Fergus Ewing

29 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that all companies trading in Scotland do not impose in any terms of contract the law of England as the law governing that contract; whether it is aware that BT Yellow Pages uses the law of England for its directories covering Scotland and what representations it wi…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The question of which law applies to a contract is regulated by the Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990 applying the Rome Convention on the same subject and the Scottish Executive has no locus to impose any particular system of law on British Telecommunicatio…

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what further action it intends to take in relation to high fuel prices and the falling number of petrol stations and post offices in rural areas in response to the finding in The Quality of Services in Rural Scotland that "for those without reliable transport, the trend towards distant se…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Service provision is of key importance for rural communities. The Executive has recently asked the Scottish National Rural Partnership to bring together service providers to look at how services might be provided in innovative and imaginative ways in rural ar…

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to establish a broad consensus of what services should be available to communities in order to provide a benchmark against which local provision can be measured, as recommended in The Quality of Services in Rural Scotland, and when it expects to publish details of …

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive is considering the recommendations of the report <I>The Quality of Services in Rural Scotland</I> published on 26 June which included the provision of benchmarking. The Executive is committed to ensuring that rural communities are able to access…

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to in response to the findings in The Quality of Services in Rural Scotland that 62% of respondents to survey expressed dissatisfaction with activities for young children and 83% with activities for teenagers and in particular how it plans to increase the provisio…

Answer · Sam Galbraith: Local provision is primarily a matter for local authorities to decide in the light of local priorities, needs and resources. The Executive operates a number of grant schemes to assist youth organisations and to support services in rural areas.

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in response to the findings in The Quality of Services in Rural Scotland that 20% of respondents were dissatisfied with primary schools, 29% dissatisfied with secondary schools and 33% with pre-school opportunities.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: All our policies for schools are directed to ensuring that children benefit from education of the highest quality, and this objective is as important in rural areas as in other parts of Scotland. It is encouraging to note the report's findings that 91% of par…

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the planned veterinary supervision levels, in conjunction with the existing Meat Hygiene Service charging arrangements, will cause any closures of small and medium-si'ed local abattoirs and cutting plants; if so, what assessment it has made of the number of any job losses, and wha…

Answer · Susan Deacon: Ministers recognise that the increased levels of veterinary supervision may increase cost pressures in parts of the meat industry. No detailed assessment has been made of the additional impact of this particular factor.

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the Food Standards Agency task force report into meat hygiene inspection charges and, if so, whether it contains recommendations to (a) underwrite the costs of veterinary inspection at low throughput plants and (b) place a cap on charges; what response it will make…

Answer · Susan Deacon: I have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that the Meat Hygiene Inspection Charges Task Force Report was published on 26 June. The report is available on the FSA website and a copy has been placed in SPICe.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The report recommends that …

28 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to make financial assistance available to independent rural petrol stations in respect of any additional costs in replacing their existing price display boards which may result in the event that petrol prices exceed #1 per litre.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Rural Petrol Stations Grant Scheme helps rural petrol stations with the cost of replacing tanks and pumps, meeting groundwater protection needs and installing tanks and dispensers for the sale of Liquid Petroleum Gas. There are no proposals to extend the …

27 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has sought or obtained on whether it is possible to obtain derogations to allow a fuel subsidy to be paid in (a) any part of Scotland and (b) some or all of the islands of Scotland.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Policy on fuel duty derogations is reserved.

27 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will instigate studies into the schemes operated in (a) Greece to assist areas outwith Athens and Thessaloniki by the imposition of price ceilings on gasoline, (b) Italy for the areas of Val D'Aosta and Gon'ia where there is a derogation in respect of fuel duty and (c) France i…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: No. Policy on fuel duty derogations is reserved.

27 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, under the Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (SSI 2000/200), student loans are treated as income in the hands of the borrower for the purposes of sequestration of the borrower, and whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government on whether such…

Answer · Henry McLeish: Student loans are not treated as income for the purposes of sequestration. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with her Majesty's Government on a range of issues including the interface between the student support and benefits systems.

26 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has made or plans to make into the methods by which other EU states provide assistance to rural areas, including motorists and businesses in these areas, to tackle extra costs as a result of (a) higher fuel prices, (b) remoteness of location and (c) distance from market.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Executive seeks to keep abreast of developments on rural transport across the EU and elsewhere, whether directly or through the work of others, for example the review by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar on support for remote rural areas in Norway, Sweden and Fin…

26 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to reduce or eliminate any burden of extra fuel costs in rural areas upon (a) motorists, (b) hauliers, (c) businesses, (d) local authorities and other public bodies and (e) petrol retailers.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive's rural transport and public transport funds are providing significant additional resources to improve transport in rural Scotland. The Executive is currently undertaking an evaluation of the effectiveness of the rural transport fund, w…

26 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to encourage supermarket retailers in Scotland to sell tomatoes grown in Scotland; whether it will seek a commitment from them that they will stock Scottish tomatoes, and whether it has made an assessment of any job losses if supermarkets do not stock Scottish toma…

Answer · Ross Finnie: I have met with a number of the major retailers to discuss a range of issues including the sourcing of quality Scottish products. I have obtained a commitment from several major multiples to stock Scottish goods, where they can be produced in sufficient volum…

26 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what legal advice it has sought or obtained on whether providing any state aid, in excess of the de minimis limit, to a proposed Highland Transport Authority for the purpose of the retail sale of petrol and diesel would contravene EU rules on competition and whether it will ensure that th…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The purpose of the consultant's study is to examine the case for establishing a Highlands and Islands Transport Authority. Considerations of the role an authority might fulfill on the distribution and sale of motoring fuel must await a decision on whether to …

26 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will classify petrol stations in rural areas as "essential services" as recommended by Highland Council.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Executive fully recognises the importance of petrol stations in rural areas and is providing financial support through the Rural Petrol Stations Grant Scheme which is aimed at maintaining a network of petrol stations and safeguarding locally available fue…

23 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, a copy of the Assisted Area map which has been or is being re-submitted to the European Commission.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The Assisted Areas map is a reserved matter for the UK Government.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The UK Government has submitted to the European Commission, the Assisted Areas map proposals published on 10 April 2000 in <I>Amendments to the Government's Proposals for New…

22 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the European Commission in relation to the enforced discard of quantities of prime saithe or coley.

Answer · John Home Robertson: The Executive has made clear in its dealings with the European Commission that it is committed to reducing discards of all species. The new EC technical conservation Regulation which came into force on 1 January this year introduced new measures to reduce dis…

20 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3922 by Susan Deacon on 14 April 2000, when it expects the report on the safety of fluoridation by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at York University to be completed and whether it will place a copy of the findings in the Scottish Parliament…

Answer · Susan Deacon: It is expected the report will be published in September. I shall arrange for a copy to be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

19 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought legal advice on whether the transitional relief arrangements for non-domestic rates following the 2000 revaluation comply with or breach the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in particular Article One; if so, whether it will place a copy o…

Answer · Jack McConnell: It is not the practice of the Scottish Executive to disclose whether they have taken legal advice on an issue, nor to disclose the nature of any legal advice received. I am satisfied that there is nothing in the regulations which is incompatible with any lega…

16 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what efficiency savings Northern Constabulary has to make as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review concluded that the police service in Scotland should make efficiency savings of 1% in 1999-2000, 1.7% in 2000-01 and 2.5% in 2001-02.

16 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what government funding Northern Constabulary has received this year and in each of the previous five years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Direct funding of Northern Constabulary by the Scottish Executive in the current financial year and by the Scottish Office in the previous five years is shown in the table below. Forces also meet a proportion of their costs from local authority funding.<TABLE…

16 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of government funding to be made available to Northern Constabulary in each of the next four financial years.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Spending Review 2000 is presently examining overall funding requirements for 2002-03 and 2003-04. No decisions have yet been taken on the level of funding to individual police authorities for future years.

16 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the #233,000 extra funding for Northern Constabulary is for the current year only, or is an ongoing spending commitment year on year.

Answer · Jim Wallace: £433,000 was allocated to Northern Constabulary as part of the Scottish Executive's recent additional investment of £8.9 million in Scotland's police forces. It was provided primarily to allow recruitment of more police officers. The increase will be taken in…

15 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who reads consultation responses and whether it sends acknowledgements to individuals and groups who submit responses.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The handling of responses varies according to the type and scale of the consultation exercise. Measures are being undertaken to improve the Scottish Executive's handling of consultations. The policy was set out in the statement I made on 1 June (Official Repo…

15 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has adopted a policy of consulting more widely, in terms of both those consulted and the range of issues consulted upon, than was the case prior to May 1999; whether it has a policy of always consulting on certain types of issues; what criteria it uses in determining whether to…

Answer · Jack McConnell: The management of consultations varies according to the type and scale of the consultation exercise. Measures are being undertaken to develop the Scottish Executive's handling of consultations. The policy was set out in the statement I made on 1 June (Officia…

15 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why it does not always publish detailed summaries to responses to consultation exercises; in particular, why it has not published such a summary in relation to its consultation paper A New Strategy for Scottish Tourism and, in the absence of such a summary, how it intends to demonstrate t…

Answer · Henry McLeish: Responses to the consultation paper <I>A New Strategy for Scottish Tourism</I> were collated by the Scottish Tourist Board on behalf of the Executive. The STB took all responses into account, and played a significant role in the drafting of the Executive's ne…

15 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive in respect of how many consultations which were launched between May 1999 and June 2000 and where the consultation period is now closed have summaries of consultation responses received been compiled and who compiled each such summary.

Answer · Jack McConnell: This information is not currently held centrally. However such information will become available in the future as measures are being undertaken to improve the Scottish Executive's handling of consultations. The policy was set out in the statement I made on 1 …

15 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many formal consultations it launched between May 1999 and June 2000 and whether it will list for each of these consultations (a) the cost of launching and promoting the consultation; (b) the cost of analysing the consultation responses; (c) the length of the consultation period; (d) …

Answer · Jack McConnell: This information is not currently held centrally. Measures are being undertaken to improve the Scottish Executive's handling of consultations. The policy was set out in the statement I made on 1 June (Official Report Column 1205-1215).

15 Jun 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is of the new tourist information centre (TIC) at Strontian and whether, following the sale of a number of other tourist information centres in the Highlands and Islands, there are any plans to dispose of the Strontian TIC.

Answer · Henry McLeish: The estimated cost of the new Strontian TIC is £64,231. This TIC will be owned by Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board, who have no plans to dispose of the asset.