Parliamentary questions

Rhoda Grant

2,396 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what training it provides to Forestry Commission Scotland conservancy office staff with regard to the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 and what the content is of such training.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Forestry Commission Scotland provides bespoke Environmental Impact Assessment staff training which covers all aspects of Environmental Impact Assessment legislation, procedures, and assessment.

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what checks are in place to ensure that land use balance in regions is prioritised for woodland expansion.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government, through planning policy, encourages planning authorities to prepare forestry and woodland strategies, in consultation with stakeholders, to inform the development of forests and woodlands in relation to other land uses within their ar…

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it records the potential cumulative impact of new commercial afforestations and how these records help to inform decisions for assessment criteria.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The cumulative impact of projects is taken into account during the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) determination screening phase. Information on existing woodland creation projects is recorded and is available to Forestry Commission Scotland staff and t…

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many woodland expansion proposals have been consented without an approved environmental impact assessment by each Forestry Commission Scotland conservancy since 2007 for woodland planting (a) below two, (b) between two and 10, (c) from 10 to 100 and (d) above 100 hectares.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: All applications that require Environmental Impact Assessment consent need to submit a full Environmental Statement. Therefore, since 2007 no woodland planting has been consented by Forestry Commission Scotland without an approved environmental impact assessm…

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Natural Heritage responses to environmental impact assessment consultations are accessible to the public.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) responses to environmental impact assessment consultations are open to the public via the competent authority responsible for carrying out the consultation, for example Forestry Commission Scotland if the EIA relates to forestr…

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is available to Forestry Commission Scotland staff to enable them to determine what a “significant impact” is, as defined under Article 3 of the EnvironmentaI Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) 1999 Regulations.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Forestry Commission Scotland provides internal guidance to staff in the form of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Code, which contains information on all of the steps in the Environment Impact Assessment process and on policy and legislation. Within th…

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for consent under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 have been determined by Forestry Commission Scotland since 2010, and how many (a) were determined not to require assessment, (b) were refused, (c) required environmental imp…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Since 2010 the number of Environmental Impact Assessment cases determined by Forestry Commission Scotland was 1466. The number of applications determined not to require assessment was 1440. The number of applications determined to need an Environmental Impac…

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason grant support for native woodland (a) management and (b) expansion has been reduced.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Forestry Grant Scheme continues to offer support for native woodland management and expansion. Overall the grants available for the management of existing native woodland have not decreased. However, changes to different elements, including the standard …

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Forestry Commission Scotland is meeting (a) national and (b) international biodiversity obligations across the forest estate.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Forest Enterprise Scotland, an agency of Forestry Commission Scotland, manages Scotland’s National Forest Estate (NFE) on behalf of Scottish Ministers. FES uses - at a national level - the National Strategic Directions publication, which sets out how the cons…

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to determine the effectiveness of environmental impact assessment guidance issued to Forestry Commission Scotland area office staff to ensure that the purpose of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 is met.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Forestry Commission Scotland Internal Audit services are used to test for compliance with procedures under the Environmental Impact Assessment legislation. The last audit was carried out in 2014 and this gave substantial assurance that guidance was being comp…

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used to determine whether proposed activities are likely to have a significant effect and require screening in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The selection criteria for projects having significant effects on the environment are detailed in Schedule 3 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 1999. These criteria include the characteristics and location of the project …

28 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01873 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 August 2016, how long the vessel remained in port before resuming duties on each of the nine occasions that mariners had to be put ashore, also broken down by how many times (a) suitably qualified replacement marin…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Marine Scotland vessels are certificated by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency with a Safe Manning Document. This specifies the safe manning complement for each vessel. At no time has Marine Scotland sailed any of its vessels below the safe manning complem…

27 Sep 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote telehealth and telecare.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government's Technology Enabled Care, or TEC, Programme was set up in 2014 to significantly extend the number of people directly benefiting from technology enabled care and support in Scotland, which includes telehealth and telecare. Funding fro…

26 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how often equipment safety checks are completed on the ferries that serve the Outer Hebrides.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: CalMac Ferries Limited adhere to strict health and safety procedures including but not limited to maintenance of vessels and operational safety checks. Full details of these and other checks can be found on the operators website - https://www.calmac.co.uk/cor…

26 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will cost to repair of the damage to the pontoons at Lochmaddy harbour following the MV Hebrides running aground on 25 September 2016, and where the funding for this will be sourced.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The costs to repair the damage to the pontoons at Lochmaddy harbour are a matter for discussion between the harbour operator and CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL). No indicative costs are as yet known, however any such funding for repair will likely be an insuranc…

26 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how long the disruption will be to the Uig-Tarbert-Lochmaddy ferry route following the MV Hebrides running aground on 25 September 2016; how many passengers will be affected, and what support it will offer to them.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The MV Hebrides resumed service on the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services network on Sunday 16 October 2016. This followed full repairs in the Garvel, Clyde, and effective sea trials. The contingency arrangements put in place by the operator, CalMac Ferries Lt…

26 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the reason was for the technical failure that caused the MV Hebrides to run aground on 25 September 2016, and what steps it is taking to avoid similar incidents in the future.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: A formal and independent investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is currently underway. Further technical investigations are also on-going. Consequently the reasons for the MV Hebrides incident on 25 September 2016 has yet to be forma…

26 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost to business will be of the MV Hebrides running aground on 25 September 2016; how much freight traffic will be disrupted; what contingencies it will introduce to allow freight to move during the disruption, and what support it will offer to the businesses affected.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL) worked hard to clear any backlog of freight following the MV Hebrides incident. Business and freight customers should contact CFL direct for the most up to date information and assistance during this period of disruption. CFL put …

23 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to reduce the number of bats being killed by the condition, barotrauma, as a result of flying near to wind turbines.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: We take the protection of bats seriously. Defra recently published a study looking at the number of bat deaths attributable to wind turbines which has increased understanding of this issue. Currently Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are working on joint agency…

21 Sep 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of people that choose teaching as a career.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is taking a series of actions to increase the number of people that choose teaching as a career. These include building on the success of our 'Inspiring Teachers' campaign with a more substantial recruitment campaign to be launched by …

20 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what minimum level of national broadband coverage by 31 December 2021 it considers will be acceptable, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is committed to extending superfast broadband access to 100 per cent of premises across Scotland by 2021.