Parliamentary questions
Fergus Ewing
2,894 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
23 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Transport has received a written invitation dated 10 August 2004 inviting him to visit the A96 to view traffic conditions on that road; if so, whether the minister will accept that invitation, on what date and time the visit will take place and whether the ministe…
Answer · Nicol Stephen: I have received and accepted an invitation from the Inverness and Nairn Local Economic Forum to visit the A96. The details have still to be arranged.</p>
23 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that local authorities ensure a political balance of parties’ representatives on each council in allocating councillors to committees; whether it will publish evidence it has received in respect of the track record of local authorities in this regard; whether …
Answer · Tavish Scott: Sections 15 to 17 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 would place a duty on local authorities to ensure that the political balance on council committees reflects the political balance on the council itself. We have received a small number of represen…
13 Aug 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what information it has on whether the report by Lord Fraser on the Holyrood parliament building project will be published on the inquiry’s website.
Answer · George Reid: The report is intended to be laid before, and published by the Parliament.</p>
13 Aug 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what information it has on whether Lord Fraser has issued any “Salmon letters” and, if no such letters have been issued, what information it has on when he expects to issue
Answer · George Reid: Lord Fraser announced, in a press release on 24 August, that letters containing the provisional text of criticism had been delivered to those concerned.</p>
13 Aug 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what information it has on whether Lord Fraser will be making public the terms of any “Salmon letters” that he may issue to those whom he is identifying as being mentioned by name in his report into the Holyrood parliament building project or at fault in relat…
Answer · George Reid: Lord Fraser on 2 April 2004 stated that anyone who might be the subject of criticism in his report would be privately notified and afforded the opportunity to “get me to revise my thinking of that criticism, and they can do this either privately or, if they w…
13 Aug 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) when the report by Lord Fraser on the Holyrood parliament building project will be published; whether Lord Fraser is still adhering to his target of publishing the report “in late August or early September” and, if not, whether the SPCB will inquire as …
Answer · George Reid: In a press release issued on 24 August, Lord Fraser advised that he “plans to report in the week beginning Monday 13 September”.</p>
12 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the statement issued by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on 28 July 2004 regarding the financial package for SNH staff approved by the Executive, what the phrase “with some added options to leave early” means and what the estimated cost is of such options.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Management of the relocation project including all staff issues is an operational matter for SNH. On the question of costs, I refer the member to question S2W-9850 answered on 13 September 2004. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on t…
12 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what response it will make to the submission of July 2004 by NFU Scotland (NFUS) regarding the EU Water Framework Directive; in particular, whether it will endorse the position that water abstraction controls in agriculture should only exist where a threat to ecological quality arises fro…
Answer · Allan Wilson: The Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003-Controlled Activities Regulations consultation document was issued to a wide range of stakeholders and comments were invited on the issues raised. The Executive is currently in the process of analys…
11 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Ambulance Service should continue to provide three full accident and emergency ambulances 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in Badenoch and Strathspey; whether a decision to provide such a service is a matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service; whether the Executive's …
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: It is for the Scottish Ambulance Service to determine how best to deploy the ambulance resources to achieve the response time standards agreed with the Scottish Executive. The eight minute response time target for Category A(life-threatening) calls that is th…
9 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any further plans to increase the availability of NHS dentistry services in the Highlands and, if so, what these plans are, whether they involve enhancing existing measures and what new measures it will take in this regard.
Answer · Tom McCabe: Responsibility for the overall provision of NHS dental services in Highland rests with NHS Highland. It is, however, recognised that there are increasing problems with access to NHS dental services in Highland. For this reason Highland is one of the designate…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take steps to ensure that work is allocated more quickly to improve the water and sewerage infrastructure; whether it is satisfied that its efforts to achieve this end have been satisfactory and, if so, whether it considers that the efforts of Scottish Water in this regard…
Answer · Ross Finnie: It is my understanding that, after initial delays, Scottish Water and its joint venture company, Scottish Water Solutions Ltd, are making satisfactory progress in the delivery of the capital programme. The details of allocations for work are, in the first ins…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the article in Scotland on Sunday on 1 August 2004 by Murdo Macleod in which a Scottish Water spokeswoman said that, in order to ensure that Scottish Water delivered the Scottish Executive's requirements, Scottish Water had deliberately delayed the start of some of its …
Answer · Ross Finnie: The capital procurement practices of Scottish Water’s predecessor companies had been the subject of some criticism by the Water Industry Commissioner because they offered poor value for money. It is my understanding that the new board of Scottish Water withhe…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in relation to its proposals for a beef national envelope, the information currently contained on cattle passports is insufficient to determine whether the 75% rule for calves has, or has not, been met.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The target population is progeny from suckler cows crossed with pure bred beef bulls. Most suckler producers will therefore know whether their calves qualify. The movement card from the passport, which will accompany the claim, gives the ear-tag number of the…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive who has supported its proposals on a national beef envelope; whether some individuals or bodies who may have expressed broad support in principle for a scheme have not supported the actual scheme as far as its detail has been announced and, in particular, if retail interests have supporte…
Answer · Ross Finnie: Copies of responses to the main CAP Reform consultation, which included a question on use of the national envelope provisions, are available from the Scottish Executive library. A summary of these is also on the Scottish Executive website at <a href="http://w…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the national beef envelope scheme will increase or decrease the amount of regulation and red tape for farmers.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Introduction of the Single Farm Payment (SFP) will greatly reduce the bureaucracy currently undertaken by farmers. The intention is to minimise the impact of the beef national envelope by linking paperwork with the SFP, linking controls with the passport syst…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the concerns ascribed in the Press and Journal of 31 July 2004 to Mr Brian Pack, that qualifying calves must be at least 75% beef genetic, are correct in relation to the condition of the beef envelope scheme announced by the Minister for Environment and Rural Development on 29 Jul…
Answer · Ross Finnie: The requirement is that qualifying calves must be at least 75% beef bred. The target population is progeny from suckler cows crossed with pure bred beef bulls, which is the backbone of Scottish beef production. Most suckler producers will therefore know wheth…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, under its proposals for a beef national envelope, it will impose any retention period on those calves on which subsidies will be paid and, if so, what that period will be and when details will be communicated to farmers.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive is currently consulting on appropriate qualifying criteria. There are no plans for a forward retention period. However, the department is likely to require calves to reach a certain age - probably 30 days - to ensure that those receiving payment…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its proposals regarding a beef national envelope were supported by the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW), and/or Quality Meat Scotland (QMS); if so, whether the Executive asked SAMW and/or QMS whether their support followed any form of consultation of their members a…
Answer · Ross Finnie: Copies of responses from the SAMW and QMS to the main CAP Reform consultation, which included a question on use of the national envelope, are available from the Scottish Executive library. A summary of all the responses to that consultation is also on the Sco…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to assist prawn fishermen and whether the Minister for Environment and Rural Development will meet a deputation of representatives of fishermen to hear the arguments they have made in relation to the west of Scotland nephrops quota so that an application can be …
Answer · Ross Finnie: I discussed West Coast Nephrops (prawns) in detail at my meeting with leaders of Scottish Fishermen’s Federation on 21 July, and also with local representatives on my visit to Western Isles on 16 August. I do not believe that there would be any additional val…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from the West of Scotland Fish Producers Organisation dated 28 July 2004; if so, whether it will respond to those representations; whether it will seek a 20% increase in the west of Scotland nephrops quota, and what its position is on the figures fo…
Answer · Ross Finnie: Representations have been received by the Scottish Executive from West of Scotland Fish Producers Organisation. A full reply will be sent separately, in accordance with the normal arrangements for official replies to correspondence.</p><p>New scientific infor…
6 Aug 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what arrangements will be made to ensure that schoolchildren visiting Holyrood have an opportunity to meet and put questions to their MSPs and, in particular, whether they will be permitted to use committee rooms for such meetings when those rooms are not in use for par…
Answer · Andrew Welsh: The programme for schoolvisits hosted under the Educational Visits Programme, run by Visitor Servicesstaff, includes an invitation to the local constituency and regional MSPs tomeet the group and answer questions. If MSPs wish to host additional visitsfrom sc…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of its agreement to pay Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) staff #10,000 for relocating to the new SNH headquarters in Inverness and a further #10,000 for remaining in Inverness for two years, any such payment was made to Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) staff when th…
Answer · Andy Kerr: Scottish Public Pensions Agency staff who transferred from Edinburgh to Galashiels received the standard relocation package available to Scottish Executive main staff involved in bulk transfer moves. This does not include a relocation grant or retention grant…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement issued by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on 28 July 2004 which states that the financial package for SNH staff has been approved by the Executive, how many posts will be relocated to Inverness and how many will remain in Edinburgh; what the estimates are of the …
Answer · Allan Wilson: Decisions on future organisation and staffing levels will be for SNH Management in the first instance. However, we announced in October 2003 that the Executive had agreed with SNH proposals to retain up to 50 posts in the Edinburgh area beyond the date of the…
6 Aug 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive from which department the costs of the relocation of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will be met; whether all the costs will be met from SNH's budget, and whether any costs will be met from the budgets of Highlands and Islands Enterprise or Inverness and Nairn Enterprise.
Answer · Allan Wilson: The necessary additional costs to SNH associated with relocation will be met by increases in SNH Grant-In-Aid from resources within the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department. There are no plans for any costs directly associated with the …
15 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9478 by Mr Andy Kerr on 30 June 2004, whether the local government finance review will be requested to complete its work within a particular timescale and, if so, what that timescale will be.
Answer · Andy Kerr: We have set no specific target date for the completion of the review but I currently expect it to take between one and two years to complete.</p>
15 Jul 2004 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what regard it has had, in relation to the new arrangements for payments to farmers, to the interests and particular needs of west Highland farmers who do not keep calves for the whole year but who “sell on the white”; how their interests will be taken account of under the new r…
Answer · Ross Finnie: TheExecutive has considered the interests and needs of all Scottish farmers, includingthose in the west Highlands, when deciding how best to implement the new CommonAgricultural Policy arrangements. The arrangements for the beef national envelope- announced r…
12 Jul 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S2W-1861 by Mr Duncan McNeil on 28 August 2003, why “experience has shown” that the SPCB could not guarantee to make payments by the 19th of the month following the pay run in which the contributions are collected and what th…
Answer · Duncan McNeil: Previously,contributions were paid by a combination of BACS, cheques and direct debits. Inthe case of the direct debit facility, it gave pension providers authority tocollect contributions direct from an SPCB bank account. However, experienceshowed that:</p><…
12 Jul 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether some pension providers require payments of pension contributions to be made by direct debit and will not accept payment by BACS and, if so, which pension providers these are.
Answer · Duncan McNeil: Only the Halifax inrespect of one plan has enforced such a requirement.</p>
12 Jul 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it is committed to ensuring that staff pension contributions are paid on time and at the correct amount and whether achieving this objective takes precedence over the SPCB's position on making such payments by means of direct debit.
Answer · Duncan McNeil: In terms of the collectionand pay over of Members’ staff pension contributions, the SPCB acts as agentsfor members. The SPCB is fully committed to ensuring that the correct amount ofpension contributions is collected and paid over on time. The sums arecalcula…
12 Jul 2004 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S2W-1861 by Mr Duncan McNeil on 28 August 2003, whether any MSPs' staff have been adversely affected by the decision to cease making pension payments by direct debit and, if so, whether any details of any such cases were reported to th…
Answer · Duncan McNeil: In total to date there havebeen 10 members’ staff (9 with plans with one provider and 1 with a plan withanother provider) affected by the decision to cease making pensioncontributions from the Parliament’s bank account by direct debit. The SPCB hasbeen kept i…