Claire Baker

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what scientific evidence it has linking disease impacts on game birds to numbers or densities of mountain hares.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The scientific evidence on this subject was reviewed in a 2009 paper in the Journal of Applied Ecology "Culling wildlife hosts to control disease: mountain hares, red grouse and louping ill virus" by A Harrison et al. The authors concluded that there is no co…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons mountain hares are shot on and around sporting estates.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: A report commissioned by Scottish Natural Heritage in 2006 on the control of mountain hares on Scottish estates, indicated that 73% of mountain hares that were controlled (24 529 in total that year) were killed by being shot. Among those that were shot, 32% o…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many mountain hares are killed annually and what proportion of the national population this represents.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: A report commissioned by Scottish Natural Heritage in 2006 indicated that a minimum of 24,529 mountain hares are controlled annually (mainly by shooting) on Scottish estates. This represents 7% of the 1995 published Scottish population estimate of 350,000. Ho…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on population trends in mountain hares over recent decades.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The National Gamebag Census data for mountain hare compiled by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust shows no significant trend in the data between 1961 and 2009, despite marked cyclical fluctuations which are known to exist in around half of mountain hare…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to Fife Council to address pollution in Cupar's air quality management areas.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14639 on 16 May 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/parliamentarybus…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects each air quality management area to be no longer required.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14639 on 16 May 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/parliamentarybus…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commission an audit of local authority air quality action plans in order to establish whether their air pollution targets are being met.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14639 on 16 May 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/parliamentarybus…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to improve air quality and whether it will provide additional assistance to local authorities to help them meet air quality standards.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14639 on 16 May 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/parliamentarybus…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to meet its air quality standard objectives and what information it has on how this compares to those set by the (a) UK and (b) EU.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14639 on 16 May 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/parliamentarybus…

2 May 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its air quality standard objectives, whether it plans to hold discussions with the UK Government regarding the recent Supreme Court ruling that the UK has failed to deliver improvements in air quality in the appropriate timescale.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the UK Government and other devolved administrations as we pursue a shared goal of improving air quality. We are committed to improving air quality across Scotland and have seen significant reductions in poll…

29 Apr 2013 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Supreme Court ruling on the Salvesen v Riddell case.

24 Apr 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on ash dieback in Scotland.

17 Apr 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on opencast restoration.

15 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-13253 and S4W-13767 by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 March 2013 and 15 April 2013 respectively, when it issued the notice to quit to the Raasay Crofters Association. 

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Notice to quit was issued to the Raasay Crofters Association on 1 November 2011. The dates given in S4W-13767 and S4W-13769 are incorrect and should read 1 November 2011. I apologise for this error.

4 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many meetings it has had in the last year with and (b) what support it offers to the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The First Minister and I met with the RSABI chief executive and chairman as recently as the National Farmers Union Scotland Annual General Meeting in February 2013, when we awarded the RSABI a £50,000 grant to support the great work that it does.

4 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it will offer to farmers facing financial difficulties as a result of the recent bad weather conditions.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government provided £500,000 support to farmers to assist with fallen stock costs and, on 1 May 2013, I announced a £6 million aid package to further support the industry recover from the recent extreme weather and other factors.

4 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it will provide to farmers for the removal of animals that died as a result of the recent bad weather conditions. 

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is providing £500,000 financial aid to farmers for the collection of fallen stock that have died as a result of the severe weather. This will be distributed to all farmers in Scotland through the National Fallen Stock Company.

4 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what emotional support it is providing to farmers who have been adversely affected by the recent bad weather conditions.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I have spoken to many farmers and know the problems this has caused in terms of devastating livestock losses, crops not harvested or not planted and increased feed requirements at a time of rising prices. The Scottish Government has already acted swiftly to p…

4 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide financial assistance to farmers for the purchase of extra feed as a result of the recent bad weather conditions.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: On 1 May 2013, the Scottish Government announced a £6 million package of aid for farmers affected by the bad weather of 2012 and 2013, in particular the heavy snow of March 2013. A government industry group, chaired by the governments, Chief Agricultural Offi…

3 Apr 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it became aware of reports regarding the mislabelling of fish in the retail sector and what action it took.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: On 28 February 2013 I asked Seafish to write to retailers and processors reminding them of the need to maintain the highest level of labelling standards, and Seafish did so on 12 March 2013. Seafood substitution was discussed with the major supermarkets at th…

28 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reconsider the inclusion of sites to protect seabird foraging areas in the proposed network of marine protected areas to provide resilience against extreme weather events.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: There is already a range of work ongoing to identify seabird foraging areas for possible inclusion in the Scottish MPA network either as Nature Conservation MPAs designated under national legislation or marine Special Protected Areas (SPAs) designated under t…

28 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the proposed network of marine protected areas will protect sandeels in the River Forth.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14069 on 16 April 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…

28 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the proposed network of marine protected areas will have on the recovery of sandeels.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Protected areas can help conserve the current populations of sandeels by protecting the sources of sandeel in Scottish waters. Four inshore and offshore MPA proposals for sandeels have been identified and were included in the Report to Parliament in December…

28 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to reports that the recent bad weather is having a negative impact on seabird populations ahead of the breeding season.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I recognise that the recent spell of unusually bad weather has had a negative impact on Scotland’s wildlife including seabirds and also on livestock. There have been reports of groups of seabirds, such as puffins, being washed ashore on the East Coast of Scot…

18 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions took place between its Rural Payments and Inspections Division and Raasay Crofters Association between 1 November 2011 and 14 December 2012.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: On 1 November 2011, the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division served Raasay Crofters Association notice that their lease for sporting rights would end on 28 November 2012. During the period from 1 November to 14 December 2012, a repres…

18 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers became aware that the Rural Payments and Inspections Division intended to write to Raasay Crofters Association with a notice to quit the lease for the sporting rights on Raasay.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the Member to the answer to question SW4-13767 on 15 April 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…

18 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether ministers were informed that its Rural Payments and Inspections Division had written to Raasay Crofters Association on 1 November 2011 with a notice to quit the lease for the sporting rights on Raasay.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: On 1 November 2011, the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division served Raasay Crofters Association notice that their lease for Raasay sporting rights would end on 28 November 2012. There is a long standing precedent for decisions on award …

18 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the constituency question from Rhoda Grant by Alex Salmond on 21 February 2013 (Official Report, c. 16863), what the "difficulties relating to upholding the Scottish public finance principles and best value" were and how they were overcome.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Officials had originally taken a relatively narrow view of the Scottish Public Finance Manual principles in awarding the Raasay lease for sporting rights to the highest rental value, taking account of a basic quality test that the new leaseholder would be cap…

14 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government on any changes to how environmental impacts will be assessed in Scotland under the UK Office for Unconventional Gas.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13713 on 15 April 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…

14 Mar 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government about how environmental impacts are assessed under the licensing, planning and regulatory framework for onshore unconventional gas extraction.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13713 on 15 April 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…