Claudia Beamish

4 Jun 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to move freight off roads and onto rail, in light of it declaring a climate emergency.

3 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many times planning authorities have made orders each year under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to prohibit the resumption of planning permission if no development has taken place for two years, including in the case of peat extrac…

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government is not aware of any prohibition orders being made by planning authorities under paragraph 3 of Schedule 8 to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

3 Jun 2019 · SPCB Oral Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what its response is to the call by Just Transition for the divestment of its pension scheme from fossil fuels.

22 May 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Land Commission's recent call for a "fundamental rethink" on the approach to land development.

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will require its departments and agencies to become exemplars in taking measures to make a positive and progressively larger contribution to addressing the climate emergency declared by the First Minister and to report accordingly.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is a global climate emergency and the IPCC’s Special Report made clear that everyone, including public bodies need to act now if our targets are to be met. Public bodies have a key role in delivering on the increased ambition through their climate chang…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the implications are of the declaration of a climate emergency for the work of organisations that are responsible for the auditing, regulation, monitoring or inspection of public sector organisations.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is a global climate emergency and the IPCC’s Special Report made clear that everyone, including public bodies need to act now if our targets are to be met. Public bodies have a key role in delivering on the increased ambition through their climate chang…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects existing public policies, objectives and targets will have to be reviewed and make a positive and progressively larger contribution to addressing the climate emergency declared by the First Minister.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is a global climate emergency, and we are acting accordingly. Our first step has been to immediately lodge amendments to our Climate Change Bill targets. We have committed to updating the Climate Change Plan within 6 months of the Bill receiving Royal A…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether new policies, strategies, objectives and targets under development by (a) agencies accountable to it and (b) civil servants will be assessed prior to approval and implementation to ensure that they will make a positive and progressively larger contribution to addressing the clima…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The development of new policies are subject, where appropriate, to a range of impact assessments such as strategic environmental assessment, equalities impact assessment, business and regulatory impact assessment, children's rights and wellbeing impact assess…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether all parts of the public sector will have a responsibility to consider what practical actions they can take to make a positive and progressively larger contribution to addressing the climate emergency declared by the First Minister.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is a global climate emergency and the IPCC’s Special Report made clear that everyone, including public bodies need to act now if our targets are to be met. Public bodies have a key role in delivering on the increased ambition through their climate chang…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its relationship will be with the Committee on Climate Change in devising and implementing policies and measures to address the climate emergency declared by the First Minister.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Independent, expert advice from the Committee on Climate Change is an important element of the Scottish Government’s evidence-based response to the global climate emergency. We have embraced the Committee’s recent report on net-zero emissions, published 2 May…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will invite the boards of (a) public sector bodies and (b) local authorities to consider what they can do to make a positive and progressively larger contribution to address the climate emergency declared by the First Minister and to report accordingly.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is a global climate emergency and the IPCC’s Special Report made clear that everyone, including public bodies need to act now if our targets are to be met. Public bodies have a key role in delivering on the increased ambition through their climate chang…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role SEPA will have in policy development and supporting and monitoring actions to address the climate emergency declared by the First Minister.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government leads the development of climate policy. SEPA play a key role through the provision of information, evidence and support. In this way, it will support the proposed review of the Climate Change Plan announced on 2 May by First Minister …

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether private sector organisations that supply goods and services to the public sector will be required to demonstrate, as a contract condition, that their policies and actions will support making a positive and progressively larger contribution to addressing the climate emergency decl…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government already has a track record of addressing climate change through it procurement activity. We are required to consider and act on opportunities to achieve environmental benefits in our contracts. Our sustainable procurement tools, avail…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) when and (b) how it proposes to report to the Parliament on its expectations for actions, the performance achieved on any actions and by whom such actions should be taken to address the climate emergency declared by the First Minister.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is a global climate emergency, and we are acting accordingly. Our current Climate Change Plan, which was published in February 2018, sets out on the ground delivery measures being taken to reduce emissions for each sector of Scotland’s economy for every…

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects to recruit specialist support to assist it in devising and implementing policies and measures to address the climate emergency declared by the First Minister.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We have committed to updating the Climate Change Plan within 6 months of the Bill receiving Royal Assent and we are now looking across our whole range of responsibilities to make sure we continue with the policies that are working and increase action where ne…

13 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to increase the level of recycling of household waste in each local authority area.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In April, the Scottish Government published a Food Waste Reduction Action Plan which sets out how Scotland can work towards achieving the target and reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill. The 33% reduction target includes both avoidable and unavoi…

13 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support local authorities to reduce the levels of household waste being sent to landfill.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is committed to ending the practice of sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill. Scotland has already met EU targets for reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfill and the recent Waste Markets Study demonstrates that …

8 May 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is strengthening capacity at GP practices in rural South Scotland.

7 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to be in a position to analyse and communicate the results of the Missing Salmon Project, which is tagging smolts in the Moray Firth.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Missing Salmon Project is led by The Atlantic Salmon Trust (AST) and information is available at https://www.atlanticsalmontrust.org/themissingsalmonproject/. A Marine Scotland Science representative is a member of the Project Steering Committee. However,…

7 May 2019 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report’s call for a “transformative change”.

3 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has received regarding the legality of the 2019 general licences for birds, in the light of the acceptance by Natural England that a similar clause in its licences, which put the onus on operators of the licence to ensure that they were satisfi…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Natural Heritage is carefully reviewing developments on licensing in England. If it is concluded that General Licences in Scotland require revision, SNH has made public its intention to work collaboratively with stakeholders to ensure there is an eff…

2 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 1 April 2019, Fighting the throwaway culture, whether it will provide a full list of the bodies that have been invited to participate in the Deposit Return Scheme Implementation Advisory Group; when the group will first meet; how regularly it will meet, an…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The organisations participating in the Implementation Advisory Group are:British Soft Drinks AssociationFederation of Small BusinessesNatural Hydration CouncilScotch Whisky AssociationScottish Beer & Pub AssociationScottish Grocers FederationFederation of Ind…

2 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will lay the statutory instruments required for the implementation of a deposit return system.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We are currently finalising the proposed system design and will bring forward further details, including the timeline for regulations, in due course.

2 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the funding increase detailed in Scotland’s Railway (Control Period 6: 2019 – 2024) will be spent in Clydesdale on (a) station opening or improvements and (b) line and track or other infrastructure improvements.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer to the attached link which provides Network Rail’s plans for Central Scotland in Control Period 6 (CP6). http://networkrail.createsend1.com/t/d-e-pzkin-l-r/ The key project under development in Clydesdale is the renewal of life expired signalling an…

27 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made since 10 January 2019 with setting up a farming and food production policy group.

20 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a dedicated website for the Seaweed Review Group and, if not, whether it will consider creating one.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Currently, there is not a dedicated Seaweed Review Steering Group website. However it is my intention that progress is regularly and publicly reported and I expect the steering group to agree an appropriate communication strategy, once established.

20 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the remit of the Seaweed Review Group is, and (a) where and (b) how regularly its meeting minutes and information on its actions and visits will be made public.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: During the parliamentary scrutiny of the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019, I announced that the review would further gather evidence to help ensure that existing seaweed harvesting activity and future proposals are sustainable and Scotland’s marine environment …

19 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it plans to provide to older carers of pensionable age providing care of over 35 hours per week.

14 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent announcement by South Ayrshire Council to offer 10 days paid "safe leave" to staff who have experienced domestic abuse, which other local authorities have adopted a similar policy, and what national HR guidelines are available for supporting public sector staff wh…

Answer · Christina McKelvie: The Scottish Government commends South Ayrshire Council for their adoption of this policy, and we understand that they are the first local authority to have done so. COSLA made a statement on International Women’s Day regarding the work of local authorities …

20 Feb 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors any reductions to specialist welfare benefits services by local authorities that are facing financial challenges.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: It is the responsibility of Local Authorities to provide advice based on local need and their statutory duties. We provide funding to support the most vulnerable people as part of the block grant, which we provide to all local authorities as part of the annua…