question reference: S4W-01735

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that renewable energy projects developed on public land provide benefit to local communities.

The Scottish Government is leading by example through achieving levels of £5,000 per megawatt per annum community benefit on commercial developments recently leased on Forestry Commission (Scotland) (FCS) land. The recent leasing process by FCS also gives an opportunity for communities to engage and invest in up to 49 per cent ownership of projects.

We are further considering how to optimise community benefit and community engagement with renewables as we review the responses to the “Securing the Benefits of Scotland’s Next Energy Revolution” consultation.

Question reference: S4W-01739

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Futures Trust will publish plans for a national financing model for renewable heat schemes.

Question reference: S4W-01717

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the added value to the economy is of the research and development work by the Scottish Energy Laboratory.

Question reference: S4W-01736

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it supports the expansion of community renewables.

In the 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland, the Scottish Government has set a target of 500 megawatts of community and locally-owned renewable energy by 2020. The Routemap is published on the Scottish Government website at:

The Community and Renewable Energy Scheme provides loans of up to £150,000 to farmers, land managers, rural businesses, cooperatives and communities to help meet the pre-planning consent costs of developing a proposal. It is a requirement of the loan scheme to have in place a binding legal agreement on community benefit, with payments to begin when a project becomes operational, and continue for a period of 20 years.

The Scottish Government is also committed to securing the establishment of a Green Equity Fund for community renewables for the post-planning phase of development. More detailed proposals for supporting community renewables from the next financial year onwards will be set out in the spending review later this year.

Question reference: S4W-01708

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it will use to classify a low carbon enterprise zone.

Question reference: S4W-01716

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much annual investment the Scottish Energy Laboratory needs to co-ordinate and promote energy research and development.

Question reference: S4W-01740

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how it encourages the development of mutualised local energy companies.

Question reference: S4W-01686

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many affordable homes will be (a) built and (b) available for social rent in the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S4W-01734

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will impose a community benefit fund requirement on the large-scale renewable power developments which it is responsibile for.