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: S4W-13127

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 4 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many compromise agreements each NHS board has made with employees in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S4O-01837

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning last met principals of further education colleges and what matters were discussed.

Question reference: S4W-12038

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what chemical additives are used in the hydraulic fracturing process.

Fracturing fluids would consist primarily of water but would also include a variety of additives. The number of chemicals used would vary depending on the conditions of the specific well being fractured. Operators would have to provide details of the chemical additives contained in drilling and fracturing fluids which SEPA would use in their examination of any application to ensure that substances involved are of a type and concentration that would not cause pollution of the water environment.

Whilst site specific, a list of the most commonly used chemicals in shale gas fracking in the US can be found at:

http://fracfocus.org/chemical-use/what-chemicals-are-used.

Question reference: S4W-12014

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it can ensure that contaminants used in the hydraulic fracturing process do not flow into an aquifer used for drinking water.

Question reference: S4W-12013

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether all aquifers are linked and, if so, how contamination can be contained in one area with no impact on the public water supply.

Question reference: S4W-12011

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that hydraulic fracturing does not lead to contamination of (a) ground water or (b) surface water.

Any proposed hydraulic fracturing would involve the high pressure injection of water, often including additives, down a borehole. A SEPA licence under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) Regulations 2011 would be required to carry out this activity. SEPA would only issue a licence for this activity where appropriate information from the applicant had been received to demonstrate that any injection would not lead to unacceptable impacts on groundwater or surface waters. For example, operators would be required to provide details of the chemical additives contained in drilling and fracturing fluids, and the borehole to be used for fracturing would have to be of a suitable construction and integrity.

SEPA would also require monitoring of the fracturing operations and the surrounding groundwater and surface waters, and SEPA would audit the results. Baseline monitoring prior to any development taking place would be an essential requirement.

Low permeability layers are commonly found in the subsurface which restrict the flow of groundwater between aquifers. This means that there can be several distinct aquifers in any given location. SEPA would take this into account when considering if the injection of fracturing fluids would have unacceptable impact on groundwater and surface waters, especially with respect to the protection of public and private water supplies.

Question reference: S4W-12039

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how the abstracted flowback water that contains naturally occurring bicarbonates, sulphates, chlorides of sodium and potassium and radionuclides is dealt with during hydraulic fracturing.

The production of “flow-back” fluid from hydraulic fracturing is a mining waste activity. These activities would be controlled through planning permission for the site through an agreed waste management plan. Operators would need to have a waste management plan in place, and to be able to demonstrate to planning authorities how they would store and dispose of wastes safely without causing pollution to the environment. This would include a requirement to have a CAR authorisation for any discharge of any pollutants to the water environment.

It is likely that the fluids that might flow back to the surface after hydraulic fracturing would also contain naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). The production of oil and gas is classed as a NORM Industrial Activity for which the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (RSA93) provides threshold values for radioactive concentration. If the fluid is above the relevant threshold values then it would be classed as radioactive waste and would be subject to the requirements of RSA93.

Question reference: S4W-12012

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how additives used in the hydraulic fracturing process can be guaranteed not to spread contamination from one area of ground water to another.

Question reference: S4W-12010

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence there is of the impact of its initiatives to date aimed at reducing health inequalities.

Question reference: S4W-12017

Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 24 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the (a) sale and (b) consumption of so-called legal highs is legal in Scotland.

Legal highs or Novel/New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) as they are also known, are substances which produce similar effects to illegal drugs, but that are not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Some NPS substances have been found to contain drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is reserved to the UK Government. In response to the availability of NPS, the Home Office introduced a new temporary class drug order (15 November 2011). See Home office website:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs/drug-law/temporary-class-drug-orders/.

There is no other definitive legislation outwith the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and temporary class drug order that uniquely deals with the supply of NPS. However, police in Scotland together with partners are exploring other legislative options, such as trading standards powers.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with the Home Office and the police in Scotland to understand more about the use and supply of these substances and options to tackle their supply.