Parliamentary questions

Alexander Burnett

1,406 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

13 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that suicide awareness is taught in schools.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government. We are committed to improving support for children and young people’s mental health in order to ensure early intervention and prevention of suici…

12 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to convert the guidance contained around financial benefits for communities in its document Scottish Government Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments into independently set megawatt hour rates.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government has no current plans to review and update its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments (2019). We are currently reviewing our Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Offs…

12 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to consider setting geographic limits on the concentration of wind farms.

Answer · Tom Arthur: There are no plans for setting geographic limits on the concentration of wind farms. The Revised Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was laid in the Scottish Parliament on 8 November 2022 and is the product of extensive engagement and collaboration. …

12 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce legislation which would set a minimum megawatt hour community benefit contribution rate for onshore wind developments that increases in line with inflation.

Answer · Michael Matheson: It is not possible for the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to mandate the provision of community benefits through energy regulation because the relevant powers are reserved to the UK Government. Through our existing guidance for onshore renewable…

10 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on current game licensing plans for deer management.

Answer · Lorna Slater: We are progressing the recommendations made in the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) report , published in December 2020. The DWG report made recommendations to improve deer management and included recommendations 19-21 which propose legislative amendmen…

7 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason planning permission is required for obtaining a short-term lets licence for flats, but not houses.

Answer · Shona Robison: In a control area, change of use of a dwellinghouse, which is not a host's only or principal home, to provide short-term lets will always require planning permission. This applies to both houses and flats. In a control area, it is a mandatory condition of lic…

7 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is the case that the fee for obtaining a registration for a short-term lets licence will cost more depending on the number of occupants that could be accommodated, and, if it is the case, what is the reason for this.

Answer · Shona Robison: Licence fees are set by licensing authorities to cover their costs in establishing and administering licence schemes in their areas. The Scottish Government has set out in guidance for licensing authorities the parameters that they may want to consider when…

6 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how local resilience groups can join the pilot project in Aberdeenshire to extend the public water networks to connect with households reliant on private supplies.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The project group is currently made up of representatives from Scottish Government, Scottish Water, Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland, Consumer Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council, and have been selected based on their relevant experience in the wa…

6 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting local resilience hubs created in response to recent serious weather events.

Answer · Keith Brown: Local Authorities (LA) in Scotland are the main conduit to local communities to help them develop emergency resilience activities and plans. LAs have a wide range of pre-identified venues in their areas, which can be used as rest or assistance centres that c…

6 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the pilot project to extend the public water networks in Aberdeenshire to connect with households reliant on private supplies.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The initial phase of the pilot project is nearly complete. This early work has sought to understand how communities which have been affected by repeated water scarcity events should be identified, to establish the proximity to public water mains, to assess th…

6 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with stakeholders regarding felling trees close to low-voltage power lines that could be damaged in adverse weather.

Answer · Keith Brown: Resilience of the Energy Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government. The Scottish Government works closely with power companies and recognises the many aspects of resilience of the energy networks in Scotland, including the mana…

6 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of felling trees close to low-voltage power lines that could be damaged in adverse weather.

Answer · Keith Brown: Resilience of the Energy Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government. Power Companies are required to meet statutory obligations under the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 with respect to minimum cleara…

4 Oct 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what flexibility it permits to Openreach to revise the broadband installation programme where private developers install to an area.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The R100 contracts set out which premises Openreach will deliver to. Openreach has no flexibility to remove premises from contractual build without prior agreement from Scottish Government. To date, no premises have been removed from the R100 contracts. Prio…

23 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for people aged over 65 who wish to claim non-physical disability allowance and have not previously claimed this under the Personal Independence Payment system.

Answer · Ben Macpherson: People in Scotland over State Pension age, who do not already have an award of Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance or Adult Disability Payment, can apply for Attendance Allowance. Attendance Allowance is awarded to help with extra cost…

8 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is addressing any concerns of rural communities regarding the use of agricultural land for tree planting.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Tree planting in Scotland is supported through the Forestry Grant Scheme, managed by Scottish Forestry. To be eligible for support, proposals for tree planting must be developed in line with the Woodland Creation Application Guidance published in 2018. Stake…

7 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much land that (a) it and (b) its agencies own is used for tree planting.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Figures for the area of woodland and the areas of new planting / restocking in Scotland on land owned by the Scottish Government and/or its agencies are published annually as National Statistics by Forest Research and are available from the Forest Research we…

2 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many caravan park owners and managers have met the criteria for the Fit and Proper Person Test, and how many have failed the test.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Scottish Government does not hold data on the sector of how many caravan park owners and managers have met the criteria for the fit and proper person test or how many have failed the test. This is a matter for local authorities and the information request…

2 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the collection of data from local authorities on park home residential site licences.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09995 on 16 August 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committe…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the responsibility for collecting evidence for applications to the Redress Scotland Scheme reportedly lies with victims, who were children at the time of the abuse.

Answer · John Swinney: Scotland’s Redress Scheme has been developed to ensure that survivors of abuse in relevant care settings are at the heart of the process at all times, and can maintain decision making responsibilities regarding their application and the content of that applic…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support Redress Scotland provides to victims applying to the scheme when asking for (a) evidence and (b) supporting documents for their claims, including to find records from (i) social care and (ii) hospital settings.

Answer · John Swinney: Scotland’s Redress Scheme has been designed and developed to offer survivors support at every stage of the process. Trained case workers, working on behalf of the Scottish Government, are there to communicate with applicants throughout the application process…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provisions have been made to keep survivors’ information confidential when applying to the Redress Scotland Scheme.

Answer · John Swinney: Scotland’s Redress Scheme is being delivered in accordance with the Digital Scotland Service Standard . Criteria 8 relates to the creation of a service which protects users’ privacy. All of our systems are designed in line with the National Cyber Security C…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the budget is for the Redress Scotland Scheme.

Answer · John Swinney: As required under Rule 9.3.2 of the Parliament’s Standing Orders, the Financial Memorandum was published to accompany the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill, introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 13 August 2020. This o…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are employed for the Redress Scotland Scheme and how sensitive information is shared between them.

Answer · John Swinney: Scotland’s Redress Scheme is delivered jointly by the Scottish Government and Redress Scotland – a new non-departmental public body which assesses and makes decisions on redress applications. Redress Scotland is an independent body, which is not part of Scott…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of peatland have been lost in each of the last 15 years.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: It is not clear what is meant by peatlands being ‘lost’. The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many hectares of peatland have been ‘lost’ in each of the last 15 years but we have committed £250 million to restoring 250,000 hectares of degraded pe…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of peatland have been restored through its initiatives in each of the last 15 years.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Official annual restoration totals are only available from 2012-13 when the Scottish Government began funding Peatland ACTION, the national peatland restoration programme delivered by NatureScot. However, data from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology is avai…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential ban on the extraction and sale of peat, what it considers to be the specific needs of people in Scotland on this matter.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The extraction of peat for use in horticulture exacerbates the linked climate and nature crises. By stopping using peat in horticulture, the people of Scotland can play their part in our journey net zero and help tackle those crises which affect us all. We ar…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on the restoration of peatland in 2021-22.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: We have committed £250 million to restoring 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030. In 2021-22, the Scottish Government provided £15.58 million to our delivery partners to support peatland restoration across Scotland.

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly chose not to support the Welsh and UK governments' proposals for a UK-wide ban on the sale of horticultural peat for use in the amateur gardening sector.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: In our 2021-22 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government pledged to take forward work to develop and consult on a ban on the sale of peat-related gardening products as part of our wider commitment to phase out the use of peat in horticulture. This ali…

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether a ban on the sale of peat will be in place in Scotland before the end of 2023.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government will soon launch our consultation, which will inform ambitious timescales for phasing out the use of peat in horticulture.

1 Sep 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to consult on proposals to ban the extraction and sale of peat in Scotland, and, if this is the case, when it expects to launch a consultation.