- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 September 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to ensure that Scottish Ambulance Service emergency vehicles based in Moray are able to return to Moray following hospital transfers without being diverted to non-life-threatening calls when out of the area.
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service recently carried out a trial in Skye whereby ambulances carrying out transfers to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness were only tasked with calls in the City after transferring the patient if these calls were immediately life threatening or time conscious (i.e. an amber call for a stroke patient).
The Service will complete their evaluation of this trial this month and has already began preparing historical data from the Moray area to enable them to extend the trial to Elgin ambulance station in October.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 August 2018
To ask the Scottish Government to what extent the impact of pylons or other infrastructure required to connect onshore renewables to the national grid infrastructure is taken into account when determining planning applications for wind farms.
Answer
The responsibility for dealing with planning applications generally rests with the relevant planning authority, which identifies the factors to be dealt with in determining a planning application.
Scottish Planning Policy paragraph 157 states that Local Development Plans should set out the factors to be taken into account in considering proposals for energy developments.
Scottish Planning Policy is available to download from the Scottish Government’s website: www.gov.scot .
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 August 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what powers local authorities have to tackle seagull populations on the grounds of health and safety or other factors that affect the quality of life for residents and communities, and what its position is on increasing these powers.
Answer
Local authorities are eligible to use Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) General Licences granted under Section 16(1)(i)&(j) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. General Licence No. 3/2018 authorises the killing and taking of certain wild birds, including some species of gulls, for the purpose of preserving public health and safety and for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease. Details of the General Licence can be found on the SNH website.
For situations not covered by General Licences local authorities can apply to SNH for individual licences to control gulls where they are posing a threat to public health or safety.
The Scottish Government does not intend to introduce further powers at this time.
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Current Status:
Withdrawn
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Michael Russell on 29 August 2018
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish its proposals for Scotland’s role in the development of future UK trade arrangements.
Answer
We will publish Scotland's Role in the Development of Future UK Trade Arrangements: A Discussion Paper (Bib Number 59979) on 30 August 2018
The paper makes the case for a guaranteed role for the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament in all stages of the formulation, negotiation, agreement and implementation of future trade deals to protect and enhance the interests and priorities of Scotland.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 28 August 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce new measures to tackle littering from vehicles.
Answer
It is an offence to litter from a vehicle, being punishable by an £80 fixed penalty notice. We are also considering whether there are measures that can be taken to remove barriers to enforcement.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 28 August 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase fines for littering.
Answer
There are no plans to change the level of Fixed Penalty Notices served for littering offences, which are currently £80 for littering and £200 for flytipping.
The recently published Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (Scotland) 2018 aligns with the Scottish Government’s national litter strategy, Towards a Litter-Free Scotland , and encourages a preventative approach to reducing litter.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 27 August 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its ministerial roundtable event on 27 June 2018, what steps it will take to tackle the impact of parcel delivery surcharges.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the longstanding concerns about parcel deliveries to rural and remote areas of Scotland. These concerns include surcharges for delivery to the Highlands and Islands and north-east postcodes along with refusal to deliver to certain locations. That is why we held the ministerial parcel delivery roundtable on 27 June 2018. The meeting was constructive and there was a willingness from those attending to work with the Scottish Government. An action plan is being developed to take forward suggestions from the meeting. The immediate focus is on delivering a Fair Delivery Day on Cyber Monday, 26 November 2018. On that day I will meet with consumers to hear of their experience of parcel deliveries. We will also commission and publish a full independent economic analysis of what constitutes “fair” delivery prices. This analysis will provide transparency to the public, retailers and delivery companies.
The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to discuss and agree a range of sustainable solutions. I believe a constructive approach with all will achieve the best results.
As regulation of parcel deliveries is still reserved to Westminster and many retailers are based outside Scotland, it is vitally important that UK Ministers continue to work to improve the situation. I welcome the promise made on 28 November 2017 by the UK Digital Economy Minister Matt Hancock to look into the matter and hope that this leads to action. We will continue to engage the UK Government on this matter as necessary.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 24 August 2018
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of community benefit from onshore renewable energy developments, and what its position is on the case for community benefit to apply to communities affected by pylons or other infrastructure required to connect onshore renewables to the national grid, as is the case for communities affected by developments such as wind farms.
Answer
In the Scottish Energy Strategy (published December 2017), the Scottish Government gave a commitment to review its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits (and Shared Ownership) from Renewable Energy Developments. Work is underway supported by a Steering Group comprising of representatives from communities, industry and other relevant bodies. The third meeting of the Group is due to take place in late September. Over the summer, a series of stakeholder workshops took place, attended by 69 delegates, to gather evidence to help inform the review.
The Scottish Government views the voluntary payment of community benefits from renewables developments as an opportunity for local communities to share in the benefits of their energy resource, and not as a form of compensation for perceived impacts. The current Good practice Principles have established an industry benchmark for community benefit per MW installed capacity. Adoption of the benchmark of £5000 per MW installed capacity is good, but not universally adopting and we continue to encourage developers to do all they can to encourage communities gain socio-economic benefits form projects and environmental.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 August 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that land being used for growing crops to feed anaerobic digesters is having a detrimental effect on Scottish agriculture and feed supplies.
Answer
In recent years we have seen an increase in the amount of Rye (which can be used in anaerobic digestion plants) being grown in Scotland. Between 2014 - 2017 there has been a 14-fold increase in the area of land given to its production with some 5,500 hectares reported in the 2017 agricultural census compare to 400 hectares in 2014.
The move into energy crop production is a commercial decision made by individual farmers in the interest of their own business. However, the Scottish Government is aware of the current issues surrounding fodder and straw supplies and is in regular dialogue with the industry. We continue to advise farmers and crofters to plan ahead and act collaboratively where possible, as we know many of them will already be doing.
