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-00896

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when the contract for the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service will next be put out to tender.

Question reference: S4W-00816

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is concerning peat extraction for (a) horticultural and (b) other commercial uses.

The Scottish Government issued a discussion paper in December 2010 setting out our position on the management of peatlands and other carbon-rich soils, including peat extraction. Peat extraction for horticultural or other commercial uses is subject to local authority planning controls for individual sites. Peat extraction is liable to give rise to greenhouse gas emissions, and the Scottish Government wishes to see the use of peat for horticulture reduced and eventually phased out. We plan to work with other interested parties on how this may best be achieved.

Question reference: S4W-00892

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last had discussions with DFDS regarding the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service and what the nature of the discussions was.

Question reference: S4W-00893

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how often it has met representatives of DFDS and Norfolkline to discuss the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service following the reintroduction of services from Rosyth in May 2009.

Question reference: S4W-00895

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has awarded to DFDS and Norfolkline since May 2009 to assist in the operation of the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service and how the funding was calculated.

The Scottish Government awarded Waterborne Freight Grant of €2 million (payable over three years) to Norfolkline/DFDS in May 2009. The level of grant was calculated by comparing the costs of the freight element of the ferry operation with the road alternative over the first three years of the service. There is an upper limit of grant of €2 million which was triggered in this case.

The ferry service benefited from inclusion in VisitScotland’s wider marketing and PR campaigns targeting the European market, and in addition £333,300 was jointly invested by VisitScotland in partnership with Norfolkline and DFDS in additional campaign activity specifically promoting the route.

Question reference: S4W-00819

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to protect and restore peatlands and how its policies regarding the extraction of peat for (a) horticultural, (b) other commercial and (c) domestic use contribute to this.

The Scottish Government provides funding for peatland protection and restoration measures as part of the Scotland Rural Development Programme (the SRDP). Controls over the extraction of peat for horticultural or other commercial uses are designed to minimise the further damage which peat extraction may cause to the habitat. We are supporting initiatives such as Garden for Life to promote the use of alternatives to peat in horticulture. The customary right to extract peat for domestic use is limited in that sale of the peat is not permitted; we have no plans to alter the legal position.

Question reference: S4W-00809

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) average and (b) fatal accident rate was for the section of the A75 affected by the planned Hardgrove to Kinmount development in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 (iii) 2009 and (iv) 2010.

Question reference: S4W-00808

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) average and (b) fatal accident rate was for the A75 in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009 and (iv) 2010.

Question reference: S4W-00817

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will revise its policy on the extraction of peat for (a) horticultural and (b) other commercial uses in the light of the UK Government’s recent commitment to reduce the use of peat in horticulture to zero by 2030.

Question reference: S4O-00082

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 June 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve the transport infrastructure of the south east of Scotland.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

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