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: S4O-01705

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on expediting the proposed new subsea power cables to the Western Isles and Orkney.

Question reference: S4W-11595

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 29 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government, following the introduction of the Energy Bill by the UK Government, what its position is in relation to the proposals for electricity market reform.

The UK Government’s Electricity Market Reform (EMR) programme today reached an important milestone with the introduction of the UK Energy Bill into the UK Parliament. The UK coalition Government has also recently reached the agreement level of market support available for low carbon electricity investment which will be set at £7.6 billion in 2020. The Bill sets out a clear statutory role for Scottish Ministers in designing and delivering the key EMR mechanisms.

The EMR reforms are fundamental to the energy sector both in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Scottish Ministers are determined the EMR will maintain the considerable momentum in the energy sector industry in Scotland and provide confidence to developers and investors both in established energy companies and new market entrants in Scotland. We are also clear that the EMR must deliver targeted and effective support to the renewable energy and Carbon Capture and Storage technologies, where Scotland has unique natural resources and strong industry opportunity and capability. The EMR must be capable of replicating the effective and targeted support the Renewables Obligation (RO) delivers to accelerate development and deployment of renewable technologies both in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

We are working closely with the UK Government to deliver a coherent and seamless set of market reforms, with a robust and enduring role for Scottish Ministers. We will continue to do so to ensure the effectiveness of the EMR framework. Meanwhile, we intend to defer making a decision on whether, and to what extent, the RO Scotland should be closed to new renewable generation from 2017.

We are also now working with the UK Government in a range of other areas, including assessing barriers to deployment facing developers in the Western Isles, Shetland and the Orkneys and possible solutions to mitigate the impact of high transmission charging in each of the main Scottish island groups.

The full Scottish Government response to each of the provisions set out in the Bill is available on the Scottish Government’s website at the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Infrastructure/Grid-Connections/EMR-consultation-UK

I have placed a copy of the documents in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 54528).

Question reference: S4O-01539

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how the number of applications to Scottish universities compares with the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S4O-01413

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what measures in the 2013-14 draft budget will help support the construction sector.

To support the construction industry and inject growth into the economy we will provide an immediate stimulus to the construction industry of £40 million through investment in affordable housing. We have increased the number of schools being built through Scotland’s schools for the future programme from 55 to 67, and we will build them sooner by bringing forward £80 million of planned investment from future years into this spending review by financing through the NPD model. Over three years our Green Investment Package, worth £30 million, will also provide opportunities for small and medium sized construction firms.

Question reference: S4O-01354

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the historic built environment in the Highlands and Islands, given the increase in funding to Historic Scotland as set out in the draft budget 2013-14.

Question reference: S4W-09856

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Keith Brown on 26 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are for tendering the next Clyde and Hebrides ferry services contract.

Tendering for the next Clyde and Hebrides ferry services contract will begin in the autumn of 2014. This will allow for the completion of the Ferries Plan and will ensure that the Scottish Government’s policy objectives are fully accounted for the in the tender exercise. In the meantime, we intend to put in place a new contract with the current provider, CalMac Ferries Ltd, ensuring continuity and certainty for the communities and staff.

Question reference: S4O-01171

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 June 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve dialysis facilities for patients in rural areas.

Question reference: S4O-01021

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an update on the integration of health and social care.

Question reference: S4O-00896

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it provides to towns and villages whose historic built environment has fallen into disrepair.

Question reference: S4O-00838

Asked by: Mike MacKenzie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 March 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment has had with ministerial colleagues to assess any difficulties faced by island-based farmers in respect of haulage charges for agricultural supplies, produce and livestock.

Ministers have had a number of discussions about the Ferries Review, including consideration of fare setting for services in the future. As you know the government is currently consulting on our Draft Ferries Plan, published for consultation on 21 December 2011, in which we set out our longer term aim to develop an overarching freight fares policy. Farmers and other interested parties have the opportunity to respond to the consultation which closes on 30 March and I would encourage those with an interest to do so.