- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to improve or review the current regulations for ensuring that road users are kept informed of the likely completion dates of road maintenance projects.
Answer
When carrying out road maintenance projects, road authorities throughout Scotland are expected to conform to the
Code of Practice for Maintenance Management “ Delivering Best Value in Highway Maintenance. This Code of Practice, was prepared and published by The Institution of Highways and Transportation and has been supported, endorsed and recommended by, among others, The Scottish Government and COSLA as well as the Department for Transport and the other devolved administrations.
It contains guidance on information and publicity of road works and advocates the use of information boards, which can include a likely completion date, on site both prior to and during road maintenance projects.
The Scottish Government is not aware of instances where this guidance is not being adhered to and there are no plans at present to introduce legislation making it a requirement for maintenance companies to display more prominently information boards displaying an expected completion date of a road maintenance project.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would consider in principle requiring by regulation that road maintenance projects display prominently on site the most up-to-date expected completion date, based on the maintenance company’s plans.
Answer
When carrying out road maintenance projects, road authorities throughout Scotland are expected to conform to the
Code of Practice for Maintenance Management “ Delivering Best Value in Highway Maintenance. This Code of Practice, was prepared and published by The Institution of Highways and Transportation and has been supported, endorsed and recommended by, among others, The Scottish Government and COSLA as well as the Department for Transport and the other devolved administrations.
It contains guidance on information and publicity of road works and advocates the use of information boards, which can include a likely completion date, on site both prior to and during road maintenance projects.
The Scottish Government is not aware of instances where this guidance is not being adhered to and there are no plans at present to introduce legislation making it a requirement for maintenance companies to display more prominently information boards displaying an expected completion date of a road maintenance project.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the potential for a North Sea underwater energy transmission network for the large-scale transmission of energy between different parts of Scotland, as an objective separate from the aim of internationally transmitting energy for export which is generally associated with such a scheme.
Answer
The current focus of the Scottish Government on the electricity grid is twofold. Firstly, to secure fairer transmission charging and access to the onshore grid and, in the longer term, to achieve economic benefits from export of renewable energy.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Linda Fabiani on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many objections to planning applications which were at the time being considered at a national level have been received from Historic Scotland since 1999.
Answer
The information requested is not available from 1999, however, information is available from 1 April 2005. Since then, Historic Scotland has objected to three planning applications which were subsequently called in and has itself recommended call in of four applications for listed building consent.
Of these, one planning application was subsequently refused planning permission whilst all of the listed building consents were subsequently refused.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Linda Fabiani on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers that the role of Historic Scotland should be in planning applications near sensitive historical sites.
Answer
Historic Scotland''s role in planning applications near sensitive sites is to provide advice to planning authorities on the potential impact of a proposed development on historic sites of national interest. These are scheduled monuments and their settings, category A listed buildings and their settings and sites included in the
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland. Where it considers that there would be sufficient adverse impact on the national importance of one or more of these historic sites, Historic Scotland will object on behalf of Scottish ministers. Where it considers there is a lesser impact, Historic Scotland may recommend that the planning authority impose appropriate planning conditions to mitigate the impact.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to take forward the proposals outlined in East Coast Transmission Network: Technical Feasibility Study by the Crown Estate.
Answer
The report provides a helpful contribution towards understanding the possibilities for sub-sea grid development, which could help exploit Scotland''s potential for renewable energy. The Scottish Government will continue to discuss the development of the electricity grid with the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and other stakeholders.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Linda Fabiani on 3 March 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what principles it considers that Historic Scotland should apply in response to planning applications near sensitive historical sites.
Answer
Historic Scotland provides advice to local authorities on planning applications where the authority considers that the application will effect a scheduled monument or its setting, a Category A listed building or its setting or a site on the
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
The principles it applies in these circumstances are the policies set out by Scottish Ministers within National Planning Policy Guidelines Note 5 (NPPG5): Planning and Archaeology, NPPG18: Planning and the Historic Environment, the Memorandum of Guidance and Scottish Historic Environment Policies. Advice given by Historic Scotland will therefore be based upon an interpretation of these policies as applied to the circumstances of the individual application.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for the current levels of licensing fees, in light of submissions to the consultation on licensing fees related to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 from the Federation of Small Businesses and the Scottish Grocers’ Federation arguing for greater progressivity, especially at the higher end of the rateable values’ scale.
Answer
The Licensing (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 provide for various fees to be charged by licensing boards. They were discussed in detail by the Justice Committee.
The premises licence application fee and annual fee are set by licensing boards within the parameters set by the regulations. Premises will fall into one of six fee bands according to the rateable value of the premises. These bands were recommended in an independent research report and were the subject of consultation. Although some organisations requested higher bandings into which their competitors would fall, the fee system is about the cost of administering the licensing system, including the cost of processing applications and not about linking the fee to the volume of alcohol a premises sells. The fee structure in the 2007 Regulations is more progressive than the current arrangement under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976, where there is a flat fee for all applications.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association’s submission to the consultation on licensing fees related to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 that the fee structure should be reviewed in 2010.
Answer
The Scottish Government plans to ask the Accounts Commission to review the operation of the fee system introduced by the Licensing (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 after the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 comes fully into force in September 2009.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has discussed alcohol licensing fees at meetings with the Federation of Small Businesses or the Scottish Grocers’ Federation.
Answer
The Scottish Government has an ongoing dialogue and constructive relationship with the Scottish Grocers'' Federation. Fees have been discussed as part of discussions on various licensing matters. No meetings have taken place with the Federation of Small Business on licensing fees although the FSB did submit a response to our consultation on the issue.
