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: S5W-00142

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy is to be published more than one month later than in previous years, on 31 May 2016; when this decision was made; who made the decision, and what stakeholders were consulted.

Question reference: S5W-00116

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 2 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-30367 by Fergus Ewing on 22 March 2016, whether it will confirm what stakeholders it met, and on what dates these meetings took place.

The system of charges levied for use of electricity distribution networks is the responsibility of the independent regulator, Ofgem, who lead formal consultations on that matter. As referenced in the answer to question S4W-30367 on 23 March 2016, Ofgem published a report on regional differences in network charges in October 2015, which explains their rationale for the current cost-reflective charging framework.

Scottish Ministers have regular discussions with a range of stakeholders concerning all matters that affect energy costs and fuel poverty issues, including from time to time issues surrounding network charging. For example, ministers met with members of the Convention of the Highlands and Islands on 7 March 2015 and as an action arising from that meeting Ofgem and National Grid will be invited to brief members of the convention on network charging issues at the next meeting in the autumn.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5W-00159

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how the Minister for Transport and Islands calculated the £5 million to support island and rural produce pledged in the SNP Manifesto for the Islands.

Question reference: S5W-00160

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what produce in (a) Orkney, (b) Shetland and (c) the rest of Scotland will be supported from the £5 million investment to support island and rural produce pledged in the SNP Manifesto for the Islands.

Question reference: S5W-00161

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how it plans to spend the £5 million investment to support island and rural produce pledged in the SNP Manifesto for the Islands in (a) Orkney, (b) Shetland and (c) the rest of Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-00162

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce how it will spend the £5 million to support island and rural produce pledged in the SNP Manifesto for the Islands.

Question reference: S5W-00157

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will promote the £5 million investment to support island and rural produce pledged in the SNP Manifesto for the Islands to ensure that organisations, businesses and charities will receive support.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to support the food and drink industry, which has achieved great success in recent years. We will engage with key stakeholders, including businesses and organisations on how the £5 million investment fund can promote island, rural and regional food and drink produce, and support rural communities and the reputation and growth of the Scottish food and drink sector.

The Scottish Government has already committed £1.6 million to support local food and drink until June 2018 and £700,000 to support the seafood sector until March 2017. We also contribute to the £1 million per year core costs of the industry leadership body, Scotland Food and Drink, and are a contributor to the Scotland Food and Drink export plan.

There is a further £70 million of Scottish Government and EU support available over the period of 2014 to 2020 to support projects approved under the Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation Grants Scheme and up to 107 million euros under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to deliver on sustainable economic growth in the sea fisheries and aquaculture sectors (including data collection and compliance), and assist communities to deliver economic benefits during the transition phase of the common fisheries policy reform programme.

Question reference: S5W-00158

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what organisations, businesses and charities can do to ensure that they receive support from the £5 million investment to support island and rural produce pledged in the SNP Manifesto for the Islands.

Question reference: S5W-00114

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-30367 by Fergus Ewing on 17 March 2016, what its position is on the UK Government’s plan to deliver a UK-wide cost recovery mechanism for Shetland’s subsidy using the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme.

In March 2015, the UK Government confirmed that the full costs of the cross-subsidy for Shetland would be spread over Great Britain from the date at which the new energy solution for Shetland is implemented. This change will have the effect of reducing costs for all consumers in the North of Scotland and that is welcomed by Scottish Ministers. Further, in December 2015, the UK Government set out its intention to retain both the Hydro Benefit Replacement Scheme and the Common Tariff Obligation in their current form.

However, energy consumers in the North of Scotland will continue face some of the highest energy bills in Britain, with severe fuel poverty currently affecting many households in the Highlands and Islands. Regional differences in network charges are only one part of a range of complex issues underlying fuel poverty and we have commissioned the Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force to examine the issues around fuel poverty in rural areas and make recommendations. We look forward to a report of their findings and proposals later in 2016.

Question reference: S5W-00046

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported comment by Nicola Sturgeon in The Press and Journal on 6 April 2016 that "a re-elected SNP government will begin work immediately to look at how we can reduce fares for the northern isles and provide greater support to businesses and residents in Shetland and Orkney", what action it is taking to meet this commitment; on what date the new fares will be (a) announced and (b) introduced; whether each (i) service and (ii) ticket type will be subject to reduced fares; what the average annual saving will be for service users in (A) Orkney and (B) Shetland Islands, and what discussions it had had with (1) Serco NorthLink and (2) other stakeholders regarding the commitment.

In December 2015, Transport Scotland commissioned consultants to conduct a comprehensive study to inform the specification of the next Northern Isles ferry service contract, commencing in April 2018.

The study is being overseen by a working group of key stakeholders, including Orkney and Shetland Islands Councils, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, HITRANS and ZetTrans, and will report in late Summer 2016.

A wider consultation exercise with the public and other key stakeholders, including Serco Northlink, was conducted earlier this year, with a further round of consultation due in the coming months.

Fare levels are being considered as part of this study and decisions on future fare levels will be made in due course.

I have arranged to meet with the member to discuss this further.