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-30223

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many Basic Payment Scheme applications for amounts (a) up to £5,000, (b) from £5,000 to £10,000, (c) from £10,001 to £15,000, (d) from £15,001 to £20,000, (e) from £20,001 to £30,000, (f) from £30,001 to £40,000, (g) from £40,001 to £50,000, (h) £50,001 to £60,000, (i) from £60,001 to £70,000, (j) from £70,001 to £80,000, (k) from £80,001 to £90,000, (l) from £90,001 to £100,000 and (m) in excess of £100,000 were settled by 29 February 2016 and how many were awaiting processing on that date.

I can confirm the following is a breakdown of the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme first instalment payments made by 29 February 2016:

Amount	Number of producers
Up to £5,000	4,069
£5001 to £10,000	1,383
£10,001 to £15,000	894
£15,000 to £20,000	653
£20,001 to £30,000	707
£30,001 to £40,000	306
£40,001 to £50,000	127
£51,000 to £60,000	77
£61,000 to £70,000	36
£70,001 to £80,000	15
£80,0001 to £90,000	5
£90,0001 to £100,000	7
over £100,001	12
Total	8,291

As at 29 February 2016, 50% of business were still to receive a first instalment payment.

Question reference: S4W-30473

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) actual spend was for the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.

Question reference: S4W-30222

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 15 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29286 by Aileen McLeod on 26 January 2016, how much was awarded to Voluntary Action Barra and Vetersay in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 to develop options for a community-led approach to managing the Sound of Barra Special Area of Conservation; how much of each grant remains available for use, and when the report is due to be published.

Question reference: S4T-01360

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 March 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that every household in Scotland will have access to high speed broadband.

Question reference: S4W-30115

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 10 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on increasing freight on the Far North Line, in particular from distillers, timber operators and retailers, and encouraging gas traffic bound for Caithness and domestic waste being taken from the Highlands to use rail instead of road.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the rail freight sector in moving vital goods and materials across the country in a safe and sustainable way. A transformative programme of investment in the railway infrastructure to 2019, including the dedicated £30 million Scottish Strategic Rail Freight Investment Fund will support significant improvements in the capacity and capability of the railway infrastructure for freight services.

Freight traffic on the Far North Line has remained broadly stable in the last 10 years, largely based around the movement of fuel and pipes. Since 2002, the Scottish Government Freight Facilities Grant has supported the movement of 113,500 tonnes of fuel from Grangemouth to Lairg by rail rather than by road.

Following an extensive consultation period we expect to publish Scotland's Rail Freight Strategy later this month. This will set out a number of measures to support the rail freight sector to better exploit key market opportunities across Scotland, including forestry products, fuels, waste products, whisky and broader retail traffic.

Question reference: S4W-30174

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 10 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will announce how it will allocate funding for the (a) Equality Fund, (b) Violence Against Women and Girls Fund, (c) Children’s Services Women's Aid Fund and (d) the Rape Crisis Specific Fund for 2016-17.

There is no set date for announcing the successful recipients of funding for the (a) Equality Fund, (b) Violence Against Women and Girls Fund, (c) Children’s Services Women's Aid Fund and (d) the Rape Crisis Specific Fund in 2016-17 as there are a number of factors to take into consideration which could affect this date. Applicants will be notified some weeks in advance of the start of the funding period (1 July 2016).

Question reference: S4W-30173

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 10 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-27538 by Alex Neil on 29 September 2015, what changes it has made to the funding arrangements for 2016-17 for the (a) Equality Fund, (b) Violence Against Women and Girls Fund, (c) Children’s Services Women’s Aid Fund and (d) Rape Crisis Specific Fund.

In the main, the funding process for the (a) Equality Fund, (b) Violence Against Women and Girls Fund, (c) Children’s Services Women's Aid Fund and (d) the Rape Crisis Specific Fund in 2016-17 has remained largely the same as that in 2015-16, and the criteria under which organisations can apply for funding have only been slightly amended. More information on funding under the Equality Budget 2016-17 can be found here:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Equality/Funding/263536.

Question reference: S4W-29975

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 8 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on what days since April 2015 rail services to Wick have been subject to delay at Helmsdale, broken down by length of delay.

Question reference: S4F-03274

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2016

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that young people with neurological conditions receive appropriate care.

Question reference: S4W-29462

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 January 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29164 by Derek Mackay on 20 January 2016, how many times over the same period did services achieve 100% punctuality.