Jamie McGrigor

14 Mar 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports apprenticeships.

7 Mar 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages the provision of libraries in schools in the Highlands and Islands.

29 Feb 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the historic houses and built heritage sector.

22 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had meetings with (a) the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, (b) Ramblers Scotland, (c) RSPB Scotland, (d) Changeworks Recycling or (e) FIDRA to discuss deposit return schemes for beverage containers.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has met with the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland and Changeworks Recycling as part of its discussions with stakeholders on deposit return.

22 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had meetings with representatives of the Have You Got the Bottle? campaign.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is in regular dialogue with all relevant stakeholders, including supporters of the Have you Got the Bottle? campaign.

22 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of its officials or partner agencies were on the recent delegation to Oslo organised by the Have You Got the Bottle? campaign.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: No.

22 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of the report in The Sunday Times that the Have you Got the Bottle? campaign for the introduction of a deposit return scheme for beverage containers is funded by a multinational reverse vending company.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is aware of the report the member mentions.

22 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the financial gain that reverse vending companies could make from the introduction of a deposit return scheme for beverage containers in Scotland.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I announced on 30 December 2015 the next steps the Scottish Government would be taking to explore the issues arising from Zero Waste Scotland’s call for evidence on deposit return.

2 Feb 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the delay in paying basic payments to farmers and crofters will not impact on the timescale for the payment of less favoured area support payments.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The less favoured area support scheme (LFASS) shares an application process with the new basic payment scheme, and for both schemes it is necessary to verify the area of land in each farmer’s claim. LFASS payments are always made in arrears, so the payments…

25 Jan 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with representatives of Argyll and Bute Council.

5 Jan 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent closure of the A83 at the Rest and be Thankful.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Following the landslip on 30 December 2015, existing mitigation measures were effective in ensuring that the majority of the landslip material was prevented from reaching the A83. Extensive monitoring of the hillside was undertaken and a 150 tonne boulder wa…

4 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it would cost to construct a flow-over canopy on the A83 at the Rest and be Thankful to prevent the road being closed due to landslides, and what plans it has to (a) build such a canopy or (b) introduce other measures to permanently resolve the issue.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The A83 Trunk Road Route Study published in February 2013 considered a series of options with the objective to reduce the impact of the effects of landslides at the Rest and Be Thankful. This transport appraisal was undertaken in accordance with Scottish Tran…

4 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the closure of the A83 at the Rest and be Thankful following a landslide on 30 December 2015; what discussions it has had with (a) businesses and (b) the public regarding the impact of the closure, and whether it will commission research into the economic impact o…

Answer · Derek Mackay: Following the landslip on 30 December 2015, existing mitigation measures were effective in ensuring that the majority of the landslip material was prevented from reaching the A83. Extensive monitoring of the hillside was undertaken and a 150 tonne boulder w…

23 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the consultation period for the consultation on marine protected areas announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment on 18 December 2015 because it covers the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Management proposals for the marine protected areas in question have already been the subject of 20 weeks public consultation. This comprised of a consultation on potential management approaches which ran from 11 November 2014 to 2 February 2015. This was fol…

10 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what the annual subsidy was for and (b) how many (i) passengers, (ii) cars, (iii) coaches and (iv) commercial vehicles used the Campbeltown-Ardrossan ferry service in each year of its pilot period.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The CalMac Ferries Limited subsidy to operate the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service is provided for the network as a whole and as such the subsidy is not split on a route by route basis. The total subsidy for each full financial year is available from CalMac F…

10 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many sailings were scheduled on the Gourock - Dunoon service provided by Argyll Ferries from June 2013 to November 2015 and how many were cancelled due to (a) the weather, also broken down by weather-related berthing issues in (i) Gourock and (ii) Dunoon, (b) technical and (c) other …

Answer · Derek Mackay: Details of total sailings and cancellation information for the Argyll Ferries Limited, Gourock-Dunoon service, from June 2013 to November 2015 is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 57542). Argyll Ferries Limited do not reco…

10 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many sailings were scheduled on each CalMac route from June 2013 to November 2015, and how many were cancelled due to (a) the weather, (b) technical and (c) other issues.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Details of how many sailings were scheduled on each CalMac route from June 2013 to November 2015, and how many were cancelled due to (a) the weather, (b) technical and (c) other issues is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number …

9 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis of publishers Creative Scotland carries out when considering awarding grants for projects, and how the agency monitors the projects it funds to ensure delivery.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The information requested is not held centrally and is a matter for Creative Scotland. I have asked Creative Scotland's Chief Executive Janet Archer to respond to the member.

9 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Creative Scotland's (a) part-funding of the award and (b) role in the judging process, what its response is to reports suggesting that, as the winner of the 2015 Saltire Society’s Scottish Publisher of the Year award had received substantial funding from the agency, concerns…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The judging of the awards is a matter for the wholly independent Saltire Society.

9 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-28016 by Fiona Hyslop on 30 October 2015, which other publishers received awards from Creative Scotland over the same time period broken down by (a) what the support was for and (b) when it was provided.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The information requested is not held centrally and is a matter for Creative Scotland. Creative Scotland say that over the last four years they have made around 150 awards to publishers totalling around £4.1 million. I have asked Creative Scotland's Chief Exe…

9 Dec 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-28016 by Fiona Hyslop on 30 October 2015, whether the £75,000 awarded to the Erebus project was provided on a soft-loan basis and, if so, (a) who is responsible for paying it back and (b) what action it will take to recover the money if the project …

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The information requested is not held centrally and is a matter for Creative Scotland. I have asked Creative Scotland's Chief Executive Janet Archer to respond to the member.

20 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to calls for the local government funding settlement to be needs rather than population based.

Answer · John Swinney: The formula used in the distribution of the Scottish Government’s local government funding settlement is needs based and, although the main factor is the different population age bands, it does take into account a number of other needs based factors including…

20 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether and, if so, when Argyll and Bute Council will be included in the Island Local Authority Adjustment.

Answer · John Swinney: Although there are no current plans to review the Island local Authority Adjustment, it should be noted that Argyll and Bute Council already benefits from additional funding of £1.970 million as a result of the Special Islands Needs allowance adjustment to th…

20 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reform the Special Islands Needs Allowance formula to increase the funding available and what discussions it has had with COSLA on this matter.

Answer · John Swinney: In 2000 the Special Islands Needs Allowance (SINA) was reviewed and extended to all local authorities with significant island communities instead of applying only to the three wholly islands authorities. It was at this point that Argyll and Bute Council was i…

19 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the steel for the Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited vessels that were announced on 16 October 2015 will be sourced in Scotland.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The source of steel is a commercial responsibility of the contracted shipbuilder, Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL). FMEL is committed to evaluating local supply options as part of their sourcing strategy and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd will encourag…

16 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on public concern in Argyll and Bute at possible council spending reductions over the next two years.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28073 on 9 November 2015. 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/parliamentary…

16 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the call from Argyll and Bute Council for extra funding support to help deal with a funding shortfall.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is already providing Argyll and Bute Council with its fair share of the total local government finance settlement which amounts to over £10.85 billion in 2015-16. Argyll and Bute Council’s share of this total settlement amounts to alm…

16 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider using money from the 2014-15 underspend to mitigate spending reductions faced by Argyll and Bute Council.

Answer · John Swinney: I announced the Scottish Government's provisional outturn for 2014-15 in June 2015 and this position has not changed. The cash underspend for 2014-15 is being carried into the current financial year as planned to support the 2015-16 expenditure plans agreed b…

12 Oct 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support Creative Scotland has provided to (a) Freight Books and (b) Cargo Publishing in each of the last four years, broken down by (i) what the support was for and (ii) when it was provided, and whether any other public sector funding was provided during this period and, …

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Creative Scotland has provided the following information about support Freight Books and Cargo Publishing: a) Freight Books In 2011-12, Creative Scotland awarded £2,000 towards the cost of publishing the debut short story collection Furnace by award-winning…

5 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase economic development and employment in the Dunoon and Cowal areas.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing sustainable economic activity and employment across all regions of Scotland, including in Dunoon and the Cowal area. Tackling economic challenges in Argyll and Bute is a key priority for the Scottish Governme…