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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-25236

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will rescind guardianship of Rowallan Castle.

The legal and administrative arrangements to secure transitional and ongoing arrangements for preservation of the monument are being finalised. I wrote to the Education and Culture Committee on 28 February 2015 to inform them of this case. These arrangements will include a legally binding agreement including conservation and maintenance along with public access requirements. As soon as these arrangements are completed guardianship of Rowallan Old Castle will be rescinded.

Question reference: S4W-25238

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it and (b) its relevant bodies have spent on the upkeep and conservation of Rowallan Castle during its time in public ownership.

Rowallan has not been in public ownership, it has been maintained by the state under a guardianship agreement with successive owners since 1950. Guardianship of an ancient monument arises where the owner of the monument places it under the control and management of the Scottish Ministers. This is done by means of a guardianship deed. Guardianship is regulated by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the guardianship deed. Guardianship confers powers and duties on ministers in respect of the monument, including placing a duty on ministers to maintain a monument. It does not alter the ownership of a monument.

Between 1950 and 2007 around £1 million or on average around £17,544 per year was spent on upkeep and conservation. In the period 2008-15 Historic Scotland spent £77,663 to meet upkeep and conservation costs.

Question reference: S4W-25263

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the police sickness absence rate has been in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) division and (b) rank.

Question reference: S4W-25237

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what weighting it gave to (a) previous public enquiries and (b) the cultural significance of the site, before taking the decision to hand over Rowallan Castle to private ownership.

Rowallan Old Castle has always been in private ownership. The monument has been maintained by the state since 1950 under a guardianship agreement.

(a) All the relevant history of the site has been taken into account, including previous applications for scheduled monument consent which were taken to public local inquiries. These inquiries examined the case for making physical changes to the monument. The current request is to take the property out of guardianship and that is different from previous applications for consent to make changes to the castle. The changes previously proposed were not countenanced because at that time no alternative to continuing guardianship by the state had been investigated. In the current case the owner’s request to take the property out of guardianship has been considered on its merits in line with the relevant statutory test and having in mind all the circumstances. Section 14 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 permits the Scottish Ministers to renounce guardianship of the monument by agreement with the persons who are immediately affected by the operation of the guardianship deed (in this case the owner of the monument). In terms of section 14(3) (a) the Scottish Ministers may not agree to terminate guardianship of a monument unless they are satisfied—

(i) that satisfactory arrangements have been made for ensuring its preservation after termination of guardianship; or

(ii) that it is no longer practicable to preserve it.

In this case (i) above applies. The question of whether satisfactory arrangements have been made for ensuring preservation of the monument has been considered very carefully, taking all existing policy and circumstances into account. These arrangements are that an agreement is entered into under section 17 of the 1979 Act which ministers are satisfied secures transitional and ongoing arrangements for preservation of the monument. The section 17 agreement will also require to be registered in the Land Register (or Sasine Register) as appropriate so as to bind the current and any future owners of the monument.

(b) The cultural significance of the site was recently re-assessed by Historic Scotland as part of an ongoing wider project to undertake a rolling programme of updating and improving our understanding of the properties in care. Historic Scotland is currently assessing an application for scheduled monument consent and, on the basis of the re-assessment it does not appear that the site’s significance will be unduly affected by the works proposed in order to make part of the site habitable. The applicant has also taken account of issues raised with the previous application refused in the 2008-09 inquiry. I am confident that this historic site, like countless others in private hands, will be well looked after for the benefit of the community and enjoyed by local people and visitors.

Question reference: S4O-04255

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle malnutrition.

Question reference: S4O-04239

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Fife and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S4O-04201

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out an evaluation of the impact on the retail sector of the delay in the review of business rates.

64 per cent of retail properties in Scotland are estimated to have zero or reduced business rates due to this government’s package of rates relief, which is estimated at £618 million in 2015.

Small and medium retailers in Scotland already receive the best deal in the UK, with over 96,000 properties estimated to benefit last year from the Small Business Bonus Scheme, and the prospect of rates relief up to £4,800 in 2015-16.

Question reference: S4W-24652

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in Fife in each of the last five years and for what offences.

Question reference: S4O-04102

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding is available for the 2015 Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund and when the details will be announced.

Question reference: S4O-04056

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Burntisland Fabrications Ltd regarding reports of potential job losses.