Parliamentary questions
Sarah Boyack
2,373 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
28 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to (a) commence work on and (b) adopt the next national planning framework.
Answer · John Swinney: We intend to publish a National Planning Framework Monitoring Report after the summer recess. An announcement on the revision of the National Planning Framework will be made at that time.
28 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to adopt the draft electricity generation policy statement.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The draft Electricity Generation Policy Statement was published as a draft last November (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/11/17094217/0). It sets out the Scottish Government's position on the role of renewable electricity and fossil fuel thermal …
27 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of native woodland were lost due to (a) restoration of open ground habitats, (b) clearance for wind farms, (c) loss to development and (d) loss of hedgerow trees in 2010.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01330 on 15 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/MAQASearc…
27 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of native trees were planted in the 2010-11 planting season, broken down by (a) public land, (b) private land and (c) Forestry Commission conservancy area.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The areas of new native woodland planted on private land in 2010-11, broken down by Forestry Commission Scotland Conservancy area, are shown in the following table. In addition, there was 401 hectares of new planting of native species on the national forest …
27 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of native trees have been approved for planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There are 4,943 hectares of native woodland approved for new planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.
27 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last nominated or recommended a Scottish representative for the Board of Forestry Commissioners to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government last nominated or recommended a Scottish representative for the Board of Forestry Commissioners to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2009.
27 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of non-native trees have been approved for planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: There are 2,125 hectares of non native woodland approved for new planting in the next planting season through the Scotland Rural Development Programme.
27 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of woodland were lost due to (a) restoration of open ground habitats, (b) clearance for wind farms, (c) loss to development and (d) loss of hedgerow trees in 2010.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: A breakdown of these figures in the form requested is not readily available at present. Forestry Commission Scotland records show that the total amount of private sector woodland approved for felling without a replanting condition was 267 hectares in 2009-1…
27 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hectares of ancient woodland were lost in 2010.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01330 on 15 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/MAQASearc…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is issued to public bodies regarding the release of (a) unused and (b) underused land for (i) community gardening and (ii) allotment projects.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Planning guidance is contained in Scottish Planning Policy http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/02/03132605/0 and Planning Advice Note 65 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/05/30100623/0.
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation it is considering to allow the sale of surplus produce from (a) allotments and (b) community gardening schemes.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: (a) The existing legislation, the Allotment (Scotland) Act 1922, does not preclude the sale of surplus produce from an allotment. (b) In community gardens, the sale of small quantities of surplus produce is not prohibited by specific legislation on community…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the 2011 SNP manifesto commitment to "look at ways of extending the land available for allotments using unused or underused publicly-owned land" requires legislative change.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government is currently looking into a range of ways of addressing this manifesto commitment.
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many more (a) allotment and (b) community gardening plots it expects there to be by (i) 2013 and (ii) 2018.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: These matters could be considered in local authorities’ development plans informed by the Open Space Audit and Strategy recommended in Planning Advice Note 65. The Planning Advice Note is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/05/30100623/…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are on waiting lists for local authority allotment plots, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: This information is not held centrally. The Greenspace Scotland report Community Growing in Scotland – Towards a framework for action (April 2011) includes this information at Table 3.1. The report may be accessed online at: http://www.greenspacescotland.org.…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authority allotment plots there are, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: This information is not held centrally. The Greenspace Scotland report Community Growing in Scotland – Towards a framework for action (April 2011) includes this information at Table 3.1. The report may be accessed online at: http://www.greenspacescotland.org.…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue its response to greenspace scotland’s report, Community growing in Scotland - Towards a Framework for action.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Greenspace Scotland’s report Community Growing in Scotland – Towards a Framework for Action was commissioned by the Scottish Government to underpin the work of the Grow-Your-Own Working Group. The Working Group are using the Greenspace report to help them…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what role the Grow Your Own Working Group will have in implementing the recommendations of its report.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01095 on 11 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will issue its response to the recommendations of the report of the Grow Your Own Working Group.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01095 on 11 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it is considering increasing the amount of land available for (a) allotments and (b) community gardens.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01022 on 11 July 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much publicly owned land is (a) unused and (b) underused, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Information is not held centrally on these particular categories. Selected data on vacant and derelict land is contained in Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2010, which is available online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Plannin…
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it gives local authorities on producing an allotments strategy.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Local authorities have access to information produced either by organisations commissioned by the Scottish Government or by organisations who have worked closely with local authorities and COSLA to help them formulate their strategies.
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) financial assistance and (b) other operational support has been provided to Blindcraft Edinburgh by (i) it and (ii) Scottish Enterprise since 2009.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: BlindCraft Edinburgh has received no financial assistance from either the Scottish Executive or Scottish Enterprise since 2009. Over the past 8 years the City of Edinburgh Council has contributed over £11m to BlindCraft. Since 2002-03, the levels of subsidy …
21 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) financial assistance and (b) other operational support has been provided to Glencraft Aberdeen Ltd by (i) it and (ii) Scottish Enterprise since 2009.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: A total funding package of £528,695 was made available to support the start-up costs of Glencraft (Aberdeen) Ltd, a new social enterprise launched in April 2010, following the closure of the former supported workshop in November 2009. This included a grant of…
15 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the initial estimated cost was of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh when the project was first signed off by ministers.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Lothian submitted an initial agreement for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in April 2006. The initial agreement for the Department of Clinical Neuroscience was submitted by NHS Lothian in June 2008. Scottish Government approved the original outline …
15 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects the completion of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh to be delayed and, if so, what the reasons are for the delay.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Lothian’s previously approved proposal was for a new Royal Hospital for Sick Children only using predominantly public funding and delivered via the Frameworks Scotland delivery model. In the meantime the UK Government has applied 36.5% cut in capital budg…
15 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-00521 by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 June 2011, whether it will provide details of the support and advice received by NHS Lothian from Scottish Government officials and the Scottish Futures Trust.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust officials have been working closely with NHS Lothian since November 2010 to help inform the strategic, financial, legal and procurement and governance aspects of the project.
15 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects the completion of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh to be delayed and, if so, how long the delay will be.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Lothian previously sought Scottish Government approval for a new Royal Hospital for Sick Children using predominantly public funding. The project now being supported by the Scottish Government also incorporates the reprovision of the Department of Clinica…
15 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive on what date it expects the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh to be completed.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Lothian have set a target of 2015 for completion of the project but key dependencies include approval of an outline business case scheduled for November 2011, receiving outline planning consent for an integrated Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Depart…
15 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is for the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Lothian is working with technical and financial advisors to develop an integrated design solution for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department for Clinical Neurosciences. This will inform an outline business case which is due for consideration …
6 Jun 2011 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy has had with the Scottish Futures Trust regarding the combined development of the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences in Edinburgh.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I have had no such discussions with the Scottish Futures Trust. NHS Lothian is receiving support and advice directly from Scottish Government Officials and the Scottish Futures Trust in the development of the project.