Parliamentary questions
Andy Wightman
202 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
13 Mar 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to incorporate the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights into Scots law.
6 Mar 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the health secretary has had with the housing minister regarding action that can be taken to mitigate the cost of health inequalities brought about by poor or unsuitable housing.
28 Feb 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update the legislation regarding the licensing late hours catering, including introducing a system of neighbourhood notification.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Under section 42 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, Licensing Authorities may operate a late night catering licensing regime for premises providing “food” between 11pm and 5am. Prior to the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, the 198…
31 Jan 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to regulate the commercial short-term letting of domestic flats.
17 Jan 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to meet the health needs of homeless people, and whether the cabinet secretary considers that their health outcomes could be improved by adopting a "housing first" approach.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has taken a series of actions to address rough sleeping and homelessness, which will have a positive effect on meeting the health needs of homeless people. The short term Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group has moved rapidly …
11 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to implement the outstanding recommendations of the paper, Report on Succession, which was published by the Scottish Law Commission in 2009, and what its position regarding whether women should be given a legal right to inherit land.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government has consulted twice on the recommendations in the Scottish Law Commission’s 2009 Report on Succession (Scot Law Com No 215).The first consultation resulted in the Succession (Scotland) Act 2016. In the Programme for Government publis…
9 Jan 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides for instrumental music education in primary and secondary schools.
19 Dec 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what research (a) it has and (b) its agencies have commissioned on the development of a genetic test to identify Scottish wildcats; how much this cost, and whether it will publish the findings.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has not directly commissioned research on the development of a genetic test to identify Scottish wildcats but Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has, from the early 1990s to the present day, commissioned research into the classification a…
18 Dec 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the residency status of the owners of private forestry land.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government does not collect data on the residency status of private land-owners.
18 Dec 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of private forestry land are owned by (a) individuals, (b) families, (c) resident owners, (d) absentee owners, (e) charitable bodies and (f) corporate bodies.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government does not hold data about these categories of ownership of private forestry. Information showing the estimated number of hectares of privately owned forests in the UK in the following classifications was published by the Forestry Commis…
18 Dec 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of private forestry land is owned in holdings of (a) 0-10ha, (b) 11-50ha, (c) 51-200ha, (d) 201-1,000ha and (e) greater than 1,000ha.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Forest Research, through the National Forest Inventory, publishes data on the number of hectares of forests, including in Scotland, in the following size classes (hectares): <2, 2-10; 10-20; 20-50; 50-100; 100-500; 500 and above. Summary data on the proporti…
18 Dec 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of privately-owned forest land are owned by women.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government does not collect data on the gender of private land-owners.
7 Dec 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of the (a) discussions, (b) meetings and (c) correspondence it has had with the Chief Scientific Adviser to Wildcat Haven CIC since 2007.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Details of (a) discussions, (b) meetings, and (c) correspondence the Scottish Government has had with the Chief Scientific Adviser to Wildcat Haven CIC since 2007 are as follows. Dr Paul O’Donoghue, Chief Scientific Adviser to Wildcat Haven, met with Paul Wh…
6 Dec 2017 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.
13 Nov 2017 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to enable the public to find out who owns land and property in Scotland.
3 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the management of wrasse populations is conducted in line with General Policy 9 of the 2015 Scottish National Marine Plan.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12465 on 16 November 2017. 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…
3 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that otters are not endangered by the use of wrasse traps.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12465 on 16 November 2017. 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/parliamentarybusin…
3 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures have been implemented to ensure that wrasse that are caught conform to the minimum conservation reference sizes, and how those sizes have been set with regard to the wrasse life-cycle.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12465 on 16 November 2017. 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…
3 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what statistics are collected by Marine Scotland regarding wrasse mortality in transit.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Marine Scotland does not routinely collect statistics on wrasse mortality in transport. However, as part of the Aquaculture Production Business (APB) authorisation conditions, an APB is required to record mortalities during transport and these records must be…
3 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether precautionary management measures similar to that introduced in England will be implemented for the wrasse fisheries.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12465 on 16 November 2017. 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/parliamentarybusin…
3 Nov 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its duty under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 to further the conservation of biodiversity, how it is protecting the wrasse fisheries.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: We are currently reviewing what management measures would be appropriate and proportionate to the current and anticipated future levels of wild wrasse fishing in Scotland. Following discussions with stakeholders, we will outline our plans in preparation for t…
23 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will facilitate the charging of electric vehicles for people who live in tenement properties.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: As set out in last month’s Programme for Government announcement, we plan to expand our electric charging infrastructure between now and 2022. This is one of the number of actions to meet the target to phase out the need for petrol and diesel vehicles by 2032…
23 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop future district heating projects for the (a) owner-occupied sector, (b) social-rented sector and (c) private-rented sector.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government will continue to encourage appropriately-sited, low carbon, affordable district heating in all sectors where cost effective to do so. There are a number of Scottish Government support schemes in place including: The Heat Network Partn…
2 Oct 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to consult on vacant land, as announced by the First Minister on 2 March 2016.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: I hosted a roundtable event on 25 October 2016 at which I consulted on our approach to Vacant and Derelict land. This event included a range of organisations, expertise and viewpoints with local government, landowners, developers, representative bodies and ac…
25 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority spent on rural housing projects in 2016-17, also broken down by the (a) (i) name and (ii) postcode of each project, (b) grant-receiving organisation, and (c) number of (A) units and (B) bed spaces.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The following table shows rural spend by local authority in 2016-17: Local Authority 2016-17 Aberdeenshire 1.612 Angus 3.018 Argyll & Bute 8.746 Clackmannanshire 2.940 Dumfries & Galloway 8.106 East Ayrshire 0.091 East Dunbartonshire 0.620 …
11 Sep 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the financial arrangements governing the management and maintenance of the Palace of Holyroodhouse are fair and equitable in terms of public funding.
6 Sep 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it plans to reduce the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme budget by £42 million.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The change to the indicative budgets for the Scottish Rural Development Programme, including the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme budget, is a direct result of the austerity put upon us by the UK Government. This means that I have had to change these budgets t…
30 Aug 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on locally-controlled taxation of vacant and derelict land.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Vacant and derelict land is already subject to local taxation in the form of non-domestic rates, subject to certain statutory exemptions and reliefs. We received Ken Barclay’s review of non-domestic rates on 22 August, and as promised will respond swiftly. T…
7 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the review being conducted of the memorandum of understanding between the Lord Chamberlain and the Scottish Ministers in relation to the management of the Palace of Holyroodhouse; when the review was initiated; what the terms of reference are; who is co…
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Following the establishment of Historic Environment Scotland on 1 October 2015, they are reviewing the arrangements with the Lord Chamberlain in relation to the management of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The terms of reference are to update the MOU and Histor…
5 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-09600 by Fiona Hyslop on 14 June 2017, and to a subsequent Freedom of Information request to her department, whether it will make publicly available the memorandum of understanding relating to the governance and financial management of the Palace of…
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I understand that Historic Environment Scotland has recently replied to the Member’s additional further request for this information in line with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2000 and in consultation with the Royal Household. I shall arrange for …