Gail Ross

28 Feb 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support and resources it provides to schools to encourage and develop relationships with employers, businesses and further educational establishments in their area.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: A wide range of support and resources have been made available through our national education partners to assist schools in working with colleges, employers and other partners as part of implementing the recommendations of Developing the Young Workforce. We …

21 Feb 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it works with rural community councils to develop community empowerment, devolve powers locally and help reform local government.

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to encourage farmers and crofters to introduce measures to reduce the risk of dog attacks on livestock.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Any incident of livestock worrying is a concern and that is why we are fully supporting the campaign launched recently by Police Scotland to highlight the importance of dog owners keeping their pets under control when walking in rural areas. This campaign, is…

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise awareness among dog walkers of the risk of livestock worrying.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: We are fully supporting the campaign launched recently by Police Scotland to highlight the importance of dog owners keeping their pets under control when walking in rural areas. This campaign, is being run in conjunction with the Scottish Partnership Against …

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the incidence of dog attacks on farm livestock.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Any incident of livestock worrying is a concern and that is why we are fully supporting the campaign launched recently by Police Scotland to highlight the importance of dog owners keeping their pets under control when walking in rural areas. This campaign, is…

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures from NFU Mutual suggesting that, in the last year, the number of dog attacks on livestock in the UK increased by 50% and that, in Scotland, the costs of such attacks trebled to £51,296.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Any incident of livestock worrying is a concern and that is why we are fully supporting the campaign launched recently by Police Scotland to highlight the importance of dog owners keeping their pets under control when walking in rural areas. This campaign, is…

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for people with symptoms of Lyme disease.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: NHS staff follow published guidance, for example the British Infection Association’s 2011 position statement on Lyme Borreliosis, when caring for a patient who may have Lyme disease. Lyme disease is easily treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early but if le…

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it raises awareness of the danger of (a) ticks and (b) Lyme disease when participating in outdoor pursuits.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Lyme Borreliosis Group, which is a part of the Scottish Health Protection Network, is developing communications tools to raise awareness of Lyme disease among health professionals and the public. Advice on how to prevent tick bites in the first instance a…

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of Scotland's (a) agricultural and (b) beef exports are with EU member states.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: It is estimated in the latest Exports Statistics Scotland (ESS) that £105 million worth of “Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing” products were exported to the EU in 2015. A published estimate for agriculture only is not available. Beef exports for the year up t…

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise public awareness of the types of habitats where ticks can be found.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The multi-agency Lyme Borreliosis Group, which is a part of the Scottish Health Protection Network, is currently updating Health Protection Scotland’s Lyme disease poster and developing information to put on NHS Inform’s website, to help raise awareness of Ly…

16 Feb 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of Scotland's sheep meat abattoirs' annual turnover is made up from sales outside the UK.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish sheep meat abattoirs generated more than 25 per cent of their total turnover from sales outside the UK.

1 Feb 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report by the Royal Bank of Scotland, Harvesting the future for young farmers.

18 Jan 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to recruit physicians and surgeons for rural general hospitals.

21 Dec 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it encourages the enterprise agencies to consider alternative routes to superfast broadband in rural areas.

6 Dec 2016 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking in response to the highly-pathogenic strain of avian influenza that is affecting wild birds and poultry in Europe.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scottish Ministers declared an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone on 6 December 2016 to help prevent potential infection from wild birds into captive birds and poultry. This precautionary step has been taken in response to multiple reports of a strain of highly …

28 Nov 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable is for its strategic environmental and habitats regulations assessments of the beaver population.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We are required to carry out a Habitats Regulations Assessment of our proposed plan to allow beavers to remain in Scotland. Work is already underway on this Assessment and I expect it to be completed early in 2017. We are also required to consider whether a S…

15 Nov 2016 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of how interested parties can inform Scotland’s future rail infrastructure strategy.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Scotland’s railways are a national asset, providing a vital public service to people and communities across the country, and enabling businesses to move goods and materials to markets. The recent refresh of our National Transport Strategy confirmed our key s…

14 Nov 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the EU referendum has led to an increase in hate speech in schools and, if so, what action its education directorate is taking to tackle this.

9 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which services on the (a) Far North and (b) Kyle of Lochalsh Line will be considered as "golden trains" following the implementation of the ScotRail improvement plan, and when this status will come into force.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: ScotRail continually review and amended the services they stipulate internally as "Golden Trains". Performance patterns are altered as operational circumstances change and improvement plans take effect. The purpose of classifying these services at any given t…

7 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the incidence of dog attacks on farm livestock.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government is supportive of responsible dog ownership and there are a range of measures in place in relation to protection of farm livestock from dogs. Section 1 of The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 provides specific protection for liv…

30 Sep 2016 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in delivering the national CAP loan scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The National Basic Payment Support Scheme 2016 was announced to Parliament on 13 September 2016. Delivery of the scheme has proceeded on the timescale set out in the announcement. Loan letters were posted to 17,324 farmers and crofters, the vast majority of p…

12 Sep 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the creation and promotion of the North Coast 500 has had on tourism in the North Highlands.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: While anecdotal evidence from VisitScotland and other stakeholders has indicated that the North Coast 500 has been very successful in boosting tourism along its route, firm data is not presently available. The new working group established by Highlands and Is…

30 Aug 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to Highland Games.

18 Jul 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress it is making on improving (a) broadband and (b) 3G coverage across rural areas.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government and its partners are investing over £410 million in the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme, which will extend access to fibre broadband to at least 95% of premises in Scotland by the end of 2017. We are also investin…

22 Jun 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the offshore Beatrice development will have on the economy and, in particular, in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: This project is expected to deliver around £680 million into the UK and Scottish economy via employment and supply chain opportunities during the construction phase, utilising the Port of Nigg and between £400 million - £525 million during the wind farm’s 25 …

27 May 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) local authority and (b) housing association homes have been built since 2007, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Details are as follows: (a) Local authority homes delivered since 2007 - the Council House Building Programme was not introduced until 2009-10: Local Authority 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Aberdeenshire 71 80 …