Parliamentary questions
Shiona Baird
294 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources have been allocated to Scottish Opera to help fulfil the First Minister's commitment to place culture at the heart of the Executive's agenda.
Answer · Frank McAveety: The budget allocation forScottish Opera for 2003-06 was set by the Scottish Arts Council following the2002 Spending Review. That remains unaltered. Scottish Opera must operatewithin the level of resource that is available to it.</p>
2 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will measure the success of its strategy to meet the First Minister's commitment to place culture at the heart of its agenda.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Targets will be set in thecontext of the 2004 Spending Review.</p>
2 Mar 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what strategy is being implemented to meet the First Minister's commitment to place culture at the heart of its agenda.
Answer · Frank McAveety: Action is already takingplace to implement the First Minister’s vision for culture in Scotland, asstated in his 2003 St Andrew’s Day Lecture. I am engaging with ministerialcolleagues to discuss how different parts of the Executive and its agencies cancontribu…
11 Feb 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has spent on (a) recycling, (b) composting and (c) waste prevention in each of the last five years.
Answer · Allan Wilson: A detailed breakdown into (a), (b) and (c) is not available.</p><p>In addition to the Revenue Support Grant provided to local authorities for waste management services, over £51 million has been spent on recycling, composting and waste prevention initiatives …
11 Feb 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is on target to meet its aim that no more than 3.5 million tonnes of municipal waste be produced in 2010, as stated in The National Waste Plan 2003.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive remainscommitted to the aim in the National Waste Plan to stop growth in the amount ofmunicipal waste produced by 2010. We are taking a number of steps to achievethis aim. These include support for home composting, through the StrategicWaste Fun…
22 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of dairy processing businesses is (a) farmer-owned co-operatives and (b) private companies.
Answer · Allan Wilson: This information is not heldcentrally.</p>
22 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, dairy farm businesses have gone out of business in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Information is not availableat the level of detail requested.</p>
22 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average si'e of dairy herds was in (a) 1990 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The average number of dairycattle on holdings classified as dairy farms in 1990 and 2003 was 120 and 160respectively. These figures are taken from the Agricultural Census conducted inJune each year.</p>
22 Jan 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dairy farmers there were in (a) 1990 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The number of occupiers ofholdings classified as dairy farms in 1990 and 2003 was 2,100 and 1,500respectively. These figures are taken from the Agricultural Census conducted inJune of each year.</p>
18 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to develop a national noise strategy to ensure a consistent approach to noise management and, if so, when the strategy will be developed.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive has no plansto develop a national noise strategy. However, the implementation of the ECEnvironmental Noise Directive and the issuing of the proposed noise managementguide later this year, as described in the answers to questions S2W-5126 andS2W-…
18 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to issue guidance to local authorities for recording complaints received by them regarding noise and, if so, when such guidance will be issued.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive is planning toissue later this year a noise management guide for use by local authorities. Itis the intention that this will reflect the new provisions on domestic noisecontained within the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill, which is atp…
17 Dec 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to carry out its next national noise survey.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive has not beeninvolved in any national noise survey since 1999-2001 when there were UK-widenoise attitude and parallel national noise incidence surveys undertaken. Thereare no plans to conduct further surveys of this type at present.</p><p>The Exe…
25 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote awareness among all employers of the coming into force on 2 December 2003 of the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Responsibility for equalopportunities, including the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief)Regulations 2003, is reserved and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) isthe lead.</p><p>Information and guidance isavailable from DTI to allow employers in Eng…
22 Oct 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what infrastructure it will have in place by 2005 to manage the increase in re-use and recycling of electrical and electronic goods that the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive will bring about.
Answer · Ross Finnie: he Scottish Executive has no plans to put suchinfrastructure in place itself. The intent of the Directive is to ensure thatmanufacturers and importers of electronic and electrical equipment areresponsible for securing the re-use and recycling of substantial p…
1 Oct 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has estimated how much the impact of climate change will cost the Scottish economy.
Answer · Ross Finnie: TheExecutive has made no estimates of the impact of climate change on the Scottisheconomy. The Executive does, however, work in partnership with the UK Governmentto increase awareness and understanding of the challenges and opportunities presentedby climate c…
24 Sep 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities have now appointed school travel co-ordinators and how many schools have a Safer Routes to School scheme in operation.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive wrote to localauthorities in February 2003, offering funding for school travel co-ordinators.Every authority took up this offer and has either filled or is in the process offilling the posts. </p><p>The Executive publishedguidance on how to run …
27 Aug 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to support the European Union's “In town without my car!” initiative.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: We hosted a workshop in March this year to provide local authorities with results and case studies from UK events in 2002 as well as advice onplanning for<i> </i>In town without my car! day 2003. I also wrote to council leaders in June encouraging them to par…
14 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that awards from the Strategic Waste Fund are spent in accordance with implementation plans submitted by local authorities.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Bids to the Strategic Waste Fund are assessed to ensure that they conform to the implementation plans, are in line with the relevant area waste plans and offer value for money. Grant conditions require the relevant authority to provide the Executive with quar…
14 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will monitor the involvement of the community recycling sector in the implementation of Area Waste Plans.
Answer · Ross Finnie: We have asked the ScottishEnvironment Protection Agency to monitor the involvement of the communityrecycling sector in the implementation of Area Waste Plans.</p>
14 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual tonnage of waste diverted from landfill by community recycling groups was in each of the last two years and who was responsible for calculating this figure.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The information requested isnot held centrally. However, the Executive provides funding to the CommunityRecycling Network Scotland (CRNS) which is currently carrying out an exerciseto identify the contribution that the community sector is making to divertwast…
13 Aug 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what extra assistance it will provide for the development of fuel cell technology and research, following the performance of the BOC Gh2ost in the Shell Eco-Marathon in Alford on 10 August 2003.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Executive alreadycontributes towards the cost of the Carbon Trust’s Low Carbon Innovationprogramme which provides funding for research into fuel cells and other innovativeenergy technologies.</p>
4 Jun 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to support credit unions.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: The Executive is helping credit unions to play a vital role in tackling financial exclusion, through funding of £1.5 million over three years to 2004-05 to help implement <I>Unlocking the Potential - an Action Plan for the Credit Union Movement in Scotland</I…
30 May 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive from whom it buys its electricity and what proportion is generated from renewable resources.
Answer · Tavish Scott: I refer the member to the <I>Scottish Executive Environmental Management Report 2001-2002</I> published in October 2002 and available on the Executive's website at:<P><A HREF="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/environmentalmanagement/reports.asp">http://www.scotland…
30 May 2003 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer from whom the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) buys its electricity and what proportion is generated from renewable resources.
Answer · George Reid: The SPCB currently utilises City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) contracts for the supply of electricity to CEC leased premises. There are two main suppliers of electricity to these buildings. Parliament Headquarters consumes the largest amount of electricity and …