Thursday 12 November 2015 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Communities Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend in 2016-17 on its national infrastructure priority on energy efficiency. (S4O-4789) John Swinney: The Scottish Government will have confirmation of future budgets following the publication of the UK Spending Review on 25 November 2015. As the spending review for future years is still to be decided, budget and anticipated expenditure details for 2016-17 are currently not available. Michael Russell (Argyll and Bute) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that no proposal made by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland regarding changes to the electoral wards in Argyll and Bute is accepted without taking (a) full account of local views and (b) the opportunity for local hearings to be held. (S4W-28086) Marco Biagi: Section 18(2) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as amended requires the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland to carry out local consultations, and to take any representations made to it into consideration, in conducting any reviews of local government electoral arrangements. Such consultations will be conducted before the commission submits any proposals for change arising from such reviews to ministers. Section 19 of the 1973 Act provides that the commission may cause a local inquiry to be held in respect to any review carried out by it. Decisions on whether to hold any such inquiries are a matter for the commission. In addition, under section 210 of the 1973 Act as amended ministers may cause a local inquiry to be held before making any order arising from proposals submitted to them by the commission. A decision as to whether to hold such an inquiry in relation to proposals for Argyll and Bute or for any other area would only be taken by ministers after they had received any proposals for that area from the commission. Michael Russell (Argyll and Bute) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of the extent of the opposition in Argyll and Bute to the proposals contained in the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland's Fifth Review. (S4W-28087) Marco Biagi: The Scottish Government is aware that concerns have been expressed by local community groups and others about the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland's proposals for Argyll and Bute. The final public consultation on the commission's proposals for Argyll and Bute and other Scottish local government areas ended on 22 October 2015. It will be for the commission to consider the representations it has received on those proposals before submitting any final proposals to ministers for consideration. Michael Russell (Argyll and Bute) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will inform the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland of the concerns in Argyll and Bute at the proposed loss of the name, Cowal, as an electoral area. (S4W-28088) Marco Biagi: The Scottish Government has passed to the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland all concerns it has received about the commission's proposals for Argyll and Bute, including about the proposed loss of the name of Cowal for an electoral area. Michael Russell (Argyll and Bute) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that the modern boundaries of a national park are not used by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland to decide on ward boundaries rather than other links such as social cohesion, communications and historical connection. (S4W-28089) Marco Biagi: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as amended sets out how the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland is to conduct reviews of local government arrangements, including specifying matters to which the commission is required to have regard in conducting such reviews. Within that framework it is for the commission to decide how it will conduct reviews, including what matters they will take into account in producing any proposals arising from such reviews. Decisions on whether to implement proposals produced by the commission, including any proposed changes to ward boundaries, will be taken by the Scottish Ministers. Michael Russell (Argyll and Bute) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland provides reasons for what are considered radical changes, such as those proposed for Argyll and Bute in its Fifth Review, other than parity between numbers of voters in wards and roughly equal ratios of councillors to voters. (S4W-28090) Marco Biagi: The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland is independent of the Scottish Government. The commission has carried out a series of consultations on its proposals for changes to local government electoral arrangements in the 32 Scottish council areas, including Argyll and Bute. The last of those consultations, a public consultation on proposals for ward boundaries, closed on 22 October 2015. The commission will now consider the responses to those consultations and submit its proposals to ministers. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to undertake a review of building regulations related to housing in light of the finding by Leonard Cheshire Disability that many of the current standards do not meet the needs of older and disabled residents. (S4W-28176) Marco Biagi: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28172 on 11 November 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether and, if so, how it plans to improve building regulations to meet the needs of older and disabled people. (S4W-28177) Marco Biagi: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-28172 on 11 November 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether planning permission has been granted for any (a) test drilling and (b) borehole drilling for the purpose of core sampling for unconventional gas extraction, including fracking, coalbed methane and underground coal gasification. (S4W-28282) Alex Neil: Information on individual planning permissions is not held centrally. Boreholes for test fracking or hydrocarbon flow testing are prohibited under the terms of the moratorium, and no applications for such activities have been made since the moratorium was announced. Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether test drilling for unconventional gas, including drilling a borehole solely for the purpose of core sampling, will (a) face restrictions over proximity to (i) groundwater and (ii) residential areas and (b) be limited to a certain depth. (S4W-28285) Alex Neil: Only boreholes for the purposes of core sampling are not included in the moratorium. A company seeking to drill a borehole to acquire a core sample would need to obtain all the necessary regulatory consents. These would include planning permission from a local planning authority and an environmental permit from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. It would then be for regulators to determine whether or not the site is acceptable and whether drilling should be allowed. The Scottish Government has committed to review planning guidance to ensure that borehole applications are subject to appropriate public scrutiny and that proposals satisfactorily address all the likely impacts on local communities and the environment. Enterprise and Environment Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the Minister for Environment, Climate and Land Reform on 27 October 2015 (Official Report, c. 31), how it plans to work with the Committee on Climate Change to continue to investigate further abatement from measures that go beyond current policies. (S4W-28203) Aileen McLeod: We are working closely with the Committee on Climate Change, who will be providing advice on the next set of greenhouse gas emission annual targets under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act for 2028-32 by the end of March 2016. This advice, together with the committee’s recommendations in the annual Scottish progress reports, will help to inform the scope for further abatement in Scotland and will be part of the evidence base that informs development of the third report on proposals and policies. Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether the First Minister will be attending the 2015 UN conference in Paris on climate change. (S4W-28209) Aileen McLeod: Climate change is an important issue for the First Minister. She has recently signed the Climate Change Leader’s Pledge with the other party leaders and provided a video address for the Climate Group during Climate Week NYC on Scotland’s commitment to tackling climate change and transitioning to a low carbon economy. The First Minister has championed climate justice issues in her speech to the Chinese Friendship