- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 4 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any submissions to the consultation regarding the draft Work at Height Regulations conducted by the Health and Safety Executive; whether these regulations will have any adverse impact on the outdoor industry, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer
We are aware of the concernsfelt by the outdoor and adventure activities sector about the implementation inthe UK of the EC Directive on Temporary Work at Height. At our request, the Healthand Safety Executive have been copying us into responses from Scotland to theirconsultation on the draft Regulations and, given the importance of this sector toScotland, we will be ready to take this matter up with the UK Government if implementationplans seem likely to be damaging to that sector.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 4 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7089 by Ms Patricia Ferguson on 1 April 2004 and the further supplementary statement (WS-19-005 to 008) to the Holyrood Inquiry by the Chief Executive of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Head of Legal and Parliamentary Services, whether "relevant documentation" includes reports made by the Chief Executive of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Head of Legal and Parliamentary Services regarding the Holyrood Progress Group to the (a) Minister for Parliamentary Business and the predecessor minister and (b) First Minister and, if so, whether such reports will be published and on what dates the reports were made.
Answer
The “relevant documentation”referred to in the answer to question S2W-7089 includes reports made by the Chief Executive of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Head of Legal andParliamentary Services to me and the previous Minister for Parliament and to theFirst Minister regarding the Holyrood Progress Group. These reports provided informationfrom time to time on the progress of the Holyrood Project and key developments,including information on costs.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for whichcan be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
These reports have been providedto the Holyrood Inquiry, who may place them on their website in due course. It isfor the Inquiry to decide which reports they make public.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 4 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any representations to Her Majesty's Government with regard to any potential impact on the outdoor industry of the draft Work at Height Regulations.
Answer
I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-7439 on 4 May 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 4 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to obtain views from the outdoor industry and related organisations in connection with the draft Work at Height Regulations and, if not, whether it has any plans to do so.
Answer
I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-7439 on 4 April 2004. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will address the concerns of west coast prawn and scallop fishermen in relation to the "designated ports" process that applies in relation to landing haddock under the latest cod recovery programme.
Answer
The designated landing port arrangementsfor haddock apply to catches of haddock taken from the North Sea andEC waters of area IIa, not to west coast catches. However, the changes tothe haddock management arrangements we expect to be agreed soon at Council – whichinclude changes in the defined cod protection area, to the proportion of haddockto be taken under special permit arrangements and to the allocation of catches takenso far in the fishing year – will be beneficial to those who take haddock as a bycatchin fisheries directed at other species.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has requested a report from the Deer Commission for Scotland in respect of the mass cull of deer in Glenfeshie; whether any such report will consider whether the commission acted properly and legally at all times and, if so, what independent opinion will be sought to inform such a report.
Answer
Ministers have requested a reporton the conduct of the recent culls in Glenfeshie and in particular the role of theDeer Commission for Scotland (DCS). It will cover issues of legality, public safety,deer welfare and food hygiene. The report will be prepared by officials externalto DCS, drawing on veterinary, food safety and other expert advice. Officials metwith Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) and DCS on 6 April to discuss the relevantissues.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deer Commission for Scotland regard deer as vermin.
Answer
While there is no basis withinthe Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 for deer to be regarded vermin, any animal presentlocally in such high numbers as to impact materially on other legitimate interestsrequires to be effectively managed and controlled; as provided for in the act.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deer Commission for Scotland has outlined to the Executive its reasons for not supporting deer fencing as an effective method of protecting trees; if not, whether this contributed to emergency measures to cull deer being taken, and whether the commission has acted upon advice in respect of appropriate practice in adopting certain types of fencing.
Answer
The DeerCommission for Scotland (DCS) have statedpublicly that fencing can be an effective tool for deer management and have supportedits use in a number of locations.
DCS is obliged under the Deer(Scotland) Act 1996 to take action if it is satisfied that there is a risk of seriousdamage to agriculture, woodland, the natural heritage or a risk to public safetyHowever, the act specifically prevents the DCS from requiring an owner or occupierto construct a deer fence.
Havingconsulted interested parties, DCS is currently working with ForestryCommission Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Executive Environmentand Rural Affairs Department to produce, a joint policy statement on deer fencing.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 April 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether there should be no reduction of services at the Belford Hospital, Fort William.
Answer
Our policy isto provide services as close as possible to people’s homes, consistent with deliveringsafe and high quality healthcare. What this means at Fort William is a matter forNHS Highland to consider in consultation with local people. Any proposals for majorservice change have to come to me for approval. If and when I receive proposalsfrom NHS Highland I shall consider them.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 20 April 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total amount is of capital resources provided through all private finance initiative and public private partnership projects and what proportion this forms of the total capital resources available in the public sector in each financial year since 1999-2000, broken down by sector.
Answer
Information on the Executive’soverall capital budgets and capital spending on public private partnerships projectsfor each portfolio for 2000-01 to 2003-04 is set out in The Scottish Budget 2003-04,a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number20472).
