Parliamentary questions
Fergus Ewing
2,894 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
28 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1281 by Jack McConnell on 27 September, whether it will place copies of the lease and the sublease of Bute House in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer · Jack McConnell: I am arranging for copies of the lease and the sub lease to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
27 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review the law relating to commercial leases in Scotland and, if so, whether it will consult all interested parties in relation to such review.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Section 65 of the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Bill proposes a prohibition on leases for periods of more that 125 years. Apart from that we have no plans to review the law in relation to commercial leases.
27 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek to prohibit the use of "upward only" provisions in rent review clauses in commercial leases and, if it has no immediate plans to do so, whether it will consult as to the present and future impact of "upward only" provisions in rent review clauses in commercial leases,…
Answer · Jim Wallace: There are no plans at present to seek to prohibit the use of "upward only" provisions in rent review clauses in commercial leases nor is there an intention to consult on this matter.
27 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend the law relating to the expiry of commercial leases to give tenants the opportunity to continue trading from premises on a new lease after expiry and, if it has no immediate plans to do so, whether it will consult regarding the factors involved in providing more oppo…
Answer · Jim Wallace: There are currently no plans to amend the law relating to security of tenure on the expiry of commercial leases in Scotland, nor do we intend to consult on such matters as these are primarily for individual tenants and their landlords to negotiate when drawin…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to nominate a Chairman or board members to the Board of British Waterways and whether it will list the present Chairman and board members of British Waterways.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: British Waterways is classified as a cross-border public authority under the Scotland Act 1998. Section 88(2)(a) of that Act has the effect that UK Ministers must consult the Scottish Ministers before making any appointment to the Board. Discussions are cur…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list its planned financial contribution to British Waterways in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01, (iii) 2001-02 and (iv) 2002-03; and specifically what resources it plans to make available to British Waterways to repair the existing canal system in those years.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: This information is not available at present. The British Waterways Board (BWB) is specified as a cross-border public authority and discussions are currently taking place between the Scottish Executive, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Reg…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the future of British Waterways in Scotland, and whether it has any plans to change the role of (a) the board of management of British Waterways and (b) British Waterways as they affect Scotland.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: I would refer to my answer to question S1W-1652. It is proposed that British Waterways (BW) should continue to manage, subject to satisfactory performance, the Scottish canal network as it does at present and that, subject to the agreement of the Scottish and…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make emergency resources available to Inverness College in order to ensure that staffing levels are not further reduced.
Answer · Henry McLeish: This will be a matter for the Scottish Further Education Funding Council to consider, once the College's Board of Management has prepared a financial recovery plan.
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to investigate the reasons for the present funding deficit at Inverness College and to report to the Parliament with its findings.
Answer · Henry McLeish: Responsibility for the financial health and funding of all Scotland's further education colleges has, since 1 July, been a matter for the Scottish Further Education Funding Council. The Council was recently informed by the College about the scale of the…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the incorporation of further education colleges in 1993 led, in comparison with the previous system, to additional costs and, if so, whether it will outline these costs.
Answer · Henry McLeish: Colleges incurred certain additional costs as a consequence of incorporation, such as the costs of finance, administration and other services previously provided by local authorities. But there were also cost savings, such as local authorities' central admin…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish in terms of weighted student units of measurement (WSUMs) the annual activity level of Inverness College for each year from 1993-94 to 1998-99.
Answer · Henry McLeish: Data for 1998-99 is not yet available. The information requested for the years 1993-94 to 1997-98 is set out in the table below.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>					 WSUMs<P ALIGN="LEFT"><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=396><TR><…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the annual grant funding received by Inverness College for each year from 1993-94 to 1998-89 in (a) cash terms and (b) adjusted to take account of inflation.
Answer · Henry McLeish: The recurrent grant funding including bursary, restructuring and strategic funding made available to Inverness College in cash and real terms (at 1997-1998 prices) is set out in the table below.<P ALIGN="LEFT"><TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=3…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to reduce consumption of tobacco amongst young people and in particular teenagers.
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive is committed to reducing the levels of smoking by children and young people in Scotland and we have set challenging targets to achieve this. The Tobacco Control White Paper <I>Smoking Kills</I>, outlines a comprehensive range of measure…
21 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from Action on Smoking and Health (Scotland) with regard to the draft Tobacco Prohibition of Advertising and Promotion Regulations 1999 on (a) the promotion of goods or services other than tobacco products by association with a named brand of cigar…
Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive has received representations from Action on Smoking and Health (Scotland). These and other comments received in response to the consultation exercise will be taken into account in finalising the Scottish regulations.
15 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider extending the protection of security of tenure to the Carbeth Hutters and whether it will include in its proposed Land Reform Bill provisions which would prevent further eviction of the Hutters at Carbeth.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Land Reform Action Plan published in August 1999 explained that decisions on the need for legislation to give greater protection for those who own property built on leased land would be taken in the light of further research. That research has been comple…
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the (a) enactments (b) regulations (c) European Community laws and (d) international agreements referred to in the section headed "Statutory and other restrictions" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information which allow information …
Answer · Jim Wallace: No comprehensive list of statutory bars exists. The White Paper on Open Government (Cm 2290) published in July 1993 identified some 200 Acts which prohibited disclosure of information. If information requested under the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish …
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information by deleting the word "could" from paragraph (a) of the section headed "Effective management and operations of the public service" and replacing it with the word "would" or other wording which…
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1537.
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a definition of those communications referred to as "confidential" in the section headed "Internal discussion and advice" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, in particular, whether this definition includes only those …
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1533.
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will delete the words "risk or" from the second paragraph in part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, if it will not, whether it will state its justification for information being kept secret where there is only a risk of harm or prejudic…
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1537.
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information has any application to any draft concordats and, if so, whether it will state, for each draft concordat, its justification, including the relevant provision in Part II of the Code, for the draft concordats being kept…
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Code of Practice applies to all documents held or received by the Scottish Executive. All concordats will be published. However the provisions in the Code dealing with 'Internal discussion and advice' and 'Information received in confidence' cover the pre…
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information applies to public authorities which deal with devolved and other matters, as listed in Annex E of "The Scotland Act: A Guide".
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information applies to those Scottish public bodies within the jurisdiction of the Scottish Commissioner as listed in Schedule 1 to the Code. Cross Border Public Authorities, as listed in Annex E of "The Sc…
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will delete the word "unwarranted" from the section headed "Third party's commercial confidence" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, if not, whether it will provide examples of the type of disclosures which it would regard as (a) …
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1537.
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a definition of the words "personal information" as used in the section headed "Privacy of an individual" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and whether it will provide examples of what type of information about a person …
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1533.
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will delete the word "unwarranted" from the section headed "Privacy of an individual" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, if not, whether it will provide examples of the type of disclosures which it would regard as (a) warranted a…
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1537.
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information allows the Scottish public sufficient access to information about its actions and decisions and, if not, what further proposals it intends to make in this regard.
Answer · Jim Wallace: For reasons of practicality and continuity and to ensure that openness arrangements were in place from 1 July, the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information is based closely on the UK Government's Code of Practice on Access to Government In…
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish any letters or other communications to third parties inviting views in connection with the appointment of a new Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne and, in particular, whether the recipients of any such letter or other communications were (a) invited to respond in con…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: We have no plans to publish letters to third parties. The advertisement for the post of Chairman to Caledonian MacBrayne Limited stated that all correspondence would be treated strictly in confidence. This includes correspondence with referees. Referees were …
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information by deleting the words "including those" from the section headed "Public employment, public appointments and honours" and whether it will make a statement explaining its choice of wording.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information is based closely on the UK Government's Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. The Code was introduced in this form to ensure that openness arrangements were in place from 1 July …
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list who it regards as members of the Royal Household for the purposes of the section headed "Communications with the Royal Household" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, if not, why not.
Answer · Jim Wallace: No. The purpose of this exemption is to ensure that confidential communications between Her Majesty and the Scottish Ministers are given adequate protection. It would not be appropriate to list members of the Royal Household.
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a definition of the "confidential communications" referred to in the section headed "Communications with the Royal Household" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, in particular, whether communications regarding costs a…
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1533.
14 Sep 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has communicated any general guidance on the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information to the public bodies listed in Schedule 1 of the Code or other affected bodies; if so, whether it will place a copy of this guidance in the information centre and, if not, …
Answer · Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1533.