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-02240

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will report on (a) emissions reductions achieved and the amount invested under the Energy Company Obligation, (b) the number of Green Deal assessments and packages agreed in Scotland and (c) emissions reductions achieved under the Green Deal.

The Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation are UK Government initiatives that will be made available in Scotland with the agreement of the Scottish Parliament and government.

The Scottish Government will hold a joint consultation with the UK Government in Autumn 2011 which will set out the policy and regulations for Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation with a view to both policies becoming operational in autumn 2012. Information to support the reporting framework on the progress and effectiveness of the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation will be established at that time.

Question reference: S4W-02176

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what investment it has made to address flooding problems on the Glasgow to Edinburgh rail line.

Scottish ministers fund Network Rail to operate, maintain and renew the railway infrastructure in Scotland. Generally, Scottish ministers do not specify how Network Rail spends the money, as it has a wide variety of challenges to meet in achieving the target performance figures that have been set.

The Scottish Government has held recent dialogue with Network Rail about flooding on the Edinburgh to Glasgow main line, and has asked Network Rail to prepare a report on how it is tackling persistent areas of flooding on this line.

Question reference: S4W-02177

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what future investment it considers necessary to enable the railway network to continue to operate in the event of rain, wind and low temperatures.

Scottish ministers fund Network Rail to operate, maintain and renew the railway infrastructure in Scotland, and fund First ScotRail to deliver the franchised passenger services. The Scottish Government has set Network Rail and First ScotRail performance targets that they must deliver, including for robust operation during poor weather.

Learning from the experiences gained during the last two winters, the Scottish Government, ScotRail and Network Rail have identified areas for improvement and all are working hard to make the railway system more resilient.

Question reference: S4W-02178

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what rail routes, including those connecting with the rest of the United Kingdom, have been identified as vulnerable as a result of climate change.

The Scottish Government has not carried out any modelling to identify rail routes vulnerable as a result of climate change.

However, Network Rail under UK Climate Change obligations provided the Secretary of State (of the Environment) a report in April 2011 that gives:

(a) an assessment of the current and predicted impact of climate change in relation to Network Rail’s functions, and

(b) a statement of Network Rail’s proposals and policies for adapting to climate change in the exercise of its functions and the time-scales for introducing these proposals and policies.

Question reference: S4W-02271

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances would it allow a local development plan to contradict the national planning framework.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01373 on 11 July 2011.

Planning legislation requires that in preparing a local development plan the planning authority (a) are to take into account the National Planning Framework; (b) are to have regard to such information and considerations as are prescribed in the Town and Country Planning (Development Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2008, and (c) may have regard to such other information and considerations as appear to them to be relevant. Scottish Ministers would only consider intervening in the process of adopting a local development plan where it appeared to them that the proposed plan was in some respect unsatisfactory, for example in terms of its implications for national policy.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

Question reference: S4W-02272

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances would it permit a local planning authority to reconsider the need for a development identified in the national planning framework when (a) preparing development plans and (b) responding to individual project proposals.

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Question reference: S4W-02115

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 31 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish a report on emissions attributable to consumption of goods and services for 2010, as required by section 37 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Work is currently underway within the Scottish Government to review the options for reporting on the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Scotland’s consumption of goods and services in order to determine the most suitable approach to fulfilling the reporting duty in section 37 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Given the time lags in the availability of the emissions data that is required to estimate consumption-based emissions (greenhouse gas emissions by industry for Scotland as well as the countries from which we import) and the compilation of the necessary economic and environmental input-output information (domestic and abroad), we anticipate being able to report on 2010 consumption-based emissions in 2013.

The Scottish Government will seek to minimise the delay in the reporting period wherever possible providing this does not adversely impact the quality and validity of the information.

In October 2009, the Scottish Government published a time series of Scotland’s Ecological Footprint and Greenhouse Gas Footprint for the period 1992-2006. This is available online at the following address:

Question reference: S4O-00138

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure the financial viability of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Question reference: S4W-02110

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment has had with Cabinet colleagues to facilitate Scottish Water becoming a renewable energy generator and on the extent to which this could contribute to meeting the annual targets in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Scottish Water is the single largest consumer of electricity in Scotland, using 450 gigawatt hours per year. This equates to over 1% of Scotland’s electricity demand.

In March 2011, ministers approved Scottish Water’s growth plan for the 2011-15 period which aims to facilitate renewable energy generation. Scottish Water are forecasting investment of £55 million by 2015 which, when combined with investment from partners, would enable assets on Scottish Water’s land to generate more renewable energy than Scottish Water consumes.

Achievement of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 targets will be determined with reference to the net Scottish emissions account (NSEA). For emissions from the “traded sector”, which includes heavy emitters such as electricity generators, the NSEA measures Scotland’s share of EU Emissions Trading System allowances (EU ETS). This is in line with international practice and reflects the fact that reduction of allowances in the EU ETS is fixed.

Although the NSEA will track the EU ETS, decarbonising the electricity supply will play a vital role in decarbonising other parts of the Scottish economy such as transport, which will become increasingly reliant on electricity.

The Scottish Government recently increased its target to generate the equivalent of 100% of Scotland’s own electricity demand from renewable resources by 2020.

Question reference: S4W-02114

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 26 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring it is conducting on the use of business rates discounts specified in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Section 67 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act clarifies the position with regard to the power to introduce a business rates discount. The Scottish Government keeps the business rates regime under regular review, including the need for any new discount schemes.

The Scottish Government continues to encourage businesses to reduce their energy consumption in a number of ways. Our funding of the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust ensures that companies of all sizes can access energy efficiency advice, while the Energy Saving Scotland small business loans scheme continues to provide interest-free loans to small and medium-sized enterprises to invest in energy efficiency measures. By installing energy saving measures, business will also reap the benefits of reduced energy bills, increasing their competitiveness and helping to tackle climate change.