Parliamentary questions
Lewis Macdonald
2,224 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has had from Abellio that the refurbished rolling stock due to be in use on routes to Aberdeen and Inverness by the end of 2018 will be delivered on time.
Answer · Derek Mackay: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24870 on 23 March 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…
12 Mar 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Abellio regarding the delivery of refurbished rolling stock for use on the Abellio ScotRail franchise.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Transport Scotland officials have been meeting regularly with the Abellio mobilisation team to discuss many aspects of the new franchise operation. Abellio is due to have completed all leases for the rolling stock, such as high speed trains for inter-city ro…
2 Mar 2015 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to contribute to the proposed City Deal for Aberdeen.
26 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-24296 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 February 2015, whether it has now decided to allocate additional resources to Skills Development Scotland to fund the Adopt an Apprentice scheme in the oil and gas industry and, if so, how much additional funding i…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: As explained in my answers to your previous questions S4W-24296 and S4W-24012 on 28 January 2015, Adopt an Apprentice is demand-led, with the level of uptake determining overall spend on the programme. Should additional funding be required to meet the First M…
23 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many times and (b) on what dates the (i) current and (ii) previous First Minister has met the Scottish Energy Advisory Board since 2011.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) has met on eleven occasions since the start of 2011. It met on the following dates: 16 February 2015 10 July 2014 16 May 2014 30 October 2013 6 March 2013 14 November 2012 23 May 2012 8 February 2012 20 Sept…
23 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what advice the Scottish Energy Advisory Board gave the First Minister regarding security of electricity supply at their meeting on 16 February 2015.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: At the 16 February 2015 meeting, the board discussed the need to have greater transparency on the evidence underlying National Grid’s assumptions and methodology for assessing risk. National Grid has not provided the data which underlies their modelling nor t…
23 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the minutes of the meeting between the First Minister and the Scottish Energy Advisory Board on 16 February 2015.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The minutes will remain in draft format until they are formally cleared by the board at its next meeting. However the Scottish Government will publish the draft minutes prior to this meeting with the agreement of the co-chairs. Officials are currently confir…
23 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) its agencies and (b) public sector organisations that make savings on fuel costs because of the falling oil price will be able to retain the money saved at the end of (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.
Answer · John Swinney: The impact of any savings emerging from reduced fuel costs will be considered in the same way as any other savings and pressures that emerge across the public finances as part of our annual budget process and as part of individual public bodies and services’ …
23 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much its agencies (a) have spent so far and (b) will spend in 2014-15 on fuel, and what estimate it has made for 2015-16.
Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally.
23 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which companies have approached the Scottish Energy Advisory Board with concerns about the security of electricity supply in Scotland.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Energy Advisory Board does not receive approaches from companies or the general public in the way the question appears to imply. The board formulates a work programme with the co-chairs, Professor Sir Jim McDonald and the First Minister, which on…
18 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when and where the next meeting of the Energy Jobs Taskforce will be held.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The second meeting of the Energy Jobs Taskforce took place on 26 February 2015 in Aberdeen. The next meeting of the taskforce will be on 23 March 2015 and it will also be held in Aberdeen.
18 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to publish the minutes of the first meeting of the Energy Jobs Taskforce in Aberdeen on 28 January 2015.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The minutes from the first taskforce meeting are available online and can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/resources/working-groups/energy-advisory-board/Energy-Jobs-Taskforce
18 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-24285 by Fergus Ewing on 17 February 2015, who represented each of the named organisations at the first meeting of the Energy Jobs Taskforce in Aberdeen on 28 January.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The attendees at the meeting on 28 February 2015 were: Lena Wilson (Chair) David Rennie, Scottish Enterprise/Highlands and Islands Enterprise/Scottish Development International Graeme Dickson, Scottish Government Damien Yeates, Skills Development Scotlan…
17 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), what work will be carried out on examining the possible health impact of unconventional oil and gas extraction; which government department or non-government body it will commission to do this; when the…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24476 on 8 October 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/parliamentaryb…
17 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), what work will be carried out on reviewing the environmental considerations with regard to unconventional oil and gas extraction; which government department or non-government body it will commission to…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24476 on 8 October 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/parliamentaryb…
17 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), what work will be carried out on strengthening the planning guidance with regard to unconventional oil and gas extraction; which government department or non-government body it will commission to do thi…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24476 on 8 October 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/parliamentaryb…
17 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), in light of the moratorium on the granting of planning consents for unconventional oil and gas developments, whether it will carry out a public consultation regarding the (a) planning guidance, (b) envi…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: In consultation with stakeholders, the Scottish Government has developed a programme of work to take forward the plans announced on 28 January 2015. The Scottish Government has published details of the proposals for evidence-gathering and public consultation,…
17 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), whether the moratorium on the granting of planning consents for unconventional oil and gas developments will apply to (a) underground coal gasification and (b) coalbed methane extraction.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: In line with the precautionary, evidence-based approach already shown on unconventional oil and gas, the Scottish Government has now announced plans for a separate moratorium on planning consents related to underground coal gasification developments in Scotla…
17 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), whether the moratorium on the granting of planning consents for unconventional oil and gas developments will prohibit developments that do not require hydraulic fracturing.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The moratorium on unconventional oil and gas developments covers coal bed methane developments: these are unconventional developments and as such are covered whether or not they involve hydraulic fracturing. All other developments using conventional drillin…
17 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015 (Official Report, c.17), whether the moratorium on the granting of planning consents for unconventional oil and gas developments will prohibit the drilling of conventional boreholes for (a) environmental baseline assessments, (…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: It is estimated that at least 5,000 boreholes are drilled annually in Scotland and for a variety of purposes each year. With regard to unconventional oil and gas, only boreholes drilled for the purpose of obtaining a core sample are permitted. Directions hav…
11 Feb 2015 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice was first aware that Police Scotland intended to consult on a possible merger of A and B Divisions.
3 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-24012 by Roseanna Cunningham on 28 January 2015, whether it has set aside additional resources to enable Skills Development Scotland to meet the First Minister’s commitment to increased provision for the Adopt an Apprentice scheme in the oil and gas…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Adopt an Apprentice is demand-led. As such, the level of demand will determine Skills Development Scotland (SDS) expenditure on this initiative. As explained in my answer to S4W-24012, should additional resources be required to meet the First Minister’s commi…
3 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact on employment levels in Scotland of the laying-up of offshore supply vessels since December 2014.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The recent drop in the price of a barrel of crude oil, combined with the long term mismanagement of oil and gas fiscal policy by the UK Government, and other challenges facing the industry, poses a serious threat to a number of jobs. The First Minister establ…
3 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding (a) flexible working, (b) job sharing, (c) temporary secondment exercises and (d) other worker-friendly initiatives that would reduce job losses for workers in the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Energy Jobs Taskforce held its first meeting on the 28 January 2015, and included senior representatives from industry, Department of Energy and Climate Change, unions, public bodies and the UK Government. The meeting saw some useful ideas shared which sh…
3 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, given the possible impact on jobs in the oil and gas industry, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the safety of workers employed on North Sea installations where the operator has used operational risk assessments to maintain production in the event of equipment…
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I have had discussions on health and safety with industry and workforce representatives in many of the meetings I’ve had with them, particularly during the 60 days’ worth of visits I have made to Aberdeen since my appointment as minister. I have made it clea…
3 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, given the possible impact on jobs in the oil and gas industry, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the safety of workers employed on installations in the North Sea that have a backlog of maintenance work.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I have had discussions on health and safety with industry and workforce representatives in many of the meetings I’ve had with them, particularly during the 60 days’ worth of visits I have made to Aberdeen since my appointment as minister. I have made it clea…
3 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the emergency review of the North Sea oil and gas industry by the Oil and Gas Authority.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I have discussed the content and direction of the review with Andy Samuel, Chief Executive of the Oil and Gas Authority, and have offered Scottish Government support to its work. The Scottish Government is using all the levers under its control to support the…
3 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what resources it is providing to the Energy Jobs Taskforce and whether it will publish its terms of reference.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Energy Jobs Taskforce had its first meeting on 28 January 2015 in Aberdeen. The first meeting identified a range of actions to be taken forward to mitigate the impact of job losses within the sector. Public sector partners and agencies will support activi…
3 Feb 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government who the members are of the Energy Jobs Taskforce; what organisations they represent and what their relevant responsibilities are.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The confirmed members of the taskforce include senior representatives from: Scottish Enterprise (also representing Scottish Development International and Highlands and Islands Enterprise) Scottish Government Skills Development Scotland (also representing P…
28 Jan 2015 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what further steps it will take following the oil jobs summit in Aberdeen on 2 February 2015.