Parliamentary questions
Donald Cameron
1,854 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many farm businesses in (a) the Highlands, (b) Aberdeenshire and (c) each parliamentary region are waiting to receive 2016-17 AECS (Agri-Environment Climate Scheme) payments.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The amount of farm businesses waiting to receive 2016-17 AECS (Agri-Environment Climate Scheme) payments is as follows;0 outstanding payments out of the 911 approved applications for the 2016 claim year22 outstanding payments out of the 751 approved applicati…
2 Apr 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many EU Settlement Scheme application fees it has reimbursed.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: Following extensive lobbying by the Scottish Government, the 3Million group and other partners, on 21 January the Prime Minister finally announced the abolition of the proposed fee of £65 for EU citizens to obtain settled status. The UK Government has stated …
26 Mar 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support GP practices in rural areas.
20 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many operations have been cancelled in each year since 2016 in NHS (a) Highland, (b) Eilean Siar, (c) Shetland and (d) Orkney.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The following table shows the total number of scheduled elective cancelled operations recorded in theatre systems for calendar years 2016, 2017 and 2018 across NHS Highland, NHS Western Isles, NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney. Health Board 2016 2017 2018 NHS …
12 Mar 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet Highlands and Islands Airports Limited.
Answer · Michael Matheson: My Officials at T.S. are in regular contact with HIAL and I plan to have a discussion with the Chair and Managing Director next week.
5 Mar 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many new homes were built across all sectors in (a) the Highlands, (b) Argyll and Bute, (c) the Western Isles, (d) Moray, (e) the Orkney Islands and (f) the Shetland Islands in 2018.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government publishes quarterly statistics on new build housing across all sectors in each local authority area as part of the Housing Statistics for Scotland publications and web tables available at https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse…
27 Feb 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve ferry capacity in the Highlands and Islands region.
5 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many SMART: SCOTLAND grants have been paid to projects in the (a) Argyll and Bute, (b) Highland, (c) Western Isles, (d) Moray, (e) Shetland Islands and (f) Orkney Islands council area in each year since 2016, also broken down by the total amount awarded.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your query on to Steve Dunlop, the Chief Executive, and asked him to respond to you directly.
5 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many research and development grants have been paid to projects in the (a) Argyll and Bute, (b) Highland, (c) Western Isles, (d) Moray, (e) Shetland Islands and (f) Orkney Islands council area in each year since 2016, also broken down by the total amount awarded.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). I have passed your query on to Steve Dunlop and Charlotte Wright, the Chief Executives of SE and HIE respectively, and asked them to respond to you directl…
5 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Make it to Market grants have been paid to projects in the (a) Argyll and Bute, (b) Highland, (c) Western Isles, (d) Moray, (e) Shetland Islands and (f) Orkney Islands council area in each year since 2016, also broken down by the total amount awarded.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your query on to Steve Dunlop, the Chief Executive, and asked him to respond to you directly .
5 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Regional Selective Assistance grants have been paid to projects in the (a) Argyll and Bute, (b) Highland, (c) Western Isles, (d) Moray, (e) Shetland Islands and (f) Orkney Islands council area in each year since 2016, also broken down by the total amount awarded.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your query on to Steve Dunlop, the Chief Executive, and asked him to respond to you directly.
22 Jan 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to make ferry travel more accessible.
20 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought external (a) legal and (b) other advice regarding holding a second independence referendum.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21111 on 28 January 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…
20 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its legal department is preparing advice regarding holding a second independence referendum.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21111 on 28 January 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…
20 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many times and (b) on what dates it has sought (i) legal and (ii) other advice regarding holding a second independence referendum.
Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-21111 on 28 January 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusines…
20 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought (a) legal and (b) other advice regarding holding a second independence referendum without seeking an order from the UK Government under section 30 of the Scotland Act 1998.
Answer · Michael Russell: Scottish Government decisions are informed by appropriate analysis of the legal considerations. All legal advice is confidential and it is a very long established convention that legal advice provided to the Scottish Government is not published, and that the …
15 Jan 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update following the last meeting of the A83 Taskforce.
8 Jan 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the development of Scotland’s ports.
18 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its decision to cancel the Gourock-Dunoon ferry tender process and proceed with a direct award to CalMac, what steps will be taken by Transport Scotland to ensure that the Altmark requirements will be met.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The responsibility for operating a passenger-only ferry service between the town centres in Gourock and Dunoon is being transferred to CalMac, under provisions set out in their current contract for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services. The Clyde and Hebride…
18 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its decision to cancel the Gourock-Dunoon ferry tender process and proceed with a direct award to CalMac, what steps will be taken by Transport Scotland to benchmark future subsidy levels and achieve value for money.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: All variations to the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract, including the planned transfer of the Gourock to Dunoon service, are scrutinised and rigorously assessed for value for money. Going forward, the Gourock to Dunoon route will be included as part …
18 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its decision to cancel the Gourock-Dunoon ferry tender process and proceed with a direct award to CalMac, when it will provide details of (a) future service levels, (b) future service vessels and (c) the introduction of RET fares on both Gourock-Dunoon ferry services.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The service will remain unchanged upon transfer, to facilitate the transition with the same timetable and ticketing arrangements as are currently in place. Any future changes will be fully assessed and evaluated and subject to existing consultation processes.…
21 Nov 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve access to air transport for disabled people who wish to travel to and from island communities.
16 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the economic impact of road closures has been in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the annual economic impact of road closures. The impact of closing a road depends on the particular circumstances such as whether it is a planned or unplanned closure, the location of the disruption, the du…
16 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure the timely reopening of the Rest and Be Thankful section of the A83, following the recent landslides.
Answer · Michael Matheson: After 48 hours of intensive rainfall (150mm), a landslide overnight into 9 October closed the A83 Rest and Be Thankful until its reopening at 11.20am on 18 October. Over these 9 days, strategic or local diversions were in place. A diversion via the A819 at I…
16 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to establish a long-term solution to the reliability of the A83, in particular at the Rest and Be Thankful section.
Answer · Michael Matheson: We are fully committed to the Argyll and Bute region and since 2007 we have invested £69.8 million in the maintenance of the A83. This includes £11 million on landslide mitigation works at the Rest and Be Thankful (including improvements to the Old Military R…
16 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has made of the effectiveness of its landslide mitigation measures for roads in each year since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The effectiveness of landslide mitigation measures can only be evaluated if and when an incident occurs. Landslide incidents on the Scottish trunk road network since 2007 have focussed on the A83 Rest and Be Thankful, where the landslide mitigation measures …
16 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the reported £56 million that that has been spent on the A83 since 2007 has been allocated each year to landslide mitigation measures at (a) the Rest and Be Thankful and (b) other sections of that road.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The requested information is provided in the table below. Since April 2007, £69.8 million has been invested in maintaining the A83. This includes? £11 million on landslide mitigation measures and improvements to the Old Military Road local diversion. A progra…
16 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on repairing landslide mitigation infrastructure for roads since 2007.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Since 2007, we have spent approximately £918,000 repairing landslide mitigation infrastructure. This total amount covers 2 separate landslide incidents at the Rest and Be Thankful but does not include costs for current repairs to the damaged mitigation measur…
20 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether average farm income has increased in real terms between 2017 and 2018, and, if so, by how much.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Information on farm incomes for 2018 is not yet available. First estimates for Total Income from Farming for 2018 will be published on the Government’s website in January 2019. Initial estimates for Total Income from Farming for 2017 suggested a 34 per cent …
11 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Audit Scotland report, Transport Scotland’s ferry services, which was published in October 2017, and its recommendation in relation to considering the value for money of providing financial support for the Gourock-Dunoon route, what consideration it has undertaken to ens…
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: All Audit Scotland's recommendations on Transport Scotland’s ferry services, including those related to value for money, are currently being considered. The Scottish Government has a strong track record in securing value for tax payers from investment for tra…