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: S4O-03884

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2015
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Ayrshire and Arran and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S4O-03845

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what road improvements in North Ayrshire are planned over the next five years.

Question reference: S4W-22824

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 6 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what framework it uses to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of amenity housing.

Question reference: S4W-22826

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the (a) remit and (b) membership of the West of Scotland Oil and Gas Workshop.

Scottish Government officials are in discussion with Heriot-Watt University’s School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society; the Natural Environment Research Council and the oil and gas industry, regarding the delivery of the West of Scotland Oil and Gas Workshop.

The workshop will be held in the spring of 2015. This allows for the findings of the UK Government’s fiscal review to be announced and for the establishment of the new Oil and Gas Authority to be finalised. Both are critical in helping to increase exploration activity.

Attendees will be confirmed nearer the time, but invitations will be extended to experts in petroleum geology from both industry and academia, along with bodies including the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the British Geological Survey.

Question reference: S4W-22827

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-03535 by Angela Constance on 25 September 2014 (Official Report, c.4), whether it will confirm how many high-skilled, high-quality jobs will be secured in West Scotland as a result of the so-called new oil boom, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding this matter.

The Scottish Government is committed to maximising the economic recovery of oil and gas and ensuring that the total value of the sector is maximised both for the economy and society as a whole.

The sector is facing a number of issues at the moment, not least the unpredictable and uncertain fiscal regime that has seen numerous changes over the past decade. I recently wrote to George Osborne recommending the findings from the Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas as evidence for the UK Government fiscal review for the oil and gas sector.

With exploration at unsustainably low levels, largely due to the UK Government’s unpredictable tax regime, the Scottish Government is doing what it can to encourage exploration.

We announced a West of Scotland Oil and Gas Workshop earlier this year, to be co-hosted with Heriot-Watt University’s Institute of Petroleum Engineering. Supporting exploration and recovery will ensure that Scotland continues to benefit, not least through the creation of high quality jobs.

The Scottish Government believes that devolution of the oil and gas fiscal regime would maximise the economic return from the sector and we have set out our position in More Powers for the Scottish Parliament.

Recent announcements, including that of Heriot-Watt University’s low-salinity water injection indicate that that there is a positive future for oil and gas in Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-03667

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2014
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on EDF’s application to SEPA that would allow it to transport intermediate-level radioactive waste from other sites to Hunterston to be stored.

Question reference: S4O-03649

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 5 November 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism has had with EDF regarding its application to transport radioactive waste to Hunterston for storage.

Question reference: S4W-22825

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2014
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 October 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the cost of the independence referendum.

When the referendum legislation was introduced to Parliament in 2013 the Scottish Government estimated the cost to be around £13.7 million. The final total will not be known until all claims and invoices have been finally settled in early 2015.

The financial memorandum which was published alongside the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill provides a breakdown of estimated costs. The financial memorandum estimated that the cost of delivering and regulating the referendum would be around £13.3 million. Costs associated with extending the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds were estimated at around £440,000.

The financial memorandum can be accessed at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/61076.aspx

Question reference: S4O-03557

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what figures it has on the closure of museums and libraries over the last five years.

Question reference: S4O-03535

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote high skilled, high quality jobs in the West Scotland region.