Parliamentary questions
Murdo Fraser
2,062 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
4 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether evidence that disturbance to birds had taken place, thereby reducing the apparent importance of a site for birds, would be a material consideration in assessing applications for development consent and what the reason is for its position on this matter.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-35624 and S3W-35625 on 26 August 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.s…
4 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the absence of birds of prey from a development site as a result of ill-treatment would be a material consideration in determining applications for development consent and what the reason is for its position on this matter.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-35624 and S3W-35625 on 26 August 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: </p> <p ><a href="http://www.s…
4 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, when considering applications for development consent, how it considers the possible implications of the development on birds of prey when their numbers are artificially low as a result of ill-treatment and what the reason is for its position on this matter.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-35625 on 26 August 2010 All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/…
4 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has provided, or intends to provide, advice to planning authorities on how they should take into account the effects of ill-treatment of birds of prey in assessing applications for (a) wind farm development and (b) any other type of development and what the reason is for its po…
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government is unaware of any evidence of widespread or significant links between the systematic ill-treatment of birds of prey and applications for wind farm or other developments. Consequently, the government has no plans to issue such advice.ªª…
4 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it considers the effects of ill-treatment of birds of prey when assessing applications for (a) wind farm developments and (b) any other types of development and what the reason is for its position on this matter.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Applications for planning and other development consent which come before ministers must be considered on their own merit, and are therefore considered on a case-by-case basis.</p>
4 Aug 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether impact on the natural environment, including on birds of prey, is a material consideration when assessing applications for planning consent
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Planning legislation requires decisions on planning applications to be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. It is in the first instance for the decision maker, and ultimately for the courts, to decide…
21 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many non-verbal adults there are, broken down by age.
Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government does not hold data on non-verbal adults by age, as this is not a recognised term used in current data collection. The Office for Disability Issues and the Office of National Statistics are currently considering whether a communication …
21 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many non-verbal children there are in schools, broken down by age.
Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.</p> <p >However, as part of the annual pupil census the Scottish Government collects information on the reasons for the provision of additional support. This can be found at:</p> <p ><a href=…
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with Community Pharmacy Scotland regarding the introduction of universal health checks for 40 to 74-year-olds.
Answer · Shona Robison: Community Pharmacy Scotland have been invited to join a new steering group led by Scottish Government overseeing the implementation of primary prevention.</p>
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with the British Medical Association regarding the introduction of universal health checks for 40 to 74-year-olds.
Answer · Shona Robison: The BMA have been invited to join a new steering group led by Scottish Government overseeing the implementation of primary prevention.</p>
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the cost of providing Life Begins at 40 health checks.
Answer · Shona Robison: An assessment of the costs of the Life Begins at 40 checks will be made towards the end of the pilot phase later this year.</p> <p >The budget allocated to NHS 24 for piloting the Life Begins at 40 project was set for 2009-10 at £224,742 and for 2010-11 at £…
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the cost of providing Keep Well health checks.
Answer · Shona Robison: The current consultation paper on mainstreaming the Keep Well primary prevention programme from April 2012 indicates a budget of £8.5 million for NHS board checks plus further support for the whole Keep Well programme.</p>
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the cost of providing universal health checks for 40 to 74-year-olds.
Answer · Shona Robison: An assessment of the costs of providing universal health checks to 40 to 70 year olds will be one of the outputs from the research on the health checks pilots from 2011.</p>
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive with what regularity Life Begins at 40 health checks will take place.
Answer · Shona Robison: Currently the Life Begins at 40 checks are for each person on reaching their 40th year.</p>
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive with what regularity Keep Well health checks will take place.
Answer · Shona Robison: Currently Keep Well health checks are not repeated.</b></p> <p >There is an option in the current mainstreaming primary prevention consultation paper for these checks to be five yearly.</p>
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive with what regularity universal health checks for 40 to 74-year-olds will take place.
Answer · Shona Robison: The pilot of universal health checks will explore the potential benefits of checks conducted at five yearly intervals.</p>
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people will be entitled to Life Begins at 40 health checks.
Answer · Shona Robison: Current population figures suggest around 72,000 people each year across Scotland will be entitled to Life Begins at 40 health checks.</p>
18 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 40 to 74 will be entitled to universal health checks.
Answer · Shona Robison: The total number of people who would be eligible will depend on the precise form a universal health check would take. The research currently being commissioned to support the piloting of the universal health checks will help establish the numbers likely to be…
16 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the reported statement by a Scottish Government spokesman in relation to wind farm applications in The Press and Journal of 10 June 2010 that “we are working to deliver an increasingly effective and efficient planning system and have introduced simplified policies and procedu…
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The requirements for processing planning applications are set out in <i >Planning Circular 4/2009 “ Development Management</i>. The procedures are intended to improve efficiency in developing and determining applications as well as providing greater certainty…
16 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will bring in new guidance on the siting of onshore wind farms.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34572 on 24 June 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business…
16 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will bring in new planning procedures in relation to the decision-making process for onshore wind farms.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34572 on 24 June 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business…
16 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will instigate an audit of all of its directorates charged with delivering government funding for renewable energy technologies in light of the National Audit Office’s report, Government funding for developing renewable energy technologies.
Answer · Jim Mather: There is no need for an audit of the Scottish Government''s funding for renewable energy technologies as renewables is a high priority policy area, with funding already being coordinated strategically under our plans for moving to a low carbon economy.</p> <…
16 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department of Energy and Climate Change in relation to the National Audit Office’s report, Government funding for developing renewable energy technologies.
Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has had no such discussions with the Department of Energy and Climate Change.</p>
9 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is available to rural households to be broadband-enabled.
Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has already made significant progress in improving broadband connectivity for rural households and businesses.</p> <p >Our Broadband Reach Project, which finally closed in March 2010, has provided an affordable, basic, broadband servi…
9 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to enable full platform ADSL for the Butterstone telephone exchange in Perth and Kinross.
Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Government is not aware of any plans by BT to upgrade the Butterstone telephone exchange to full platform ADSL.</p>
9 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that a 512kb broadband connection speed is appropriate for (a) households and (b) businesses.
Answer · Jim Mather: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34330 on 21 June 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/B…
9 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what broadband connection speeds it considers are a satisfactory minimum for rural communities.
Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Government''s current broadband commitment extends to provision of basic broadband, defined as 512 kbps (kilobits per second), to known demand. This applies to households and businesses, both in rural and non-rural areas. This has largely been ac…
1 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all funding allocations that it has provided to Stirling Council to help with flood prevention measures since May 2007.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In 2007-08, Stirling Council did not have any flood prevention schemes eligible for the then ring-fenced flood prevention grant. From 1 April 2008, £126 million for flood prevention/coast protection was rolled-up into the General Capital Grant over the three …
1 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all funding allocations that it has provided to Angus Council to help with flood prevention measures since May 2007.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In 2007-08, Angus Council did not have any flood prevention schemes eligible for the then ring-fenced flood prevention grant. From 1 April 2008, £126 million for flood prevention/coast protection was rolled-up into the General Capital Grant over the three yea…
1 Jun 2010 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all funding allocations that it has provided to Perth and Kinross Council to help with flood prevention measures since May 2007.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In January 2008, Perth and Kinross Council was awarded additional flood prevention grant of £36,471 for the Weem Village Flood Prevention Scheme and £337,865 for the Milnathort Flood Prevention Scheme. These took onto account increased expenditure incurred on…