Parliamentary questions
Linda Fabiani
2,507 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
23 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S1W-1790 by Sarah Boyack on 16 November 1999, when it will award a research contract that includes an assessment of the economic impact of road charging and workplace parking charges on Scotland's towns and cities.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: I refer to my answer to question S1W-2736.
23 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1785 by Sarah Boyack on 16 November 1999, when it will award a research contract that includes an assessment of the potential impact of road charging on the rate of traffic accidents and the number of resultant injuries and fatalities.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The contract will be awarded after completion of the discussions referred to in my answer of 16 November have taken place and a competitive tendering exercise has been completed. No firm date is available at this time.
19 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it was advised that Sea Containers Limited, or one of its subsidiaries, had sold the former Caledonian MacBrayne vessel Claymore; when this matter was last discussed with representatives of (a) the Scotland Office, (b) Her Majesty's Government, (c) the National Audit Office and (d) C…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Under the previous administration, CalMac were directed to sell the Claymore to Sea Containers in order to facilitate the operation of the Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry service. The Scottish Executive first became aware of the sale of the Claymore through the…
16 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received regarding any difficulties faced by Scottish coal producers wishing to move coal by rail and what action it has taken in response to these representations.
Answer · Henry McLeish: The Executive has received representations from Scottish Coal about the service offered by English, Welsh and Scottish (EWS) Railways. This matter is also the subject of a complaint to the Office of the Rail Regulator. This is a reserved issue being handled b…
16 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for assistance were made to the Scottish Crime Squad by each police force in each of the last three years for which data is available and how many of these requests were for crimes falling within the definition "a serious crime where more than one police area is involved…
Answer · Jim Wallace: The information requested follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=4><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>REQUESTS FOR SCOTTISH CRIME SQUAD ASSISTANCE</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="33%" VALIGN="TOP"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2>…
16 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage is of female officers at each rank within each Scottish police force and within the Scottish Crime Squad.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The percentage of female officers at each rank within each Scottish police force and within the Scottish Crime Squad as at 31 March 1999 are shown below.<FONT FACE="Arial"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">							Percent<TABLE CELLSPACING=0 BORDER=0 CEL…
16 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the proportion is of grant aid distributed by the Scottish Arts Council that has gone to the national companies (Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, Royal Scottish National Orchestra) for each of the last three financial years for which figures are available and, further to the answer t…
Answer · Rhona Brankin: Full details of the Scottish Arts Council's grants to the four National Companies over the last three years are shown below, together with the SAC forecast for 2000-01 and 2001-02:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">National Companies Grants<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPAD…
15 Nov 1999 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer what budget has been allocated to support the operation of each of the Parliament's Committees.
Answer · David Steel: I refer you to my earlier answer to Parliamentary Question S1W-718 from Mr Keith Raffan dated 10 August which confirmed that budgets have not been set for individual Committees but expenditure incurred by each would be reported at the end of the financial yea…
15 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to Scottish local authorities to assist them in considering applications for the siting of waste incinerators and whether it will place a copy of this guidance in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Guidance for planning authorities is contained in National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG)10: Planning and Waste Management and NPPG 6: Renewable Energy. A copy of each of these has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies of all NPP…
15 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the permitted maximum daily level of dioxin release is from waste incinerators.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Emissions of dioxins from waste incinerators are not controlled on the basis of a permitted maximum daily level. Except for very small incinerators burning animal remains, all industrial and commercial waste incinerators in Scotland are regulated by the Scott…
15 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what has been the rate of progress on the decontamination or treatment of contaminated land in each of the last three years in each local enterprise company area and, at the current rate of dealing with identified contaminated land in each area, how long it will take to decontaminate or t…
Answer · Henry McLeish: The information required is not available in the form requested. Local Enterprise companies do not maintain records of the treatment of contaminated land separately from the reclamation of vacant and derelict land. The Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey…
4 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to give priority to the situations facing small and medium si'e enterprises in terms of technical and financial obstacles to the development and use of clean technology in relation to the environment.
Answer · Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive provides significant support to small and medium size enterprises across a range of activities. Investment in clean technology is amongst the spending which qualifies for such assistance.
4 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-1812 and S1W-1875 by Sarah Boyack on 18 October and 20 October 1999, whether it will undertake to collate the information requested centrally and make it publicly available and, if not, whether it will state the reasons why.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Executive has no plans to collect estimates of the total time lost because of congestion. The Executive believes policy and investment decisions should be informed by well-established techniques for predicting the amount of time that would be saved as a r…
4 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the number of vehicle kilometres travelled on Scotland's roads, broken down by classification of "built-up" roads and "non built-up" roads, for each of the last five years.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) produces estimates of the total numbers of vehicle kilometres travelled on Scotland's major roads (motorways and A roads). These figures appear in Chapter 6 of <I>Scottish Transport Statistic…
2 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1788 by Sarah Boyack on 26 October 1999, whether the information requested is available at a sub-national level and, if so, whether it will place the information in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Scottish Household Survey information is not yet available at a sub-national level. The survey began in February this year. While results are available for Scotland as a whole for each quarter, the survey is not designed to provide sub-national figures for an…
2 Nov 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has undertaken to inform its input into developing Her Majesty's Government's position for the forthcoming World Trade Organisation negotiations on trade and investment.
Answer · Henry McLeish: SE is in regular contact with DTI on a wide range of issues, including WTO negotiations impacting on Executive's responsibilities.
2 Nov 1999 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer what steps have been taken towards the Parliament developing links such as "twinning" with other emerging nations, especially those in the developing world.
Answer · David Steel: No specific steps have been taken by the Parliament to develop "twinning" or other links with emerging nations. I understand that the Procedures Committee will be considering how matters relating to Parliamentary liaison should be handled within the…
6 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its target is for reduction in the number of hours lost by passengers on public transport because of congestion.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to set such a target.
6 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its target is for reduction in the number of hours lost by drivers and passengers of private cars because of congestion.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to set such a target.
6 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish targets for the impact of its proposed road charging legislation on the number of hours lost by drivers and passengers due to congestion.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to publish such a target.
6 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the distribution is by time and travel to work area of hours lost by drivers and passengers of private cars because of congestion in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The information requested is not held centrally.
6 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the distribution is by time and travel to work area of hours lost by passengers on public transport because of congestion in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The information requested is not held centrally.
4 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours drivers and passengers on Scotland's roads lost because of congestion in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The information requested is not held centrally.
4 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned into the potential impact of road charging and workplace parking charges on the pattern of land use in and around Scotland's towns and cities.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is preparing a research programme in association with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the key Scottish local authorities. This research will include the potential impact on land use in urban areas.
1 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned into the potential economic impact of road charging and workplace parking charges on Scotland's towns and cities.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is preparing a research programme in association with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the key Scottish local authorities. This research will include the potential economic impact on Scotland's towns and …
1 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will lodge in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre details of the technical specification of the equipment to be used in the M8 pilot project on road charging.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The invitation to tender, when issued, will specify the Department's requirements in this research. It will be for the tenderers to provide, test and modify equipment to meet the requirements. A key output of the research is a suite of technical specification…
1 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the Scottish workforce travels to work by private car, broken down by travel to work area.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Scottish Household Survey results show that, for Scotland as a whole, in the first half of this year, a car or a van was the usual main method of travel to work for about 65% of the people surveyed who travelled to a place of work. Information for individual …
1 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its forecast is of the rate of traffic increase over the next 10 and 20 years nationally and by travel to work area on the basis of continuation of current policies.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The National Road Traffic Forecasts (Great Britain) 1997, which was produced by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, provides the latest forecasts of the projected growth in the volume of motor traffic on roads in Great Britain until …
1 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what its target is for the rate of traffic increase over the next 10 and 20 years nationally and by travel to work area.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Road Traffic Reduction (National Targets) Act 1998 provides for the setting of a target for road traffic reduction in Scotland.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>In accordance with the provisions of this Act, Scottish Ministers are required to lay before the Sc…
1 Oct 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned into the potential impact of road charging on the rate of traffic accidents and the number of resultant injuries and fatalities.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is preparing a research programme in association with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the key Scottish local authorities. This research will include road safety.