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-06414

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 16 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how the procurement plan outlined in Scotland's Digital Future - Infrastructure Action Plan will impact on residents in so-called not-spots.

The procurement plan will outline how the Scottish Government will deliver its 2015 connectivity targets outlined in Scotland’s Digital Future - Infrastructure Action Plan – broadband at a speed of 40-80 Megabits per second (Mbps) to 85-90% of premises. We will also put in place measures to ensure an uplift in service can be delivered to the remaining 10-15% for whom delivery of broadband at this speed will not be possible. These measures may include funding for community broadband projects, as outlined in Programme 3 of the action plan. These targets apply to all of Scotland, including areas which are currently “not-spots”.

Question reference: S4O-00892

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the location of public displays of significant historical artefacts found in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-06123

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 09 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are working to (a) ascertain the effect on current (i) activity and (ii) jobs of the proposed marine protected area (MPA) sites in Shetland and (b) complete seabed surveys to help form the management plan in relation to decisions on these MPAs, and what the total projected cost is for these investigations.

(a) No MPA proposals have yet been finalised and the process for developing draft impact assessments on costs and benefits is still in development so the exact number of people who will be required and the associated costs for completing these assessments will not be clear until firmer scientific recommendations have been provided by our Statutory Nature Advisers. This applies not only to Shetland but to proposals for possible inclusion in the network as a whole.

(b)No specific MPA surveys have so far been commissioned for Shetland, although a survey was conducted near Fetlar by Marine Scotland Science. The data collected from this survey has been used to inform current work to identify possible MPA locations and complements data already available for Shetland’s seabed. The Fetlar survey work was conducted under the supervision of two members of SNH staff who work full-time on seabed surveys, of which this study was one of several they worked on in Scotland’s waters. The costs of analysing the data collected via this survey was £2,000. There are currently no plans for further MPA surveys around Shetland.

Question reference: S4O-00858

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on devolving the marine estate to local authorities and harbour boards.

Question reference: S4W-06070

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 14 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans for it to increase its awareness of the extent to which CS spray is used by police forces nationally.

Question reference: S4W-05972

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 14 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reinstate the Broadband Reach Project to subsidise the purchasing of satellites for coverage of so-called not-spots.

There are no plans to reinstate the Broadband Reach Project in its current form.

Scotland’s Digital Future: Infrastructure Action Plan published on 31 January 2012 sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment and the steps we will take to deliver world-class, future proofed digital infrastructure across all of Scotland by 2020, with an interim milestone of delivering an uplift in speeds for everyone by 2015. Our forthcoming procurement strategy will specify a technology-neutral approach with a mix of solutions that delivers 40-80 Mbps to 85-90% of premises and the best speeds possible for those where delivery of 40-80 Mbps is not achievable.

Question reference: S4W-06069

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 14 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to increase national awareness of the extent to which CS spray is used by police forces.

Question reference: S4W-05603

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 13 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals relating to inaccurate Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) land measurement fines there were at each of the (a) three stages of appeal procedure for each of the years from 2003 to 2008 and (b) two stages of appeal procedure for each of the years from 2009 to 2011.

The following table provides a breakdown of the requested figures by year. Please note that each appeal is only counted once i.e. if it proceeds to Stage 3 it is only recorded in that column.

Scheme Year

	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3 (Land Court)	Total for the Year
2003	2	2	1	5
2004	11	1	0	12
2005	39	5	0	44
2006	20	3	1	24
2007	15	2	0	17
2008	12	4	1	17
2009	6	4	0	10
2010	5	1 (Land Court)	No stage 3 for post-Nov 2009 procedure	6
2011	13	2 (Land Court)	No stage 3 for post-Nov 2009 procedure	15

Question reference: S4W-05600

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 13 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how many current Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) 2011 plans are being investigated regarding measurement of land, broken down by Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate area office.

We have selected 1,116 cases under the 2011 Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) for land-based inspections, which include measurement of land. Of these, there are a small number still to carry out. The breakdown by area office is as follows:

Office Name	Total
Ayr	104	4
Benbecula	80	0
Dumfries	34	2
Elgin	29	2
Galashiels	103	0
Golspie	21	1
Hamilton	38	0
Inverness	85	4
Inverurie	158	2
Kirkwall	58	0
Lerwick	44	2
Oban	88	2
Perth	154	0
Portree	24	0
Stornoway	47	3
Thurso	49	0
Total	1,116	22

Question reference: S4W-05601

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 13 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what pressure the European Commission is bringing to bear on the Scottish Government in relation to land measurement under the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) of croft and farm areas.

The European Commission requires all EU member states to maintain a Land Parcel Information System (LPIS) for all land parcels that are involved in a claim for subsidy under the Common Agricultural Policy. This is part of its Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS). All IACS elements, including LPIS, are subject to checks by both national and EC auditors. In addition, since 2010 all member state LPIS systems are subject to a statutory annual Quality Assessment based on a set of criteria defined by the European Commission Joint Research Centre.