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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1122 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-10908

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency measures there are to deal with increases in emissions arising from extreme cold weather.

Annual fluctuations in emissions are to be expected. Our second report on proposals and policies for reducing Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions will focus on ways in which the second batch of annual emissions reduction targets for 2023-27 can be achieved. This will include assessing progress towards implementing the proposals and policies set out in Low Carbon Scotland: meeting the Emissions Reduction Targets 2010-2022, our first climate change report on proposals and policies.

Increases in emissions arising from extreme cold weather may occur in future years. Measures such as our investment in the National Retrofit Programme and improving the energy efficiency of our buildings are vital components of the Sustainable Housing Strategy launched for consultation earlier this year which will help to mitigate the effect of colder winters.

In addition to these provisions Scottish building regulations set challenging standards for the energy performance of both new buildings and work carried out to existing buildings, resulting in lower energy demand and emissions where work takes place. These standards continue to be reviewed and improved to ensure that the impact of any periods of extreme cold weather on emissions from new homes is minimal.

Question reference: S4W-10906

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the proposals in the Report on Proposals and Policies will be adopted.

Question reference: S4W-10911

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency measures are being developed should the 2020 emissions reduction not be met.

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to meeting our climate change targets. The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 has set a legally binding target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42 per cent by 2020. It also establishes a system of binding successive annual targets in order to set out a trajectory towards these long term targets.

Where a target has not been met the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 requires that Scottish Ministers must lay a report before the Parliament, as soon as is reasonably practicable. To ensure that we continue to make progress delivering the policy framework we will set out our second climate change Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP) to meet the emissions reductions targets 2013 – 2027.

Question reference: S4W-10859

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) scheduled sailings, (b) actual sailings and (c) sailings cancelled due to adverse weather conditions there were on each route operated by CalMac Ferries in each month between July 2011 and September 2012.

Question reference: S4W-10904

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 19 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-06585 by Stewart Stevenson on 24 April 2012, what further progress has been made on meeting the recommendations of the UK Committee on Climate Change with regard to devolved policy areas.

The answer to S4W-06585 on 30 April 2012 contains details about the emissions mitigation measures that the Scottish Government has brought forward since the publication of the first climate change Report on Proposals and Policies in March 2011.

The Scottish Government is determined to continue this progress. The draft 2013-14 Budget and 2014-15 spending plans support the delivery of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This will ensure that we will continue to make progress delivering the policy framework set out in Low Carbon Scotland: meeting the Emissions Reductions Targets 2010 - 2022, our first climate change Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP).

A draft budget summary document detailing spending supporting the delivery of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is available online here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/climatechange/climatechangefundingdocument. Copies have also been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 54423).

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-10910

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-10363 by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 October 2012, when the National Retrofit Programme will be in place.

Question reference: S4W-10875

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for clan gathering events in the Year of Homecoming.

Ancestry is one of five key themes underpinning the Year of Homecoming in 2014. The Scottish Government and the Homecoming Team at VisitScotland are working to engage with the domestic and international clan audience in the year and particularly in relation to the ancestry theme. Of particular note is work the Scottish Government and the Homecoming Team are doing with partners including Stirling Council and the National Trust for Scotland in relation to the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014. This will be a key event in the Homecoming Scotland programme and a centrepiece of Stirling Council's 'Stirling 2014' celebrations. The event will include (i) a battle re-enactment, the largest ever hosted at the memorial battlefield; (ii) a tented clan village; and (iii) weaponry and falconry displays; and an authentic campsite. In addition to the Bannockburn re-enactment weekend, the Homecoming Team is also working with the Scottish Highland Games Association to help them use 2014 to support and extend the appeal of Highland Games to reach and engage clan homelands across the whole of Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-01501

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance Historic Scotland provides to support and regenerate conservation areas.

Question reference: S4W-10860

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-10318 by Keith Brown on 31 October 2012, whether it will provide a breakdown of the amounts payable for the (a) operating grant, (b) fuel grant, (c) start-up costs and (d) redundancy payments.

Question reference: S4W-10862

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-10318 by Keith Brown on 31 October 2012, whether the additional costs of works have been factored into the lease payments from Argyll Ferries Limited to David MacBrayne Limited.