Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-26311

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) university and (b) college courses relate to renewable wind energy.

Question reference: S4W-26307

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what volume of peat has been excavated to make way for the development of windfarms and how much carbon it estimates was in that peat.

<>The Scottish Government does not hold the information centrally. For larger scale wind farm applications determined under S36 of the Electricity Act 1989, where an environmental impact assessment of the development is conducted and detects peat on site, a carbon calculation will be required and will be a material consideration for consent. The carbon calculator tool is currently being upgraded by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and will be held on the SEPA website. The new version will be able to collect and store data and provide aggregated pay-back totals.

Question reference: S4W-25673

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 8 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how its Low Emission Strategy will feed into the preparation of the new UK air quality plans required following the Supreme Court’s mandatory order as part of its judgment of 29 April 2015 on air pollution.

Question reference: S4W-25674

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 8 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that adequate funding is allocated to (a) develop and (b) deploy effective transport measures to tackle air pollution.

The Scottish Government is working closely with Transport Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and a wide range of other partner organisations to finalise the Low Emission Strategy. The finalised strategy will set out a series of actions demonstrating how the government proposes to comply with EU and domestic legal requirements relating to air quality in the shortest possible time, whilst also setting out a vision for continuing to deliver further air quality benefits in the longer term.

Many initiatives are already in place to develop and deploy effective transport measures to tackle air pollution, and we are continuing to explore with Transport Scotland and others how these can be further developed and built on as the Low Emission Strategy evolves.

Question reference: S4W-25672

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 8 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how the final version of the Low Emission Strategy will ensure that Scotland complies with the legal requirements laid out in the Supreme Court's judgment on air pollution.

The Scottish Government is working closely with Transport Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and a wide range of other partner organisations to finalise the Low Emission Strategy. The finalised strategy will set out a series of actions demonstrating how the government proposes to comply with EU and domestic legal requirements relating to air quality in the shortest possible time, whilst also setting out a vision for continuing to deliver further air quality benefits in the longer term. We are also working closely with the other UK administrations to ensure that Scotland’s Low Emission Strategy is fully integrated with the revised UK air quality plans which the Supreme Court order requires to be produced by the end of 2015.

Question reference: S4W-25568

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it will provide to local authority enforcers ahead of the Scottish microchipping of dogs regulations coming into force, and when the guidance will be made available.

The regulations are currently being drafted and guidance will be prepared alongside this for dog owners, microchip implanters, database operators and local authorities. The final guidance will be issued after the regulations have been passed by Parliament, probably in January 2016. However, officials have already had initial discussions with local authorities, and will keep them informed during the development of the legislation.

Question reference: S4O-04414

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it is giving to enable NHS boards to offer the best possible guidance and support to new mothers to encourage breastfeeding.

Question reference: S4O-04382

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 27 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the low-carbon economic strategy will not marginalise challenged communities, both urban and rural, and low income households.

The low-carbon economic strategy was published in 2010 as an integral part of the government’s economic strategy.

Scotland’s refreshed economic strategy, published in March 2015, sets out a framework for boosting competitiveness and tackling inequality. It emphasises the need to move to a low carbon economy as a key investment priority, and also highlights the important role of community based approaches.

Question reference: S4W-25432

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Supreme Court's recent judgement in relation to compliance with the air quality directive.

Air quality in Scotland and the rest of the UK has improved significantly in recent years and, as this judgement recognises, work is already underway on revised plans to meet the air quality directive targets on nitrogen dioxide as soon as possible. The Scottish Government was already working with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations to submit these plans before the end of 2015.

Question reference: S4W-25431

Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that it meets its obligations under the air quality directive and to what timescales.

The Scottish Government is working closely with the UK Government, the other devolved administrations, local authorities and other delivery partners to ensure compliance with the air quality directive as soon as possible. We are currently updating the action plans with the aim of submitting them to the European Commission by the end of 2015. These action plans will specify specific actions that need to be undertaken with appropriate milestones.

Chamber and committees