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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-03697

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Wendy Alexander on 27 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its plans to introduce probationary tenancies are necessary given existing legislative measures to curb anti-social behaviour by tenants including powers to evict, provisions contained within the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and powers under section 48 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987.

Question reference: S1W-03715

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Henry McLeish on 27 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider the introduction of the American policy of corporate venturing to promote growth of small businesses.

The Scottish Executive believes that corporate venturing can bring significant benefits to both small businesses and their larger corporate partners, and we want to encourage the establishment of more such relationships in Scotland. The Executive therefore fully supports the UK Government's commitment to introduce corporate venturing tax incentives in this year's Finance Bill and we have asked Scottish Enterprise to consider specific initiatives to help stimulate a culture of corporate venturing in Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-03574

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken as to the incidence of wild fowl poisonings from lead shot in each of the last 20 years and what was the source of such research.

The poisoning of wildfowl from lead is now accepted as a serious problem for many populations. Research has been undertaken which establishes the problem and investigates the particular causes of acute poisoning incidents. A number of key reports giving international summaries of the problem of leadshot poisoning in waterfowl are available and are listed below:

Fawcett, D and van Vessen J (1995), Lead poisoning in Waterfowl: International update report 1995, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Report No 252. JNCC, Peterborough.

Kulvenhoven P and van Vessem J (1997), Lead poisoning in Waterbirds: International update report, Unpublished Wetlands International Report.

Mateo R Martinez-Vialta, A and Guitart R (1997), "Lead shot pellets in the Ebro Delta, Spain: densities in sediments and prevalence of exposure in waterfowl", Environmental Pollution 96, pp. 335-341.

Pain D J (Editor) (1992), Lead Poisoning in Waterfowl. Proceedings of an International Workshop, Brussels, Belgium, 13-15 June 1991, IWRB Special Publication No 16.

Scheuhammer A M and Norris S L (1995), A review of the environmental impacts of lead shot shell ammunition and lead fishing weights in Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Occasional Paper No 88.

More detailed research on this particular issue has been undertaken within the EU, UK and Scotland. The most relevant of which is:

Mudge G P (1983), "The incidence and significance of ingested lead pellet poisoning in British Wildfowl", Biological Conservation, 27, pp. 33-372.

Other studies include:

Beck N and Ganval, P (1987), "Ingestion de plombs de chasse par la Becassine des marais Gallinago gallinago et la Becassine sourde Lymnocryest minimus dans le Lord-ouest de la France", Gibier Faune Sauvage/Game Wildlife: In press.

Bellorse F C (1959), "Lead poisoning as a mortality factor in waterfowl populations III", Natural History Survey Bulletin, 27(3), pp. 235-288.

Bowler, J M and Hugest B, (1997) Biological monitoring of lead shot replacement in the UK, final report of pilot study, unpublished, Wetlands Advisory Service report to DoE, WWT, Slimbridge (in prep).

Degtyarev A G (1996), Incident of lead shot ingestion in waterfowl and cranes of Yakutia, Ibid., pp. 25-27.

Grand J B, Flint P L, Petersen M R and Moran C L (1998), "Effect of lead poisoning on spectacled elder survival rates", Journal of Wildlife Management, 62(3), pp. 1103-1109.

Hohman W L, Pritchert R D, Pacell R M, Woolington D W and Helm R (1990), "Influence of ingested lead on body mass of wintering canvasbacks", Journal of Wildlife Management, 54(2), pp. 211-215.

Mateo R, Martinez-Vilalta A, Dolz J C, Bellure J, Serrano J M A, Guitart R (1994), "Estudio de la problematica del plumbismo en aves acuticas de diferentes humedales espanoles", ICON, pp. 196.

Mateo R, Bellure Jm, Dolz J C, Agullar J M and Guitart R (1997), "An peizotic of lead poisoning in greater flamingos. Phoenicopterus ruber roseus in Spain", Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 33, pp. 131-134.

Mateo R, Molina R, Grifols J and Gruitart R (1997),"Lead poisoning in a free range griffon vulture Gyps fulvus", Vet Rec, 140, pp. 47-48.

Pain D J (1992), "Lead poisoning of waterfowl: a review" in Lead poisoning in waterfowl (editor D J Pain), IWRB Special Publication No 16, Slimbridge UK.Spray C J and Milne H (1988), "The incidence of lead poisoning among Whooper and Mute Swans Cyngus cygnus and Color in Scotland", Biological Conservation, 44, pp. 265-281.

Question reference: S1W-03576

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any evidence of dead birds being washed ashore in wardened coastal reserves or elsewhere.

Question reference: S1W-03575

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been undertaken into the blood levels of trapped wild fowl.

Lead levels in wildfowl blood have been investigated in a range of studies throughout the world. These are listed below:

Anderson W L and Havera S P (1985), "Blood lead, protoporphyrin and ingested shot for detecting lead poisoning in wildfowl", Wildlife Society Bulletin, 13, pp. 26-31.

Dieter M P and Finley M T (1978), "Delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase enzyme activity in blood, brain and liver of lead-dosed ducks", Environmental Resources, 19, pp. 127-135.

Hall S L and Fisher F M (1985), "Lead concentrations in tissues of marsh birds: relationships of feeding habitats and grit preference to spent shot ingestion", Bulletin of Environmental Contaminant Toxicology, 35, pp. 1-8.

Madsen H H T, Kkjorn T, Jorgensen P J and Grandjean P (1988), "Blood lead levels in patients with lead shot retained in the appendix", Acta Radiol, 29, pp. 745-746.

Osweller G D, van Geldeer G A and Buck W B (1978), "Epiderminology of lead poisoning in animals" in Toxicity of heavy metals in the environment (editor F W Dehme), Marcel Dekker, New York.In Scotland, when acute poisoning incidents occur, investigations into the particular cause and poisoning level are carried out.

Question reference: S1W-03549

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 26 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any representations from the Dyslexia Institute Bursary Fund (Scotland); if so, what estimate that body has made as to the proportion of the population suffering from some degree of dyslexia, and what steps it will take in order to provide appropriate tuition at an early age to help children with dyslexia acquire basic skills in reading, writing and numeracy.

The Scottish Executive has received no representations from the Dyslexia Institute Bursary Fund (Scotland).The Scottish Executive is providing over £5 million in 2000-01 to local authorities for in-service development and training of staff working with pupils with special educational needs, including dyslexia. £1 million of this funding is directed towards staff working with pupils in the early years of primary school.

Question reference: S1W-03497

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 25 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what access it has to papers of the previous administration and whether that access differs from the practice followed when there is a change of administration of Her Majesty's Government.

When there is a change of Administration of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, there is a long established convention that a new Administration does not normally have access to papers of a previous Administration of a different political complexion. The convention covers, in particular, Ministers' own deliberations and the advice given to them by officials, other than written advice from the Law Officers and those papers which were published or put in the public domain by the predecessor Administration.In applying the convention to the devolved administration in Scotland any information contained in administrative and departmental records belonging to a Minister of the Crown or a UK Government Department is treated as if it were contained in papers of a previous Administration of a different political complexion. This convention, therefore, qualifies the right conferred upon the Scottish Ministers by Article 10(2)(b) of the Transfer of Property (Scottish Ministers) Order 1999 (SI 1999/1104) to have access to certain administrative and departmental records belonging to a Minister of the Crown or a UK Government Department. In practice this means, in particular, that Scottish Ministers do not normally have access to advice given to Scottish Office Ministers or to the deliberations of those Ministers in papers dated before 1 July 1999, unless they have been published. Written opinions of the UK Law Officers which date from before 1 July 1999 may be made available.

Question reference: S1W-03490

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 24 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult about amendment of the 100 metre rule as contained in section 17 of the Abolition of Feudal Tenure Bill in order to ensure that the feudal title conditions are not simply preserved in most parts of rural Scotland by notice procedure.

Question reference: S1W-03583

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 24 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects approvals of applications for the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme to be re-started after its announcement of a delay in such approvals on 3 December 1999 and what action it is taking to ensure that the European Commission makes this delay as short as possible.

Question reference: S1W-03548

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 21 January 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Dyslexia Institute Bursary Fund (Scotland) has drawn its attention to a recent study showing that half of the prison population is dyslexic; if not, what information it has as to the approximate level of the prison population in Scotland which suffers from some degree of dyslexia, and what action it proposes to take to address this problem.