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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-17478

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 8 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of potential future flooding in Comrie.

The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 required SEPA to undertake a national assessment of flood risk, to help identify the areas in Scotland most vulnerable to flooding. The first National Flood Risk Assessment was published in 2011 and shows that Comrie is situated in a Potentially Vulnerable Area (PVA) i.e. an area where the potential impact of flooding is sufficient to justify further assessment and appraisal of flood risk management actions. The national flood risk assessment, including the individual PVA datasheets, can be found on the SEPA website at:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/flood_risk_management/national_flood_risk_assessment.aspx.

The risk of flooding in Comrie, is from multiple sources including both the Ruchill Water and the River Earn, as well as a risk of surface water flooding. A detailed assessment of potential future flooding in Comrie has also been undertaken by Perth and Kinross Council, who are working in partnership with SEPA, Scottish Water and the other local authorities in the Tay Local Plan District (LPD) to consider what measures will be required to reduce flood risk across the whole of the LPD. This is part of the on-going development of flood risk management strategies and local flood risk management plans.

This collaborative approach will allow the best combination of actions to reduce flood risk to be determined. Flood risk management strategies and local flood risk management plans will be at the heart of efforts to tackle flooding in Scotland and will explain what actions will be taken, by whom and at what time. This will help us to target investment in reducing impacts in areas most vulnerable to flooding

Following the flood events in Comrie in August and November last year, we worked with SEPA to expedite a new flood warning scheme for the Ruchill Water in Comrie. The scheme became operational on 28 January 2013 and residents, emergency responders and local elected members were kept informed of the developments by SEPA. To date, 181 people in Comrie have signed up for Flood Warnings from SEPA. This represents around 40% of properties at risk of flooding. SEPA are actively encouraging sign up in the area, and have hosted in drop-in sessions and participated in the Comrie Fayre earlier this year.

Question reference: S4W-17459

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many play parks there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government launched the national Play Strategy in June 2013. The strategy recognises that play is a fundamental part of childhood, taking place within the home from birth, through formal and informal learning, and in community settings through the use of public spaces and services.

The Scottish Government wants Scotland to be the best place to grow up. A nation which values play as a life enhancing daily experience for all our children and young people; in their homes, nurseries, schools and communities.

Question reference: S4F-01623

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 October 2013

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the organisers of the 2014 Commonwealth Games regarding ticket allocations.

Question reference: S4W-17476

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government which elements of Perth and Kinross Council’s claim under the Bellwin Scheme to cover additional expenditure incurred by flooding in Comrie in 2012 were deemed ineligible for assistance because they were not (a) incurred as a result of providing relief or carrying out works to safeguard life or property or prevent suffering or severe inconvenience, (b) of a revenue nature, (c) net of any receivable income from other sources, (d) of an uninsurable nature and (e) incurred within a two month period from the date of the incident and what the total financial value was of these elements.

Perth and Kinross Council submitted a claim, under the Bellwin Scheme, for additional funding of £1,044,751 following the flooding in Comrie in November 2012. Approximately £855,000 of the Council’s claim was ineligible as it was expenditure on improvements to prevent future flooding.

Under the rules of the Bellwin Scheme local authorities are expected to set aside a small amount (0.2% of their revenue budget) for such events and this is known as the threshold. After the deduction of the ineligible expenditure the balance of around £190,000 was less than the Council’s 2012-13 threshold of £675,196 and as a result the Council did not qualify for any additional funding under the Bellwin Scheme.

Question reference: S4W-17479

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake a review of the Bellwin Scheme.

Question reference: S4W-17477

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with officials from Perth and Kinross Council prior to the council's application under the Bellwin Scheme to cover additional expenditure incurred by flooding in Comrie in 2012.

Following the severe flooding incident in Comrie in November 2012, Scottish Government officials provided Perth and Kinross Council officials with general advice on how to make a claim for additional expenditure under the Bellwin Scheme. This advice included reference to the published guidelines and a reminder that the Bellwin Scheme is discretionary with no automatic right to additional funding.

Question reference: S4W-17342

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what projects the £23.5 million legacy funding has been allocated to, broken down by local authority area.

The Commonwealth Games provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make lasting improvements the whole of Scotland can benefit from.

In September 2009, ‘A Games Legacy for Scotland’ outlined the Government and its partners’ ambitious programme to capitalise on the economic, social and cultural advantages of the 2014 Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow. At this time £23.5 million of legacy funding was announced, comprising £18 million from sportscotland and £5.5 million from BIG Lottery Fund to deliver its 2014 Communities Fund.

sportscotland has allocated £10.5 million of that to improve facilities and support athletes and coaches participating in High Performance Sport, and £7.5 million to work with local authorities to create a network of 150 Community Sports Hubs across Scotland by 2016.

A breakdown by local authority of Community Sports Hubs which have been established or are currently in development can be viewed at:

http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/content/sportscotland/Documents/Club_resources/CSH/CSH_Website_Information_-_May2013.pdf. Information broken down by project and local authority relating to investment in High Performance Sport, is not held centrally. I have asked sportscotland’s Chief Executive, Stewart Harris, to contact you with further information.

The 2014 Communities Fund has to date made 3,080 awards of between £300 and £1,000 (worth more than £4 million collectively) to local sports clubs, voluntary and communities organisations, community councils and schools, who wish to take part or volunteer in physical activity or sport. A breakdown of awards by local authority area is provided in Table 1.

Since 2009, Legacy 2014 has continued to map its journey throughout Scotland by launching a range of additional programmes delivering opportunities across the whole of Scotland. Key examples of this include the £10 million Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund, the £5 million Legacy 2014 Young Persons’ Fund, the £4 million Celebrate Fund and the £5 million Sport Relief Home and Away programme.

In order to demonstrate the reach of these programmes throughout Scotland we have recently launched an interactive legacy map, as part of our website, which is available at: www.legacy2014.co.uk.

Table 1: 2014 Communities Awards

Local Authority

TOTAL

No of awards

Value of awards

Aberdeen City	49	£67,331
Aberdeenshire	101	£121,595
Angus	77	£110,340
Argyll and Bute	84	£105,018
Clackmannanshire	22	£26,594
Dumfries and Galloway	125	£169,859
Dundee City	44	£67,139
East Ayrshire	77	£99,582
East Dunbartonshire	55	£77,328
East Lothian	45	£64,216
East Renfrewshire	49	£70,908
Edinburgh, City of	155	£210,578
Eilean Siar	32	£43,997
Falkirk	59	£87,400
Fife	166	£202,114
Glasgow City	475	£646,664
Highland	214	£272,620
Inverclyde	43	£54,498
Midlothian	20	£25,920
Moray	31	£36,758
North Ayrshire	75	£103,858
North Lanarkshire	253	£313,087
Orkney Islands	23	£24,819
Perth and Kinross	68	£85,819
Renfrewshire	92	£142,085
Scottish Borders, The	44	£55,423
Shetland Islands	19	£24,302
South Ayrshire	115	£149,005
South Lanarkshire	285	£408,784
Stirling	54	£70,400
West Dunbartonshire	93	£133,274
West Lothian	36	£42,695
TOTAL	3080	£4,114,010

Source: Big Lottery Fund, 25 September 2013

Question reference: S4W-17395

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported concerns that the minimum height for clearance of electricity cables over arable fields can be unsafe for large-scale farm machinery.

We welcome the initiative from Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution in distributing stickers to the UK farming community warning of the risks from overhead power cables.

Employers and operators of industrial and agricultural machinery have statutory obligations under health and safety regulations. This is an issue reserved to the UK Government.

The Health and Safety Executive have produced guidance for the operation of agricultural machinery in the presence of overhead power cables.

Question reference: S4O-02446

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities about teacher employment issues.

Question reference: S4F-01574

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 September 2013

To ask the First Minister what recent discussions the Scottish Government has had with providers of mobile phone services to improve coverage in rural areas.