Claire Baker

6 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role food recycling will play in its zero waste strategy.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The capture and recycling of food waste from both households and businesses is key to achieving our 2025 recycling target for all waste. Historically, most of the food waste produced in Scotland was sent to landfill where it breaks down producing methane, a p…

6 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote food recycling.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is taking action on a number of fronts. Our Waste Regulations, approved by the Scottish Parliament last year, include measures that will ensure most households in Scotland receive a food waste collection by the end of 2015. All busine…

6 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in Fife to reduce child poverty since 2007.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government takes a national approach to tackling child poverty, with action at a local level being the responsibility of the local authority. We are working with local authorities, the NHS and others through the collective investment of £272 mill…

6 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average household income has been in Fife in each year since 2007, broken down by parliamentary constituency, and how this compares with the rest of the country.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: In 2012, the median gross weekly earnings for full time employees living in Fife was £499.30, compared with £498.30 for Scotland. Median gross weekly earnings (before deductions for Tax & National Insurance) of full-time employees on adult rates, is obtained …

6 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on tackling child poverty in Fife in each year since 2007, broken down by parliamentary constituency, and how this compares with the rest of the country.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government takes a national approach to tackling child poverty, with action at a local level being the responsibility of the local authority. It is therefore not possible to provide figures at that level. In terms of overall government spending, …

6 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children in Fife have been classified as living in poverty in each year since 2007, broken down by parliamentary constituency, and how this compares with the rest of the country.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The national poverty figures from the households below average Income datasets cannot be broken down to local authority level in Scotland, meaning poverty figures for local authorities are not available. Tax credit and benefit claimant data from HM Revenue a…

6 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it uses to classify a family as living in poverty.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The Scottish Government currently uses two main indicators of low income poverty, both of which reveal slightly different information about changes in poverty over time. These indicators are relative and absolute poverty. Relative poverty: Relative poverty …

4 Sep 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it is meeting Cluff Natural Resources and what matters will be discussed.

29 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average price per acre is of farmland.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is not aware of any complete data sources for land values in Scotland. There are some private sources, such as Savills and the Royal institute of Chartered Surveyors, but the diverse nature of land in Scotland and the low number of sal…

23 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will roll out NHS health board elections across the country and, if there are no plans to do so, whether the board in NHS (a) Fife and (b) Dumfries and Galloway will continue to be elected as set out by the Health Boards (Membership and Elections) (Scotland) Act 2009.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government published the independent evaluation on health board elections and alternative pilots and lodged it in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) on 20 December 2012. This can also be found at the following link: http://www.sco…

20 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15500 by Richard Lochhead on 14 June 2013, in light of figures from the National Fallen Stock Company suggesting that, in the last year, there has been a 50% increase in fallen stock recorded on farms in Scotland, what additional measures and resour…

Answer · Richard Lochhead: This year’s severe winter weather resulted in a significant number of livestock deaths across Scotland. The Scottish Government has made £6.5 million compensation available to farmers, with more than £730,000 going directly to over 4,000 farmers for fallen st…

20 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been allocated for the (a) maintenance and (b) upgrade of trunk roads in each year since 2007, also broken down by road.

Answer · Keith Brown: A copy of a table showing how much money has been spent on the maintenance and upgrade of trunk roads in each complete financial year since 2007, listed by road, has been placed on SPICE, BIB number 55187.

20 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how underground coal gasification fits into its energy strategy.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: In Scotland we need a diverse and balanced energy portfolio to provide us with secure and affordable heat and electricity for decades to come. Diversity of sources in our energy portfolio and reduced reliance on energy imports makes our energy system more res…

20 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Cluff Natural Resources regarding underground coal gasification.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Discussions took place on 27 August 2013.

20 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the regulatory regime is for (a) offshore and (b) onshore underground coal gasification; what the licensing arrangements are; which body issues licences and how many have been issued, broken down by region.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The UK Coal Authority is the licensing authority for Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) in Scotland and the UK. The Coal Authority can grant conditional licences to companies which enable prospective operators to secure rights to the coal while projects are …

19 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its annual report on wildlife crime for 2012.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Scotland’s first Wildlife Crime Annual Report will be published shortly.?

19 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the findings of the report by the universities of Bristol and Lincoln, Studies to assess the effect of pet training aids, specifically remote static pulse systems, on the welfare of domestic dogs.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has carefully considered this research. Although the research found some adverse effects in some dogs studied, as previously indicated in the answer to question S4W-11777 on 18 December 2012, it did not provide adequate evidence of lon…

19 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding the use of electronic shock collars on (a) dogs and (b) other animals.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is aware of concerns about the use of electronic shock collars on dogs and other animals and will work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the industry to produce improved guidance on the proper use of these…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on meat from cattle that has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis being sold for human consumption.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has advised me that the risk to consumers from eating meat from tuberculosis reactor animals is very low. Both the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food and the European Food Safety Authority support this vie…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any meat from cattle that tested positive for bovine tuberculosis has been sold for human consumption. 

Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16264 on 6 August 2013. 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…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it first became aware that meat from cattle that tested positive for bovine tuberculosis was being sold for human consumption.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) informs me that it has been a long standing practice for tuberculosis reactor cattle to be slaughtered for human consumption. This arrangement has been repeatedly assessed as low risk by a number of expert committees and furth…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ban the commercial extraction of peat by 2020. 

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The commercial extraction of peat is permitted only where planning permission has been granted. There are no current plans to put in place an absolute ban on commercial extraction of peat, but we are aware of calls by Scottish Environment LINK to do so. Local…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its funding plans are for future allocations to national parks. 

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Funding allocations to national Parks were set out in the Scottish Spending Review 2011 and Draft Budget 2012-13 document, which presented Scotland’s spending plans for 2012-13 to 2014-15. This is available on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.s…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to national parks since 2007, broken down by year. 

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16045 on 22 July 2013. 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/parliamentarybu…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to privatise national parks. 

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Scotland's National Parks are two of our greatest national assets. The Scottish Government has been providing substantial capital to improve the visitor experience in these special places and has no plans to privatise them. The Scottish Government fully suppo…

28 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment and (b) Minister for Environment and Climate Change has had with (i) his officials, (ii) the First Minister and his officials, (iii) the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities and her offic…

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: In terms of meetings since 26 March 2013, the Minister for Environment and Climate Change met with officials on 26 March, 23 May, 4, 12 and 27 June 2013 and held a teleconference on 15 April 2013 to discuss the development and publication of Low Carbon Scotla…

19 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to consult on compulsory microchipping of dogs.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government plans to consult on compulsory microchipping of dogs before the end of 2013.

18 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how wildlife crime officers have been deployed in each local policing area by Police Scotland.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: There are currently 109 wildlife crime officers operating across Police Scotland and they play a critical role in the fight against wildlife crime in Scotland. Operationally based within the Specialist Crime Division of Police Scotland, there are five full-ti…

18 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many police wildlife crime officers there have been, and what the annual budget was, in each year since 2007.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. There is no specific wildlife crime budget within Police Scotland. All operational policing is managed locally and budgets are therefore held locally. As operational policing is devolved to local command…

18 Jun 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many wildlife crime officers Police Scotland has and whether it plans to maintain or increase the number.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Figures obtained from Police Scotland show there are currently 109 wildlife crime officers within Police Scotland. There is also a national wildlife crime co-ordinator, at sergeant level. There has been no change in the level of this resource since the advent…