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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: S5F-03351

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2019

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to promote active travel.

Question reference: S5W-22620

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many nurseries in each local authority area have been (a) built, (b) expanded and (c) refurbished in each year since 2016.

Scottish Futures Trust have been tracking Local Authorities Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) infrastructure capital projects on behalf of the Scottish Government ELC expansion programme since August 2017. This coincides with the first allocation of capital funding to local authorities to support the expansion to 1140 hours, which was provided for the 2017-18 financial year.

Authority	Refurb ‎ Complete	Extension ‎ Complete	New Build ‎ Complete
Aberdeen City	0	0	0
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0
Angus	1	0	0
Argyll & Bute	1	1	0
Clackmannanshire	1	0	1
D&G	4	0	0
Dundee	1	0	0
East Ayrshire	0	1	1
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	1
East Lothian	4	0	1
East Renfrewshire	0	1	0
Edinburgh	3	0	0
Eilean Siar	0	2	0
Falkirk	8	0	0
Fife	2	1	1
Glasgow	3	0	0
Highland	9	1	1
Inverclyde	3	0	1
Midlothian	0	0	1
Moray	1	0	0
North Ayrshire	9	1	0
North Lanarkshire	1	0	0
Orkney	5	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	3
Renfrewshire	2	0	1
Scottish Borders	4	1	0
Shetland	1	0	0
South Ayrshire	2	1	0
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0
Stirling	5	1	0
West Dunbartonshire	2	0	0
West Lothian	0	1	1
Scotland	72	12	13

Question reference: S5O-03220

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take in response to Christian persecution overseas.

Question reference: S5W-22770

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 30 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the Speed Awareness Course working group will report on its findings regarding the infrastructure and guidance required for the introduction of courses, including the identification of potential course providers.

The Lord Advocate has agreed in principle to a Police Scotland proposal to introduce speed awareness courses, where appropriate, as an alternative to prosecution.

A working group comprising Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Safety Camera Programme will work together to devise the infrastructure and guidance required for the introduction of speed awareness courses along with identification of potential course providers. The scope of the required work means that it is not possible to provide a specific timescale for any final decision on speed awareness courses and their implementation.

Question reference: S5W-22600

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications from businesses in the Scottish Borders to the (a) Less Favoured Area Support Scheme and (b) Agri-Environment Climate Scheme in each year since 2015 were not approved, and how many of these rejections were appealed, broken down by the number that (i) were upheld and (ii) are awaiting a decision.

Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) details requested below:

LFASS Claim Year	Number of Eligible (Approved) LFASS claims in Scottish Borders Area	Number LFASS of Claims Rejected in Scottish Borders Area	Number of Rejections Appealed
2015	598	22	0
2016	595	14	0
2017	601	18	0
2018	596	20	0
Total	2390	74	0

Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) details requested below:

Year	National AECS Approvals	Scottish Borders AECS Approvals	AECS Scottish Borders Applications Not Approved (Before Reviews)	AECS Scottish Borders Application Reviews			AECS Scottish Borders Applications Not Approved (After Reviews)
Year	National AECS Approvals	Scottish Borders AECS Approvals		Reject decision upheld	Reject decision overturned	Total Reviews
2015	559	73	44	5	6	11	38
2016	911	72	19	6	1	7	18
2017	751	51	16	7	0	7	16
2018	585	47	34	4	4	8	30
Total	2806	243	113	22	11	33	102

The AECS figures for Approved applications (column 2 & 3) includes reviews that were successful for the applicant and excludes contracts not accepted or withdrawn by applicants.

Question reference: S5W-22376

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what legislation protects archaeological sites, and whether it plans in the near future to introduce greater protections for archaeological sites from development.

Currently, nationally important archaeological sites and monuments in Scotland are protected under the provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

This Act confers on Historic Environment Scotland the function of compiling, maintaining and publishing a Schedule (a list) of such monuments. Once a monument is scheduled, it becomes an offence to carry out, without the prior written consent of Historic Environment Scotland (scheduled monument consent), any works which would have the effect of demolishing, destroying, damaging, removing, repairing, altering, adding to, flooding or covering up the monument.

The legislation governing how we manage and care for our built heritage was refreshed under the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011 and the Historic Environment Scotland Act 2014.

The Scottish Government has no plans to revisit historic environment legislation in the near future.

Question reference: S5W-22598

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 23 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the Air Departure Tax.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22720 on 23 April 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government and UK Government have continued to work together to try to find a solution. Most recently, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work met the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on this matter on 15 February 2019.

Question reference: S5W-22371

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect archaeological sites.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Scotland’s historic environment and the wealth of historic structures across the country; many of which are at the heart of our communities.

The protection of archaeological sites is defined by Scottish Planning Policy, which commits to preserving archaeological sites and monuments, and their settings, in situ wherever feasible. When this is not possible, planning authorities should consider applying conditions to planning consents, listed building consents and conservation area consents to ensure that an appropriate level of excavation, recording, analysis, publication and archiving is carried out before and/or during development.

Scheduled monument consent is required from Historic Environment Scotland for any works that would demolish, destroy, damage, remove, repair, alter or add to a monument, or to carry out any flooding or tipping on a scheduled monument.

Question reference: S5W-22377

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available to protect archaeological sites.

Scottish Government funding for archaeology is channelled via Historic Environment Scotland grant schemes. Despite recent financial constraints, the Scottish Government has maintained Historic Environment Scotland external grants at £14.5 million per year - £1.4 million is allocated for Archaeology.

This archaeology programme provides funding support for individuals, groups and organisations completing research on Scotland’s archaeological heritage. Intervention projects which rescue archaeological information from unavoidable threats are prioritised for funding.

Question reference: S5W-22597

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 23 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made regarding the Highlands and Islands exemption to the Air Departure Tax.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22720 on 23 April 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government established a Highlands and Islands Working Group last year to provide independent, expert input into the examination of the issue. The Group has made a valuable contribution to the evidence base by publishing new analysis that underlines the importance of the exemption to the region, and by providing external scrutiny of both evidence and process. However, a solution has not yet been found that would be ready for introduction at the beginning of the next financial year.