Parliamentary questions

Fergus Ewing

2,894 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why the meeting of the Project Assessment Committee to consider, subject to parliamentary approval of the relevant statutory instrument, applications for assistance under the Agricultural Business Development Scheme scheduled for 2 February was cancelled and whether it will place in the S…

Answer · Ross Finnie: The decision to postpone the Project Assessment Committee (PAC) meeting scheduled for 2 February was taken following the tabling of a motion to annul these regulations further to concerns being expressed by the Scottish Parliament's Rural Development Committe…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the existing oilseeds regulations require simplification and, if so, what progress is being made in this respect.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Under the Agenda 2000 proposals, my officials participated in a number of discussions on the eligibility of oilseeds to receive aid under the Arable Area Payments Scheme. This was because we recognised that the quality control criteria was an area where a sim…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the current penalty provisions in relation to the integrated administration and control system are disproportionately harsh; in particular, whether producers should be penalised for mistakes from which they do not benefit and what progress is being made in addressing any such conc…

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Regulations governing the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) are extremely tight and leave little room for discretion when applying penalties. There are, however, certain circumstances under which "obvious" errors can be accepte…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in implementing recommendation 13 of the report of the Red Tape Review Panel regarding changes to EU regulations; whether it has raised these issues with the European Union and, if so, who they have been raised with and when.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Recommendation 13 of the Red Tape Review is currently in progress, with two of the specific aspects of this recommendation already completed. Those which remain, specifically regarding oilseeds Regulations and proportionality of penalties, require longer-term…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what role (a) the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology; (b) the Institute of Arable Crops Research and (c) the Scottish Crop Research Institute will play in relation to proposed GM crop trials.

Answer · Ross Finnie: A consortium of independent scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Institute of Arable Crops Research and the Scottish Crop Research Institute form the Government-approved research consortium which carries out the ecological research to inf…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why it does not select as well as approve the sites of proposed GM crop trials; who the members are of the Scientific Steering Committee which selects the proposed sites and what representation Scotland has on this committee.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The initial identification of individual sites to participate in these trials takes place independently of government and is the responsibility of the Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops, a body representing the interests of the industry in…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it will use in deciding whether to grant approval to proposed GM crop trial sites; in particular, how it will decide whether such trials pose a threat to (a) the environment and (b) public safety and whether it will make details of any such criteria public in advance of the…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Statute requires that decisions on whether to approve the growing of a particular GM crop on specific sites are based solely on scientific evidence. This has been made absolutely clear in all pronouncements made since the farm scale evaluation programme start…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why the public are only required to be notified of proposed GM crop trial sites rather than having a statutory right to be consulted.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Neither the governing European Directive 90/220/EEC nor the Environmental Protection Act 1990 require or provide a basis for consultation on any aspect of a proposed release.The recently adopted package of revisions to EU 90/220/EEC makes increased provisi…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why it has not given local authorities the power to consider proposals to plant GM crop trials under the planning process and introduced a requirement for change of use permission to be sought in relation to any proposal to plant GM crops.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive considers that the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Deliberate Release Regulations 1992 (as amended) are the appropriate body of law under which to regulate such trials.

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider extending the formal notification period required in relation to proposed GM crop trial sites from 15 days to a longer period of 30 or 45 days, and, if so, how long it will make the notification period.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The current statutory notification period is determined in the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Scottish Executive is aware however of the limited opportunity which this allows for public consideration and comment. Accordingly, assurances have been soug…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what weight will be given to the views of local residents and communities in determining whether approval for proposed GM crop trial sites should be granted and whether approval will be refused where there is substantial opposition.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is required to operate within European and UK Legislation on the deliberate release of genetically modified crops. Under Directive 90/220/EEC consent can only be refused where scientific evidence is available to suggest that the release…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many examination appeals were submitted by 10 January 2001 from each local authority area for review under the procedure announced by the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs on 13 December 2000 and whether any cases put forward after this date have been excluded from t…

Answer · Jack McConnell: Following my announcement on 13 December, the Executive wrote to all Education Authorities, Further Education colleges and heads of other centres on 18 December inviting them to submit requests for review by 10 January. By 19 January, the Appeals Review team …

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how "local community" is defined in relation to rejection by sportscotland of applications for assistance from the Lottery Fund Sports Facilities Programme on grounds that the project does not demonstrate benefit to the sports life of the local community and, in particular, whether this p…

Answer · Allan Wilson: The "local community", as applied to the Local Facilities Strand of the Sports Facilities Programme, is determined through sportscotland's supply/demand model and is the appropriate catchment for a particular facility type. This varies from f…

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether sportscotland, in its capacity as administrator of the Lottery Fund Sports Facilities Programme, received an application from Badaguish, the Speyside Trust (Scottish charity registration number SCO16172) for the purpose of a covered sports facility; what the outcome in relation to…

Answer · Allan Wilson: It is not sportscotland's practice to disclose to third parties whether or not it has received an application from any particular person or group.

13 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether projects involving the incineration of waste for energy will be eligible for assistance under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) in future; if so, what the reason is for its position on this matter and, if no decision has been made on this matter as yet, when such a decision is …

Answer · Sam Galbraith: Our recent consultation paper on the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) addressed a number of issues, including the matter of qualifying renewable energy technologies. We will take decisions on these issues once we have completed analysing the many responses re…

13 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each of the 100 contracts awarded since 1994 under the Scottish Renewables Obligation, specifying the nature, location and cost of each scheme and the type of energy involved.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: 109 contracts have been awarded under the Scottish Renewables Obligation since 1994. These are listed in the table. We do not hold any information regarding the cost of each scheme.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=606><TR><TD WIDTH="25%" VALIGN…

13 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether sportscotland received a proposal from the Camanachd Association to set up a working party to discuss an increase in its core funding; whether this proposal has been rejected and what the reasons were for any such decision; whether sportscotland has requested that an independent…

Answer · Allan Wilson: As explained in my response to question S1W-12677 on 14 February, sportscotland has offered to fund an independent review of the Camanachd Association. The Association's response was to reject the offer and instead propose that an independently chaired…

13 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dementia sufferers there currently are in the Highlands of Scotland; how many it estimates there will be by 2006; whether there is an ongoing shortage in the region of nursing homes which are able to provide appropriate nursing care for such sufferers, and what action it intends…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Patients diagnosed with dementia will be treated in a variety of NHS locations depending on the severity of the condition. Many will be seen in general practice while others will be admitted to hospital or nursing home care. At present, it is not possible to …

12 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times permission for new accesses to trunk roads for new or proposed developments has been refused in recent years and whether it can quantify the impact of its policy on new accesses to trunk roads on the rural economy.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: During 1999 and 2000, officials within the Scottish Executive Road Network Management and Maintenance Division gave advice to Scottish planning authorities on 1250 planning applications some of which would have included requests for new accesses onto trunk ro…

12 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its Road Network Management and Maintenance Division is producing new guidelines on the assessment of development proposals affecting trunk roads; when any such guidelines will be put to the Parliament for consideration, and, if there is no such date set, whether it will set a de…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive, Road Network Management and Maintenance Division are in the process of preparing new guidelines on the assessment of development proposals that affect trunk roads. No specific timescale for the completion of these new guidelines has be…

12 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the powers under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 have been used in each year since the Act came into force to require that improvements be made to unsatisfactory accesses to trunk roads.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The information requested is not recorded by the Scottish Executive or its agents.

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial assistance it has given this financial year to (a) Scottish Opera and (b) Balnain House, Inverness.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: None. The main channel for public funding of the arts in Scotland is the Scottish Arts Council. I have therefore asked the Director of the Arts Council to write to the member with the requested information and to make it available in the Parliaments Re…

7 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will, as a matter of urgency, take all steps within its power to have the definition of the mesh si'e of a towed net changed from the mesh si'e of the cod end or extension piece of net to the smallest mesh si'e found in any part of the net and, if the definition is not changed,…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The definition suggested, which was in use prior to new regulations introduced on 1 January 2000, was found to be unenforceable because it required every single mesh in the net to be measured - an impossible task in practice.Nephrops have previously been o…

1 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take any measures to increase the available means of scrutiny of the Enterprise Network and, if so, what these measures will be.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Enterprise Networks are subject to regular and full Policy and Financial Management Review by my department. Management Statements provide the financial, managerial and operational framework for the networks and annual Operating Plans provide the main foc…

1 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been made to the external adjudicators of (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise since the inception of each organisation and how many such complaints have been upheld.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The External Adjudicators for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise took up post on 1 April 1997. Prior to that date there were no external adjudication procedures in place. The number of complaints they have received each year since then i…

1 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reconsider its decision not to replace the external adjudicators of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise with ombudsmen and whether the use of an external adjudicator is contrary to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights in terms of wheth…

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Executive has not yet made a decision on whether to replace the external adjudicators of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise with an ombudsman. The question was discussed in the Executive's consultation paper Modernising the Compla…

31 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who the members are of the Project Assessment Committee which will assess applications for assistance under the Agricultural Business Development Scheme; what particular qualifications each member holds which led to their selection, and whether any members are on the committee by virtue o…

Answer · Ross Finnie: The current members of the Project Assessment Committee (PAC) are:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="29%" VALIGN="TOP">Neil Black</TD><TD WIDTH="71%" VALIGN="TOP">Scottish Tourist Board</TD></TR><TR><TD WIDTH="29%" VALIGN…

31 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Disability Access to Outdoor Recreation Group is accountable to sportscotland or any other Scottish public body; if so, who the members of the group are and whether the minutes of the group's meetings, in particular those of the meeting on 12 December 2000, will be made availa…

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Mountain Recreation Group is a working group established by Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) and is accountable to SDS. Group meetings are chaired by the SDS Mountain Recreation Co-ordinator and attended by individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds wi…

31 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to make information available to disabled people about opportunities to participate in sport and whether there is any central bank of such information.

Answer · Allan Wilson: In the last two years, Scottish Disability Sport (SDS), in partnership with sportscotland, has developed a number of steps to make information on sport and recreation opportunities available to those wishing to participate in sport.These include the…

24 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, before it approves an increase in the levies payable by farmers to the Meat and Livestock Commission, whether it will obtain from Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) full details of (a) its first year's accounts, or draft accounts if the certified accounts are not yet available, (b) the amount s…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Quality Meat Scotland is not accountable to the Scottish Executive for its total expenditure although any expenditure arising from statutory levies is accounted for in the Meat and Livestock Commission Accounts which are published annually. MLC consultations …