Fergus Ewing

10 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what the (a) expiry date is of each lease, specifying whether there is any option to renew any lease and, if so, on what basis and (b) (i) annual and (ii) future rent payable by the Parliament is for each building in the Parliament estate.

Answer · David Steel: Contracts exist with the City of Edinburgh Council in respect of the following properties currently occupied by the Scottish Parliament:<P>Parliamentary Headquarters (George IV Bridge)<P>Committee Chambers<P>Cannonball House<P>369 and 375 High Street<P>Under …

10 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether any estimate has been made of the costs to the Holyrood project in the event that the "degree of uncertainty" referred to by the Holyrood Project Director at the Finance Committee on 8 October 2002 (Official Report, c 2244) results in the new Parliament building not being complete…

Answer · David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that no estimates for such an outcome are available at this stage, and as was reported to the Finance Committee at their meeting on 8 October 2002, once the position on programme is more certain, any f…

8 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland and his department has been since inception.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The office of the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland is funded through a levy on Scottish Water. The levy from Scottish Water including establishment costs of the Water Industry Commissioner's office has been £5,170,599 covering the period from 1 Novemb…

8 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there should be further relaxations to the 20-day standstill rule on livestock movements; whether the detailed risk assessment and wide ranging cost-benefit analysis as recommended in Foot and Mouth Disease 2001: Lessons to be Learned Inquiry has been completed, and whether any me…

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has no immediate plans to revise the current interim movement regime. The present arrangements will be reviewed with industry stakeholders once the results of the detailed veterinary risk assessment and associated cost-benefit analysis,…

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to continue funding for the Scottish Teacher Release Scheme should funding for that scheme expire and what its position is on the need to ensure that teachers who participate in the scheme can continue to be released from their duties in order to ensure that children are…

Answer · Elaine Murray: The Teacher Release Scheme operated by <B>sport</B>scotland is in the final year of a three year funding commitment. <B>Sport</B>scotland will be reviewing the scheme in consultation with interested parties over the next few months.

7 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what the estimated cost is of the legal services provided by Shepherd and Wedderburn WS in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and Flour City International Inc. since the last invoice of 3 April 2002.

Answer · David Steel: The estimated costs of current legal services being provided by Shepherd and Wedderburn in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and Flour City International Inc. is £10,000 plus outlays.

7 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the drawings and design work supplied by Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited have been used without adaptation or change by the companies that have been awarded the relevant works packages in connection with the new Parliament building and whether there have been additiona…

Answer · David Steel: The design work supplied by Flour City has required to be adapted since the original package has now been split into six separate trade packages. It has been estimated by the Design Team that around 95% of the drawings produced by Flour City were satisfactory…

7 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether any pre-tender questionnaire was completed by Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited before the award of the contract for cladding in the MSP block at the new Parliament building; if so, what information it disclosed in relation to work which it had completed; whether any ref…

Answer · David Steel: As a prerequisite to the tender process all potential contractors are required to complete a pre-tender questionnaire. Flour City were no exception and relevant references were obtained. The information contained in the pre-tender questionnaire cannot be disc…

7 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what hourly rate or rates are charged by Shepherd and Wedderburn WS for the legal services it is providing to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited and Flour City International Inc.; whether there is any contract be…

Answer · David Steel: A tendering exercise was carried to procure outsourced legal services and contracts were agreed with three firms. The services provided by Shepherd and Wedderburn in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and Flour City International Inc. ha…

7 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what information has been obtained in respect of Flour City International Inc. as a result of the work carried out by Shepherd and Wedderburn WS and the agent in the USA in connection with that company; whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) will place any such informatio…

Answer · David Steel: Information has been received on Flour City International Inc. as a result of the work of the SPCB's agents. Further updated information is expected soon together with an opinion on the prospects of recovery of the additional costs being incurred by the SPCB …

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is still considering the establishment of a school sport alliance; what the reasons are for its position on this matter, and when it will make an announcement on the issue.

Answer · Elaine Murray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-26945 on 4 July 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/web…

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when sportscotland will next meet the Scottish School Sports Federation.

Answer · Elaine Murray: This is an operational matter for <B>sport</B>scotland. However, I understand that <B>sport</B>scotland has arranged to meet Federation representatives tomorrow.

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken, or will take, to ensure that one national insurance policy is obtained in order to provide cover for children participating in sport, recreational physical exercise and outdoor activity, including school excursions and foreign holidays, and whether the establishme…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Local authorities have public liability insurance cover for the extent of their own legal liability across all the services, including education, for which they are responsible. Consideration of insurance cover beyond that would be a matter for individual loc…

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on schools obtaining funding from the New Opportunities Fund PE and Sport in Schools; what steps it will take to ensure that all schools benefit from this fund, and what average funding it anticipates will be available for each school from the fund.

Answer · Elaine Murray: The Scottish ministers set the policy directions under which the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) operates the PE and Sport Initiative in Scotland. This programme is now operational and is NOF's responsibility to administer based on guidance agreed with the Scott…

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the creation of a bypass on the A96 at Nairn and, if so, what steps it will take to achieve this.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The case for a bypass for Nairn has not been identified as a priority when considering potential projects for the motorway and trunk roads programme and there are no plans at present to take forward such a scheme. I have not received representations on this m…

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the waste presently disposed of at Longman landfill site, which is due to be closed from April 2003, will be disposed of in a landfill site near Peterhead and, if so, what estimate has been made of the additional haulage traffic that will use the A96 and other trunk roads in order…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Treatment and disposal of municipal waste is the responsibility of the local authority, in this case Highland Council. The council is preparing a public private partnership (PPP) scheme as a long-term sustainable waste management solution which will be in acc…

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will recommend to sportscotland that it should, in consultation with the appropriate representative sport associations in Scotland and Ireland, seek to form an international federation that would permit an annual shinty/hurley fixture between Scotland and Ireland to be acknowle…

Answer · Elaine Murray: It is not part of <B>sport</B>scotland's responsibilities to seek to establish international sporting federations. Shinty/hurling is not a single sport: the annual shinty/hurling fixture is a one-off hybrid event played under composite rules. So far as shinty…

7 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-29304 on 30 September 2002, how many visitors there were to the public gallery in the chamber on each (a) Wednesday and (b) Thursday that the Parliament has met since 1 September 1999 and what the average number of visitors was on these days during th…

Answer · David Steel: The information requested broken down by years is given below. Since access and egress of visitors is a continuous process it is not possible to identify total numbers in the gallery at any one time.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=500><TR><TD …

4 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23640 by Allan Wilson on 15 March 2002, what progress has been made towards delivery of online public services through post offices and sub-post offices and whether they have now been excluded from plans for the delivery of Your Guide.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Responsibility for the Post Office and Post Office services is a reserved matter.<P>A decision not to roll out Your Guide nationally was announced by DTI Ministers on 15<SUP> </SUP>October. The decision was taken largely on value for money grounds, following …

4 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what the total current estimate is of the fees for the Holyrood Project and whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will provide a full breakdown of these fees.

Answer · David Steel: As reported to the Finance Committee on 8 October 2002, the current estimate for professional fees relating to the Holyrood Project amounts to £38.6 million. A breakdown cannot presently be given as the amounts payable to the individual professional consultan…

4 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what the reasons are for the additional cost of the works packages let as part of the Holyrood Project and set out in Annex A to the quarterly report on the Parliament Building Project to be considered at the Finance Committee on 8 October 2002 and, in particular, how much of the additiona…

Answer · David Steel: As reported to the Finance Committee on 8 October 2002, the Holyrood Project Team are currently in the process of compiling a more detailed estimate of the additional costs associated with the blast resistance requirements for the new building. The Convener o…

3 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any representations to Parcelforce about the impact of additional charges in respect of deliveries to homes in Highlands and Islands postcode areas (a) IV, (b) HS, (c) KA27-28, (d) KW, (e) PA20-49, (f) PA60-78, (g) PH17-26, (h) PH30-44, (I) PH49-50 and (j) ZE and wheth…

Answer · Allan Wilson: Consignia, post offices and postal services are reserved matters. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including Consignia's parcel delivery services.

3 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the Rural Affairs Committees 2nd Report, 1999: Impact of Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning on the Fisheries Sector, whether any further money was made available for research into the causes of shellfish toxicity; what funding has been made available for such research in each sub…

Answer · Mary Mulligan: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that new research into the relationship between phytoplankton and algal toxin levels is due to run between January 2000 and September 2003, with costs of £450,275 spread over that period. On continuing funding to deve…

2 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-29132 on 24 September 2002, how many works packages were let as part of the Holyrood project; what other mechanism, other than a performance bond, was sought and in respect of which works packages; whether a parent company guarantee was used and, if s…

Answer · David Steel: To date, a total of 60 Trade Package contracts have been awarded. Other than a Performance Bond, the SPCB is entitled, under the terms of each contract, to request a Parent Company Guarantee as advised by the Construction Manager. In addition, there are a num…

2 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-29132 on 24 September 2002, what the (a) names are of the contractors for the 16 works packages let as part of the Holyrood project where a performance bond is outstanding and (b) total value was of the package awarded to each of these contractors and…

Answer · David Steel: Negotiations on Trade Contracts for the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood are carried out on a commercially confidential basis and it would not be appropriate to name publicly those contractors who have yet to provide a Performance Bond, particular…

2 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-29130 on 24 September 2002, whether he will now provide the information requested on how much in total has been incurred in respect of legal advice on contractual and other issues in connection with Flour City Architectural (Metals) UK Ltd, including …

Answer · David Steel: The amount of legal fees incurred to date, relating to contractual and other issues concerning the Flour City trade contract, amounts to £26,124.24 including VAT. The invoice details requested were provided to the member in my letter to him of 3 October, a co…

2 Oct 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in the light of the decision of the Inland Revenue not to give a tax concession that would allow ex-gratia payments in respect of the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes to be made as tax-free lump sum payments, what action it will now take in the interests of the scheme members, gi…

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We have made representations to Treasury Ministers. The matter now lies with them and I understand that Scottish Members of Parliament are pursuing these matters on behalf of their constituents.

19 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to any physical, practical and financial constraints which may face The Highland Council in implementing an effective waste strategy; whether it will provide assistance to the council to implement such a strategy from the Strategic Waste Fund, and, if so, h…

Answer · Ross Finnie: As part of the implementation of the National Waste Strategy, an Area Waste Plan is being prepared to establish the Best Practicable Environmental Option for waste in the Highland Council area. A draft plan is available on the Scottish Environment Protection …

18 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28257 by Lewis Macdonald on 5 September 2002, how many people have been identified under categories (a) to (e) in the booklet issued by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency regarding the Scottish Transport Group pension fund notes on the disbursement …

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally in the form requested.

16 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the event that the Inland Revenue grants a concession so that pensioners and beneficiaries under the Scottish Transport Group pension funds do not have to pay income tax on their payments, any tax deducted will be reimbursed immediately following the securing of the exemption.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29303 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/sear…