Parliamentary questions

Willie Rennie

1,353 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

18 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 13 February 2014, Pound is best option for independent Scotland and rest of UK, what advice it received from the Fiscal Commission Working Group on the duration of a currency union.

Answer · John Swinney: The first report of the Fiscal Commission Working Group and technical annex provided a detailed assessment of the currency options of an independent Scotland, and concluded that retaining sterling was in the economic interests of both Scotland and the rest of…

17 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme does not appear in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011: Updated Programme Pipeline (January 2014).

Answer · Michael Russell: Information relating to the Schools for the Future programme is included within the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011: Progress Report for 2013 which was published on 17 March 2013. Generic information relating to the schools programme was not included with…

17 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the upper estimate for the capital value of the Aberdeen-Inverness rail improvements project in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011: Updated Programme Pipeline (January 2014) has risen to £600 million compared with the previous update.

Answer · Keith Brown: Due to a typing error the upper estimate for the capital value for the Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Improvements Project was increased to £600 million, but should read as £500 million. The Updated Programme Pipeline for January 2014, which was published on 17 …

17 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the start date for the A96 dual-carriageway Inverness-Aberdeen project does not appear in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2011: Updated Programme Pipeline (January 2014) compared with the previous update and whether this represents a change in phasing.

Answer · Keith Brown: There has been no change in the timetable for delivering the A96 Inverness to Aberdeen dualling programme. The dualling of the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen is to be completed by 2030 through a phased programme of schemes from 2017 onwards. The timetable…

17 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the reported statement by a Scottish Government source in The Daily Telegraph of 14 March 2014 concerning an independent Scotland’s security services that “we will take no lessons on this issue from a Westminster establishment whose security services produced the most flawed inte…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government policy on security and intelligence in an independent Scotland is set out in Scotland's Future, Chapter 7, pages 261-267. It will be in the interests both of Scotland and the rest of the UK to work closely to ensure the security of bot…

14 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which opencast mines ministers were made aware of before they were granted planning consent for restoration, and which of these (a) were called in by ministers and (b) are predicted to have a shortfall in funding to deliver restoration.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Applications for opencast coal developments are determined by the relevant planning authority as part of the normal planning process. Scottish Ministers are notified of opencast coal mines where development consisting of works connected with the extraction of…

14 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the experience of the opencast coal industry, what its position is on the risks associated with other types of development using bonds to secure funding for long-term (a) environmental maintenance, (b) decommissioning, (c) restoration, (d) aftercare and (e) other work, and w…

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Bonds are but one form of a financial guarantee set out in Scottish Planning Policy in relation to renewables, minerals and surface coal mining designed to safeguard against a range of matters including the routine security against the risk of actions not bei…

14 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, other than those associated with opencast coal, what types of developments use bonds to secure funding for long-term (a) environmental maintenance, (b) decommissioning, (c) restoration, (d) aftercare and (e) other work.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Any development may be associated with a financial bond to secure funding for maintenance, decommissioning, restoration, aftercare or other work and this is normally a matter for the planning authority. Financial guarantees including bonds are typical in the …

14 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the projected demand for coal is from Scotland’s power stations for each of the next 10 years, and what percentage of this will be sourced indigenously.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Longannet is Scotland’s only coal power station and consumed 4.1 million tonnes of coal in 2012 and 4.3million tonnes in 2013. Longannet obtained 47% of its coal from Scottish suppliers in 2012. Due to the disruption in supply caused by the liquidation of Sc…

10 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the additional £700 million of tax revenues referred to in its report, Childcare and Labour Market Participation – Economic Analysis.

Answer · John Swinney: As outlined in the Childcare and Labour Market Participation – Economic Analysis paper, the increase in the tax revenues by £700 million that could arise from matching Sweden’s female participation rate would be expected to come from a range of different tax …

7 Mar 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

27 Feb 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

14 Feb 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

31 Jan 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

21 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on notices received under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 where a similar but smaller planning application has been recently rejected by the local planning authority.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: In Scotland, any application to construct or operate an onshore power generating station with a capacity of over 50 megawatts (MW) requires the consent of Scottish Ministers under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. Significant onshore renewable energy p…

21 Jan 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with PNE Wind regarding the Cowal and Trossachs Forest District Wind Farm, Bachan Burn.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Energy Consents and Deployment Unit (ECDU) colleagues met with representatives from PNE Wind on 16 October 2013 to advise the developer on the procedures in place in order for them to take forward a scoping opinion from the ECDU. PNE Wind provided an overview…

16 Jan 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

10 Jan 2014 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

20 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will implement all of the recommendations in the report, Future arrangements to secure food standards and safety in Scotland.

Answer · Michael Matheson: On Tuesday 3 September 2013, Scotland’s First Minister unveiled the Scottish Government’s forthcoming legislative programme for 2013-2014, which included the Food Standards (Scotland) Bill. The Bill will implement the recommendations from the Scudamore report…

19 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with Scottish Coal in the year before it went into liquidation.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Coal (also known as Scottish Resources Group SRG) went into liquidation in April 2013. In the year prior to that Scottish Government officials met with SRG and other coal operators on a regular basis to discuss general issues relevant to the coal ind…

19 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with companies involved in opencast mining about their financial status.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government does not, under the existing legal framework, applicable to open cast mining, have any legal duty to carry out any analysis of the financial status of companies. Financial clearance and financial appraisal is, however, one of the aspe…

19 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the financial security of companies involved in the opencast mining sector.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Under the existing legal framework the Scottish Government does not have any role or duty to make assessment of the financial security of companies involved in the open cast mining sector. Financial clearance and financial appraisal is one of the aspects tak…

12 Dec 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

6 Dec 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

22 Nov 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

18 Nov 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

15 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-17874 by Fiona Hyslop on 13 November 2013, whether Mr Dunn has verified the details of the meeting with the government of Egypt on 13 September 2013.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The meeting was attended by members of the Egyptian diaspora in Scotland and not representatives of the Egyptian government. The reason for the meeting was to hear from the Egyptian community in Scotland how the current situation in Egypt is affecting them.

14 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S4F-01683 by the First Minister on 14 November 2013 in relation to the provision of his speeches (Official Report, c. 24472), whether it will reconsider its decision not to publish the First Minister's speech to EU ambassador…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17875 on 18 November 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/parliamenta…

14 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-18056 by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2013, for what reasons it did not list the topics that were discussed at its meetings at the United Nations in September 2013.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-18376 on 28 November 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/parliamenta…

14 Nov 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-18056 by Humza Yousaf on 13 November 2013, what agreed actions arose from its meetings at the United Nations in September 2013.