David Mundell

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to buy into the proposed Carbon Trust element of the UK Energy Efficiency Fund.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: Yes. We are discussing how it will with various interested parties the proposed structure of the Carbon Trust, and in particular complement the Scottish Executive's existing services to businesses delivered by the Scottish Energy Efficiency Office, and the ad…

12 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to recognise the achievements of Dumfries and Galloway Council and other local authorities whose websites were recently rated in the top 20 local authority websites in the UK by the Society of Information Technology Management.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Executive welcomes the achievements of Dumfries and Galloway and the other Scottish local authorities whose websites have received recognition by the Society of Information Technology Management. Dumfries and Galloway were awarded £72,000 from the Moderni…

12 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to offer incentives to local authorities to encourage them to use information and communication technologies.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Executive is providing £26 million through the Modernising Government Fund to support innovative projects which use information and communication technologies. Local authorities will lead 22 of these projects with funding of £17.5 million.<P>As well as su…

12 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to educate its staff in information and communication technologies.

Answer · Angus MacKay: It is a priority of the Executive to ensure that staff have access to the latest technology and are able to use it effectively to provide an efficient, high quality service to Ministers, Parliament and the public. Through the internal Training and Development…

12 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that those staff involved in developing online aspects of e-government initiatives are sufficiently well informed of any security issues which may be associated with such developments, in particular as regards online voting.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Electoral pilot schemes are scheduled to take place at the local government elections being held in England and Wales in May. Decisions on the introduction of similar pilot schemes, including online voting, for local government elections in Scotland will be c…

12 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make extra funding available to local authorities to help cover the costs of adopting and maintaining schemes for the publication of information if its draft Freedom of Information Bill becomes law.

Answer · Jim Wallace: No. As many Scottish public authorities, including local authorities, already handle requests for information and publish routinely a wide range of other information, and as model publication schemes, prepared either by the Scottish Information Commissioner o…

12 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish guidelines on the scope of local authority discretion in relation to the charging of fees for the provision of information if its draft Freedom Of Information Bill becomes law.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Section 9 of the draft Bill published on 1 March sets out the scope of public authority discretion in relation to the charging of fees for providing information. The upper limits of fees would be prescribed and all authorities would have discretion whether or…

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of its agencies or departments have been nominated in any categories in this year's Government Computing Innovation Awards.

Answer · Angus MacKay: Nominations for the Government Computing Innovation Awards come from a wide variety of sources. It is not possible to provide details of nominees for this year's awards, as the closing date for nominations is 30 March 2001.

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all of its e-government projects are on schedule and on budget.

Answer · Angus MacKay: I am happy to say that virtually all of the e-government projects in which the Executive is directly involved are currently on schedule and within budget. The table below gives more details of the Executive's major e-government projects. The published 21st Ce…

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any assessment of the cost of introducing online voting to local elections and, if so, what that cost would be.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has made no such assessment.

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has done on improving the security of on-line voting.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer given S1W-14117 on 26 March 2001.

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to run any experiments in on-line voting.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14117 on 26 March 2001.

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has done or intends to do to establish whether on-line voting would improve turnout at local elections.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14117 on 26 March 2001.

9 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies are taking place to assess the utility of on-line voting to rural communities.

Answer · Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-14117 on 26 March 2001.

8 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will expand the guidelines set out in National Planning Policy Guidelines 11 - Sport, Physical Recreation and Open Space to include guidelines on the provision of play equipment in public parks.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Yes. A Planning Advice Note will be prepared to complement the guidance in NPPG 11. The PAN will take account of recently published research and highlight how local authorities can improve the quality and provision of all forms of open space.

8 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has carried out into the social and health benefits of providing equipped play areas for children.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive has not carried out any recent studies into the social and health benefits of providing equipped play areas for children.

8 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to give additional funding to local authorities for the replacement of play equipment in public parks which does not meet EU safety standards.

Answer · Peter Peacock: We are providing local authorities with £1.2 billion in additional support over the next 3 years, including a 40% increase in their allocations for capital investment. It is for each authority to ensure that its facilities meet appropriate safety standards.

7 Mar 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to respond to the report of the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Kennedy McFarlane.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Dumfries and Galloway Child Protection Committee commissioned the report into Kennedy's tragic death and primary action on its recommendations is for the local agencies concerned.

6 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it, or any other body, has conducted any research into the environmental impact of the application by West of Scotland Water Authority to release sewerage effluent into the River Clyde and, if so, what the results were of this research and which bodies or experts were consulted.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Under the terms of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, the West of Scotland Water Authority must obtain a consent from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for each individual discharge it makes to the River Clyde. The agency issues consents subject to c…

5 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact on the provision of ambulance services in rural areas is anticipated from the implementation of the EU Working Time Directive.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Ambulance Service working through its Partnership Forum has already implemented many of the requirements of the Directive. Discussions are continuing in relation to the implications for the service's on-call working arrangements, in particular in…

5 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress the Scottish Ambulance Service is making in implementing the EU Working Time Directive.

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-13873.

5 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any plans to close Langholm Ambulance Station and, if so, what action it proposes to take and what criteria are used to determine how far an ambulance station should be located from the communities which it serves.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service has confirmed that there are no plans to close the Langholm Ambulance Station.

5 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Ambulance Service about the provision of ambulance services in the Langholm and Eskdale areas.

Answer · Susan Deacon: None. It is for the Scottish Ambulance Service to ensure the provision of satisfactory ambulance services throughout Scotland.

27 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has asked Dumfries and Galloway Council to carry out a "manageable rationalisation of school buildings"; what is meant by this expression, and whether it has held any discussions with the council on this issue.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive has not held discussions with Dumfries and Galloway Council on school rationalisation and has made no specific requests of the council in that regard.<P>I understand, however, that the council are reviewing school provision in the conte…

27 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minster or the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning have any plans to meet Governor Gilmore of the US State of Virginia when he is in Scotland in April to discuss digital communications opportunities.

26 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the announcement on 26 February 2001 by Ms Margaret Curran of #15 million additional funding for councils to help prepare for the introduction of the new "Supporting People" regime in April 2003, what percentage of this and what amount will go to Dumfries and Galloway and …

Answer · Jackie Baillie: We will announce the allocations to individual local authorities shortly.

26 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the announcement on 26 February 2001 by Ms Wendy Alexander of an additional #2.5 million to fund ICT training for the unemployed, how many places on ICT training schemes will be provided in Dumfries and Galloway.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W - 13681.

26 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the announcement on 26 February 2001 by Ms Wendy Alexander of an additional #2.5 million to fund ICT training for the unemployed, what percentage of this and what amount will go to Dumfries and Galloway.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: SE Dumfries and Galloway have identified an ambitious programme of activities under this initiative. Their activities will attract £212,500 in funding support from Scottish Enterprise (9.4% of the total) and are expected to deliver 215 European Computer Drivi…

26 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will be monitoring the progress of Camden Council's online transaction service for business rates, council tax and parking fines to assess the utility of a similar system for local authorities in Scotland.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Through the Central Local Government 21st Century Forum, the Scottish Executive is encouraging local authorities to deliver electronically all services for which this is feasible by 2005. To promote progress towards this target, the Scottish Executive monitor…

26 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the announcement on 21 February 2001 by Jack Straw of #10.6 million of additional funding to encourage regional police forces to apply the National Intelligence Model guidelines, what discussions it has had with police forces to ensure that they take advantage of the fundi…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The announcement by the Home Secretary applies only to forces in England and Wales. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) has endorsed the National Intelligence Model (NIM) and an implementation team is considering the introduction of t…