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-08492

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget has been for the Islay goose management scheme in each year of operation and what its annual budget will be in future.

The budget and expenditure figures for the Islay Local Goose Management Scheme are set out in the following table.

Year	Approved Expenditure	Actual Expenditure	Expenditure on Marksmen/ Scaring Equipment
2000-01	£569,000	£637,000	(1)
2001-02	£542,000	£611,000	(1)
2002-03	£542,000	£638,000	(1)
2003-04	£542,000	£630,000	(1)
2004-05	£542,000	£626,000	(1)
2005-06	£785,270	£763,000	£41,200
2006-07	£785,270	£717,000	£27,500
2007-08	£785,270	£727,000	£27,500
2008-09	£903,000	£897,000	£27,500
2009-10	£903,000	£910,000	£27,500
2010-11	£903,000	£897,000	£27,500
2011-12	£710,000	£708,000	£25,000
2012-13	£843,258	(2)	£25,000
2013-14	£843,258	(2)	£25,000
2014-15	£843,258	(2)	£25,000

Notes:

1. For the 2000 to 2005 scheme the budget includes marksmen and scaring equipment costs.

2. Future budget set out in revised proposal of 5 July 2012.

Question reference: S4W-08495

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive, other than the goose management scheme, what action it will take to address concerns of crofters and farmers on Islay regarding damage to crops and pasture caused by geese.

Scottish ministers recognise that growing populations of geese are now creating considerable problems for farmers in some areas. The National Goose Management Review Group is working with local communities and NFU Scotland to develop adaptive management approaches that will aim to limit populations of species such as greylag geese to a specified level. A pilot adaptive management approach to the greylag geese on Islay, designed to prevent the expansion of this population, should commence shortly.

Question reference: S4W-08493

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to any concerns among Islay crofters and farmers about reductions in the budget of the Islay goose management scheme.

Scottish ministers recognise that crofters and farmers on Islay face substantial pressures dealing with the impact on crops and pasture from high numbers of geese. The National Goose Management Review Group (NGMRG) has worked hard to provide additional funding and this is reflected in the revised proposal to the Islay Local Goose Management Group of 5 July, which represents a 29% increase on the original budget for this year.

Question reference: S4W-08494

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the number of geese on Islay in recent years, broken down by species.

The following tables detail the peak counts¹ for Greenland barnacle geese and Greenland white-fronted geese between 2000 and 2012 and greylag geese between 2005 and 2011².

Year	Barnacles	Whitefronts
2000-01	38,022	14,096
2001-02	35,213	12,261
2002-03	36,478	12,473
2003-04	39,704	10,738
2004-05	45,123	8,244
2005-06	49,652	8,360
2006-07	60,945	7,902
2007-08	49,261	7,616
2008-09	48,290	8,590
2009-10	50,145	7,262
2010-11	49,918	8,027
2011-12	56,961	5,536

Year	Greylag Geese
2005	475
2006	No information available
2007	1,800
2008	1,600
2009	2,100
2010	2,631
2011	1,900-2,100

Notes:

1. The method of reporting count totals to the National Goose Management Review Group (NGMRG) was changed in 2005 from an average count to a peak count. To enable comparison the 2000 and 2005 counts have been amended to reflect the peak count.

2. The 2011 count was disrupted due to weather and the range provided represents an estimate.

Question reference: S4W-08299

Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the new chair of the Crofting Commission and what its response is to any concerns about the time taken to make this appointment.

The competitive interview process for appointment of the Convener of the Crofting Commission is underway but not yet completed. The Scottish Government recognises that a convener should be in place as soon as the necessary processes permit, and is working towards appointing the convener as soon as possible. In the meantime we are pleased that the Board of the Crofting Commission has instituted interim arrangements.

The Scottish Government is determined to ensure that an equal opportunity is given to each applicant, and that the best candidate is appointed. This necessitates taking the time required to guarantee a fair, open and transparent appointment process, in line with the Public Appointments Commissioner for Scotland’s Code of Practice.

Question reference: S4W-08554

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

To ask the Scottish Government whether its public service obligation contract with Argyll Ferries for a passenger-only service between Gourock and Dunoon allows it to (a) provide additional funding to Argyll Ferries (i) for operational requirements and (ii) in order to acquire replacement vessels and (b) vary the terms of the contract.

Question reference: S4W-08557

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

To ask the Scottish Government whether Argyll Ferries has met the terms of its public service obligation contract for a passenger-only service between Gourock and Dunoon in the last 12 months.

Under the terms of its contract with the Scottish Ministers, Argyll Ferries Ltd (AFL) is required to provide timetabled ferry services between the town centres of Gourock and Dunoon. The contract levies penalties for any sailings which are not undertaken, other than those outside the control of the operator, principally weather conditions.

In the early months of the contract, there was an unacceptable level of cancellations and delays for technical reasons. These have now been addressed. In the first quarter of the contract (July-September 2011), technical reliability was 97.9% and punctuality was 89.1%. During the last quarter (April-June 2012), both had risen to over 99%. These figures do not include cancellations for weather or for other reasons outside the control of the operator.

In December 2011, in response to the early operational problems, we instructed AFL to produce an Improvement Plan for the services. This has been produced and is being implemented.

AFL is delivering the services specified by the contract and continue to take steps to improve their operation.

Question reference: S4W-08561

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

To ask the Scottish Government when the tender process for routes operated by CalMac Ferries will begin.

Question reference: S4W-08559

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

To ask the Scottish Government what annual subsidy is payable to Argyll Ferries in respect of the six-year public service obligation contract for a passenger-only service between Gourock and Dunoon.

Please see the information in the following table:-

Contract year (July-June)	Grant (£)	Fuel Cost (£)
2011-12	1,166,626	436,197
2012-13	1,215,330	tbc
2013-14	1,417,344	tbc
2014-15	1,427,512	tbc
2015-16	1,428,332	tbc
2016-17	1,473,386	tbc

In addition, Argyll Ferries Ltd received £141,991 in start-up costs in Year 1.

Fuel costs, for a quantity of fuel fixed by the contract, are determined around the start of each contract year in line with the price at that time.

Question reference: S4W-08560

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

To ask the Scottish Government what subsidy payments were made to Argyll Ferries in respect of the public service obligation contract for a passenger-only service between Gourock and Dunoon between July 2011 and June 2012.