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-20589

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will include clarity on surface access to Glasgow Airport in the final National Planning Framework 3 in order to influence investment decisions.

Question reference: S4W-20586

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide guidance on unconventional gas extraction and hydraulic fracturing.

Proposals for unconventional gas extraction in Scotland will be studied on their merits. Each proposal will be considered through the normal planning process and the appropriate regulatory regimes including the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency’s guidance on the regulation of shale gas and coal bed methane published December 2012.

There are no proposals which involve the use of hydraulic fracturing techniques in Scotland at this time. The Scottish Government will follow a rigorous, evidence-based approach in the development and deployment of this technology.

Question reference: S4F-02071

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2014

To ask the First Minister, in light of the reported 162% increase since 2004 in the cost of providing free personal care, what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that local authority social work budgets can meet demand.

Question reference: S4O-03154

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of the NHS Lothian board.

Question reference: S4F-02015

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2014

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the Audit Commission report, An overview of local government in Scotland 2014.

Question reference: S4O-03033

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what contribution it considers that housing can make to tackling poverty.

Question reference: S4W-19830

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many households have had energy efficiency measures installed under the affordable warmth scheme, broken down by type of measure.

Some 1,500 households are reported by energy companies to have received installations in the period to end January 2014. Measures installed include: gas boilers, full gas central heating systems, heating controls, loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. The Scottish Government will publish a fuller breakdown by measure once this has been provided by all energy companies participating in the Affordable Warmth scheme.

Question reference: S4W-19843

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 10 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Housing (Scotland) Bill will include provisions relating to energy efficiency measures as common works by householders.

The Housing (Scotland) Bill amends the powers of local authorities to require home owners to carry out work on homes that are below tolerable standard, and this includes homes that lack satisfactory thermal insulation. The Bill also includes a provision to enable local authorities to pay missing shares where a majority of home owners agree common works under the Tenement Management Scheme, and this can include works to install insulation.

Question reference: S4W-19842

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when the Regulation of Energy Efficiency in Private Sector Homes working group will present for consultation draft regulations to improve the energy efficiency of existing private sector housing.

Question reference: S4W-19839

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill will make it easier for local authorities to engage local SMEs as installers for the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland initiative.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 3 October 2013 will establish a national legislative framework for sustainable public procurement that supports Scotland’s economic growth through improved procurement practice. It will help tackle unnecessary inconsistencies for suppliers doing business with the public sector and will help ensure that doing business with the public sector can be simple, transparent and more accessible to suppliers, especially SMEs.

Funding for the area based element of our Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS) is distributed to local authorities. It is for them to determine the most suitable means of procuring the work. However, as part of the criteria for accessing HEEPS funding we are clear that projects should support the local economy as much as possible. Councils are requested to provide details on how their proposed schemes support local economic activity, small businesses and provide opportunities for apprenticeships. This information is considered as part of our assessment of requests for HEEPS funding.