Claudia Beamish

18 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment in the Scottish Energy Strategy, by what date it will make its first annual energy statement.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government plans to publish its first Annual Energy Statement before the summer recess, subject to agreement by the parliamentary business.

12 Feb 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role third sector organisations such as Healthy Valleys in Lanark play in supporting preventative health and other community-led health initiatives.

6 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what statutory provisions apply to people who have to leave social housing on a temporary or permanent basis due to flood damage.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The model tenancy agreement for Scottish secure tenancies includes a clause under which a registered social landlord will carry out necessary repairs due to flood damage within a reasonable time, or offer equivalent permanent rehousing as soon as such a house…

6 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the outcome was of its investigation into alleged illegal scallop dredging in the Gairloch protected area.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: There have been three suspected incursions into the closed area at Loch Gairloch. One investigation has concluded due to a lack of evidence, and the other two are currently ongoing.  

28 Jan 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the impact on communities of banks reportedly closing branches without consultation, such as Santander in the South Scotland region.

23 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the total spend on Scottish Natural Heritage's site condition monitoring in the last five years was allocated to monitoring (a) SSSI, (b) Natura 2000 and (c) RAMSAR features.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: It is not possible to disaggregate the cost of monitoring between the different categories of designation due to the overlap of designations. For example, the same seabird population data collected on a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) will …

23 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the proposed budget is for the next cycle of Scottish Natural Heritage site condition monitoring from March 2019.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: A budget for the next cycle of Site Condition Monitoring has not yet been set by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) as during 2019-20 SNH will be developing a new approach to monitoring designated features in protected areas. Further details will be available in…

23 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of designated features of sites of special scientific interest have had no condition assessments undertaken in the last six years.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: From a total of 3,710 designated features on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Scotland, 1,928 have had no Site Condition Monitoring assessments undertaken in the last six years. This represents 52% of all designated features on SSSIs in Scotland…

23 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much Scottish Natural Heritage’s programme of site condition monitoring has cost in each of the last five years.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Over the last five years, the annual cost of Scottish Natural Heritage’s Site Condition Monitoring has varied depending on the natural features covered each year and the availability of staff time. These costs were:2013-14 - £975,2562014-15 - £831,2522015-16 …

16 Jan 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its policy on dealing with hate crime is informed by the expertise of women's organisations.

28 Nov 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what further action it will take to stop illegal scallop dredging.

20 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to deliver a stock recovery plan for herring in the West of Scotland, in response to the recommended advice by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES).

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Government scientists have been working with scientists from Ireland and the Netherlands to improve the analysis of the survey that informs the scientific advice for West of Scotland herring. It is expected that this work will provide greater confide…

20 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of illegal scallop dredging have been recorded (a) in the last year and (b) since the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 came into force.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Marine Scotland no longer keeps intelligence reports for longer than three years and the intelligence held is reviewed annually. Our records show that over the period of the last year there have been 11 reports of activity by scallop dredging vessels in Mari…

20 Nov 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its strategy is for tackling mental health issues in rural areas.

14 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of concerns that it can constrain commercial rooftop solar projects, for what reason it requires permitted development for any site above 50kW in Scotland, compared with a 1MW threshold in England and Wales.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Permitted development rights apply to solar photovoltaic panels on non-domestic properties in Scotland where the output does not exceed 50kW, subject to certain conditions. Installations with a greater output will need an application for planning permission, …

14 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reduce business rates for renewable energy technologies to bring them into parity with other technologies that are taxed at a lower rate, such as gas CHP.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The valuation of any premises, which is a matter for the Assessors, involves attributing to a property an accurate rateable value based upon the notional rental value that that property could be expected to attract if it were vacant and to let. The Scottish G…

14 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address grid constraints that prevent the co-location of complementary renewable technologies, such as solar and storage, to enable a more diverse energy mix.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Grid constraints arise when electricity supplied by generators exceeds the capacity of the network to which they are connected. Constraints are often more pronounced at times when supply is high, but demand is low – for example during periods of high wind in …

14 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Solar Trade Association Scotland estimating that the sector can deliver over 8,000 new jobs in Scotland per year by 2030, how it plans to support the solar power industry.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging and promoting Solar in Scotland. We recognise that energy from solar, as part of a diverse energy mix, can contribute to our renewable targets, and support the future decarbonisation of Scotland’s energy mar…

14 Nov 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to support the creation of small bicycle sheds in order to promote active travel.

Answer · Michael Matheson: This Scottish Government is already taking action to support the creation of bicycle sheds through the £1.45 million Cycle Friendly Development Fund run by Cycling Scotland. This fund provides 100% grants to schools, colleges, universities, employers and comm…

12 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the establishment of its not-for-profit energy company facing delays, how it plans to meet its targets for carbon emissions.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has committed to delivering the ambition by the end of this Parliament in 2021. We remain on track to deliver that commitment. The Climate Change Plan, published in February 2018, set out the actions that will be undertaken to deliver …

25 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of its plans to carry out a review of the licencing of exotic pets.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Programmes for Government 2017-18 and 2018-19 list the areas of animal welfare legislation that the Scottish Government is taking forward as a priority. The licensing of exotic pets will be considered further in due course, and may be informed by matters …

22 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to publish the analysis of its consultation on a publicly-owned energy company.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has commissioned the outline business case for the public energy company. This will inform the consultation that we have committed to undertaking in early 2019. Key stakeholders will be invited to participate in workshops that feed int…

15 Oct 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the eight-minute target ambulance service response time.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Ambulance Service has been trialling a new clinical response model since November 2016. The new model is focussed on improving outcomes for patients with immediately life threatening conditions whilst ensuring patients with lower acuity conditions receiv…

12 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the paper, Scottish Natural Heritage Research Report 1013 - Survey of the Tayside area beaver population 2017-2018, and, in light of it recording an increase in beaver numbers and its call for appropriate management measures, by what date it will (a) meet its comm…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has noted the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Research Report 1013 - Survey of the Tayside area beaver population 2017-2018, which highlights the increased number of beavers and their expanding range in the Tayside area. While it is a…

4 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Ofgem regarding what action is being taken to ensure that there is adequate electrical distribution infrastructure to deal with an increase in demand in electric vehicles.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government engages regularly with Ofgem at ministerial and official levels on a number of issues, from developing price controls for electricity and gas network providers, to network charging and access reform, and the development of our network …

26 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the introduction of the Compulsory Sale Order power.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We are committed to bringing forward proposals during the course of this Parliament to introduce a Compulsory Sales Order mechanism to help tackle the blight of abandoned buildings and small plots of land in our towns and communities. The Scottish Land Commis…

26 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role the Land Commission and SEPA partnership taskforce on vacant and derelict land will have in advancing the introduction of compulsory sale orders.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The vacant and derelict land taskforce will seek to remove the barriers that prevent such land being brought into productive use. It will do so using all available tools that can address the systemic problems that often result in land being unused or underuse…

26 Sep 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it is making of the development of initial and transferable skills to support a net zero emissions economy.

24 Sep 2018 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister, in light of the Committee on Climate Change's recent report, what new action the Scottish Government plans to reduce CO2 emissions.

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that the appropriate infrastructure is in place to allow farmers to recycle farm plastics after 1 January 2019, when they will no longer able to incinerate plastics on-farm.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: A list of plastic waste service providers is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resource-management/farm-plastic-recycling . In addition, detailed advice for farmers is available on the SEPA website at: https:…