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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S4W-19199

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage young golfers to attend the 2014 Junior Ryder Cup.

The 2014 Junior Ryder Cup, which will be held at Blairgowrie Golf Club, Perthshire, is a hugely important event for Scotland and will play a key part in inspiring our young golfers of the future.

The Scottish Government is working closely with Ryder Cup Europe and ClubGolf to provide free fun coaching activities for up to 3,000 young golfers, from schools and clubs across Scotland, over the course of the tournament.

As a free event, The Junior Ryder Cup is open to all and will offer a small number of volunteering opportunities for young people. The event will be advertised to young golfers through schools, golf clubs and social media encouraging everyone to support the Teams and to be part of what promises to be a truly inspiring event.

Question reference: S4W-19196

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many community sports hubs there are, broken down by location.

Question reference: S4W-19197

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) water and (b) wastewater treatment works have been upgraded in each year since 2010.

In this regulatory period 2010-15, Scottish Water is tasked with upgrading 97 water treatment works and 185 wastewater treatment works to deliver improvements to drinking water quality and wastewater discharges. This is in addition to the maintenance that will be undertaken routinely by Scottish Water at its installations.

The numbers of improvements delivered in each year since 2010 are:

Year	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Water Treatment Works	1	12	23
Wastewater treatment works	1	46	35

By quarter 2 of 2012-13, Scottish Water had upgraded 47 water treatment works and 86 wastewater treatment works.

The delivery of Scottish Water's investment programme is monitored by the Output Monitoring Group chaired by the Scottish Government. Its quarterly monitoring reports are published on the Government's website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/waterindustryscot/publications/deliveryprogress

Question reference: S4W-19101

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it will commence Part 3, Chapter 1 of the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010.

Question reference: S4W-19118

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 17 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what areas of coniferous woodland have been planted on areas of deep peat and whether such areas will be restocked or whether compensation planting will be sought elsewhere.

The Scottish Government does not have reliable figures for the overall area of coniferous woodland that has been planted on deep peat.

Forestry Commission Scotland will shortly issue guidance on the future management of forestry on peatland habitats. The guidance will provide options to forest managers so that they can assess the carbon retention implications of different land uses, including woodland creation and restocking, which can be considered alongside other priorities such as biodiversity and landscape. The Scottish Government’s Control of Woodland Removal Policy makes clear the circumstances under which compensatory planting will be required if woodland is permanently removed.

Question reference: S4W-19117

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 17 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much new woodland has been established in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S4O-02830

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action local authorities are taking in light of Police Scotland's decision to withdraw traffic wardens.

Question reference: S4W-18958

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many large energy generation and transmission applications Scottish and Southern Energy or its subsidiaries have submitted under sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 since 2007 and how many have been (a) approved and (b) rejected.

Since 2007 Scottish and Southern Energy or its subsidiaries have submitted a total of 41 applications for large energy generation and transmission applications under sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act (Scotland) 1989.

22 of these applications were for consent under section 37

13 applications have been approved

2 were withdrawn

7 still under consideration

19 of these applications were for consent under section 36

9 have been approved

1 withdrawn

1 refused

8 still under consideration

Question reference: S4O-02784

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of CBI Scotland and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S4W-18492

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many times there have been closures on the A9 because accident sites have been designated as crime scenes in each of the last three years, and what was the average closure time.

Details of road closures on the A9 in the last 3 full calendar years are contained in the following table. Our records for 2013 are not yet complete.

2010

2011

2012

Road	Number of Closures	Average time (hrs)	Number of Closures	Average time (hrs)	Number of Closures	Average time (hrs)
A9	10	06:13	28	04:12	40	03:37

The decision by Police Scotland to close a road, such as the A9, is never taken lightly and only occurs when the collision itself has blocked the road, or where there is a need to protect those who might already have been injured and the emergency service staff who are dealing with the incident.

The impact on local communities and the wider economy is always at the forefront of investigators’ minds, but there is a need to ensure that incidents are investigated thoroughly to ensure that families of those killed or seriously injured receive the support and information that they deserve and also to ensure that any safety issues are identified and addressed.

Roads are closed in such cases to gather evidence regarding an accident and the length of any closure can vary, depending on the nature and complexity of the incident.

Year	Conifer (ha)	Broadleaved (ha)	Total (ha)
2007-08	700	3,400	4,100
2008-09	1,200	2,300	3,500
2009-10	500	2,200	2,700
2010-11	1,500	3,600	5,100
2011-12	3,300	5,700	9,000
2012-13	1,700	5,300	7,000