- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether BEAR Scotland Ltd have been in breach of their obligations under their contract in respect of the provision of clearing and gritting of trunk roads in the Highlands, in particular on the 8 and 9 November 2001.
Answer
BEAR's contract is complex and detailed and minor breaches will inevitably occur. There are set procedures for rectification of more significant breaches. The first step of this procedure is to issue a default notice to BEAR to ensure the level of service is maintained. The Scottish Executive has not issued default notices in relation to BEAR's performance concerning winter maintenance on 8 and 9 November 2001.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive which provisions of its contract with BEAR Scotland Ltd that are currently undisclosed will require to be made public on request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill has yet to complete its passage through the Parliament. In keeping with the approach under other statutory Freedom of Information regimes, it is envisaged that all requests for information would be considered on a case-by-case basis and, as such, it is not possible to anticipate whether any particular information relating to the Executive's contract with BEAR Scotland Ltd would be disclosed.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a valuation of the land occupied by Drummond School, Inverness, has been obtained by the relevant local authority, or any other public body or agency, and if so whether a copy of the valuation will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
Any arrangements concerning the valuation of the land occupied by Drummond School, Inverness would be for The Highland Council as the education authority responsible for the management of the school. Such arrangements do not involve the Scottish Executive or any public body or agency for which the Scottish Executive may have responsibility.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE4388/2001 of 21 November 2001, when it expects the first licenses to be issued for lamb exports from (a) Dumfries and Galloway and (b) the Scottish Borders.
Answer
The legislation permitting the slaughter of lambs from approved slaughter premises in Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders was introduced on 3 December. Licences for movements to slaughter were subsequently issued that day.The first export health certificates were issued on 4 December for shipment on 6 December.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 12 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what methods Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) proposes to use to eradicate mink from the Western Isles; what alternative methods were considered; why these alternatives were discounted; whether the methods chosen will be adequate and, if not, what plans it has to enhance them; how it will ensure value for money in the #1.65 million public funding for the Hebridean Mink Project, and whether it has any plans to consider combining the proposed methods of SNH with those used by the Icelandic Government to remove mink from the vicinity of their eider farms whereby dogs are used to locate individual animals at which point they are removed by either shooting or digging out.
Answer
This is a matter for Scottish Natural Heritage and I have asked that they respond to you accordingly.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 12 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) raven, (b) bu''ard and (c) dotterell population was in each of the past five years and what the predicted populations are for each of the next five years.
Answer
The information sought is either unavailable or not available in the requested format, and is not held centrally by the Executive. The following estimates and commentary have been supplied by Scottish Natural Heritage or derived from published sources.Raven and Buzzard:There is no national population census for ravens or buzzards either on a Scottish or UK basis. However, both species are monitored through the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) published by the British Trust for Ornithology, Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which provides population trends for a range of common and widespread birds. The latest available data is derived from the 1999 BBS which covers the period 1994-99. During this period the abundance of buzzards in Scotland increased by 44%, with ravens showing a 19% rise. The BBS analysis records only the increase in buzzards as a statistically significant change.Dotterel:The latest UK population estimate for the dotterel, which is based on a 1999 survey, was 630 breeding males, of which all but one was in Scotland and only two outwith the Highlands. Such estimates are not prepared annually and no census data is available for the period requested.General:Estimates of future population levels of birds are not normally made. This is because of the impracticality of predicting the influence of external factors, such as the weather, on breeding success.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 12 December 2001
To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-19154 on 14 November 2001, what the name was of the parent company who provided the guarantee; whether the guarantee was to have been given by a particular time or date; what obligations the guarantee covered, and whether the guarantee included a provision in respect of a liability for any monetary sum, and, if so, what that sum was.
Answer
The Parent Company Guarantee was provided by Flour City International Inc and was requested due to the failure of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd to provide a Performance Bond. No deadline was given for the provision of a Parent Company Guarantee. The Parent Company Guarantee covered any breach of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd's obligations or duties under the contract. The guarantor would then, without delay, procure the remedying of any breach of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd's obligations, failing which, the guarantor would pay to the employer and/or assign the amount of losses, damages, costs and expenses which may be incurred by the employer, by reason of any default on the part of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd. No monetary sum can yet be attributed to any breach of contract by Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 12 December 2001
To ask the Presiding Officer whether accelerated weathering tests will be carried out on the laminated wood and completed window units which were to be supplied by Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd; which company will conduct any such tests, and whether any unsatisfactory test result will reduce the sum paid to Flour City for the units and, if so, by how much.
Answer
Following liquidation, Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd will not supply laminated wood and completed window units for the new Parliament building. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the successful supplier of the windows element of the cladding package will be responsible for the provision of materials and units, weather tested to approved standards, however they are constructed. If laminated wood were to be selected, accelerated weather testing would be required.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 12 December 2001
To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-18872 on 12 October 2001, whether all the timber supplied by the businesses named in that answer has been received and whether all this timber was supplied to the required quality and specification.
Answer
The timber is being held by the suppliers ready for collection for kiln drying. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has informed me that the timber was procured in accordance with the specification.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 11 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what savings will result from the establishment of NHS Highland to replace Highland NHS Board, Highland Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Highland Primary Care NHS Trust in the current and in each of the next two budgetary years and whether it will place a breakdown of such savings in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
The establishment of Highland NHS Board as a single forum for strategic leadership is intended to provide for the efficient, effective and accountable governance of health services in the Highlands. It is about encouraging the local NHS to spend better by focusing more on health outcomes and people's experience of the service.It will be for Highland NHS Board to determine how best to realise the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the services it provides. Further details of how it plans to do this should be sought from the NHS Board.
