- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 28 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the plans to increase provision of new computers and other information technology for primary and secondary schools including details of any plans for the North East of Scotland; whether it intends to provide full-time computer technicians at each school and whether it intends to provide information technology training for all teachers.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is supporting local authorities' plans for information and communications technology through the Excellence Fund. The resources available to local authorities in the North East of Scotland are as follows:
| | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | Total |
Aberdeen City | £ 803,554 | £ 830,963 | £ 482,953 | £ 2,116,470 |
Aberdeenshire | £ 1,104,464 | £ 1,143,560 | £ 664,633 | £ 2,912,657 |
Angus | £ 509,571 | £ 527,609 | £ 306,645 | £ 1,343,825 |
Dundee City | £ 633,400 | £ 655,821 | £ 381,161 | £ 1,670,382 |
TOTAL | £ 3,049,989 | £ 3,157,953 | £ 1,835,392 | £ 8,043,334 |
The detailed implementation, including decisions on technical support, is a matter for the local authorities concerned.
Training in the use of information and communications technology will be available to all serving Scottish teachers and school librarians from the New Opportunities Fund. £23 million is available for Scotland until March 2002, of which £ 3,002,756 is allocated to teachers and school librarians in the North East of Scotland.Student's currently undergoing initial teacher education will receive training in the use of information and communications technology as a component of their course.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by John Home Robertson on 28 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to commission an independent legal opinion to determine the validity of the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundary Order 1999.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by John Home Robertson on 28 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to commission an independent legal opinion to determine the validity of the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundary Order 1999.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by John Home Robertson on 26 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact its expenditure plans, as announced by the Minister for Finance on 6 October 1999, will have on fisheries expenditure.
Answer
There are no changes to the fisheries spending plans as announced in Serving Scotland's Needs (Command Paper No 4215), the last departmental report of the Scottish Office. The additional £9 million previously announced to help salmon farmers cope with the problems caused by infectious salmon anæmia will be disbursed through Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 26 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to make the case for the retention of RAF Buchan, to whom the case was put and when it was made.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Ministry of Defence on a wide range of issues including the consultation on the future of RAF Buchan.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 26 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact its expenditure plans, as announced by the Minister for Finance on 6 October 1999, will have on the rural affairs expenditure as set out in the previous budget forecasts in Serving Scotland's Needs.
Answer
The new plans add £1.5/0.5/1m to those set out in Serving Scotland's Needs for the three years beginning 1999-2000. The allocation of this expenditure will be detailed in a report to the Finance Committee, as will any changes to departmental spending plans within previously published totals.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local farmers were consulted before the decision was taken to designate the Ythan catchment and estuary in Aberdeenshire as a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) as required by the EC Nitrates Directive.
Answer
Proposals for designation of the Ythan as a NVZ were the subject of consultation in 1994, when it was decided not to proceed with the designation. Successive administrations since have made it clear that the matter would be kept under review.We will shortly be consulting fully about the terms of the designation of the Ythan estuary and its catchment.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 September 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 20 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list, by water authority area, average water and sewerage charges for (a) domestic customers and (b) non-domestic customers for each of the last ten years and projections for the next five years.
Answer
The following table shows the average combined water and sewerage charge for domestic customers since the water authorities became responsible for provision of water services in 1996. The figures are shown before domestic sewage relief grant:
| | (£) | (£) | (£) | (£) |
| | 1996/97 | 1997/98 | 1998/99 | 1999/00 |
North of Scotland Water Authority | 144.07 | 154.07 | 173.85 | 194.38 |
East of Scotland Water Authority | 130.51 | 140.26 | 159.45 | 174.18 |
West of Scotland Water Authority | 130.77 | 138.61 | 154.36 | 170.54 |
Prior to 1996, sewerage charges were collected as part of the Council Tax or Community Charge and were not identified separately.Non-domestic customers are charged on a number of different bases, including rateable value and volumetric charges, with various standing charges for connection. Non-domestic customers vary greatly in the size of their water consumption and sewage emissions. It is therefore not possible to estimate a valid average charge for non-domestic customers.Future charges will be determined on the basis of advice from the new Water Industry Commissioner who will take account of the customer interest and the investment needs of the industry.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 June 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 15 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to take to improve the standards of water quality in Scotland and within what timescale it intends to implement these measures.
Answer
Our
Partnership for Scotland statement aims for steady improvements in water quality, targeting all Scotland's beaches to meet clean water standards by 2005.
On environmental water, we are considering, with Scottish Environment Protection Agency, measures to tackle agricultural and industrial pollution. Over the next 3 years the Scottish water authorities will oversee investment in water and sewerage infrastructure of around £1.7bn. A substantial part of this will be aimed at waste water treatment, in particular to comply with the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.The new EU Drinking Water Directive sets tight standards for drinking water the majority of which are required to be met by December 2003. Under certain circumstances the Directive allows for the derogation of standards for up to 3 years. The Scottish Executive will obtain legally binding undertakings from the Scottish water authorities to ensure that they meet the new standards by the required dates.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 September 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 14 October 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the criteria used for selecting the members of the focus group created as part of Creating Scotland, the consultation document on a national cultural strategy, and why the focus group has no members who represent the North East of Scotland or any organisation based in that region.
Answer
Members of the group were appointed on the basis of their personal professional expertise in relation to the arts. The focus group will oversee the consultation process which aims to engage people, organisations and interests from all parts of Scotland.
