Parliamentary questions

Dr Alasdair Allan

348 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

15 Jan 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff employed by Caledonian MacBrayne are resident in the Western Isles.

21 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on on increasing the number of employment opportunities in transportation located in island communities.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Government agencies are currently major employers in the Western Isles. HIAL looks to support employment within its local communities wherever possible. Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) employ 118 people in the Western Isles and will continue t…

21 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when island local authorities will be in a position to request island community impact assessments.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Consultation for the development of Island Community Impact Assessments (ICIAs) will take place from 18 March to 27 May 2019, in tandem with work on the National Islands Plan. The National Islands Plan needs to be laid before Parliament on 4 October 2019 and…

12 Dec 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the in-work conditionality aspect of universal credit.

26 Nov 2018 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Prime Minister’s reported position that the proposed Brexit deal ensures that the UK will be an independent coastal state with full control over its waters.

20 Nov 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent the UK Government has consulted with it regarding the draft agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

6 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many crisis grant (a) applications and (b) awards there have been in the last quarter, broken down by local authority; what the average grant was, and how many applications were due to delays in benefits payments.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Crisis grant statistics for the latest quarter, broken down by local authority, are available in "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics: update to 30 June 2018", published at https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/swf. Figures for applica…

6 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for crisis grants in the last 12 months were due to delays in benefits payments.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Information on the number of crisis grants in the last 12 months due to 'Other - delay in payment of benefits' is available in Table 6(i) of "Scottish Welfare Fund statistics: update to June 2018" published at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/…

23 Oct 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in securing work for the Arnish fabrication yard on the Isle of Lewis.

4 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many unannounced site visits there have been by the Fish Health Inspectorate to fish farms in (a) the Western Isles and (b) Scotland in the last year.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Two unannounced site inspections of fish farms have been completed by the Fish Health Inspectorate in the last year, neither were completed in the Western Isles.

17 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports of high levels of wild and farmed salmon mortalities in Loch Roag, Isle of Lewis.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: A report was received from the Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust on 30 July regarding mortalities in wild salmon in the Blackwater River, Lewis. An inspector attended on the 2 August and investigative samples were taken. A report detailing the results of the tes…

17 Sep 2018 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will use the Social Metrics Commission’s new framework for tackling poverty.

10 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to investigate options for increasing the capacity on the Stornoway-Ullapool ferry route in the summer months.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Capacity in peak periods is one of the challenges for our ferry services, particularly given the very welcome increase in passenger numbers which has followed the successful introduction of Road Equivalent Tariff (RET). Additional passenger and car capacity …

10 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what lessons will be learned from the recent breakdown of MV Loch Seaforth in terms of the ability of Calmac’s fleet to cope with the breakdown of one or more major vessels.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The vessel lost propulsion power and switched to her emergency generator before proceeding to Stornoway at 11 knots, accompanied by an RNLI escort. Following her arrival in port, both engines were checked and CalMac crew completed a repair to the vessel foll…

28 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to secure work for the Arnish construction yard on the Isle of Lewis.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: BiFab was acquired by DF Barnes on 17 April 2018 as part of an agreement brokered by the Scottish Government to support new opportunities for fabrication and construction in the marine, renewables and energy sector. The commitment of DF Barnes to securing a …

17 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to stop depredation of crofting land in the Western Isles following reported changes in the migration patterns of the greylag goose.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Implementation of the review of goose management is being taken forward, in conjunction with Scottish Natural Heritage, in line with the Scottish ministers announcement on 23 February this year. This includes consideration of how to take forward a range of me…

16 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a minister will visit St Brendan's Hospital on Barra to discuss progress on plans to replace the present building.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are currently no plans for a minister to visit St Brendan’s Hospital on Barra to discuss progress on plans to replace the present building. Officials are however actively engaged with the NHS board regarding the development of their Property and Asset …

22 Mar 2011 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact on its ability to govern would be if the Public Administration Committee’s recommendation that the Scotland Office could be merged with its counterparts for Wales and Northern Ireland was acted on.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government believes that the Scotland Office should be abolished. This is in line with views expressed by the current Secretary of State for Scotland under the previous administration.

8 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to take forward the findings of the Speak Up for Rural Scotland consultation.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: On 9 March 2011, I will be launching Our Rural Future “ the Scottish Government''s response to the Speak Up for Rural Scotland consultation. Our Rural Future draws on the outcome of the consultation and identifies the key policy areas for rura…

7 Mar 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit of the Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency will be.

Answer · Michael Russell: I am pleased to confirm the remit and purpose of the new agency. Core Purpose and Strategic Priorities The new agency is to be established as a key national body supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education by: lead…

6 Dec 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the estimated percentage of the extra fuel required to heat houses in (a) Edinburgh, (b) Glasgow, (c) Aberdeen, (d) Dundee, (e) Stornoway, (f) Braemar, (g) Inverness and (h) Aviemore compared with equivalent houses in Bristol.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information is not held centrally but the Scottish Government is able to estimate the extra fuel required by using data held in the Scottish House Condition Survey. This is modelled information using a standard heating regime to remove the vagaries of ind…

17 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the policy and financial management review of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Following a tender exercise in May 2008, Quayle Munro (QM) was chosen to conduct the Policy and Financial Management Review (PFMR) of HIAL. QM was tasked to consider the following: the best future delivery model for the functions currently c…

13 May 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it will do to promote the tourist industry in the Western Isles in 2010-11.

Answer · Jim Mather: As with all areas of Scotland, the Western Isles is marketed by VisitScotland based on its considerable strengths and its ability to deliver what visitors are looking for on their visit to Scotland. VisitScotland uses a range of channels including new media a…

25 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will report on the outcome of the Joint Ministerial Committee (Domestic) meeting on 10 March 2010.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: On 10 March 2010, the First Minister and I attended the third meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee (Domestic), which included representatives from the UK Government, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. I am delight…

4 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it will be making to the relevent agencies, including Scottish and Southern Energy, regarding repeated power failures at the Western Isles Hospital.

1 Mar 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the need for a croft tenant to purchase and decroft their croft in order to meet costs related to residential care or to a marital division of assets when such costs are calculated by means of market influence valuations by the district or other valuer.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The asset of a croft tenancy may be realised without the need first to purchase and subsequently to decroft. Croft tenancies are routinely advertised for sale in outlets throughout the crofting counties. In relation to charging for residential care …

25 Feb 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider expanding programmes to control numbers of greylag geese to cover small islands off Uist where they nest extensively.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We have no plans to do so at present. In line with international legal requirements, the purpose of the existing scheme is to protect agricultural crops from damage by geese, not to control goose numbers. There is no justification for extending the programme …

27 Jan 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it will make to the UK Government to ensure that UK legislation does not have the effect of running counter to the aims of the Scottish Government in relation to the issue of croft and croft house tenancy valuation.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government aims to ensure that croft and croft house tenancies are held by persons who actively croft. The Scottish Government will make such representations as may be necessary in respect of UK Government proposals which appear to conflict with …

16 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of the December EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: An EU Fisheries Council ended late on 15 December in Brussels and agreed the TAC and Quota Regulation for 2010. Against a background of a particularly challenging economic climate and the tough effort restrictions affecting a proportion of Scotland''…

23 Sep 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can provide an update on the state of negotiations with regard to the forthcoming round of EU fisheries talks.

Answer · Richard Lochhead : This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1001-01.htm">http://www.scot…