Parliamentary questions
Finlay Carson
905 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
20 Feb 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports Men's Sheds.
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to end the use of supplementary planning guidance and, if so, when.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Planning (Scotland) Bill, which is currently before the Scottish Parliament, proposes to remove section 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. Planning authorities can currently adopt supplementary guidance under section 22 which would f…
11 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether supplementary planning guidance is treated in the same manner as a Local Development Plan.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: Under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, supplementary guidance can be adopted and issued by a planning authority in connection with a local development plan. Any such guidance will form part of the development plan, and have that status for d…
5 Feb 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much BT has brought forward as a proportion of the Gainshare funding for reinvestment in the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband contracts, and what process was used by public sector partners to accept this offer.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: To date, £17.83 million has been brought forward for reinvestment, by BT across the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme through Gainshare: of this, £15.6 million has been invested in the 'Rest of Scotland' and a further £2.23 million in the …
29 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it (a) has had and (b) plans with the private sector to maximise the commercial roll-out of broadband and enable the R100 programme to focus on the most hard to reach areas.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: By focussing our £600 million investment in Scotland’s rural areas, while creating the right environment to encourage commercial providers to invest in our urban areas, we are ensuring we meet our commitment to deliver 100% superfast broadband access across S…
29 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that public intervention in the R100 programme will (a) focus on the areas of market failure and (b) not impact on private investment.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: It is a legal requirement under state aid legislation that public funding can only be invested in areas of market failure. An Open Market Review was initiated at the end of 2016 to identify those premises that did not have access to superfast broadband, and t…
23 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the money allocated in its digital connectivity budget for the last three years has occurred as a result of Gainshare.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Gainshare funding does not form part of the Scottish Government's digital connectivity budget. Gainshare is a mechanism in the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) contracts that allows for reinvestment of additional funds generated if take-up of supe…
23 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what specific measures will be taken to ensure that the R100 broadband scheme meets its target by 2021.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: We recognise the challenges associated with delivering such an ambitious procurement to deliver the Reaching 100% programme. Our investment of £579 million (96.5%) towards the £600 million R100 programme reflects the complexity of the challenge and represents…
23 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason spending on digital connectivity is reported to decrease in 2019-20.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The overall reduction in Digital Connectivity budget reflects changes in portfolio split, with the Digital Growth Fund now forming part of the Finance, Economy and Fair Work budget allocation. We are investing £28.2 million in high quality digital connectivi…
23 Jan 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported disparity in average broadband connection speeds between rural and urban areas.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Despite the UK Government having responsibility for investing in broadband across the UK, the clear absence of a UK-wide strategy for improving rural connectivity has meant that the Scottish Government has had to step in, take the lead and use Scottish Govern…
16 Jan 2019 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on staffing ambulances.
9 Jan 2019 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it will put in place to support farmers in adapting and building resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government is developing a new Climate Change Adaptation Programme to be published this year, this will build on the 2014 previous report and will include agriculture. We support farming and food production with high quality advice and informati…
19 Dec 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated in its draft Budget for capital expenditure on digital infrastructure in the next financial year.
Answer · Kate Forbes: We will invest £28.2 million in high quality digital connectivity across Scotland in 2019-20 - an increase of £6 million on 2018-19.
14 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hen harrier nests there were on (a) RSPB and (b) non-RSPB reserves in each of the last six years, and what information it has regarding how many failed to have any chicks fledge, broken down by the reason for such failures.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government does not hold information on hen harrier nests broken down by nature reserves on which the nests are located, or on reasons for nest failure. The Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme (SRMS) and the RSPB have provided the data in Table 1 …
3 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a national concessionary fare scheme for train travel for (a) disabled people and (b) people aged 60 or over.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government provides funding to Scottish local authorities for the provision of a range of local services and it is for these local authorities to decide how best to use that funding for the benefit of local people. Some local authorities offer ra…
28 Nov 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to Dumfries and Galloway Council to help deliver its vision for reshaping Stranraer.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government looks forward to engaging with Dumfries and Galloway Council on the new strategic plan for the development of Stranraer and its wider area. We share the Council’s view that Stranraer has significant strengths, and a range of opportunit…
13 Nov 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for the creation of new national parks.
31 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether shipping containers are appropriate for the storage of the type of weapons set out at section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Appropriate storage for section 5-prohibited items is assessed by Police Scotland on a case-by-case basis. Scottish Ministers will only grant section 5 authorities subject to a police recommendation that security is of a standard to present no danger to publi…
31 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many licences to issue the type of weapons set out at section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 have been granted in each year since 2011, broken down by local authority; what checks must be undertaken prior to a licence being granted; what follow-up checks are made, and how many licences w…
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of section 5 authorisations granted by Scottish Ministers in each year since 2011, broken down by local authority area, is provided below. This includes new, renewed and amended section 5 authorisations. Some authorisations will be granted for shor…
31 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many firearms dealers in each local authority area are licenced to issue the type of weapons set out at section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of firearms dealers currently authorised by Scottish Ministers to possess section 5-prohibited items, broken down by local authority area, is as follows (local authority areas with no authorised dealers are excluded): Aberdeen City - 3 Aberdeensh…
16 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a mechanism in place whereby communities or individuals can claim compensation should wind farm developers be found to demonstrate an outstanding lack of integrity within the planning process.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: There is no such compensation mechanism in the planning system. Planning makes decisions about future development and use of land in the long-term public interest. A range of enforcement powers are available to planning authorities where any developer has act…
5 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Crown Estate Scotland has fulfilled its biodiversity and biodiversity reporting duties for 2017-18.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This is an operational matter for Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management)(CES(IM)), I have written to Simon Hodge, Chief Executive of CES(IM). His response is as follows: Our Biodiversity Statement was published in February 2018 http://www.crownestatesco…
5 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish its post-2020 biodiversity goals.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties (CoP15) will take place in Beijing, China in October 2020 to finalise the next set of international biodiversity targets. Scotland is working with other UK administrations to contribute to the d…
5 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve its performance against the 13 indicators in relation to its 2020 Aichi biodiversity target on which progress is reported as "insufficient" or "moving away from target", and what additional resources it is providing to (a) Scottish Natural Heritage and…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has asked Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to undertake an analysis of further actions that may be required, in addition to work which SNH is coordinating under the 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s Biodiversity and the associated Route Map…
20 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when an aligned intervention scheme will commence for areas or premises not given access to superfast broadband through the R100 programme.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: An aligned intervention scheme is being developed in parallel with the ongoing initial procurement exercise for the Scottish Government’s ? £600 million Reaching 100% (R100) programme. However, the need for – and scale of – such a scheme will only be determin…
20 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether excess construction charges will be extended to internet providers supplying services through R100 programme infrastructure.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The vast majority of broadband or phone line installations involve some form of connection charge. The Scottish Governments £600 milliom Reaching 100 percent or R100 programme will benchmark these at a wholesale level. It will then be a decision for individua…
20 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can provide that there will be no excess construction charges for premises to connect to R100 programme infrastructure.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government does not have powers in relation to regulation of telecommunications markets, as this remains reserved to the UK Ministers. However, our understanding is that the vast majority of broadband or phone line installations involve some form…
20 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether internet providers will be obligated to connect premises in a way that delivers 30Mbps as part of the R100 programme.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Under the Scotland Act 1998, the legal and regulatory responsibility for telecoms in the UK rests solely with the UK Parliament and UK Ministers. On that basis, the Scottish Government has no powers to obligate Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide ser…
20 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it defines "capable" in relation to broadband delivery through the R100 programme.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Premises will be considered ‘capable’ of accessing superfast broadband when the owners or occupiers of those premises can order a service capable of delivering download speeds of 30Mbps and above.
20 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the criteria are for premises to connect to R100 programme infrastructure.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Any premises unable to access superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps and above, with no known commercial plans, are eligible for investment through the Scottish Governments £600 million Reaching 100 percent or R100 programme.