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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: S5W-04654

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 17 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans to reduce or has been a reduction in the provision of services at the NHS Centre for Integrative Care and, if so, what analysis it has made of the impact of this on people from Moray with chronic pain problems.

Question reference: S5W-04653

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic accidents there have been in Moray (a) in each of the last five years and (b) since January 2016, broken down by the (i) category of accident and (ii) number of (A) injuries and (B) fatalities.

The following tables show the number of injury road traffic accidents in Moray and casualties involved. The figures for 2016 are still being processed and those in the table are only for the period from January to June 2016. Provisional figures for the whole of 2016 will be published in Key Reported Road Casualties Scotland in June 2017.

Injury road accidents in Moray council area by severity

	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2011	4	22	111	137
2012	3	36	90	129
2013	3	39	81	123
2014	2	42	50	94
2015	2	32	48	82
2016*	2	14	20	36

* Figures for 2016 are provisional and cover January to June

Casualties involved in injury road accidents in Moray council area by severity

	Killed	Serious	Slight	Total
2011	4	24	136	164
2012	3	44	122	169
2013	3	47	106	156
2014	2	47	75	124
2015	2	35	58	95
2016*	3	19	30	52

* Figures for 2016 are provisional and cover January to June

Question reference: S5O-00367

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it provides to Moray College UHI.

Question reference: S5W-03282

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider publishing clear and accessible guidance to raise awareness of the options available to secure financial and practical support for broadband connectivity.

The £400M Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme is delivering broadband connectivity to 95% of premises across Scotland by the end of next year. Further information can be found on the DSSB website at www.scotlandsuperfast.com.

For those not covered by the programme, guidance is publicly available which outlines the options available for securing financial and practical support for broadband connectivity.

Information on financial support for a broadband connection through the Better Broadband scheme, which offers voucher codes to help with connection costs, is available through the DSSB website. Information on the Community Broadband Scotland initiative, which provides financial and technical support for communities who wish to pursue their own connectivity solutions, can be accessed through the Highlands & Islands Enterprise website.

Information on the Better Broadband scheme can be found at https://www.scotlandsuperfast.com/where-when/the-programme/better-broadband-scheme/, and on the Community Broadband Scotland initiative at http://www.hie.co.uk/community-support/community-broadband-scotland/.

Question reference: S5W-03089

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether businesses whose income is affected by prolonged local road closures are able to apply to local authorities or utility companies for compensation and, if so, what the process is.

There is no statutory requirement for compensation to paid to businesses impacted by road closures associated with road works. There have been one or two reported instances in the past where ex gratia payments may have been made but there is no formal requirement to do so.

There are, however, existing mechanisms which allow Road Authorities to intervene where they believe road works are taking too long to complete. Those adversely affected by road works should therefore approach the relevant road authority in the first instance.

In preparation for a Transport Bill later in the Parliament, we are working with stakeholders to develop legislative and other measures to improve the coordination and enforcement of road works across Scotland. This will include new powers for the Scottish Road Works Commissioner.

Question reference: S5W-03047

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to extend the boundaries of the national parks and what criteria it uses when reaching such decisions.

There are no current plans to extend the boundaries of Scotland’s National Parks. Any proposal would require a robust business case demonstrating the benefits, including strong local authority and community support and delivery of the criteria set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000. Proposals would be subject to consultation and require changes to existing National Park Designation Orders to be approved by the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S5W-03031

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 3 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in light of an announcement by the Treasury, it will also underwrite CAP Pillar II payments and other EU environmental funding, such as LIFE projects, that are agreed before publication of the Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016; what the reasons are for its position on this matter, and when it will make further announcements on this issue.

The UK Government has provided guarantees that any CAP Pillar two projects that have signed contracts or funding agreements in place, or where there are projects and contracts which are due to be signed in the ordinary course of business before the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016 will be paid in full. These insufficient guarantees do not underwrite any CAP Pillar two monies that are committed after 23 November 2016, leaving Scotland with over £300 million of Pillar two funding at risk and which is without a clear and cohesive plan for resolution. The Scottish Government will be considering future funding arrangements for these and other programmes, alongside all other funding commitments, as part of our budget process and Spending Review.

In August, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution and I both wrote to UK Ministers setting out our significant concerns that the guarantees do not go far enough. I wrote again to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 23 September 2016 as it is crucial that certainty is provided, so that rural businesses have the confidence to invest, for both economic and environmental reasons. Once we have further guarantees from the UK Government we will be able to provide much needed stability. Driving sustainable economic growth is at the heart of our Programme for Government and I am committed to ensuring this Government does all it can to ensure Scotland’s rural economy remains prosperous for future generations.

Question reference: S5W-02924

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 3 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in connection with haggis exports to the United States and what estimate it has made of the likely timescale for current restrictions to be lifted.

Question reference: S5W-02639

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the financial support that it has provided to the owners of Elgin abattoir.

Question reference: S5W-02186

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what investment it has made in sports facilities in each of the last five years, also broken down by local authority.

As the national agency for sport, sportscotland invests Scottish Government and National Lottery resources.

sportscotland has invested in excess of £81.5 million in sports facilities across Scotland’s local authority areas over the past five years.

sportscotland investment highlighted in the following table includes:

Facilities investment in Local Authority areas (including Sports Facilities Fund; Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund; sportsmatch; Cashback; Awards for All).

Local Authority Area	2011-12 Investment	2012-13 Investment	2013-14 Investment	2014-15 Investment	2015-16 Investment
Aberdeen City	£69,940.00	£199,164.00	£615,478.00	£345,916.00	£76,330.00
Aberdeenshire	£613,635.00	£362,195.00	£1,242,967.00	£360,645.00	£610,536.00
Angus	£38,891.00	£150,094.00	£252,426.00	£63,400.00	£311,842.00
Argyll and Bute	£501,235.00	£211,683.00	£368,950.00	£328,498.00	£75,528.00
Clackmannanshire	£250,205.00	£9,574.00	£20,130.00	£209,680.00	£7,750.00
Dumfries and Galloway	£11,500.00	£452,496.00	£1,249,176.00	£64,497.00	£120,978.00
Dundee City	£360,871.50	£75,392.00	£273,544.00	£367,210.00	£37,996.00
East Ayrshire	£608,231.00	£325,827.00	£24,307.00	£389,788.00	£34,895.00
East Dunbartonshire	£222,772.00	£8,000.00	£14,111.00	£58,073.00	£526,846.00
East Lothian	£56,639.00	£783,930.00	£136,387.00	£241,026.00	£159,041.00
East Renfrewshire	£50,513.00	£398,985.00	£120,983.00	£10,500.00	£51,398.00
Edinburgh City	£243,110.00	£376,933.50	£1,207,299.40	£354,729.00	*£336,413.00
Falkirk	£21,043.00	£115,300.00	£345,855.00	£542,745.00	£389,858.00
Fife	£58,400.96	£714,159.00	£737,885.00	£876,386.00	£1,443,802.00
Glasgow City	£495,575.00	£755,559.00	£490,437.00	£1,111,740.00	£144,889.00
Highland	£399,354.00	£693,641.00	£424,163.00	£753,270.00	£1,262,268.00
Inverclyde	£65,850.00	£268,486.00	£45,674.00	£97,960.00	£9,480.00
Midlothian	£925.00	£10,100.00	£200,565.00	£83,579.00	£0.00
Moray	£11,803.00	£85,414.00	£24,103.00	£153,911.00	£287,433.00
North Ayrshire	£576,108.00	£881,771.90	£126,561.00	£820,870.00	*£40,211.00
North Lanarkshire	£427,000.00	£903,843.00	£674,204.00	£47,278.00	£364,397.00
Orkney Islands	£140,250.00	£186,620.00	£22,300.00	£67,250.00	£2,330.00
Perth & Kinross	£146,225.00	£297,532.00	£1,213,238.00	£421,952.00	£288,115.00
Renfrewshire	£1,017,500.00	£16,014.00	£52,326.00	£398,583.00	£393,547.00
Scottish Borders	£327,855.00	£822,053.00	£305,379.00	£210,939.00	£734,752.00
Shetland Islands	£2,000.00	£282,470.00	£125,852.00	£11,820.00	£522,149.00
South Ayrshire	£146,525.00	£77,175.00	£401,255.00	£134,915.00	£515,447.00
South Lanarkshire	£246,337.89	£265,499.00	£628,401.30	£334,369.00	£708,118.00
Stirling	£131,272.00	£375,510.00	£344,039.00	£437,873.00	£93,632.00
West Dunbartonshire	£33,878.00	£439,670.00	£73,211.00	£18,500.00	£269,751.00
West Lothian	£475,336.00	£312,242.00	£367,484.00	£380,915.00	£340,172.00
Western Isles	£538,417.00	£215,278.00	£36,400.00	£107,020.00	£12,859.00

*Excludes the £24 million for the development of the National Performance Centre for Sport (Edinburgh City) and £6 million allocated for the development of the National Para-sports Centre (North Ayrshire)