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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S4W-24328

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 18 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it protects land used for sport or recreation from development not related to sport or recreation.

There are existing planning measures in place, both in terms of planning policy and through the notification direction, which help safeguard outdoor sports facilities from inappropriate development.

Scottish Planning Policy (SPP), published in 2014, sets out ministers’ clear position on the protection of outdoor sports facilities, that they should be safeguarded from development except in a limited number of prescribed circumstances, such as where the proposed development is ancillary to the use as sports facility, only involves a minor part of the sports facility and would not affect its use for sport and training, or where if the facility to be lost would be replaced by a new facility of comparable or greater value. Through SPP, ministers expect local authorities to identify and protect open space in their local development plans.

Ministers also have a scrutiny role, and have set out in the Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications) (Scotland) Direction 2009 details of the types of applications which require to be notified to them. This includes development which is likely to a) result in the loss of an outdoor sports facility; b) prejudice the existing use of an outdoor sports facility for that purpose; or c) prevent the use of land, which was last used as an outdoor sports facility, from being used again for that purpose, to which sportscotland has objected or has recommended conditions which the planning authority does not intend to attach to the planning permission.

Question reference: S4O-04020

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the recent fall in oil prices has had on the economy of and employment in the Highlands and Islands.

The fall in oil prices will be beneficial in terms of reduced transport costs – helping individuals and businesses. We are aware that this has the potential to impact on levels of investment in the UK Continental Shelf and that is why we have repeatedly pressed the UK Government to ensure a competitive and stable fiscal regime, and proposed a package of measures which we believe will sustain investment and support thousands of jobs.

The First Minister launched the Energy Jobs Taskforce in January 2015 to deliver a co-ordinated response to the issues being faced by the industry, with partners working across the sector both to maintain jobs and to mitigate the potential impact of any losses.

Question reference: S4W-24303

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for the former Dingwall Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Court building.

Question reference: S4W-24304

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans there are to accommodate court business if Inverness Sheriff Court is unavailable.

Question reference: S4W-24137

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect the terms and conditions of GPs on 17C contracts.

Question reference: S4W-24138

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect dispensary services for GPs on 17C contracts.

Statutory responsibility for the provision of primary medical services rests with health boards and it is for each board to put in place those services that best meet the reasonable needs of their patient populations.

Under the provisions set out in the NHS Pharmaceutical Services (Scotland) (Regulations) 2009 NHS boards must establish a Pharmacy Practices Committee to consider applications made to them to open a community pharmacy in their area. If an application is granted to open a pharmacy in an area where a GP practice has authority to prescribe and dispense to its patients, the board must take a decision on whether that GP practice can continue to dispense.

Question reference: S4W-24136

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to encourage NHS boards to recruit and retain GPs on 17C contracts.

Health boards have a range of options at their disposal in ensuring appropriate service provision: in addition to securing provision through independent contractors under the terms of the nationally negotiated general medical services contract, or through section 17C (of the 1978 NHS (Scotland) Act) contractual agreements, they can provide services directly themselves with board employed GPs.

The service options chosen for each community are entirely operational matters for the territorial health board.

Scottish Ministers are fully committed to ensuring that all communities in Scotland receive safe, reliable and sustainable health care services.

Recruitment into GP training remains high, with a 91 per cent fill rate. However the Scottish Government is certainly not complacent, and we are working on a range of initiatives to improve matters.

The new GP contract, agreed in August 2014, contains several measures to help ease recruitment and workload pressures in general practice.

Question reference: S4O-03976

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle poverty in the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S4W-24070

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 28 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on extending the Lochboisdale – Mallaig ferry service to include summer crossings.

Current vessel deployment considerations mean that it is not possible to introduce a summer Lochboisdale to Mallaig ferry service at this stage, as this would impact on existing services elsewhere on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services network. The winter pilot service will be evaluated over the full three year pilot period before decisions about the way forward are taken. The evaluation will take into account the severe weather disruptions experienced on the route.

Costs to operate a year round Lochboisdale to Mallaig ferry service have not therefore been considered.

Question reference: S4W-24071

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 28 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much it would cost to operate a year round Lochboisdale – Mallaig ferry service.