Parliamentary questions

Karen Gillon

705 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

3 Jul 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is proposing to do to regenerate the Scottish stone industry.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport, Rhona Brankin officially launched the Scottish Stone Liaison Group (SSLG) as a Limited Company by Guarantee on 22 May 2000. A three-year Minute of Agreement is being negotiated by Historic Scotland to provide a basic…

30 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in formalising policy framework documents with the Scottish Further Education Funding Council, and what is the current status of the policy framework documents with the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive has now agreed a Management Statement and Financial Memorandum with the Scottish Further Education Funding Council. The Management Statement outlines the council's relationship with the Scottish Ministers, and describes the council's po…

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6878 by Sarah Boyack on 23 May 2000, what measures are in place to ensure that utility supply companies co-ordinate road excavations with reference to information distributed by the operators of the Scottish Road Works Register.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 requires a utility company proposing to execute road works to give advance notice of the road works to the relevant road authority. In practice, this is done by the utility company giving notice to the Scottish Road Wor…

26 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has submitted advice to the shadow Strategic Rail Authority on the east coast mainline passenger rail franchise.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: I submitted advice today to the Chief Executive of the shadow Strategic Rail Authority on the replacement of the east coast mainline franchise. He will take account of the advice when making his decision on the preferred bid for the franchise. He will also co…

23 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the report of the MacLean Committee's review of the sentencing and treatment of serious violent and sexual offenders will be available.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Lord MacLean's Committee published its report today. I have arranged for copies of the report to be placed in SPICe.The Executive welcomes the work done by Lord MacLean and his committee which enables us take forward one of the commitments …

22 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it proposes to introduce further rephasing of the Higher Still programme.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: Under a 1998 agreement, teachers could delay implementing the new "Higher Still" Higher courses, for one year only, if they met criteria laid down by the national Higher Still Liaison Group. In fact around 80 per cent of the new Higher courses went …

20 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has come to a view on the remaining substantive issues aired in the public consultation held on the McIntosh Report into local government and the Scottish Parliament.

Answer · Frank McAveety: I am pleased to announce our position on the following issues arising from our consultation on the McIntosh Report:On the issue of whether we should legislate to allow for management structures involving directly-elected provosts/leaders, w…

20 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for providing housing support for vulnerable people and how it intends to take forward supporting people.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Government published a consultation paper Supporting People in December 1998 proposing a new funding and policy framework for housing support services for vulnerable people. This was endorsed by the new Scottish Executive in October 1999. Under the…

19 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the new membership and remit of the Scottish Valuation and Rating Council.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The membership of the new council is as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=602><TR><TD WIDTH="15%" VALIGN="TOP">Chairman</TD><TD WIDTH="85%" VALIGN="TOP">Professor Gordon Milne*</T…

16 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what further progress has been made in implementing its Land Reform Action Plan, published in August 1999.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I promised that we would publish regular updates on our Land Reform Action Plan to show how we are delivering on our promises. The third of these progress reports is published today. All MSPs are receiving copies.This shows that there will …

16 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Working Group established to provide further reassurance about the proposed repeal of section 2A has completed its review of the existing curriculum material and whether its report will be made public.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: I am pleased to announce that the working group has completed its second and final report which I have received today. The working group has reviewed the existing curriculum materials and made recommendations about further materials and improved procedures. T…

12 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the membership of the National Steering Group announced as part of the Rural Partnership for Change Initiative in March.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: As I announced in March, the National Steering Group will monitor the Rural Partnership for Change Initiative pilot, led by Highland Council. In particular, the group will help to identify any general lessons to emerge from the pilot to address shortages of a…

12 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the roles of the Consumers' Committee and the related Committee of Investigation for Great Britain have developed since they were established under the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Consumers' Committee for Great Britain was established under section 19 of the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958 to ensure that the interests of consumers were taken into account in the operation of statutory agricultural marketing schemes. In the past such…

9 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the key performance targets it has set Historic Scotland for 2000-01.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I have set Historic Scotland the following key performance targets for 2000-01:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Key Performance Area</TD><TD WIDTH="50%" VALIGN="TOP">Tar…

2 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the membership of the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission will be announced.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) is being launched today with Professor Malcolm Grant, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge as its Chair.The Commission will provide the UK Government and devolve…

2 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with implementing the findings of the Scottish Red Tape Review Panel's report Review of the Regulatory Burden: IACS and Inspections in Scotland.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I am pleased to say that significant progress has been made. I have placed a copy of the progress report in SPICe. It details the items where work has been completed, where action is currently in hand and where longer-term action is required because of the ne…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to commit any further resources in the current financial year to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping other than those already committed to the Rough Sleepers Initiative.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I am pleased to announce, as an addition to the resources previously allocated for the Rough Sleepers Initiative, that the Executive is making available a further £10 million this financial year to reduce rough sleeping, and to tackle homelessness.<P ALIGN="J…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide additional funding for road safety publicity in the current financial year.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Road safety publicity is a powerful tool which has had a major influence on public attitudes and behaviour. The Scottish Executive provides funding to the Scottish Road Safety Campaign for the development of key road safety educational resources and publicity…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the provision of nursery places for three year olds living in rural areas.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Programme for Government's commitment to deliver a part-time quality nursery place for every three year old whose parent wants it by 2002 applies to rural areas as it does to urban areas. We expect to meet this target.The Scottish Execu…

31 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to provide further guidance to local authorities on further development of opencast coal mining.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Opencast coal guidance was published on 31 March 1999. The Executive will consult shortly on a proposed addendum to this guidance dealing with the introduction of an assessment framework for dust emissions from opencast sites.

30 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement about the targets it expects the Registers of Scotland Executive Agency to achieve in the financial year 2000-01.

Answer · Angus MacKay: I have set the Registers of Scotland the following key targets for 2000-01:to achieve a return of 6% on net capital employed over the three-year period ending 31 March 2001;to continue the Land Register extension pro…

24 May 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve road safety for children.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive and the UK Government recently announced targets for road accident casualty reductions in the period to 2010. These include a 50% reduction in the number of child fatal and serious casualties. The targets, together with a strategy for a…

23 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the report of the Committee of Inquiry into professional conditions of service for teachers will be published.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: I expect to receive the report from Professor McCrone's Committee on Wednesday 31 May. In terms of the committee's remit, the report will be made jointly to me and to the Convenors of the employers and teachers side of the SJNC.I am confide…

22 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what was the conclusion of the review of the British Potato Council.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I have considered the report of the review together with the Ministers with responsibility for agriculture in England and Wales. We are satisfied with the progress made by the council since its creation in 1997 and agree that the council carries out an essent…

19 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to deliver its Programme for Government commitment to support and enhance all aspects of rural life.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has made considerable progress since last July in putting the needs of rural Scotland at the very heart of policy-making. Our commitment to giving rural issues a high profile was signalled by my own appointment as the first ever Cabinet…

17 May 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to address the issue of volatile substance abuse in Scotland.

Answer · Angus MacKay: At a national level our main efforts concentrate on health education and raising awareness through the efforts of the Health Education Board for Scotland. Current policy focuses on preventing volatile substance abuse through the education of young people, pro…

16 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has made for allocating the additional resources which have become available for Scottish programmes following the UK Budget spending announcements on 21 March 2000.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Further to my announcement in my statement to Parliament on 30 March, I can confirm that Cabinet have resolved the following allocations of resources, by programme.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="20%" VALIGN="TOP"> </TD…

15 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement about the performance of the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency against its targets for 1999-2000 and the targets it is setting for 2000-01.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Agency is on course to meet the targets for 1999-2001. The Agency's performance will be published in full in its Annual Report and Accounts to be laid before Parliament in July.For 2000-01 I have set the Agency the following key perform…

15 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure greater consultation between the utility supply companies when undertaking excavation of public roads and highways.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 requires the utility companies to give roads authorities advance notice of all road works and reinstatements and it requires roads authorities to keep a register of road works in roads for which they are responsible. Th…

15 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that adequate public transport links are in place in all new hospital developments, such as the new Wishaw General Hospital.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Consideration of proposals for new hospital developments are for local councils in the first instance. National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 17, Planning and Transport, emphasises the importance of such developments being well served by public tran…