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-27740

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 27 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how the planning system and the land use strategy will be coordinated to take account of each other.

The land use strategy aligns with other Scottish Government policy, including planning. The land use strategy provides a broad context for planning authorities on government policy relevant to land use and we expect all public bodies to have regard to the principles for sustainable land use in the strategy when taking significant decisions affecting the use of land. For planning authorities, this will primarily be when preparing development plans. Both National Planning Framework 3 and Scottish Planning Policy make reference to the land use strategy. The needs of the planning system will be fully considered as part of the review of the current land use strategy and the preparation of a revised strategy which is due to be published in 2016.

Question reference: S4W-27741

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether the independent panel looking at planning reform has been asked to consider whether the current system is fully compliant with the Aarhus Convention.

Question reference: S4W-27993

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the replacement of inadequate facilities at Elgin High School.

Question reference: S4W-27468

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether the UK Government advised the (a) First Minister and (b) Lord Advocate about the death of Ruhul Amin from Aberdeen and, if so, (i) who provided the advice, (ii) when and (iii) under what circumstances.

Question reference: S4W-27614

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Pentland on 30 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what assessment it has made of ethical investment funds with respect to the investment decisions of the Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme.

I refer the Member to my answer to Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) question S4W-25996 on 17 June 2015 in which I advised that under the Scottish Parliamentary Pensions Act 2009 the fund trustees are responsible for the day to day management and administration of the Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme, including investment policy. Given their lead responsibility and the statutory position which requires them to operate independently of the SPCB, the Member might wish to raise this matter with the fund trustees.

Question reference: S4W-27473

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances it would consider holding an inquiry into the extra-judicial killing of a person from Scotland overseas.

This would depend on the facts and circumstances relating to a particular case. However, in general terms, it should be noted that section 28 of the Inquiries Act 2005 provides that Scottish Ministers may only set up public inquiries which are wholly or primarily concerned with a Scottish matter. Section 28(2) of that Act requires that “the terms of reference of the inquiry must not require it to determine any fact or to make any recommendation that is not wholly or primarily concerned with a Scottish matter.”

Section 6 of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Bill will, if passed by Parliament, provide the Lord Advocate with a discretionary power to hold a fatal accident inquiry into deaths abroad of persons who are ordinarily resident in Scotland where the Lord Advocate considers that the death was sudden, suspicious or unexplained, or occurred in circumstances giving rise to serious public concern. The Lord Advocate would also have to consider whether the circumstances of the death have not been sufficiently established in the course of an investigation in relation to the death, whether there is a real prospect that those circumstances would be sufficiently established in an inquiry, and whether it is in the public interest for an inquiry to be held. This discretionary power will not however be retrospective.

Question reference: S4W-27474

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its stated position is on extra-judicial killings.

Scotland sits within the international legal framework of human rights standards developed since the end of World War 2.

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), incorporated into UK Law in 1998, requires public authorities, including local government, public services and agencies, to act compatibly with ECHR.

The Scottish Government considers that Article two of the ECHR, which protects the right to life and places a duty on States to refrain from unlawful deprivation of life, prohibits extra-judicial killings.

Article two allows for the deprivation of life only insofar as it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary in defence of any person from unlawful violence; in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; or in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection.

Question reference: S4O-04628

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Home Office regarding proposals in the forthcoming Immigration Bill for landlords to carry out checks of tenants’ immigration status and evict undocumented migrants.

Question reference: S4W-26934

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to increase grid capacity to assist renewable energy producers in the Highlands and Islands.

The Scottish Government’s third National Planning Framework was published in June 2014 and designates an enhanced high voltage energy transmission network as a national development. It sets out our view that strengthening the electricity grid will be essential in unlocking renewable resources, both onshore and offshore. It also emphasises that the construction of new connections between the Scottish islands and the mainland electricity grid are an essential part of this and a top priority for the Scottish Government. The network owners in Scotland plan to invest around £7 billion in the High Voltage Transmission Network between 2013 and 2021, including major projects in the Highlands and Islands. For example, the recently approved Caithness to Moray sub-sea link will enable 1.2GW of new renewable generation to connect by 2018 providing enough electricity to power the equivalent of over 500,000 homes.

Question reference: S4O-04542

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure availability of GPs in remote and rural areas.