George Lyon

7 Jun 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to ensure that the Board of Caledonian MacBrayne accurately reflects the communities that it serves.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Up to two vacancies in respect of Non-Executive Directors of Caledonian MacBrayne were advertised earlier this year. The criteria for the posts include one, categorised as highly desirable, relating to an interest in, or local knowledge, of Highlands and Isla…

25 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to allow white-fronted goose numbers to be controlled by shooting in line with present policy in England and Wales.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: We have no plans for changes to current arrangements. Having considered the issue, the National Goose Forum (NGF) recommended that Ministers endorse the <I>status quo, </I>subject to regular review. Public consultation on the NGF report revealed no significan…

12 May 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether utilities such as West of Scotland Water can erect road signs without the requirement for advertisement consent under the deemed consent categories contained within the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1994.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Statutory undertakers, including West of Scotland Water may display functional advertisements without the express consent of the local planning authority as long as they comply with the conditions set out in The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertise…

3 May 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what national guidelines are in place for local authorities in determining the criteria for rural schools closures.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive does not issue national guidelines on matters of school provision. In March 1998, the previous administration invited authorities to apply a test of proportionate advantage to any proposed closure of a rural school, to ensure that all f…

26 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps will be taken to monitor Loganair's performance in fulfilling its contractual obligations and to outline what sanctions are in place should the company fail to meet these obligations.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Loganair's performance in fulfilling its contractual obligations for the provision of the air service between Glasgow and Campbeltown/Tiree is monitored on a continual basis by the Scottish Executive. The Conditions of Contract provide the Executive with the …

26 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times Loganair have cancelled flights to Tiree since November 1999 and how often the company has been penalised as a result of these cancellations.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Of the 154 flights planned on the Glasgow-Tiree route between 1 November 1999 and 29 April 2000, 12 were cancelled due to the weather and two due to technical problems. A penalty was imposed on Loganair to reflect the level of flight cancellations in the peri…

26 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation was undertaken prior to the award of the contract to operate the Glasgow-Tiree and Glasgow-Campbeltown air services and why Tiree Community Council does not appear to have been consulted.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Argyll and Bute Council and Argyll and the Islands Enterprise were consulted prior to the award of the contract for the provision of the air service between Glasgow and Campbeltown/Tiree. A meeting and further discussions were also held with council represent…

26 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all operators who submitted bids to operate the Glasgow-Tiree and Glasgow-Campbeltown air services, highlighting those bids which entailed the use of Twin Otter aircraft.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The names of the operators who submitted bids for the provision of the air service between Glasgow and Campbeltown/Tiree are commercially confidential. Two of the bids received entailed the use of the Twin Otter aircraft.

26 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were applied in the decision to award the contract to operate the Glasgow-Tiree and Glasgow-Campbeltown air services.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The mandatory criteria used in the award of the contract for the provision of the air service between Glasgow and Campbeltown/Tiree were as follows:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">financial capability of bidders;<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">ability to meet operational requirements;…

7 Apr 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what formula is currently used by local authorities to calculate school capacities and what plans it has to review it in the light of educational and social changes in recent decades.

Answer · Peter Peacock: It is the responsibility of individual authorities to determine the capacities of their schools. In doing so, they will take account of a range of factors and of experience. The Accounts Commission, in their report <I>Room for Learning - Managing Surplus Capa…

31 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have applied for grant assistance to implement anti-flooding measures; whether grant assistance for anti-flooding measures will be made available to both private and commercial properties, and on what basis financial bids must be submitted.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Councils may promote flood prevention schemes under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 to mitigate the flooding of any non-agricultural land in their areas. Schemes have to be confirmed by Scottish Ministers. The construction of confirmed schemes attrac…

29 Mar 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support farming families who have low or negative incomes.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Since last summer, the Executive has approved additional financial aid to Scottish farmers and crofters worth £110 million. This includes the £39 million package announced last week. That represents a substantial commitment to helping the agriculture industry…

24 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of the financial package outlined in the National Goose Forum report.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: No decisions have been made on the level of financial assistance for Local Goose Management Schemes following the publication of the Report and Recommendations of the National Goose Forum.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">The consultation period finished on 10 April 2000. S…

22 Mar 2000 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to restructure the dairy industry on Islay following the closure of the Islay Creamery.

Answer · John Home Robertson: I refer Mr Lyon to the answer I gave Mr Johnstone to his question S1O-1473.

20 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to list all the parties approached as part of the review of Caledonian MacBrayne's fare structure announced by the Minister for Transport and the Environment on 21 January this year, and to outline what timescale has been put on the review.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: In January 2000 I announced that I have invited Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd to conduct a review of the effectiveness of its CFARES policy. In doing so I asked the company to consult widely with ferry users and other interested parties. Detailed decisions concern…

16 Mar 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what allocation of development funding Argyll and Clyde Health Board has made (a) this year and (b) over the last four years in Argyll and Bute in order to facilitate the transfer of elderly and long stay patients in acute services to either appropriate residential or nursing home care or…

Answer · Iain Gray: Since 1996-97, Argyll and Clyde Health Board have allocated the following amounts to facilitate the transfer of elderly and long-stay Argyll and Bute patients from acute services (further information is available on request from Argyll and Clyde Health Board)…

17 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what was the total expenditure in the last financial year on trunk roads in Argyll and Bute, and whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government to detail the total income in the last financial year from road users in Argyll and Bute in order that a comparison can be made…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Expenditure on trunk roads in Argyll and Bute in 1998-99 was approximately £3.9 million. Any comparison of average income and expenditure per motorist in Argyll and Bute would have to take account of all roads, ferry and other transport expenditure inside and…

7 Feb 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive in what form it will publish the report and recommendations of the National Goose Forum.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: We are today issuing the report as a consultation document because we would like to obtain the views of all interested parties before deciding how the National Goose Forum's recommendations should be taken forward. We have also arranged for all Goose Forum pa…

24 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to ensure the protection of the environment in the light of the announcement that the Scottish NATO Pol organisation has applied to the Health and Safety Executive for a variation license to handle certain explosives at Loch Striven.

Answer · John Home Robertson: The issues raised relate to a formal licensing procedure between the Naval Bases and Supply Agency of the Ministry of Defence and the Health and Safety Executive. They are therefore reserved to the UK Parliament.

20 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will invite Caledonian MacBrayne to review its fares structure.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: I am pleased to announce today that I am inviting Caledonian MacBrayne to review the Company's ferry fares structure. This will include a review of CFARES policy objectives and an evaluation of the success or otherwise of the fares structure in delivering the…

19 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total administration costs are for all Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department current schemes, and whether these costs are met from within the schemes' funds or from a separate budget.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The administration costs for Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department schemes are met from central Scottish Executive Administration provision. The Rural Affairs Department's share of directly allocated administrative costs for the financial year 2000-01 i…

7 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1898 by Sarah Boyack on 25 October 1999, when the final report of the National Goose Forum will be published, what provisions have been made for community consultation in relation to the report's recommendations and what timescale will exist for thei…

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Ministers have considered the final report of the National Goose Forum and have agreed that it should be published as a consultative document, which I expect will take place next month. As intimated in my answer to question , I envisage a two-month consultati…

7 Jan 2000 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to provide a list of all the independent members or assessors who have sat on interview panels for appointments to public bodies in Scotland over the last five years, with an indication of how often each individual sat.

Answer · Jack McConnell: The names of all the independent advisers who have been appointed to the central panel of independent advisers, (established in July 1996), and the names of all appointees to the NHS Health Appointments Advisory Committee (established in 1994) are shown in th…

26 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money has been invested through Argyll and the Isles Enterprise (AIE) in Bell Woven of Dunoon; whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of how the money has been spent; whether it will outline how much of the money AIE is entitled to claim back as a result of the Bell …

Answer · Henry McLeish: This is an operational matter for Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I will ask the Chairman of that organisation to write to Mr Lyon.

9 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning approvals for covered sewage tanks have been granted to West of Scotland Water, and how many of these planning approvals have subsequently been the subject of appeals to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: The West of Scotland Water Authority has been granted two planning approvals subject to the condition that it covers sewage settlement tanks with lids (Oban and Rothesay Waste Water Treatment Works). Both conditional planning consents are currently the subjec…

9 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in his previous position as Secretary of the Scottish Office Development Department, the new Caledonian MacBrayne Chairman Harold Mills ever briefed Ministers on any aspect of the Gourock-Dunoon ferry route and, if so, what the content of these briefings was.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the answer I gave to S1W-2401.

8 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive further to the answer to question S1W-1660 by Mr John Home Robertson, whether it has received any representations from the fishing industry on the financial impact caused by the scallop fishing ban and whether it now has any plans to introduce a compensation scheme for scallop fishermen a…

Answer · John Home Robertson: The Scottish Executive has considered representations from the fishing industry and shares its concern about the continuing need to restrict scallop fishing. It has concluded that compensation for the consequences of natural phenomena cannot be justified.

8 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that the testing for Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) at all times achieves the highest standards of accuracy; what criteria must be met in order to have the ban lifted, and how many areas are near to meeting these criteria.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Fisheries Research Services' Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen undertakes the testing for ASP. They maintain the highest possible standards of accuracy by analysing three samples of both Laboratory Reference Material (LRM) and Domoic Acid standards with every…

8 Nov 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in his previous post as Secretary, Scottish Office Development Department, the new Caledonian MacBrayne Chairman Harold Mills ever briefed Ministers on any aspect of the Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry route and, if so, what the content of these briefings was.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Information relating to advice given by officials to Ministers is not normally released, on the grounds that disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

29 Oct 1999 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much Scottish National Heritage (SNH) has paid farmers on Islay under the two goose management schemes of the last three years, and how much SNH will be paying this year.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has only operated one goose management scheme on Islay - the Islay Voluntary Goose Management Scheme (IVGMS) - which commenced for winter 1992-93.<P>Payments made by SNH under the IVGMS are as follows:-<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING…