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-19249

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will utilise and release the environmental data collected in relation to the Argyll Array offshore windfarm project to help inform sustainable marine spatial planning and the design of the marine protected area network.

Environmental data collected by a developer for their environmental impact assessment scoping application would not routinely be used by Marine Scotland in the sectoral plan making or marine protected area designation process. However, environmental information obtained by developers can be, and has been, utilised by Marine Scotland subject to the appropriate permissions being granted by the data owner and a science review being undertaken where appropriate.

Question reference: S4O-02820

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NFU Scotland to discuss the implementation of reform of the common agricultural policy.

Question reference: S4W-18999

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the implications of the proposed changes to National List trialling in Aberdeen and Edinburgh for the management and coordination of data for the Scottish Recommended Lists of Grass and Clover Varieties.

The Scottish Government currently provides the Scottish Grass Levy Board (SGLB) with crop data from all of their grass / clover trial sites. This information is used by SGLB to select candidates for their own Recommended List trials. The Scottish Government does not propose any change to this process, and the quality of the Recommended List will not be affected by the change in trialling arrangements.

Question reference: S4W-19000

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that the change of trial site and altitude will have on the effectiveness of the National List if trialling in Edinburgh is transferred to Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture.

Question reference: S4W-18997

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment there has been of the financial savings of transferring the National List trialling of grass and clover in Edinburgh to Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture.

Question reference: S4W-18998

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government who will inspect and report on the National List trials conducted by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S4W-18996

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is proposing to (a) put the National List trialling of grass and clover at the Craibstone estate in Aberdeen out to tender and (b) transfer the trialling at the Bush Estate in Edinburgh to Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture.

With the current contract due to end on 31 March 2014, the Scottish Government undertook an extensive review of the options for the future of National List crop trialling in Scotland. This included commissioning reports and advice from a number of independent specialists.

The review took over 12 months and has resulted in the Scottish Government opting to utilise a mixture of trial operators in future.

In line with a request from the seed industry, the contract was broken down into two parts, with the cereals section being successfully tendered last summer and the work being split between the two applications received.

For grass and clover trials, the best option for the future was a mixture of in-house provisions by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), part of the Scottish Government’s Agricultural and Rural Payment’s Division and contracting out. Using SASA will provide assurances for the maintenance of expertise and knowledge in this specialised area of crop trialling, as well as reduce costs while maintaining the quality of data produced.

In line with Scottish Government procurement guidelines, the remaining grass and clover trial for the North East of Scotland is currently out for tender.

Question reference: S4O-02797

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Dumfries and Galloway to ensure that strong and effective governance remains in place until new board members are appointed.

Question reference: S4O-02693

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Dumfries and Galloway regarding the decision to end the pilot health board elections.

Question reference: S4O-02670

Asked by: Alex Fergusson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Police Scotland's Divisional Commander for Dumfries and Galloway and what matters were discussed.