Parliamentary questions

Roseanna Cunningham

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

2 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many special protection areas (SPAs), under Article 4 of the EU Birds Directive, have been declared in which golden eagles are named as a qualifying species; how many pairs are fully protected, by the inclusion of their home range within the site boundary, by those SPAs where golden e…

Answer · Allan Wilson: Eight special protection areas(SPAs) have been classified by the Scottish Executive for the protection ofgolden eagle in Scotland. These cover an area of almost 344,000 ha or 4.4% ofScotland’s land mass.No figures are available onthe number of home ran…

2 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it proposes to take to address the reported decline in golden eagle numbers that has occurred between 1992 and 2003 south of the Great Glen and what factors have caused this decline.

Answer · Allan Wilson: A national survey of goldeneagles was undertaken by Scottish Natural Heritage, Royal Society for the Protectionof Birds and Scottish Raptor Study Groups in 2003. Publication of the findings isexpected in 2005 and the Scottish Executive will then consider what…

21 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of total (a) energy production, (b) primary energy consumption and (c) final energy consumption in the (i) industrial, (ii) service, (iii) domestic and (iv) transport sector in each quarter of 2003.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The data requested is notavailable for Scotland alone. However, the Scottish Executive is currentlyin the process of commissioning a study into energy supply and use in Scotland.

20 Jan 2004 · Written Question

Answer · Frank McAveety: There are a number of departmentswithin the Executive whose work and/or funding contributes towards promotingand facilitating sport and physical activity in Scotland (health, education, transport,local authority finance and communities). However, it is not po…

20 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to ensure that its departments buy recycled paper.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive is committedto the use of recycled paper. In 2002-03 92% of general office paper was producedfrom recycled materials. We aim to increase the use of recycled paper forgeneral use to 95% by March 2005.The Executive’s supplycontract assumes …

20 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many private sector housing initiatives have been launched in each of the last 10 years and what local authority funds have been committed to private sector housing initiatives (a) in each of the last 10 years and (b) since April 2000.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The following four initiatives involving financial assistance tohouseholds in the private sector have been launched in the period since 1994:the Empty Homes Initiative (launched in 1997 and since wound up); the Warm Deal (launched in 1999, to re…

15 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a response to the Equal Opportunities Committee's (EOC) Inquiry into Gypsy Travellers and Public Sector Policies, published on 21 June 2001.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The Executive’s initial responseto the EOC Inquiry recommendations was published in October 2001 and isavailable to view on the Executive website. An updated response is in the finalstages of drafting and should be with the committee later this year.

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of landfill sites will be full by 2010 and what alternative methods of disposal will be used once waste landfill sites are filled.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The National Waste Plan,published in February 2003, makes clear that, regardless of diversion targets,there will continue to be a need for landfill for the foreseeable future aspart of a strategy for disposing of those wastes which are not recovered or…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many mobile recycling plants are in operation and what the total weekly capacity is of such plants.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The information requested isnot held centrally.

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) complaints, (b) court actions and (c) fines there have been against industrial companies for problems related to (i) odours, (ii) water pollution, (iii) air pollution and (iv) human health impact in each year since 1999.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The information requested isnot held centrally. Complaints and enforcement action against companies whichhave caused air pollution or pollution of the water environment are matters forthe Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Local authorities have a duty u…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that companies are informed of measures required to comply with directive 91/156/EEC, the European landfill directive.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The regulatory provisions of the directive 1999/31/EC (the landfill directive) have been transposed in Scotlandthrough the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003, which came into force on 11 April 2003. The Scottish Executive consulted three times between 1999 …

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the role of affordable housing in maintaining the viability of rural communities.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Communities Scotland andits predecessor agency Scottish Homes have funded a number of local housingmarket studies of parts of rural Scotland. Scottish Homes and Highlands and Islands Enterprisejointly commissioned a study of housing and economic development i…

8 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many social housing properties have been (a) vacant and (b) constructed in each of the last six years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Margaret Curran: Table 1 shows the number ofunits of public sector normal letting stock vacant as at 31 March of each year.Housing association voids figures are collected by Communities Scotland, butrelated previously to number of re-lets throughout the year and were therefor…

5 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been allocated to sport since 1992, broken down by funding source, and how much it plans to spend on sport in the next three years.

Answer · Frank McAveety: Grant-in-aid to sportscotlandsince 1992 and spending plans for 2003-04 to 2005-06 are set out in the followingtable.<table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=571> <tr> <td> </td> <td> 1991-…

4 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to monitor the impact of genetically modified (GM) animal feed on animal health.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive has no plans to monitor the impact of GM animal feed on animal health.No GM product may be used inanimal feed unless EU member states have agreed collectively that it does notpose a risk to human and animal health or the environm…

4 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to tackle obesity through sport.

Answer · Frank McAveety: The Scottish Executive is tackling obesity through a combined approach on diet and physicalactivity.As part of this programme,we are investing £24 million over the three years to 2005-06 to merge, developand extend the existing active primary schools a…

4 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many school sports co-ordinators have been in post since 1999 and what steps it is taking to improve school sports facilities.

Answer · Frank McAveety: It is not possible to establishhow many co-ordinators have been in post since 1999. However, there arecurrently in schools across 30 local authorities 355 co-ordinators involved in phase1 of the programme and a further 264 co-ordinators involved in phase 2.</…

26 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what testing procedures are employed, and at what cost, to ensure the safety of storage flasks used in the transportation of nuclear waste.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The transportation ofnuclear waste is a reserved matter.

26 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what requirements are incumbent upon local authorities to prepare emergency plans for incidents involving trains carrying nuclear materials.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: This is a reserved matter,covered by the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information)Regulations 2001. The carrier is required under Regulation 8 to prepare anemergency plan and consult on it with such local authorities, emergencyservices, health…

26 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what sites are being considered for the construction of nuclear plants.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We will not support thefurther development of nuclear power stations while waste management issuesremain unresolved.

26 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many sites specialise in the disposal of radioactive materials.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Authorisations for thedisposal of radioactive waste are a regulatory matter for the ScottishEnvironment Protection Agency. Details are not held centrally. I understand,however, that only two facilities in Scotland have been authorised asspecialist facilities …

14 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much water (a) in total and (b) on average per household was supplied by Scottish Water to consumers in the last year for which figures are available; what percentage of the total figure was tap water and, of this, what percentage is estimates to have been used for drinking purposes.

Answer · Ross Finnie: This is an operationalmatter for Scottish Water and I have asked them to write to you about thismatter.

14 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to (a) set goals on environmental protection and (b) improve eco-efficiency and resource productivity relating to sanitation issues and what any such (i) goals and (ii) improvements have been.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executivesets objectives for environment protection annually in the corporate plan forthe Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Outcomes are reported inSEPA’s annual report. Both the report and the corporate plan may be found onSEPA’s website at …

13 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average monthly cost to consumers is of (a) water and (b) sewerage services in each local authority area, broken down also for those who are (i) metered and (ii) unmetered.

Answer · Ross Finnie: We do not hold thisinformation centrally. This is a matter for Scottish Water.

13 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how potential impacts on nature conservation are assessed when considering renewable energy developments and what protection is afforded to species and habitats of international conservation significance listed on EU conservation directives, the Ramsar Convention and similar conventions t…

Answer · Mary Mulligan: A range of mechanisms are inplace to ensure potential impacts are fully assessed, including scrutinyagainst development plan policies, environmental impact assessment and consultationwith Scottish Natural Heritage.Projects whichwould have an adverse ef…

13 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce inshore and marine areas to be identified as Special Protection Areas or Special Areas of Conservation to protect marine wildlife and ecosystems under the EU birds and habitats directives.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Scotland has already designated 48 Special Protection Areas(SPAs) under the Birds Directive that have one or more species of seabird as aqualifying interest and 54 coastal or marine Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)under the Habitats Directive.

13 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that offshore wind and fish farms are not located in coastal areas that qualify as special protection areas or special areas of conservation under the EU birds and habitats directives.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Conservation (NaturalHabitats, & Conservation) Regulations 1994 include a duty for competentauthorities to exercise their functions with regard to the requirements of the habitatsdirective and regulation 48 states that where a competent authority cons…

12 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities offer a taxicard alternative to their senior citi'en bus pass.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following local authorities offer a taxicard alternative to their senior citizen concessionary bus pass:Aberdeen CityAberdeenshireAngusClackmannanshireDumfries and GallowayDundeeEast LothianEdinburghFifeFalkirkMidlothian<P…

15 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring information it has from HM Prison Kilmarnock regarding the number of staff in post and applicants for employment, training and promotion by reference to their racial group.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:None. Premier Prison Services is solely responsible for such matters.

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many recorded offences there have been under sections (a) 68(1), (b) 68(2), (c) 68(3), (d) 68(5), (e) 69(1), (f) 69(2) and (g) 70(1) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following tables.The tables give information separately for sections 68(1), 68(2) and 68(3) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976. However, information on sections 68(5), 69(1), 69(2) and 70(1) cannot be separately …