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-14067

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has explored the possibility of Highlands and Islands Enterprise supplying a European Fisheries Fund bridging loan when payment schedules are disrupted.

Discussions regularly take place with the Enterprise Networks regarding the delivery of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) programme in Scotland, which already operates with match funding through the Scottish Government and the enterprise networks.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise have no plans to establish bridging loan arrangements for EFF beneficiaries. A bridging loan from a public body would constitute a State aid with grant equivalence which would count towards the aid awarded to the applicant, and therefore reduce overall assistance.

Question reference: S4O-02046

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will bring forward proposals to amend the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 to allow owner-occupier decrofting.

Question reference: S4W-14015

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13606 by Humza Yousaf on 27 March 2013, what grades of civil servants are permitted to engage in dialogue with government officials from (a) Qatar and (b) Argentina.

Question reference: S4W-14014

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13606 by Humza Yousaf on 27 March 2013, how many civil servants are permitted to engage in dialogue with government officials from (a) Qatar and (b) Argentina.

Question reference: S4W-13894

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 17 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether its officials attend the Crofting Commission board meetings in any capacity and, if so, on what dates they have done so in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

Scottish Government officials attended the Crofting Commission board meetings on 3 April 2012, 17 May 2012 and 2 November 2012 in an advisory sponsorship capacity; on 6 September 2012 to inform the Crofting Commission on crofting grant schemes administered by the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division; and on 6 March 2013 to discuss the issue of decrofting by owner-occupier crofters and other general sponsorship issues.

Question reference: S4W-13561

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are working on its workstreams supporting constitutional reform, also broken down by (a) grade and (b) workstream.

As part of their normal duties, civil servants provide support on relevant aspects of the Scottish Government’s work. Staff contribute to constitutional policy development from within their own subject areas as and when required.

The amount of time staff spend contributing to the workstreams varies widely from week to week, and we do not routinely record this information, as we have no business need for it. The most recent published information on this subject is in the form of a response to an FOI request available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/constitution/About/Workstreams.

Question reference: S4W-13563

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants for whom it is not their full-time role are involved in its workstreams supporting constitutional reform.

Question reference: S4W-13565

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on hiring external advisors or consultants as part of its work on constitutional reform.

Question reference: S4W-13564

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 16 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many external advisors or experts it has consulted as part of its work on constitutional reform.

The Scottish Government is consulting a wide range of experts as we develop our proposals for a prosperous, fairer, independent Scotland. These include the eminent members of the Fiscal Commission Working Group (including two Nobel prize-winners) and the Expert Working Group on Welfare. Further information can be found on the Scottish Government website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/Council-Economic-Advisers/FCWG and http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/welfarereform/EXPERTWORKINGGROUPONWELFARE/Membership.

Since the initiation of the National Conversation on the future of Scotland, significant contributions have been received from experts, academics, journalists and think tanks on a range of subjects such as fiscal autonomy, energy and the environment, and Scotland in the world.

Question reference: S4W-14122

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 16 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had and with whom regarding the appointment of a mediator for talks on international fish quotas since November 2012.

I first suggested the idea of an international mediator in January 2013 in recognition of the fact that the current approach to the mackerel negotiations, clearly isn’t working. I had initial discussions with Maria Damanaki and Simon Coveney at the January Fisheries Council meeting and subsequently have written to them both setting out my thinking in more detail. The European Commission has held a technical (official level) meeting to discuss the idea further and this was attended by a senior Marine Scotland official. I have also written to Richard Benyon and Michelle O’Neill to outline my idea and ask for their support.