Parliamentary questions

Mr Brian Monteith

1,042 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

31 Jul 2003 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what the overspend on the new Parliament building has been in each year since 1999 and which budget sub-head has met this overspend.

Answer · George Reid: Expenditure on the new Parliament building at Holyrood has been less than the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body’s (SPCB) approved annual budget for each financial year since the commencement of the project. There has therefore been no overspend against bu…

17 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the advice, documentation and reports given to ministers prior to its decision not to call in the decision to approve the water treatment plant at Milngavie.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: The Scottish ministers do not issue a detailed report of their assessment in circumstances such as this where they are not determining the planning application. Internal planning documents are exempt from disclosure under exemption 2 of Part II of the <I>Code…

16 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the General Register Office for Scotland collected in access charges to its website www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk in (a) 2000-01 and (b) 2001-02.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The ScotlandsPeople website did not come into operation until 2 September 2002, so the General Register Office for Scotland collected no income from it during financial years 2000-01 and 2001-02. ScotlandsPeople replaced the Scots Origins website, from which …

16 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the General Register Office for Scotland spent on (a) advertising and (b) sponsorship in (i) 2000-01 and (ii) 2001-02.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The General Register Office for Scotland spent £501,581 on advertising during financial year 2000-01 and £618,046 during 2001-02. This expenditure related mainly to publicity for the 2001 Census and includes fees paid to appointed publicity agents. During the…

15 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what locus or responsibilities it has regarding the introduction of local byelaws on drinking in public places.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The introduction of byelawsis a matter for local authorities under section 201 of the Local Government (Scotland)Act 1973. The Executive has a supervisory role, in that Scottish ministersultimately confirm all byelaws, but the initiative in making them lies w…

11 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many road accidents occurred on the Stirling to Lochearnhead stretch of the A84 in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The number of injury accidents that have occurred on the A84 between Stirling and Lochearnhead in 2001 and 2002 are as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=367><TR><TD WIDTH="21%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=17><P>Year</TD><TD WIDTH="24%" VALIGN="T…

11 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many road accidents occurred on the Stirling to Ballat Cross stretch of the A811 in 2002.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover damage only acc…

9 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the establishment of safety camera partnerships in respect of road safety; what areas have yet to establish such partnerships, and what funding has been committed to this project.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: To date six out of eight Scottish safety camera partnerships have been approved in Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Lothian and Borders, Strathclyde and Tayside. It is expected that the remaining two partnerships, Central and Northern, will go live next…

9 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the administrative cost of collecting non-domestic rates was in 2002-03 before any reductions for rate payment surcharges and penalties, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Tavish Scott: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-1101 on 3 July 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/searc…

9 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been allocated to each local authority to cover the payment of non-domestic rates on local authority properties in each year since 2000-01.

Answer · Tavish Scott: No specific provision is provided to local authorities for the payment of non-domestic rates. Local authorities meet the cost of non-domestic rates from the overall resources available to them.

9 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) mandatory and (b) discretionary rate relief has been provided to businesses in each year since 2000, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The mandatory and discretionary relief provided by each authority for 2000-01 and 2001-02 are provided in the table. The figures for 2002-03 are not presently available.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=606><TR><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN="TOP" ROWSP…

9 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much non-domestic rates revenue has been collected by each local authority in each year since 2000.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Non-domestic rates revenue for 2000-01 can be found in the Parliament's Reference Centre in the <I>Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics 2000-01</I> booklet table 11 (Bib No. 25640) whilst the figures 2001-02 per authority are listed in the following…

9 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what process has been followed in the awarding of public contracts to Scotland the Brand and whether any other companies were invited to bid for these contracts.

Answer · Jim Wallace: In mid May, Scotland the Brand was offered a contract to co-ordinate the showcasing of Scottish food and drink at the planned evening of Scottish culture this coming September in Barcelona. Given their specialist marketing skills and in light of the time avai…

9 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its contracts have been awarded to Scotland the Brand since April 2003 and what each such contract was worth.

Answer · Jim Wallace: One contract has been awarded to Scotland the Brand since April 2003 with a value of £32,000.

26 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many appeals it has heard in respect of phone masts and how many such appeals have been upheld.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: During the period 1 January 1999 to 30 June 2003 the Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporters Unit determined a total of 97 appeals in respect of various types of telephone masts - 75 of these were successful. All the appeals were determined by way of the written…

26 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the negotiations between local authority assessors and members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors are now complete; if so, whether hotels in Scotland have been assessed at higher valuations than hotels in England and, if so, by how much.

Answer · Tavish Scott: We understand that discussions between the Scottish Assessors' Association and members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have now concluded. The valuation of non-domestic property for rating purposes is a matter for the Scottish Assessors' Assoc…

25 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what planning, or other restrictions, currently apply to the siting and location of helipads and wind-socks and the landing and take-off of helicopters; which bodies have planning authority, or an advisory role, in respect of these matters, what powers they have, and whether it has any pl…

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Planning seeks to control physical development (for example, the erection of structures and buildings) and changes in the use of buildings and land. Sections 25 and 37(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 require that planning decisions be …

24 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much non-domestic rates income it received in 2002-03 from public bodies or organisations that it funds directly or indirectly.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.

24 Jun 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the administrative cost of collecting non-domestic rates was in 2002-03, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This information is not currently available. We are awaiting returns from the local authorities before we could provide this information. However, the table gives the Budget Estimates of Total Expenditure on Collection of Non-Domestic Rate Income for each aut…