Fergus Ewing

1 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of administering the Active Communities Initiative was in 2000-01 and what the estimated cost is for 2001-02.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: The Active Communities Initiative is a UK initiative. Resources made available under the initiative are used to provide grants to voluntary organisations to promote volunteering and community involvement. The Scottish Executive invested £650,000 in the initia…

1 Aug 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding each Local Volunteer Development Agency received under the Active Communities Initiative in 2000-01; how much each has received to date in this financial year, and how much each will receive in 2002-03.

Answer · Jackie Baillie: Local Volunteer Development Agencies (LDVAs) were not funded under the Active Communities Initiative in 2000-01. I announced in June that £300,000 would be made available in 2001-02 to engage the national network of LVDAs in delivering the Active Communities …

12 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made representations to Russia that it should lift its ban on the imports of herring and mackerel; what other efforts it has made to achieve this objective; whether it has met any representatives of the Russian government to pursue a lifting of the ban and, if it has not, w…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Yes. We have also confirmed that there is no scientific justification for the Russian ban. The Executive has no plans to request a meeting with the Russian government until British Embassy officials who are actively pursuing this matter through diplomatic cha…

12 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the value to the Scottish fishing and fish processing sectors of exports of herring and mackerel was in 2000; what the value of exports of herring and mackerel to Russia was in 2000, and whether Russia is a key market for Scottish pelagic fish.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The information requested is not available. However, I can confirm that the UK exported approximately £55 million worth of herring and mackerel in 2000. Of this, approximately £14 million was exported to Russia which is an important market for Scottish pelagi…

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns regarding the stewardship of Rum by Scottish Natural Heritage and, if so, what steps it will take to address these.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive has no such concerns.

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what date the Historic Buildings Inspectorate first recommended that Scottish Natural Heritage explore Heritage Lottery Funding as a means of carrying out work to the Category A listed Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Historic Buildings Inspectorate's report, which draws attention to the possibility of Heritage Lottery Funding, was sent to Scottish Natural Heritage on 12 March 1996.

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what date (a) the Historic Buildings Inspectorate carried out its inspection of Kinloch Castle and (b) the Inspectorate's report was communicated to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and what action SNH has taken since to implement the report's recommendations.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Historic Buildings Inspectorate visited Kinloch Castle on 7-10 February 1996 at the request of Scottish Natural Heritage. The Inspectorate's report was communicated to Scottish Natural Heritage on 12 March 1996. The management of Rum is an operational mat…

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is in the interests of social and economic development on Rum that Scottish Natural Heritage is its owner and whether it would consider the transfer of part or all of the ownership of Rum to a third party.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Rum is owned and managed by Scottish Natural Heritage as a National Nature Reserve and this arrangement should continue. The Scottish Executive supports the aims of encouraging the sustainable development of the community alongside the effective management of…

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Natural Heritage can effectively fulfil its duty both to the environment and to community development on Rum and what action the Executive will take to resolve any conflict between these duties.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive believes that both functions can be progressed by Scottish Natural Heritage with the assistance of its partners.

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is regarding encouraging community development on Rum; whether it supports the re-establishment of the Rum Development Group, and whether it considers that there should be more development on Rum and, in particular, in Kinloch.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive supports the aims of encouraging the sustainable development of the community alongside the effective management of one of Scotland's most important National Nature Reserves. The management of Rum is a matter for Scottish Natural Herita…

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive (a) what the population of Rum was and (b) which government conservation agency owned it, in each year since 1957.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The following table shows the population for Rum collected by the Registrar General in the Census of Population which is carried out every ten years.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=607><TR><TD WIDTH="59%" VALIGN="TOP" COLSPAN=3><P ALIGN="CENTE…

11 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of a delay in the submission date for the application by the Scottish Natural Heritage to the Heritage Lottery Trustees in respect of Kinloch Castle from September 2001 to January 2002 at the earliest and what the reasons are for any such delay.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: This is an operational matter for Scottish Natural Heritage.

9 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware that there are a number of part-time courses in teaching available in the rest of the UK and how it will address the lack of any funded, accredited part-time courses for qualification in teaching in Scotland.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The Department for Education and Skills has introduced various routes into teacher education in England and Wales, including part-time courses. The introduction of such courses is aimed at dealing with acute teacher supply difficulties experienced there. The …

9 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any unmet demand for the provision of a part-time, funded and accredited course which would qualify primary school teachers and whether those living in areas where there are no teacher education institutions are adequately served in terms of the opportunity to train to b…

Answer · Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive is not aware of any unmet demand for the provision of part-time primary initial teacher education. Teacher education institutions are free to tailor their mode of provision to meet any demand from those living in rural areas.

9 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16022 by Mr Jack McConnell on 13 June 2001, whether any institutions offer a part-time course for qualification as a primary school teacher that is recognised by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and, if not, whether it will take steps to ens…

Answer · Jack McConnell: A part-time Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) primary course at Strathclyde University, accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and approved by the Scottish Executive, will be piloted in session 2001-2002.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">A key fe…

6 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of the contract let to Environmental Resources Management Ltd on 30 October 2000 in relation to the need for improved information on rural land holdings and on beneficial ownership.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The estimated cost is £23,030.

4 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review its policy in relation to the dipping of sheep.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive keeps its sheep dipping policy under review. There are no plans to change the policy at this juncture.

4 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the imposition of groundwater charges upon sheep producers constitutes an unfair competitive disadvantage in comparison with the position of sheep producers in England and Wales.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The annual maintenance charge levied by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency under the Groundwater Regulations 1998 is not unfair. The charge, which for the great majority of farmers is £127 or less, covers the costs to the agency of monitoring and admi…

4 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the imposition of groundwater charges upon sheep producers.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Executive has no plans to review the annual maintenance charge levied by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on those sheep producers who require authorisation under the Groundwater Regulations 1998 for the disposal to land of spent sheep dip.

4 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the annual level of aggregates sent for waste and on what basis it reached its estimate.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The estimated amount of aggregates sent to landfill in 1999 was 5,200 kilo tonnes. This figure was determined by a pilot survey carried out as part of a research project commissioned by the Scottish Executive. The research report <I>Recycled Aggregates in Sco…

4 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it expects demand for recycled aggregates to change in the next five years and what factors it expects to account for any change in the level of demand.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive expects demand for recycled aggregates to increase in the next five years as a result of the introduction by the UK Government of a tax on primary aggregates in April 2002.

4 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reform regulations on the specifications of construction materials and waste management in relation to the use of aggregates and whether any such changes will lead to a lower proportion of waste material and produce environmental gain.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is fully committed to seeking opportunities for sustainable construction and current standards already encourage such techniques.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">As an example, the Scottish Executive Development Department is a signatory to the lates…

4 Jul 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it expects demand for primary aggregates to change in the next five years and what factors it expects to account for any change in the level of demand.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Demand for aggregates will continue to be a matter for market forces. A number of initiatives are in place to increase the use of recycled aggregates which are intended to impact on the use of primary aggregates by the construction industry, particularly fisc…

29 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether golf courses are envisaged as being land over which access rights are not exercisable in terms of section 4 of the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill and, if so, whether it will detail which statutory provisions are applicable to access to such land.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Under section 4(1)(e)(ii) of the draft Land Reform Bill, the right of access would not be exercisable on golf courses while in use. The public, however, would be able to continue to use existing rights of way across golf courses. Existing public rights of way…

27 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recommendations for action set out in Annex 3 of the Third Annual Report of the Planning and Audit Unit 2001 have been implemented; if not, what the reason is for its position in each case and when it intends to implement the recommendations.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The recommendations set out in Annex 3 of the Third Annual Report of the Planning and Audit Unit 2001 are being progressed as follows:<U><FONT FACE="Arial"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Performance Statistics<UL></U><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY"><LI>A performance monitoring databa…

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many objections Mouchel Scotland Ltd submitted during 2000 in respect of planning applications affecting access onto trunk roads which they were responsible for maintaining and in how many of these cases planning permission was (a) granted and (b) refused.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: During 2000, Mouchel Scotland Ltd assessed 72 planning applications on behalf of the Scottish Executive. The Scottish Executive considered the information provided by Mouchel and recommended that 18 applications be refused.<P>The responsibility for making fin…

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether BEAR Scotland Ltd are statutory consultees in respect of planning applications which affect access onto trunk roads which they are responsible for maintaining and whether, if they lodge an objection to such an application, this automatically results in the application being called…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is a statutory consultee in respect of planning applications that affect trunk roads. BEAR Scotland Ltd provide the Scottish Executive with an assessment and recommendation on planning applications submitted by planning authorities in t…

22 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-3599 by Ross Finnie on 21 June 2001, whether it will give an undertaking that no measures relating to the proposal to introduce a 20-day standstill period following movements of livestock will be implemented prior to their consideration by the Parlia…

Answer · Ross Finnie: No decisions have yet been taken on the 20-day standstill proposal. Any new requirements that may arise from the proposal or alternative suggestions will require legislative backing before introduction and, as mentioned in the consultation paper, a further co…

20 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new appointments have been made to the senior management team of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Since June 2000, the only new appointment to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) central management team was that of Dr Campbell Gemmell to the post of Strategic Planning Director in April 2001. There have been two retirements during the same pe…

20 Jun 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many posts have been transferred from offices within the former regional structure of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to their corporate office in Stirling following the new appointments made to the agency.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: This is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The information is not held centrally.