- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 2 August 2002
To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-22110 on 4 February 2002, whether a decision has been made yet on whether to take legal action against Flour City International Inc. and whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will provide an up-to-date estimate of the losses resulting from the Flour City situation.
Answer
No decision has yet been made on whether to take legal action against Flour City International. The costs to the project arising from the insolvency of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd are currently estimated as £3.85 million.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 July 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 1 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance has been provided to the north and north east by Communities Scotland for the purpose of providing housing accommodation for those with special needs; what the annual budget of Communities Scotland is for such housing; how this budget has been allocated in the current financial year, and whether it will provide a breakdown of such funding by geographical area for each year since Community Scotland's inception.
Answer
I have asked Mr Bob Millar, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Communities Scotland's programme allocations reflect ministerial priorities and link the national distribution of resources to Area Teams, based upon the measurement of social exclusion. The area programme allocation is then developed in close consultation with partners, reflecting a broad range of existing partnership arrangements and leading to locally devised programmes and decision-making. Programmes are based upon local housing market and needs analysis to identify, consistent with our strategy, the demands, needs and opportunities for housing investment. Communities Scotland's allocation to North and North East Scotland on Housing Accommodation for Particular Needs is as follows:Communities Scotland - Expenditure in North and North East Scotland on Housing Accommodation for Particular Needs (2001-02 to 2002-03)
| 2001-02 Approved Programme1(£ million) | 2002-03 Approved Programme2(£ million) |
| Grampian, Tayside and Fife | 13.038 | 12.731 |
| Highlands and Islands | 2.838 | 2.358 |
| Communities Scotland - Total | 47.456 | 42.630 |
Notes:1. Approved Programme figure is used as 2001-02 accounts yet to be finalised - therefore these figures are subject to change.2. Estimates.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive on what dates the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Rural Development has met; whether its membership has changed and, if so, when and how; whether it produces minutes of its meetings, and, if so, whether these are made public.
Answer
The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Rural Development, which I Chair, (formerly the Ministerial Committee on Rural Development), was established in 1999, when it met three times. Since then, it has met five times in 2000 and five times in 2001 and has so far met twice this year, on 5 February and 15 May. The membership has changed once, following a review of ministerial committees and working groups in January this year, when some rationalisation was agreed. The sub-committee currently has the following members: the Minister for Social Justice, the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, the Minister for Finance and Public Services, the Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development and the Deputy Minister for Tourism Culture and Sport. Details of the remit and membership of all Cabinet sub-committees are available on the Scottish Executive website. As indicated in the Guide to Collective Decision Making, a copy of which is available on the Scottish Executive website, the Executive operates on the basis of collective responsibility and does not disclose details of the internal processes through which decisions have been made. For that reason, the Executive does not normally publish minutes of Cabinet sub-committee meetings.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 16 July 2002
To ask the Presiding Officer how much of the #854,067 fee paid to Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited was paid to (a) Flour City and (b) contractors on behalf of Flour City.
Answer
All of the £854,067 was paid directly to Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 11 July 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive who the members of the Scottish National Rural Partnership are, what its remit is and on what dates it has met.
Answer
The Scottish National Rural Partnership is an advisory body to ministers on rural policy, and exists to promote effective liaison between public, private and voluntary sector interests on rural matters.The partnership, which currently has 17 members, is chaired by a Scottish Executive official. Members, appointed for their own expertise and knowledge of rural issues, are nominated by the following organisations:Confederation of British Industry ScotlandCommunities ScotlandConvention of Scottish Local AuthoritiesFederation of Small BusinessesForestry CommissionHighlands & Islands EnterpriseNational Farmers Union ScotlandScottish Council of Voluntary OrganisationsScottish Crofting FoundationScottish EnterpriseScottish Environment LINKScottish Landowners FederationScottish Natural HeritageScottish Trades Union CongressThe Scottish Agricultural CollegeVisitScotlandThe partnership has met a total of 29 times since 1996. In 2002, it has met twice, on 29 January and 3 May, and a third meeting will take place in early September.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 1 July 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) provided all relevant scientific evidence to the community of Barra in relation to the proposed designation of the Sound of Barra as a special area of conservation; whether, in determining whether SNH made full disclosure in such a case, it relies solely on information obtained from that body; whether it has established, or will establish, an inquiry into this matter involving the local community in Barra and elected representatives; if no such inquiry will be held, what action will be taken in order to address concerns expressed by the community to the Parliament's Public Petitions Committee on 26 February 2002, and what steps it will take in order to ensure that SNH fully discloses relevant evidence to communities in respect of any proposed designation of an area as being in any way of scientific or environmental interest.
Answer
As is its standard practice, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) provided consultees, including community representatives, with all the scientific evidence relevant to the selection of the Sound of Barra as a possible Special Area of Conservation during it's consultation between September and December 2000.I have no evidence that SNH has withheld any of the relevant information. SNH has also firmly refuted the allegation in its submission to the Petitions Committee.Information in support of site designation was provided on request by the Sea Mammal Research Unit. Additional information on SMRU's 2000 seal count was made freely accessible by SNH to interested parties on request as it became available. I understand that there was one such request and that the information was provided by SNH in response to this request.The Scottish Executive has responded to the Public Petitions Committee's request for information, and has no plans to instigate an inquiry into this matter.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 1 July 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will clarify under what circumstances it considers it justified not to make a minister available to participate in a Members' Business debate.
Answer
Ministers make every effort to participate in Members' Business debates on subjects for which the Executive is responsible. The Executive may exceptionally conclude that it would not be appropriate in the particular circumstances for a minister to participate. In those cases, ministers would explain clearly why such a decision had been taken.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 27 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it carried out any performance assessment process prior to the reappointment of the Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne; who was consulted in connection with the performance of the current Chairman; whether users of Caledonian MacBrayne or workers of the company were consulted in any way and, if so, whether it will provide details, and whether it will place a copy of any performance assessment record in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
I can confirm that the Scottish Executive carried out a performance assessment of the Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne before the recent announcement of his reappointment. This was based on significant contact between ministers and the chairman and very frequent contact between senior officials of the Development Department and the chairman over almost three years. A senior Executive official attends every Caledonian MacBrayne Board meeting and, in addition to this, there are further contacts through regular dialogue, meetings and correspondence. The Executive did not consult users or the company's staff prior to re-appointing the chairman nor is that a statutory requirement or a requirement of the Commissioner for Public Appointments' Code of Practice. As with other similar papers associated with any public appointment, details of the performance assessment are confidential.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 27 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any evidence that wind turbines pose any threat to birds and what research it has commissioned into this matter.
Answer
We have no such evidence. Under existing legislation, it is mandatory for developers to detail the environmental impact of their proposals, especially for environmentally significant sites, and propose mitigation measures as part of their accompanying environmental statement. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is of the opinion that studies are helpful at a local level, but it is difficult to apply their conclusions more generally. However, one local five-year study on the Novar windfarm at Inverness registered no significant impact on the bird population.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 25 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26523 by Ross Finnie on 7 June 2002, on what evidence the designation of each of the nitrate vulnerable 'ones was based and whether it will publish such evidence in full.
Answer
The monitoring data and scientific evidence on which the nitrate vulnerable zone designations are based can be found in the British Geological Survey Report (BGS) Groundwater nitrate vulnerable zones for Scotland which is available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. Number 18567). It is also available from the BGS website (http://www.bgs.ac.uk/scottishexec) along with a Geographical Information System (GIS) containing individual monitoring site data. A further BGS report on collection of additional monitoring data, Additional groundwater nitrate monitoring sites for Scotland, is also available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 21922).
