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-11759

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what policies it has to encourage low-carbon travel by its employees and other public sector workers.

The Scottish Government’s Travel Strategy (2011-16):

, focuses on sustainable business travel, which is essential to allow the Scottish Government to carry out its business across Scotland and to meet its ambitious emissions targets. The strategy includes targets relating to both business travel emissions and to sustainable travel practices and commits the Scottish Government to developing carbon targets related to staff commuting.

The strategy is supported by an annual action plan which sets out the actions that will be undertaken in order to achieve the Scottish Government’s targets. The action plan promotes the use of public transport and in particular, where reasonable, the use of rail for journeys from Scotland to London. The strategy includes a travel hierarchy that encourages staff to adopt more sustainable travel practices. The first option in the travel hierarchy is that, where possible, staff should avoid travelling - through the use of technologies such as video and telephone conferencing - but where travel is unavoidable they should next consider sustainable travel options such as walking, cycling and public transport.

It is recognised that in some cases travel by air will be necessary. In May 2010, the Scottish Government signed up to the World Wildlife Fund One in Five Challenge which commits participants to cut their business flights by 20% within five years and we are on target to achieve this. Over the four-year period 2007-08 to 2011-12, the Scottish Government reduced its annual expenditure on air travel from £2.0 million to £1.3 million, a reduction of £0.7 million, or 35%, per annum.

The Scottish Government supports the wider public sector’s efforts to tackle climate change emissions in a range of ways. These include publishing guidance to assist public bodies in relation to their duties under the Climate Change Act to contribute to carbon emissions reduction targets; working with the sector to provide strategic leadership and direction, and through supporting the development of the Sustainable Scotland Network to support best-practice, performance improvement and capacity building in key areas of sustainability and climate change.

Transport Scotland funds the Energy Savings Trust to offer information to organisations on how to cut travel costs and emissions, which is on the Choose Another Way website:

. The Trust is also funded to offer Low Carbon Transport Loans and fuel efficient driving training.

Question reference: S4W-11756

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether a carbon impact assessment was carried out as part of its travel agreement with EasyJet.

As there has been no change to Scottish Government travel policy, no carbon impact assessment was carried out. Scottish Government travel policy continues to reinforce the view that staff must consider if their journey is actually necessary (whether video-conferencing is a viable alternative). If there is the need to travel then staff are advised to use the train on the UK mainland. Air travel should only be taken where this is the most cost-effective and time-efficient method.

Expotel has confirmed that their deal offers sustainability benefits in that by using the latest technology, operating efficiently and filling the majority of seats, an easyJet passenger’s carbon footprint is 22% less than a passenger on a traditional airline, flying the same aircraft on the same route.

Question reference: S4W-11421

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 12 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions ministers have had with (a) EU officials and (b) the UK Government on tackling pests and diseases arriving in the country through the plant and timber trades.

Scottish Ministers have attended EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meetings where plant health issues have been on the agenda. Through Scottish Government officials there has also been liaison with EU officials on the Review of the EU Plant Health Regime.

I participated in the two recent Cabinet Office Briefing Room meetings on Chalara and wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about plant health on 5 November 2012. Scottish Government officials have regular, close engagement with UK officials through participation in UK plant health governance groups and have participated in the development of the Interim Chalara Control Plan, which was published on 6 December 2012 and includes retention of the current ban on the import and movement of ash plants, live trees and seeds into and within the British Isles pending review with the nursery and horticulture sectors in early spring 2013.

Question reference: S4W-11420

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what research (a) the Forestry Commission Scotland and (b) Forest Research is carrying out on the threat to native trees of diseases that (i) are present and (ii) might soon arrive.

Research into tree diseases is undertaken, on behalf of Forestry Commission Scotland and the other parts of the Forestry Commission, by Forest Research which has sites in Roslin, Midlothian and Farnham, Surrey.

Details of research programmes aimed at promoting environmentally acceptable measures to prevent and control damage to trees, including native trees, from pests and diseases can be found on the Forestry Commission website at: .

Question reference: S4W-11419

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-10959 by Paul Wheelhouse on 19 November 2012, what progress has been made on research on the spread of Phytophthora ramorum from larch to native oak trees.

Initial work on Phytophthora ramorum by Forest Research involved extensive testing of host tree susceptibility to this disease. This indicated that our native oaks are of low susceptibility. Subsequent field observations throughout the UK have confirmed that even in the worst affected areas native oak has not had any significant level of infection. Those trees showing any sign of damage are very few in number and are thought to represent the tail end of this species’ overall susceptibility.

No further research on this subject is planned but ongoing aerial and ground-based surveys will continue to monitor disease progression across the range of tree species found in the UK.

Question reference: S4W-11539

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of the Road Safety Framework Operational Partnership Group meeting of 25 September 2012 and for what reason the most recently published minutes of the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board are from May 2011.

The absence from the Transport Scotland (TS) website of more recent minutes of meetings of the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board was due to an administrative oversight. Minutes of the meetings of 24 January 2012 and
17 May 2012 have now been added to the appropriate page on the TS website. The minutes of the 25 September 2012 joint meeting of the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board and the Operational Partnership Group will be added to the TS website when it has been approved by .the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board at its annual general meeting on 5 February 2013.

Question reference: S4W-11542

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what representations the Minister for Transport and Veterans has made to ministers following Cycling Scotland's recommendation that funding for cycle improvements should be sought from budget areas such as health, environment and sport.

Scottish Ministers are well aware of the benefits of cross-cutting policy work. Over the last two years, Ministers and Transport Scotland officials have had discussions with colleagues in health (including sport), environment and education to discuss how closer working relationships could benefit all of these individual policy areas. Such discussions will continue and will help to inform the refresh of the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland, due to be published in Spring 2013.

Question reference: S4W-11543

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the cycling infrastructure projects worth £3.9 million referred to in its news release of 25 November 2012, Swinney outlines further shovel-ready projects.

Question reference: S4W-11541

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 4 December 2012

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To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for publication of a progress report on the work being carried out by Transport Scotland on road user hierarchy and liability laws.

Question reference: S4W-11537

Asked by: Alison Johnstone, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 4 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the consequences would be of its not meeting its target of 10% of journeys being made by bicycle by 2020.

We are committed to reaching the 10% vision for cycling journeys by 2020. We will do this by working in partnership with local authorities and other key stakeholders such as Sustrans, Cycling Scotland and local community groups. We will also encourage private sector buy-in through the Energy Saving Trust’s low carbon fund which provides loans for cycling facilities in the workplace and through the Healthy Working Lives initiative.