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-10642

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 16 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how much legal aid was paid to lawyers to represent asylum seekers in each year since April 2008.

The figures given are for advice and assistance and legal aid. They include payments for legal fees to solicitors, advocates and solicitor advocates and for other expenditure such as translators and expert witnesses. The separation into immigration cases and asylum cases is not entirely reliable, since there is an element of overlap between the categories and the figures depend on reporting by solicitors. Asylum was only introduced as a separate category in 2008, so the increase in that number may be affected by increased familiarity by solicitors with the categorisation.

Fin Year	Description	Total Paid (inc vat)
	Immigration	£3,346,023
	Asylum seekers	£447,350
Total 2008-09		£3,793,372
	Immigration	£3,317,381
	Asylum seekers	£1,086,045
Total 2009-10		£4,403,426
	Immigration	£3,308,238
	Asylum seekers	£1,787,614
Total 2010-11		£5,095,851
	Immigration	£2,946,542
	Asylum seekers	£2,177,800
Total 2011-12		£5,124,342

Question reference: S4W-10651

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-03885 by Fiona Hyslop on 7 November 2011, what evidence the cabinet secretary used to support the assertions that an independent Scotland would (a) not be forced into adopting the euro and (b) continue to be a member of the EU on the same basis as the rest of the UK.

Since the publication in November 2009 of Your Scotland, Your Voice - which clearly sets out Scottish Ministers’ views on an independent Scotland’s position within the EU and on the Euro - we have repeatedly referred to the views of a range of legal, constitutional and European experts in support of our views. In addition I would refer the member to the comments of the Deputy First Minister on 23 October 2012 which categorically states the Scottish Government position on these issues.

Question reference: S4O-01506

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the A1, A7 and the A68 roads in the Scottish Borders.

Question reference: S4W-10641

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many wind farm development applications it has (a) approved and (b) rejected since 2007, broken down by local authority.

Under s36 of The Electricity Act, Scottish Ministers have determined 35 wind farm applications since 2007. Of these, 29 applications were consented and six were rejected.

This list, by planning authority, is as a follows.

Name of Development	Tech	MW	Decision Made	PLI?	Decison	PA
Clashindarroch	Onshore Wind	129	10-09-2007	Y	Rejected	Aberdeenshire
Mid Hill	Onshore Wind	75	10-01-2008	N	Consented	Aberdeenshire
Carraig Gheal	Onshore Wind	60	13-06-2008	N	Consented	Argyll and Bute
Black Craig	Onshore Wind	69	22-03-2011	Y	Consented	Dumfries & Galloway
Harestanes	Onshore Wind	213	10-09-2007	Y	Consented	Dumfries and Galloway
Kyle	Onshore Wind	255	24-10-2008	N	Rejected	East Ayrshire
Whitelee Extension Phase 1	Onshore Wind	130	20-05-2009	N	Consented	East Ayrshire
Whitelee Extension Phase 2	Onshore Wind	141	11-12-2009	N	Consented	East Ayrshire
Crystal Rig Phase II(a)	Onshore Wind	27	29-07-2008	N	Consented	East Lothian
Galawhistle	Onshore Wind	55	08-08-2012	N	Consented	EasyAyshire-South Lanarkshire
Gordonbush	Onshore Wind	87.5	09-04-2008	N	Consented	Highland
Millennium	Onshore Wind	15	07-08-2009	N	Consented	Highland
Kilbraur Extension	Onshore Wind	20	14-09-2009	N	Consented	Highland
Baillie	Onshore Wind	52.5	12-01-2010	Y	Consented	Highland
Dunmaglass	Onshore Wind	99	29-12-2010	N	Consented	Highland
Strathy North	Onshore Wind	80.5	22-11-2011	N	Consented	Highland
Lochluichart	Onshore Wind	51	22-12-2008	N	Consented	Highland
Spittal Hill	Onshore Wind	77.5	13-06-2012	Y	Rejected	Highland Council
Lochluichart Extension	Onshore Wind	18	02-10-2012	N	Consented	Highland Council
Greenock	Onshore Wind	59	03-08-2007	Y	Rejected	Inverclyde
Berry Burn	Onshore Wind	78.3	07-08-2009	N	Consented	Moray
Rothes Extension	Onshore Wind	45	12-01-2010	N	Consented	Moray
Doronell	Onshore Wind	177	28-12-2011	Y	Consented	Moray
Black Law	Onshore Wind	69	22-03-2011	N	Consented	N.Lanarkshire & W. Lothian
Calliacher	Onshore Wind	62.1	10-09-2007	Y	Rejected	Perth and Kinross
Griffin	Onshore Wind	204	31-01-2008	Y	Consented	Perth and Kinross
Fallago Rig	Onshore Wind	144	09-11-2010	Y	Consented	Scottish Borders Council
Viking	Onshore Wind	457	04-04-2012	N	Consented	Shetland Islands
Stornoway	Onshore Wind	126	07-09-2012	N	Consented	Shetland Islands
Mark Hill	Onshore Wind	84	25-06-2008	N	Consented	South Ayrshire
Arecleoch	Onshore Wind	180	25-06-2008	N	Consented	South Ayrshire-Dumfries and Galloway
Clyde	Onshore Wind	548	21-07-2008	Y	Consented	South Lanarkshire
Lewis	Onshore Wind	652	21-04-2008	N	Rejected	Western Isles
Muaitheabhal	Onshore Wind	118.8	14-01-2010	Y	Consented	Western Isles
Muaitheabhal East Extension	Onshore Wind	21.6	28-12-2011	N	Consented	Western Isles

Question reference: S4W-10265

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by David Stewart on 7 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how the Business Information Technology (BIT) office processes its customer feedback emails.

Question reference: S4W-10024

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many drug finds there were in each prison in each of the last 10 years, broken down by type of drug.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table illustrates the number of drug finds recorded in each year since 2002 broken down by establishment. SPS does not carry out analysis on substances found, and is not always advised of the outcomes of such analysis.

Establishment	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002
Aberdeen	49	98	108	139	89	53	49	41	36	49	68
Addiewell	339	297	275	233	0
Barlinnie	146	225	208	272	303	396	335	320	223	169	146
Cornton Vale	30	81	119	121	117	110	86	94	47	40	54
Dumfries	19	26	20	14	36	34	23	20	25	31	11
Edinburgh	151	213	255	250	316	226	211	261	238	287	213
Glenochil	63	117	134	132	133	148	117	118	101	81	124
Greenock	26	77	91	64	83	79	80	84	92	50	52
Inverness	20	6	12	21	14	13	16	2	0	0	1
Kilmarnock	160	225	194	195	298	253	307	218	175	132	86
Low Moss	53					26	64	114	90	63	71
SPS Open Estate	8	26	38	54	64	72	93	59	41	17	7
Perth	92	106	122	137	145	147	181	223	201	108	94
Peterhead	17	0	1	0	2	6	12	1	3	2	2
Polmont	46	116	89	124	135	120	113	161	167	55	71
Shotts	103	95	121	109	113	96	132	128	72	52	31
Totals	1322	1708	1787	1865	1848	1779	1819	1844	1511	1134	1031

Notes:

HMP Addiewell opened December 2008

HMP Low Moss Closed April 2007 – re-opening March 2012

2012 figures recorded up to 30 September 2012.

Question reference: S4W-10023

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 11 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many crimes have been recorded in each of the last 10 years, broken down by type of offence.

Question reference: S4W-09588

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that an independent Scotland would automatically be a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Question reference: S4W-09589

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that an independent Scotland would automatically be a member of the UN Security Council.

Question reference: S4W-09414

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 13 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many accidents there have been on the (a) dualled and (b) undualled sections of the A1 between Dunbar and the border with England in each year since 2002, broken down by severity of accident.

The accident data (personal injury accidents) for the period 1 January 2002 to 16 April 2012 is provided in the following tables divided into dual carriageway and single carriageway. Transport Scotland analyses the safety performance of the trunk road network using a database of injury accidents compiled by Scotland’s Police forces. This is the most reliable and consistent evidenced data available, and is collated and analysed on an annual basis for each full calendar year.

A1 Trunk Road (Dunbar to Border) Accidents 1 January 2002 to 16 April 2012 Dual Carriageway

Year	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2002	1	1	2	4
2003	0	2	0	2
2004	0	2	5	7
2005	1	2	8	11
2006	0	0	1	1
2007	0	1	3	4
2008	0	0	2	2
2009	0	1	6	7
2010	0	1	2	3
2011	0	0	2	2
2012*	0	0	1	1
Total	2	10	32	44

A1 Trunk Road (Dunbar to Border) Accidents 1 January 2002 to 16 April 2012 Single Carriageway

Year	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2002	0	3	9	12
2003	0	2	11	13
2004	0	2	4	6
2005	4	5	12	21
2006	0	2	10	12
2007	3	2	7	12
2008	0	1	11	12
2009	0	4	13	17
2010	3	1	8	12
2011	0	2	10	12
2012*	0	1	0	1
Total	10	25	95	130

Note: *2012 stats are not fully complete to 16 April 2012 for the police force and are subject to change on submission of further datasets.

The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere due to being extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, e.g. due to late returns or corrections.

The accident rate for the single carriageway sections of the A1 between Dunbar and Border is 15.61 accidents per 100 million vehicle kilometres (100mvk) against the national average of 19.4 accidents per 100mvk. The accident rate for the dual carriageway sections of the A1 between Dunbar and Border is 11.99 accidents per 100 million vehicle kilometres (100mvk) against the national average of 7.8 accidents per 100mvk.