Chamber and committees

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-07548

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 24 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it received the feasibility study on carers allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions, and whether it will put this in the public domain.

The feasibility study on increasing carers allowance was received from DWP on the 11th January 2017.

An FOI request and subsequent review in relation to the DWP feasibility report were also received and have been dealt with in line with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) to determine whether the document will be put into the public domain.

The review process has concluded that, in fact, the feasibility report is not held by the Scottish Government for the purposes of FOISA because the report has been received in confidence from the UK Government. This means that, under the terms of section 3(2)(a)(ii) of FOISA, we are unable to disclose the information or put it in the public domain.

Question reference: S5W-08435

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish carer’s benefit will retain the benefit cap exemption that has been in place since November 2016.

Question reference: S5O-00829

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that reductions to local government budgets will have a negative impact on local services in South Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-06572

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what practical measures (a) will be and (b) have been undertaken by (i) it, (ii) Clyde 2020, (iii) the South West Inshore Fisheries Group and (iv) the Clyde Marine Planning Partnership to deliver on its commitment in April 2014 to regenerate fish stocks in the Clyde by 2020.

Question reference: S5O-00754

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address environmental concerns regarding aquaculture industry production targets.

Question reference: S5O-00648

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to identify economic gender inequality.

The Scottish Government strongly supports inclusive growth based on equal opportunities and a fair and inclusive jobs market. No one should be denied opportunities because of their gender.

We recognise that good quality data on gender inequality is key to designing effective policy solutions. The Scottish Government have produced a range of research outputs in this field and are working to increase the evidence base further. The Fairer Scotland Action Plan, published in October 2016, announced a number of research actions including a Gender Equality Index and an updated Equality Evidence Strategy.

Question reference: S5W-06642

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what work has been done since the second Report on Proposals and Policies (RRP2) to review and develop policies on blue carbon and consider proposals to capture their potential.

Question reference: S5W-06640

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential for blue carbon habitats to store and sequester carbon, for what reason the protection and restoration of these habitats is not included in the draft Climate Change Plan.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) have been working to assess the extent and potential of blue carbon in Scotland. In 2014 SNH published an initial assessment of blue carbon stores in Scotland’s coastal and marine environment, and further research to estimate the blue carbon resources in Scotland’s inshore marine Protected Areas (MPAs) was published on 3 February.

See http://www.snh.gov.uk/publications-data-and-research/publications/search-the-catalogue/publication-detail/?id=2176 and www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/commissioned_reports/957.pdf for details.

This latest ground-breaking research provides much greater insight into the potential stocks of blue carbon in Scotland’s marine environment. Nevertheless further research is required to provide credible estimates of the sequestration provided by blue carbon across the entirety of Scotland’s Seas, which is why there aren’t detailed policies and proposals within the draft Climate Change Plan. The Scottish Government is now considering further research and survey opportunities to develop our understanding of blue carbon, and will include an update of this work in the Final Climate Change Plan.

Since the publication of the Second report on Policies and Proposals (RPP2), the key inshore blue carbon habitats have been listed as Priority Marine Features in 2014, and given protection by General policy 9 of the National Marine Plan, which was adopted in March 2015. These blue carbon habitats are also well represented in the MPA network. The development of the MPA network required survey effort which has improved our knowledge of blue carbon habitat distribution around Scotland. Work is continuing to complete the MPA network and put in place to management measures to safeguard these important habitats. As knowledge evolves, marine policies that protect blue carbon habitats may be adapted to enhance that protection.

Question reference: S5W-06641

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done since the second Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP2) to increase understanding of the distribution of blue carbon habitats, their condition and potential contribution to emission reductions.

Question reference: S5W-06040

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will issue the Environmental Co-operation Action Fund (ECAF) contracts that were due in July 2016.

The Environmental Co-operation Action Fund as originally designed cannot now be taken forward. Applicant organisations are being contacted to inform them of this decision and to encourage them to apply when the scheme is re-launched. Work will be undertaken with a view to revising and re-launching the scheme later this year for contracts to be awarded for expenditure in 2018-19.

It is intended to redeploy the £1.8 million of EU and Scottish Government funding for ECAF for 2017-18 to support restoration of native woodland under the Forestry Grant Scheme of the Scottish Rural Development Programme; Scottish Natural Heritage Projects promoting sustainable management of deer, geese and sea eagles; and the Croft House Grant Scheme.