Sarah Boyack

19 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the country is on track to meet its annual target to tackle climate change and whether it plans to introduce additional measures.

Answer · Aileen McLeod: As I indicated to Parliament during portfolio questions on 7 January 2015, we are taking a number of steps to ensure that Scotland is on track to meet its climate change ambitions. We intend that the second report on proposals and policies will be delivered i…

17 Dec 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regarding the reorganisation of control room facilities.

16 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland's National Marine Plan will address the Scottish Government’s ambitions for increased and long-term oil and gas revenue and a reduction in carbon emissions.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The National Marine Plan as laid before Parliament makes clear that the Scottish Government supports a low carbon economy which involves a transition from fossil fuel based energy consumption towards investment in renewable energy and increased energy efficie…

16 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures Scotland's National Marine Plan will provide to prioritise natural marine heritage.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The National Marine Plan as laid before Parliament stipulates a set of General Policies which apply to all development and use of the marine environment. General Policy 9 states that development and use of the marine environment must (a) comply with legal req…

16 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland's National Marine Plan will balance conflicting demands on the same sea space.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Paragraph 3.15 of the National Marine Plan as laid before Parliament sets out how the plan provides guidance on resolving potential competition and conflict. The plan stipulates a set of General Policies which apply to all development and use of the marine e…

16 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland's National Marine Plan ensures that its ambitions for sectoral growth can be achieved without exceeding the environmental capacity of the natural marine environment.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The strategic objectives and General Policies of the National Marine Plan set the context for development in Scotland's marine area and seek to ensure development and use of the marine environment is undertaken sustainably. Where appropriate, specific sectora…

16 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures Scotland's National Marine Plan provides to enable the enhancement of the natural marine environment.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: General Policy 9 of the National Marine Plan as laid before Parliament stipulates that development and use of the marine environment must protect and, where appropriate, enhance the health of the marine environment. The accompanying policy provides additional…

3 Dec 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of an aging population on pensioners' rights.

1 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many residential properties have been retrofitted for energy efficiency through the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland scheme, broken down by (a) year and (b) local authority.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS) were launched in April 2013. We will shortly publish the first annual report on HEEPS, including the number of energy efficiency measures installed in properties across Scotland in 2013-14, at nationa…

1 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in how many residential properties renewables have been installed in (a) existing and (b) newbuild properties in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. However, partial information can be provided relating to the UK Government’s feed-in-tariff scheme. The following table and shows the cumulative numbers of domestic installations that are receiving a fe…

26 Nov 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to support local authorities in meeting demand for care home provision.

13 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on projections from the National Records of Scotland that, by 2037, a third of all households will be headed by someone aged over 65 and the number of people living alone is set to rise by 51%.

Answer · Alex Neil: At the annual Scottish Older People's Assembly in the Scottish Parliament on 31 October 2014, the then Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners’ Rights reiterated the Scottish Government's commitment to improving the lives of…

4 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on local authorities identifying a proportion of social rented properties for older people when major developments are proposed by private developers.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: Scottish Planning Policy requires consideration in development plans of the housing requirement across all tenures, including affordable. The development plan will also consider the provision of a range of specialist housing as evidenced in the housing need a…

4 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that sufficient numbers of social rented housing projects are identified in local plan allocations for specific sites.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government provides a framework for planning and housing through Scottish Planning Policy and guidance on undertaking housing need and demand assessments (HNDAs) and developing local housing strategies. This framework supports local authorities, …

4 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to ensure that local authorities prepare policies to support the delivery of appropriate owner-occupied housing for older people and allocate specific sites, as specified in paragraph 132 of the Scottish Planning Policy.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government provides a framework for planning and housing policy, which includes Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) and guidance on housing need and demand assessments (HNDAs) and local housing strategies. This framework supports local authorities, wh…

4 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that sufficient, appropriate owner-occupied housing for older people is constructed.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government provides a framework for planning and housing through Scottish Planning Policy and guidance on undertaking housing need and demand assessments (HNDAs) and developing local housing strategies. This framework supports local authorities, …

3 Nov 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is delivering on reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. In 2013 Scotland generated 46.4% of its equivalent electricity needs from renewables – in fact, Scotland generated 32% of total UK renewable generation in 2013 and our ambition …

17 Oct 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it defines adjacency in relation to planning policy.

Answer · Derek Mackay: There is no single definition of adjacency with regard to development planning within the Scottish Planning Policy. Subject to review by the courts, it is for the decision maker to interpret and apply policy, having regard to the wording of the policy, the ju…

1 Oct 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to local authorities to ensure that there is suitable accommodation to deal with the projected increase in school rolls.

15 Sep 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what additional resources it is providing to address delayed discharges.

15 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-03456 by Alex Neil on 14 August 2014 (Official Report, c. 33462) whether it will set out the cost to the each NHS board of supporting older patients waiting to be discharged from hospital.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Information Services Division is working with NHS boards to develop a costing methodology to apply to this activity and we expect that this will be completed and publicly available from April 2015.

15 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4T-00765 (Official Report, c. 33247) and S4O-03456 (Official Report, c. 33462) by Alex Neil on 12 and 14 August 2014 respectively, whether it will allocate £100 million or £125 million in additional resources over the next two years to additional pri…

Answer · Alex Neil: We are working closely with our NHS and local authority partners to reduce the levels of delayed discharges across Scotland. Since April 2007 we have reduced the level of delays over four weeks by over 60%. However, tackling delays is not just about money, an…

14 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government at what stage uncertainty as to the absence of adverse effects on the integrity of a European wildlife site constitutes a reasonable scientific doubt.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Completion of an appropriate assessment in compliance with the relevant secondary legislation is the stage at which competent authorities must establish the absence of reasonable scientific doubt when considering the potential impacts of plans or projects on …

14 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the methods used to assess the likely impact on seabird populations of proposed wind energy projects have been subject to scientific peer review and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: There are a range of methods used by Marine Scotland to assess the likely impact on seabird populations of proposed offshore wind energy projects. Some of these methods, such as collision risk modelling, have a long history of development with input from stat…

14 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that offshore wind energy project consenting decisions are being made in the light of the best scientific knowledge and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Offshore wind energy projects undergo a full and thorough consultation and consideration is given to all assessment methods that are suggested by consultees. Marine Scotland ensures that decisions on the impacts of potential offshore wind projects are made in…

14 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received from the (a) Marine Scotland Science Advisory Board, (b) Scottish Natural Heritage Scientific Advisory Committee and (c) Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland regarding the assessment methods used by Marine Scotland to consider the implications of offshore win…

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Advice was received from Marine Scotland Science, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Direct advice has not been received from the Marine Scotland Science Advisory Board, the Sc…

8 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact analysis it has carried out on the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc.) (Scotland) Act 2012; what additional (a) revenues have been generated and (b) costs have been incurred by local authorities, and how many (i) houses, (ii) shops and (iii) business propert…

Answer · Margaret Burgess: It is too early to determine the impacts to housing as a result of the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc.) (Scotland) Act 2012. This is due to only a single council applying the discretionary power (to charge increased levels of council tax …

5 Aug 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support older people who live alone.

30 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with other UK authorities to ensure that the development of offshore wind energy results in maximum generation of renewable energy for least environmental impact.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is working collaboratively with other UK administrations taking a marine planning approach to ensure that the potential of offshore wind energy is realised in a sustainable manner. The UK Marine Policy Statement, adopted by all UK adm…

30 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20591 by Richard Lochhead on 12 May 2014, how the potential in-combination impact of the offshore windfarms proposed at Dogger Bank and in the Firth of Forth and Firth of Tay on the Forth Islands Special Protection Area is being considered.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The potential in-combination impacts on the Forth Islands Special Protection Area will be considered as part of the appropriate assessment undertaken by the Scottish Ministers, as the competent authority, for the Forth and Tay offshore wind farm applications.…