Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-18468

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that high speed fibre optic broadband is rolled out in rural areas of Falkirk district.

The two regional projects to deliver superfast broadband infrastructure across Scotland are now well underway.

These represent two of the largest next generation broadband investments in Europe, totalling over £410 million of public and private sector investment.

The rural areas of Falkirk where there is no commercial availability of fibre optic broadband are within the scope of our broadband projects. Alongside the commercial deployment, this will deliver next generation broadband access to 85% of premises in Scotland by 2015 and 95% by 2017. We expect the coverage in the Falkirk area to rise to well over 90% during the project and that this will include coverage in rural areas.

We have published high level roll-out plans on our website www.scotlandsuperfast.com to provide the latest available information on deployment plans across Scotland. The plans will develop throughout the roll-out period as surveys take place and it is therefore not possible to provide specific details at this point. We plan to provide regular updates on our website, including first announcement of deployment in the Rest of Scotland intervention area, with postcode checker facility, in early 2014.

Question reference: S4W-18078

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on EU plans to phase out bottom trawling and bottom set gill nets in the north east Atlantic deep water fishery.

The Scottish Government strongly supports the overall objectives of this proposal: to ensure the sustainable exploitation of deep sea species and minimise the impact of deep sea fishing on the marine environment.

However, the commission’s original proposal would have a disproportionate impact on Scottish vessels which are not targeting deep sea species, would risk increasing by-catch of vulnerable deep sea species such as sharks and rays, and would fail to provide the intended protection to vulnerable marine ecosystems.

The Scottish Government believes that a risk based spatial approach more closely aligned with the actual distribution of vulnerable deep sea ecosystems will offer better overall protection than the blanket ban proposed. We are working closely with stakeholders around the on-going discussions in the European Parliament on this issue.

Question reference: S4W-18079

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the quota breakdown arising from the EU mackerel quota agreement is for (a) the EU, (b) Scotland, (c) Norway, (d) Faroe Islands, (e) Iceland, (f) Russia and (g) Greenland.

The first round of talks to determine 2014 mackerel quota took place in London on 23 and 24 October 2013 but concluded without a deal. Talks will resume in Clonakilty, Ireland, on 18 November 2013.

It is therefore too early to comment on the shape of any agreement that may emerge from the talks in due course and what it may mean for Scotland and indeed the other countries mentioned.

The Scottish Government wishes to see a resolution to the current mackerel dispute and any deal will ideally involve all interested parties. However, it must have Scotland’s interests at its heart and not be at any price.

Question reference: S4W-18080

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will examine the long-term consequences for Scotland of the recent mackerel quota agreement.

As indicated in the answer to S4W-18079 on 15 November 2013, the first round of talks to determine 2014 mackerel quota took place in London on 23 and 24 October 2013 but concluded without a deal. Talks will resume in Clonakilty, Ireland, on 18 November 2013.

The Scottish Government wishes to see a resolution to the current mackerel dispute and any deal will ideally involve all interested parties. However, it must have Scotland’s interests at its heart and not be at any price.

We will evaluate any proposed deal both in an economic sense and in terms of stock sustainability to consider the longer term effects on the Scottish pelagic sector both ashore and at sea, and on the fishery itself.

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

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-17939

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 12 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the proposed changes to planning policy for extracting onshore unconventional oil and gas will apply (a) to applications that are currently under consideration and (b) retrospectively to applications that have been previously approved.

Question reference: S4T-00507

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the implications are of the common agricultural policy budget settlement in light of the UK Government's decision not to pass on the immediate uplift in Scotland’s budget allocation.

Question reference: S4W-17990

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 8 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many grants Scottish Natural Heritage has awarded to woodland schemes in the central belt between 2007 and 2014.

Question reference: S4W-17852

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 8 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what powers Bòrd na Gàidhlig has to ensure that local authorities implement Gaelic language plans and what sanctions are available should the targets in the plans not be met.

Under the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 Bòrd na Gidhlig can notify a Scottish public authority to produce and implement a Gaelic Language Plan.

All public authorities with an approved Gaelic Language Plan are asked to submit an annual progress report to the Bòrd in relation to the key commitments in their plan. In addition, the Bòrd commissions an independent assessment of progress towards achieving the core commitments in plans which are three years into their cycle. These two actions are the key measures of success which the Bòrd employs.

There are measures in place should a Scottish public authority not pursue the terms of their Gaelic language plan. The Bòrd may submit a report to Scottish ministers setting out its reason for this conclusion. Thereafter Scottish Ministers may either lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament or they may direct the authority in question to implement any or all of the measures in its Gaelic language plan by the date specified in the direction.

Question reference: S4W-17764

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 7 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications it has received from INEOS for financial assistance in each year since 2007, and how many were approved, broken down by (a) amount requested, (b) funding stream and (c) purpose for the request.

Between 2007 and 2011 the Scottish Government received one application from INEOS for financial assistance under the regional selective assistance (RSA) scheme. However, since 2011 responsibility for the RSA scheme has been administered by Scottish Enterprise (SE) and, as such, applications for support, and information held on pre-2011 applications, are an operational matter for them.

I will ask the Chief Executive of SE to write to you with the information you requested.

Question reference: S4O-02584

Asked by: Angus MacDonald, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what training and advice the Scottish Prison Service gives staff regarding pensions entitlement and contributions.

Chamber and committees