Parliamentary questions

Richard Lochhead

2,448 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

16 Nov 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it provides to Moray College UHI.

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans to reduce or has been a reduction in the provision of services at the NHS Centre for Integrative Care and, if so, what analysis it has made of the impact of this on people from Moray with chronic pain problems.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Centre for Integrative Care, and the provision of services at the facility, is the responsibility of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic accidents there have been in Moray (a) in each of the last five years and (b) since January 2016, broken down by the (i) category of accident and (ii) number of (A) injuries and (B) fatalities.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The following tables show the number of injury road traffic accidents in Moray and casualties involved. The figures for 2016 are still being processed and those in the table are only for the period from January to June 2016. Provisional figures for the whole …

28 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider publishing clear and accessible guidance to raise awareness of the options available to secure financial and practical support for broadband connectivity.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The £400M Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme is delivering broadband connectivity to 95% of premises across Scotland by the end of next year. Further information can be found on the DSSB website at www.scotlandsuperfast.com. For those not…

21 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether businesses whose income is affected by prolonged local road closures are able to apply to local authorities or utility companies for compensation and, if so, what the process is.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There is no statutory requirement for compensation to paid to businesses impacted by road closures associated with road works. There have been one or two reported instances in the past where ex gratia payments may have been made but there is no formal require…

21 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to extend the boundaries of the national parks and what criteria it uses when reaching such decisions.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There are no current plans to extend the boundaries of Scotland’s National Parks. Any proposal would require a robust business case demonstrating the benefits, including strong local authority and community support and delivery of the criteria set out in the …

20 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in light of an announcement by the Treasury, it will also underwrite CAP Pillar II payments and other EU environmental funding, such as LIFE projects, that are agreed before publication of the Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016; what the reasons are for its position on this ma…

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The UK Government has provided guarantees that any CAP Pillar two projects that have signed contracts or funding agreements in place, or where there are projects and contracts which are due to be signed in the ordinary course of business before the Chancellor…

19 Sep 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to ensure that the Scottish Ambulance Service supports co-responding of emergency services to road traffic accidents.

16 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in connection with haggis exports to the United States and what estimate it has made of the likely timescale for current restrictions to be lifted.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: A significant milestone was reached on 16 September 2016 when the US concluded its public consultation on proposals to lift the ban on the importation of lamb from the EU. Discussions with United States Department of Agricultureare ongoing, and we are hopefu…

12 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is putting in place to bring housing back into use on rural estates to address shortages.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Land Fund offers grants of up to £1 million to help communities take ownership of the land and buildings that matter to them, as well as practical support to develop their aspirations into viable projects. The £25 million Rural Housing Fund and …

12 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what legislation can assist communities that want to bring housing back into use on privately-owned rural estates in order to promote sustainable development.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is a range of legislation available to assist communities throughout Scotland in acquiring housing on privately owned estates. Legislation that is currently in place includes the Community Right to Buy in Part two of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003…

12 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the financial support that it has provided to the owners of Elgin abattoir.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has not provided any financial assistance to Dunbia, current owners of the Elgin abattoir. Grant support may potentially be available for investment in capital infrastructure from the Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation grant s…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports regarding the conditions that the Whyte family from Forres faced when attending Spynie Mortuary near Elgin, and what its position is on the condition of mortuary facilities (a) in Moray and (b) nationally in light of the issues raised.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is disappointing that the Whyte family did not receive an appropriate level of care from the Spynie Mortuary, however NHS Grampian have apologised to the Whyte family and they acted promptly with their partners in Police Scotland to ensure there would be n…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place regarding mortuary facilities to ensure that they should (a) be maintained to an appropriate standard and (b) take account of the sensitive issues that need to be considered when making arrangements for people to carry out an identification.

Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Health Planning Note 20, 'Facilities for Mortuary and Post-Mortem Room Services' is published by Health Facilities Scotland and provides guidance to NHSScotland organisations on planning and designing comprehensive Mortuary and Post-Mortem Facilities…

29 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the case for a new Moray sports centre and what (a) practical and (b) financial assistance it can provide toward this.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: I understand sport Scotland are processing a funding application for a new Moray sports centre. As well as providing advice on funding, sport Scotland are supporting the applicant in the design and potential use of this facility.

29 Aug 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the Moray economy.

27 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has evidence that homes in close proximity to wind farms can be devalued as a result of this, if so, what obligation there is on developers to provide compensation.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has commissioned ClimateXChange (CXC) to conduct a study on the impact of house prices from wind farm developments. We expect this report, which has been prepared following detailed and exhaustive analysis, to be published shortly.

27 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what investment it has made in sports facilities in each of the last five years, also broken down by local authority.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: As the national agency for sport, sportscotland invests Scottish Government and National Lottery resources. sportscotland has invested in excess of £81.5 million in sports facilities across Scotland’s local authority areas over the past five years. sportsco…

26 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps Education Scotland has taken to share with other schools the innovative practice identified in its inspection report on Drumduan Upper School, on which it indicated its intention to work with the school, and whether it will provide further information on the best practice refe…

Answer · John Swinney: During an inspection of Drumduan Upper School, HM Inspector identified a great example of innovative practice. At a follow up visit to look at this in more detail, HM Inspector found that the school’s approach to creative learning also included a focus on dev…

18 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times consultancy vacancies have been advertised by NHS Grampian in the last 12 months, broken down by the (a) length of time of the vacancy and (b) location of each post.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS Grampian has advertised 66 consultant vacancies over the last 12 months and of these, 20% have been re-advertised. 28 of these vacancies were vacant for more than six months. In the past 12 months consultant posts across NHS Grampian have been advertised…

18 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Grampian has spent in the last 12 months on filling consultant posts at (a) Dr Gray's Hospital and (b) Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Answer · Shona Robison: Over the last 12 months NHS Grampian has spent £90,000 on advertising costs to fill consultancy vacancies across all of its hospitals. The cost is not broken down on an individual basis.