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: S3W-11163

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 23 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the specific schemes recommended in the A82 Tarbet to Fort William Route Action Plan should be considered as the first phase of a strategic programme of works to steadily improve the A82 towards a standard appropriate for the 21st century.

Question reference: S3W-11498

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 23 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive which planning applications for new developments designated as being at a high risk of flooding have been declined by its reporter in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S3W-11497

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 23 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on development in an area designated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency as being at a high risk of flooding.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency flood map shows an estimate of the areas of Scotland with a 0.5% (1:200) or greater probability of being flooded in any given year. Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 7 “ Planning and Flooding characterises areas within this range as having a medium to high risk of flooding. The Scottish Government''s planning policy on development in these areas is set out in the SPP, the central purpose of which is to prevent further development which would have a significant probability of being affected by flooding or which would increase the probability of flooding elsewhere.

Question reference: S3W-11499

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 23 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive which planning applications for new developments designated as being at a high risk of flooding have been approved by its reporter in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S3W-11487

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a flood guide booklet will incorporate a pull-out guide giving practical advice and help following a flood emergency to ensure that various types of financial and personal support are publicised.

The Scottish Government has no plans to publish a flood guide booklet. Responders, as designated under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, are required to provide advice to the general public. A number of local authorities have produced flood-specific information relevant to their local area that signpost information on financial and personal support available. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency will also publish flood-specific information for the public.

Question reference: S3W-11511

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 22 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority has received specifically for flood defences in each of the last eight years, broken down by (a) a per capita basis and (b) miles of coastline.

Under the 1961 act, each local authority received funding for flood prevention schemes based on the cost of the scheme. The grant payments made to each local authority for flood prevention schemes in each of the last eight years is shown in the following table. The population figures are for 2006. Length of coastline by local authority is not held centrally.

Year	Council	Population	Amount	Amount Per Capita
1999-2000	Highland	215,310	23,577.61	0.11
	Perth and Kinross	140,190	4,550,454.95	32.46
			4,574,032.56
2000-01	Perth and Kinross	140,190	2,964,556.19	21.15
	Fife	358,390	28,523.24	0.08
	Renfrewshire	169,590	170,272.30	1.00
			3,163,351.73
2001-02	Perth and Kinross	140,190	439,393.40	3.13
	Renfrewshire	169,590	803,497.76	4.74
	East Dunbartonshire	105,460	2,764,584.78	26.21
	Inverclyde	81,540	100,396.04	1.23
	Fife	358,390	50,115.91	0.14
			4,157,987.89
2002-03	Renfrewshire	169,590	812,343.45	4.79
	East Dunbartonshire	105,460	1,949,928.05	18.49
	Inverclyde	81,540	39,117.70	0.48
	Perth and Kinross	140,190	1,962,627.53	14.00
	Aberdeenshire	236,250	204,969.81	0.87
	North Ayrshire	135,490	150,083.78	1.11
			5,119,070.32
2003-04	North Ayrshire	135,490	321,907.77	2.38
	Inverclyde	81,540	15,501.53	0.19
	Argyll and Bute	91,390	250,499.85	2.74
	East Ayrshire	119,290	2,131,814.72	17.87
	Aberdeenshire	236,250	33,100.83	0.14
	Renfrewshire	169,590	274,149.54	1.62
	Perth and Kinross	140,190	1,846,224.78	13.17
	East Dunbartonshire	105,460	250000	2.37
	Aberdeen	206,880	150000	0.73
	West Lothian	165,700	350000	2.11
			5,623,199.02
2004-05	West Lothian	165,700	215,758.61	1.30
	Argyll and Bute	91,390	854,498.80	9.35
	East Ayrshire	119,290	2,506,633.81	21.01
	Aberdeen	206,880	93,315.00	0.45
	Dumfries and Galloway	148,030	559,530.60	3.78
	Renfrewshire	169,590	29,294.40	0.17
	Moray	86,750	1,097,253.36	12.65
	North Ayrshire	135,490	22,938.10	0.17
	Perth and Kinross	140,190	612,747.26	4.37
	East Dunbartonshire	105,460	414000	3.93
	Edinburgh City	463,510	1400000	3.02
			7,805,969.94
2005-06	East Dunbartonshire	105,460	1,366,337.15	12.96
	Dumfries and Galloway	148,030	78,423.61	0.53
	East Ayrshire	119,290	534,338.86	4.48
	Argyll and Bute	91,390	228,135.82	2.50
	Moray	86,750	756,844.13	8.72
	Edinburgh City	463,510	1,030,697.43	2.22
	Aberdeen	206,880	27000	0.13
	Perth and Kinross	140,190	487459	3.48
	West Lothian	165,700	199000	1.20
			4,708,236.00
2006-07	East Dunbartonshire	105,460	145,834.89	1.38
	Moray	86,750	455,565.33	5.25
	Perth and Kinross	140,190	770,696.48	5.50
	West Lothian	165,700	4,221.77	0.03
	Dumfries and Galloway	148,030	19,628.52	0.13
	Edinburgh City	463,510	2,201,431.19	4.75
	Glasgow City	580,690	2,739,077.99	4.72
	South Lanarkshire	307,670	520,861.00	1.69
	Fife	358,390	966200	2.70
	East Ayrshire	119,290	1215181	10.19
			9,038,698.17
2007-08*	Perth and Kinross	140,190	39,045.12	0.28
	East Ayrshire	119,290	5,829,549.22	48.87
	South Lanarkshire	307,670	836,545.93	2.72
	Fife	358,390	596,834.37	1.67
	West Lothian	165,700	447,610.98	2.70
	Moray	86,750	2,705,177.42	31.18
	North Ayrshire	135,490	152,703.32	1.13
	Falkirk	149,680	319,080.03	2.13
	Edinburgh City	463,510	7,022,590.92	15.15
			17,949,137.31

Note: *Payments to 26 March 2008

Question reference: S3W-11494

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what preparations are in place to ensure that the roles and objectives of those in central government charged with the responsibility of recovery planning from flooding are agreed.

Recovery planning is primarily a matter for local responders, to whom the Scottish Government will provide appropriate support. Scottish Government guidance to responders on preparing for emergencies, Preparing Scotland, will be enhanced by a chapter on recovery from emergencies. It is anticipated that the guidance will be prepared this year. The guidance will cover management, roles and responsibilities for the complexity of co-ordinating long-term recovery from emergencies. It will examine personal and community recovery and its various aspects including community engagement, economic recovery, rebuilding social capital, personal support and welfare.

Question reference: S3W-11502

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 17 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what actions it is taking in light of climate change and warnings of serious flood risk across Scotland.

The implications of climate change for Scotland are significant. Future climate scenarios produced by the UK Climate Impacts Programme (2002), available at www.ukcip.org.uk, suggest that during the 21st century Scotland''s climate will become wetter and stormier. The Scottish Government is acting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the development of the Scottish Climate Change Bill which will, among other things, give statutory force to our commitment to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050. In addition to the bill, we are also addressing the unavoidable impacts of climate change Scotland is already experiencing and will continue to experience over coming decades due to historic emissions, through the development of Scotland''s first climate change adaptation strategy.

The Scottish Government is currently funding the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to develop a national flood warning dissemination system for Scotland. The flood warning dissemination system is a means for SEPA to issue flood warning messages direct to the general public and businesses. At present SEPA issue warnings on a formal basis to police and local authorities depending on the local arrangements. SEPA publish these messages on the Floodline system which everyone can access. However, this is a passive system. The planned flood warning dissemination system will be a step forward to an active system and aims to transmit warnings via email, telephone, SMS, fax etc. The project started in April 2008.

Question reference: S3W-11492

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 16 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for the Environment would chair any flood recovery co-ordinating team.

There are no standing arrangements for a flood recovery co-ordinating team, as the existing emergency committee structures are designed to be flexible and adaptable for a range of emergencies. Any decision to set up such a team would depend on the extent and range of impact of any flooding incident, the expectations and wishes of Scottish ministers, and the actual activity required of Scottish Government. This decision would be taken by the Cabinet sub-committee (SEER), on which both the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment sit. This ministerial group would advise, depending on the nature of the impact, which minister would be best placed to chair these arrangements.

Question reference: S3W-11495

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 16 April 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive when the last emergency flood planning training and exercise was held (a) centrally and (b) in each local authority area.

Responsibility for local emergency preparedness is a matter for those responders specified as having a legal duty to prepare for emergencies under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Accordingly, whilst the Scottish Government provides support to responders in developing exercises, there is no centralised record of local civil contingencies exercises.

At a national level, the Scottish Government oversees a national programme of exercises to address a range of risks. A Scottish-level extreme weather exercise is planned for 2009.