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-16812

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the hydraulic fracturing process (fracking) being carried out offshore and what information it has on whether there are any plans for this and, if so, (a) where and (b) whether licences have been issued.

The UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change routinely issue Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDL) in competitive offerings (License Rounds) across the UK which grant exclusivity to operators in the license area.

These licenses can cover offshore and onshore areas but do not give consent for drilling to take place. Operators who are awarded such licenses are still required to obtain planning permissions and a suite of other licenses and permits before any exploration or development work can be carried out.

The Scottish Government strongly endorses the appropriate and robust regulation of drilling techniques such as hydraulic fracturing (fracking) associated with the extraction of shale gas.

Hydraulic Fracturing is a drilling technique usually associated with the extraction of gas from shale rock. Companies wishing to use this technique need to follow a rigorous permitting regime which requires approval from the UK DECC, from the HSE and from SEPA.

Drilling activities are tightly regulated in the UK and in Scotland and drilling operations which propose hydraulic fracturing techniques require an added layer of permissions in the form of a licence under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (CAR license).

CAR licenses are a conditioned license within which, strict parameters and instructions are applied to operational activities including detailed monitoring systems and reporting regimes which must be adhered to prior to commencing drilling, whilst drilling and after drilling.

There are no live applications which propose the use of hydraulic fracturing in Scotland at this time.

Question reference: S4O-02488

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for pensions in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-02471

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it can provide to low-income commuters who will depend on the Borders railway line.

Question reference: S4W-17304

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the compensation procedures for self-employed members of a jury.

Question reference: S4W-17305

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 2 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to remove (a) religious and (b) medical professionals from the list of "persons excusable from jury service as of right".

Question reference: S4W-16813

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the hydraulic fracturing process (fracking).

Question reference: S4O-02137

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage over-25s who are unemployed to pursue further education.

Question reference: S4O-02085

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Question reference: S4W-14518

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what targets it expects Registers of Scotland to achieve in 2013-14.

Scottish Ministers have set the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland the financial targets of achieving:

A 3% cash-releasing efficiency saving; and an increase in Register of Scotland’s commercial income of 5%. In addition, the Keeper has set the following service standards:

Where it is in the Keeper’s power, legally appropriate and not subject to an individual agreement with the applicant:

1	Record new Land Register applications on the application record	Within 1 working day
2	Process ARTL applications	Within 24 hours
3	Process CAJR applications	Within 3 working days
4	Process Crofting Register applications	Within 3 working days
5	Process Sasines applications	Within 20 working days
6	Register Dealings of Whole (DW’s) Those DWs that are dependent on prior or same date First Registrations and TPs will be delivered to their Service Standards.	Within 30 working days
7	Register Standard First Registrations (FR) Those FRs that have had pre-work carried out.	Within 40 working days
8	Register Other First Registrations Those FRs that have had no pre-work carried out. Those FRs that are dependent on TP applications will be delivered to their Service Standard.	Within 6 months
9	Register pre-31 December 2012 Transfer of Parts by 30 September 2013	This target is carried forward from the 2012-15 Corporate Plan
10	Register Transfer of Parts from 1 October 2013	Within 9 months
11	Process customer enquiries	Within 5 working days
12	Increase our Public Service Quality Index rating from 72 to 74.
13	Complete 98.5% or more of registrations, over a 12 month rolling period, without corrective action.

Question reference: S4O-02065

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it expects the increase in air passenger duty to have on the coming tourist season.