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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.

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Question reference: S4W-13193

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce Scotland's carbon footprint.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

28 February 2013

Index Heading: Enterprise & Environment

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce Scotland’s carbon footprint.

(S4W-13193)

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is reducing Scotland’s carbon footprint in a number of ways. Many of the actions to reduce domestic emissions that are detailed in the recent draft report on proposals and policies will also lower the emissions linked to the consumption of domestic goods and services. Its influence over ‘imported’ emissions is less direct but Scotland is a strong advocate of more ambitious international targets which would lower emissions abroad. Apart from reducing the emission intensity of goods and services in this way, the measures presented in the reports on proposals and policies in many cases have the effect of moving consumption towards low-carbon alternatives.

Question reference: S4W-12879

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers worked on the paper, Scotland’s Future: from the Referendum to Independence and a Written Constitution, and how long they spent working on it.

Scotland’s Future: from the Referendum to Independence and a Written Constitution was drafted by a lead author civil servant with contributions from other civil servants, special advisers and ministers. For all of the individuals involved, consideration of the draft paper was only part of their overall workload. It is not practicable to give a detailed estimate of the total time spent by any individual in relation to this work.

Question reference: S4W-12880

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it consulted anyone external to the civil service when drafting the paper, Scotland’s Future: from the Referendum to Independence and a Written Constitution.

Question reference: S4W-13191

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 25 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what impact oil and gas sector production has on its plans to reduce Scotland's carbon footprint.

Question reference: S4W-12994

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the average single bus fare is and how this compares with 2006-07.

Question reference: S4O-01841

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports students wanting to go into postgraduate education.

Question reference: S4O-01783

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that patients requiring radiotherapy after surgery receive it as soon as possible.

Question reference: S4O-01748

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to involve communities in the decision-making process in relation to new special protection areas required under EU directives.

The Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies use the UK Special Protection Area selection guidelines to identify the most suitable territories for the bird species that are covered by the provisions of the EU Wild Birds Directive. Once suitable locations have been identified Ministers will ensure that communities and authorities are engaged in discussions on the future management implications before a formal public consultation and classification process is undertaken.

Question reference: S4W-12235

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when Protected Geographical Indicator status for Stornoway black pudding is expected to be granted.

Protected Geographical Indicator status (PGI) for Stornoway Black Pudding is expected to be granted around the end of January/mid February 2013. The EU wide consultation ended on 15 December following which the Commission will start making arrangements for the name to be added to the register of EU protected food names. Due to the administrative procedures including translation in the EU community languages this takes a further 6-8 weeks before publication of the registered name in the EU Official Journal.

Question reference: S4W-12160

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 180 jobs referred to on page 84 of the Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13 Gamesa has created at its offshore wind technology centre at Strathclyde Business Park.

In June 2011, Gamesa announced it would create up to 180 jobs as part of a new offshore wind technology centre. This project was supported by a £1.5 million regional selective assistance (RSA) grant from Scottish Enterprise.

All job numbers associated with RSA grants are the company’s forecast figures and are subject to change depending on future economic conditions and other factors affecting the businesses concerned. Payment of RSA is made in instalments, typically over several years during the lifetime of a project and only when job and capital expenditure targets are met.

As this is an on-going project, we cannot release details of job numbers associated it as it could impact on the company's commercial operations.