Parliamentary questions
David Mundell
955 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
26 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs intends to visit Lockerbie Primary School and Lockerbie Academy when he is next in Dumfries and Galloway.
Answer · Jack McConnell: I cannot, at this stage, give any commitment to visiting schools in Lockerbie, but I am considering the possibility of including them in a future programme of visits.
20 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12622 by Mr Alasdair Morrison on 1 February 2001, whether it will provide details of the increased levels of financial support for the tourism industry being provided through the Scottish Tourist Board, in particular by how much such support is being…
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: Financial support for STB/Visitscotland in 2000-01 is £25.9 million, which is a £6.6 million increase on the previous financial year.
20 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12619 by Mr Alasdair Morrison on 1 February 2001, how much has been spent so far on developing the new look visitscotland.com website and what the total cost of the website will be on completion.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: I will ask the interim Chief Executive to write to you.
20 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12619 by Mr Alasdair Morrison on 1 February 2001, how much it will cost the Scottish Tourist Board to improve accessibility through search engines to the visitscotland.com website.
Answer · Alasdair Morrison: I will ask the Interim Chief Executive to write to you.
20 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12728 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 6 February 2001, on what date the study into the potential impact of local loop unbundling across Scotland will be available and whether there will be a charge to businesses for copies of the results.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: A draft report is scheduled for delivery by early summer. This will then need to be evaluated by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and the Executive. A summary report will be made available on the Scottish Enterprise website.
20 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12577 by Susan Deacon on 1 February 2001, how many clinical psychology training posts were provided from the #100,000 allocated to the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The additional funding for clinical psychology training secured eight posts so that the output from the training programmes in Scotland over the next three years will be 32 clinical psychologists per year. Without the additional funding the output would have …
20 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities will be represented at next month's Promoting Electronic Government Conference in Birmingham.
Answer · Angus MacKay: Promoting Electronic Government (PEG) is a two-year Invest To Save project sponsored through the Department of the Environment and the Region's (DETR) Local Government Directorate. It aims to provide local authorities in England and Wales with support in buil…
20 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will be represented at next month's Promoting Electronic Government Conference in Birmingham.
Answer · Angus MacKay: The Executive plans to send an official to the Promoting Electronic Government Conference in Birmingham next month, which has been organised by DETR in partnership with others, and is primarily aimed at English local authorities.
20 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12720 by Sarah Boyack on 6 February 2001, whether its guidance and directions for the renewal of Scottish passenger rail franchise will include reference to a requirement for the service quality and speed of rolling stock on rural and less profitable…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive will indicate in broad terms in its Directions and Guidance the level of service it will expect from the new Scottish passenger rail franchise. It will be for those who wish to be considered as the operator of the franchise to propose t…
15 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the minimum annual income per household is which is considered to be above the poverty line.
Answer · Jackie Baillie: There are a range of indicators which can be used to measure poverty, of which low income is only one.<P>The Statistical Programme Committee of the European Union recommend using a range of different thresholds for the analysis of low income based on various …
15 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average earnings were per adult in each region in 2000.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Reliable figures on average gross weekly earnings of full time employees on adult rates are only available for 24 of the 32 unitary authorities in Scotland. These figures are shown in the following table. The data relate to April 2000.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACIN…
15 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what figures it holds for Gross Domestic Product on a regional basis in 2000.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Figures are not available for Gross Domestic Product on a regional basis for 2000. The latest figures held are for 1996. Figures for 1998 are scheduled for release by the Office for National Statistics in April 2001.
15 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information is available to businesses to help them prepare for a general increase in age of the workforce.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Scottish Enterprise are at present actively examining the problem of population ageing together with business groups such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). <P>The CBI and the FSB have already been inv…
15 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what investigations it has undertaken into the effect on labour markets in rural areas of an ageing workforce.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: No formal studies have been undertaken in this area, but the Scottish Executive's recently published strategy for the Enterprise Network, entitled <I>A Smart Successful Scotland</I>, (Parliament Reference Centre Bib reference number 10982) made clear that dem…
15 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what investigations it has undertaken into the effects of an ageing workforce on the economy.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive's recently published strategy for the Enterprise Network, entitled <I>A Smart</I> <I>Successful Scotland</I>, (Parliament Reference Centre, Bib. no. 10982) made clear that demographic change and its impact on the Scottish Economy is a m…
15 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it proposes to manage the process of amending legislation as a consequence of the Electronic Communications Act 2000.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13389.
15 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to identify legislation which will require amendment as a consequence of the Electronic Communications Act 2000.
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13389.
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the codes of practice in place under the New Roads and Streetworks Act 1991.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: As with other areas of roads legislation, the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and associated Codes of Practice are kept under regular review.
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the process is for amending the codes of practice in place under the New Roads and Streetworks Act 1991.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Codes of Practice are kept under regular review and may be amended following consultation, as and when deemed necessary. This could be following the introduction of new or revised legislation or following on from representations received from roads authoritie…
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken any steps to monitor the effectiveness of the provisions of the New Roads and Streetworks Act 1991 and, if so, what the outcome has been.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Scottish Executive officials are in regular contact with roads authorities and utility companies on a number of issues. In addition, they attend meetings of the Road Authorities and Utility Companies (Scotland), a forum of representatives of the Scottish Join…
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been in Scotland under the New Roads and Streetworks Act 1991, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Colin Boyd: The statistical information necessary to answer this question is not available.
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will be contributing to the Tartan Day celebrations in the United States.
Answer · Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive is planning to support events in Washington, Chicago and New York with a view to strengthening our links with the USA and promoting Scotland. A detailed programme is being developed in co-operation with the Scottish Parliament, organisa…
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it proposes to hold another Scotland Week in Brussels or elsewhere.
Answer · Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive is currently considering - with its partners in Scotland House - how it might build on the success of the Scotland Week which was held in Brussels in October 1999, and I hope to announce our intentions before the Easter recess.
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to identify any changes to the civil and criminal legal frameworks which are required to encourage the development of e-commerce in Scotland.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is working to identify those changes to Scottish law, both civil and criminal, that may be necessary to encourage e-commerce in Scotland. This work involves consideration by the Law Society of Scotland.<P>The Executive's aim is to bring…
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which minister has responsibility for data protection issues.
Answer · Henry McLeish: Data protection is a reserved matter. When data protection issues arise they are considered by the Minister responsible for the policy area in which they occur.
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many visitors there were in the year 2000 to the forests in Ae Forest District.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: There were over 300,000 visitors to Ae Forest District last year.
14 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much timber was produced by Ae Forest District in the year 2000.
Answer · Rhona Brankin: About 230,000 cubic metres of timber were harvested from Ae Forest District last year.
8 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will delay the start of the planning inquiry into the application for a landfill facility at Dry Rig, Ae Forest, Dumfriesshire until the concerns of the objectors regarding the participation of Forest Enterprise have been resolved.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Executive determined that it was not necessary to postpone the commencement of the public inquiry over the issue of Forest Enterprise's participation in the proceedings and the inquiry opened on 13 February as scheduled.
7 Feb 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer on how many occasions committees have used the Parliament's videoconferencing facilities in the course of meetings.
Answer · David Steel: The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning committee used the Scottish Parliament videoconferencing facilities for the purposes of taking evidence on 14 June 2000. This was a link from Committee Chambers to Inverness where the Convenor of Highland Council and the D…
7 Feb 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any legal impediment preventing local authorities from using videoconferencing facilities during the course of statutory meetings.
Answer · Peter Peacock: The question of whether or not it would be legitimate for local authorities to hold meetings at which some members would be present in person and others would participate by video conference if of course ultimately for the courts. However, in the Executive's …