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-00165

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of farmers has received (a) 100%, (b) 90% and (c) 80% of their single farm payment entitlement.

From 2015, the single farm payment has been replaced by the Basic Payment Scheme and Greening Scheme. The member therefore asks about a scheme which no longer exists.

Assuming the question relates to Pillar 1 payments, at 18 May 2016, 82% of eligible businesses had received a first instalment payment from the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme.

First instalment payments equate to 75% of a farmer or crofters total Basic Payment Scheme entitlement and 90% of their greening payment entitlement.

Question reference: S5O-00002

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that operations scheduled by NHS boards go ahead as planned.

Question reference: S4W-30510

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how the need to conserve biodiversity and other environmental assets was taken into account in the commissioning and preparation of the report, Economic Opportunities of Renewable Energy for Scottish Island Communities, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The independent research study Economic Opportunities of Renewable Energy for Scottish Island Communities prepared by Baringa and published by the Scottish Government on 7 March 2016 shows that Scotland’s island economies could benefit from up to £725 million over the next 25 years from renewables projects. Scottish islands have some of the best renewable energy resources in Europe – from wind, wave and tidal and the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland have the potential to supply up to five per cent of total electricity demand in the GB market by 2030.

The report was commissioned following a meeting of the Island Areas Ministerial Working Group on 8 July 2015. The working group requested an up-to-date study to of the challenges and implications of poor grid connections for the islands and the economic opportunities of improved electricity grid connections to the mainland. The terms of reference of the study focused the assessment on the potential (i) level of renewable deployment (ii) community ownership revenues, (iii) community benefit from renewable development, (iv) carbon reductions that could accompany renewable deployment on the islands, (v) increases in revenue to communities if grid constraints were alleviated and (vi) local economic impacts of deploying renewable and transmission projects on the islands.

It is widely accepted that biodiversity is under increasing threat from global warming and that a transition to a low carbon economy must play a central role in global action to mitigate this threat. The report found that the deployment of island renewables could make a significant contribution towards Scottish and UK renewable energy targets and has the potential to reduce emissions on the Scottish islands by around 2,700 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide by 2040 on a cumulative basis.

Question reference: S4W-30511

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the conservation of biodiversity and other environmental assets is highlighted and fully integrated into any future Scottish Government action relating to the analysis provided by the report, Economic Opportunities of Renewable Energy for Scottish Island Communities, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S4W-29600

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS patients have been treated in private hospitals in each year since 2011, broken down by NHS board.

Information on the number of NHS patients treated as an inpatient or day case in NHSScotland and in private hospitals for the years 2011-12 to 2014-15 by NHS board of residence is provided in the following tables:

2011-12

2012-13

Health Board	NHS	Private	NHS	Private
Ayrshire and Arran	57,861	259	56,164	478
Borders	15,695	26	15,379	70
Dumfries and Galloway	22,082	153	22,176	165
Fife	42,120	140	42,986	393
Forth Valley	30,853	410	32,389	676
Grampian	71,428	117	71,687	567
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	172,298	845	171,154	906
Highland	43,200	37	42,964	58
Lanarkshire	94,589	596	97,179	1,204
Lothian	89,845	901	90,646	2,597
Orkney	3,082	*	3,004	8
Shetland	3,598	-	3,626	15
Tayside	48,055	21	48,604	299
Western Isles	4,503	36	4,341	56
Unknown	6,401	8	6,352	8

2013-14

2014-15

Health Board	NHS	Private	NHS	Private^p
Ayrshire and Arran	55,813	282	56,685	305
Borders	15,954	249	15,889	238
Dumfries and Galloway	22,606	132	23,741	73
Fife	43,055	378	42,564	289
Forth Valley	32,300	684	33,488	619
Grampian	69,024	1,007	69,067	1,332
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	178,750	894	180,806	940
Highland	43,649	64	42,504	42
Lanarkshire	98,079	553	99,209	402
Lothian	90,090	3,527	89,439	4,008
Orkney	3,000	46	3,029	23
Shetland	3,515	37	3,492	30
Tayside	48,753	407	47,973	126
Western Isles	4467	43	4,377	46
Unknown	6,619	15	6,580	10

Source SMR01: Information Services Division Scotland

^p Provisional: data not complete due to data submission issues.

* Indicates figures suppressed to reduce the risk of disclosure of personal data.

Question reference: S4W-30373

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains its position that all farmers who are all eligible will receive basic payments in full by the end of April 2016.

Question reference: S4W-30292

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what activities consent is determined by Marine Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-30290

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 17 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for consent have been determined by Marine Scotland since 2010; how many it refused; how many required environmental impact assessment, and how many required appropriate assessment of their effect on European wildlife sites.

Question reference: S4W-30291

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many public representations it has received in (a) support and (b) opposition to the application to construct and operate the Strathy South windfarm.

Question reference: S4W-30289

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to make a decision on the application to construct and operate the Strathy South windfarm.