John Farquhar Munro

22 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is currently undertaking any work with regard to the environmental impact of salmon farms and, if so, what the remit is of any such work and when any results will be published.

Answer · Allan Wilson: This is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and while I am aware that SEPA is currently involved in a number of activities to assess environmental impacts, the information requested is not held in the Executive.

18 Nov 2002 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Executive will assess the demand for free personal care for the elderly in the Highlands and other local authority areas.

Answer · Jack McConnell: We are confident that the total provision for implementing this policy is sufficient to enable all local authorities to meet their commitments to existing self-funding residents at 31 March 2002, replace lost income following the ending of charges for persona…

13 Nov 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is with regard to the relocation of the headquarters of Scottish Natural Heritage to Inverness.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Scottish ministers are carefully considering the comprehensive report submitted by the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Board, which sets out possible relocation options for the SNH headquarter functions currently carried out in Edinburgh. Whilst Inverness is …

24 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many dog kennels have been registered to permit exports of animals overseas under EU Directive 1992/65 EEC.

Answer · Ross Finnie: None.

24 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the excess winter mortality figures have been in each year since 1997 to date, broken down by (a) region, (b) age and (c) gender.

Answer · Richard Simpson: There is no universally accepted definition of excess winter mortality. A number of options were discussed in an Occasional Paper published earlier this year by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). The paper, which was entitled <I>The Raised Incid…

18 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any restriction under the concessionary travel scheme prohibiting a person travelling free within their area and then purchasing a ticket that allows them to travel on the same bus for an on-going journey outwith their local area.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The concessionary travel schemes, which operate throughout Scotland, have been developed to meet local needs and reflect local circumstances.<P>While they have recently been enhanced to ensure a national minimum concession of free local off-peak bus travel wi…

19 Jul 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to address the finding in Epilepsy - death in the shadows - National Sentinel Clinical Audit of Epilepsy-Related Death that 91% of the post-mortem investigations surveyed in Scotland were inadequate.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The audit identified deficiencies in the recording of causes of death. There was no criticism of the actual examination process in Scotland, which with Northern Ireland was compared favourably to England and Wales. The Scottish Executive Health Department's D…

26 Jun 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received about when the Scientific Steering Committee will meet to decide the locations of autumn plantings of GM crops and when it expects to be notified of any decision on this matter.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scientific Steering Committee reached a decision by correspondence on which sites were to be proposed for the autumn plantings in the final round of the GM farm scale evaluation programme. The Scottish Executive announced the proposed sites on 8 July as s…

10 Jun 2002 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Executive is taking to safeguard the future of Gaelic.

Answer · Jack McConnell: We are supporting specific grants for Gaelic-medium education, measures to increase the numbers of Gaelic-speaking teachers graduating each year, the grant to the Gaelic Broadcasting Committee, and support for organisations promoting Gaelic. The Minister for …

6 Jun 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when a decision will be made on the designation of new Nitrate Vulnerable Zones following the recent consultation with stakeholders.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Regulations have been laid today which designate the following areas as groundwater Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs):<UL><LI>Moray, Aberdeenshire, Banff and Buchan;</LI><LI>Strathmore and Fife, and</LI><LI>Lothian and the Borders.</LI></UL><P>Copies of the det…

20 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated annual energy cost is of street lighting.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The estimated annual energy cost of street lighting on trunk roads is £1.7 million. Lighting costs for local roads are a matter for local roads authorities.

20 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what policies it has and what research it is undertaking in respect of reducing visual pollution from street lighting.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive is responsible for lighting on motorways and trunk roads whilst the responsibility for lighting on local roads rests with the appropriate local authority. <P>Both the Executive and local authorities work to the relevant British Standard…

8 May 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what encouragement it is giving to forestry companies to remove their freight traffic from roads.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: A central plank of our freight transport policy is encouraging freight to be transferred from road to rail and water. Our commitment to encouraging modal shift is demonstrated by a doubling of resources to £36 million in the three-year period up to 2003-04 fo…

3 May 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome in each of the past five years.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Statistically reliable estimates cannot be obtained from the sample of GP consultations collected nationally, because of the low number of cases recorded.

22 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to the European Union that the precautionary principle should apply when considering applications to allow the deliberate release of GM materials into the environment.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The precautionary principle is already fundamental to the European regulatory framework governing the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms.

22 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to make arrangements for any of its functions in respect of the deliberate release of GM materials to be exercised on its behalf by a Minister of the Crown.

Answer · Ross Finnie: An order was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 28 March 2002 in exercise of powers conferred by sections 93(3) and 113 of the Scotland Act 1998. The instrument specifies certain functions for the purposes of section 93(1) of that act, which may be exerci…

17 Apr 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish air transport consultation will be published.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish air transport consultation document will be published in the summer. It is intended that its publication will be co-ordinated with the launch of other UK regional consultation documents.

13 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any study into the feasibility of the Skye Bridge with the title or Scottish Office number "RD11" exists and whether it will place a copy of any such study in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The report <I>A Bridge To Skye Feasibility Study</I> was prepared by JMP Consultants Ltd for Highland Regional Council in 1986. It was subsequently lodged as production SORD11 at the public local enquiry into the Skye Bridge project in 1992. A copy has been p…

12 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being made available in order to encourage a domestic manufacturing industry for wind energy components.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We work closely with Scottish Enterprise to help Scottish companies working in the area of renewable energy to grow, and to encourage diversification of other companies into the manufacturing opportunities which are already arising in Scotland from developmen…

6 Mar 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the target of 30% of electricity being generated from renewable sources by 2020 will be met.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Our published target for renewable energy is 18% by 2010. But in the light of the recommendation of the recent PIU report on energy policy that the UK should adopt a target of 20% by 2020, we intend to consider how we might work towards a figure of 30% in Sco…

25 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any study into the feasibility of the Skye Bridge with the title or Scottish Office number "RD12" exists and whether it will place a copy of any such study in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Study Report,<I> Skye Bridge Revised Study and Economic Feasibility Report</I> was published in 1988 and was lodged on production SO RD12 at the public local enquiry into the Skye Bridge project in 1992. A copy has been placed in the Parliament's Referenc…

21 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which chemicals the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has licensed for use on fish farms and what annual amount of each of them is allowed to be discharged.

Answer · Allan Wilson: This is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The information requested is not held centrally.

21 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many licences for dichlorvos issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency are still in operation and what remaining quantity of the chemical these licences account for.

Answer · Allan Wilson: This is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The information requested is not held centrally.

20 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what date it is intended that payments will be made to those eligible under the Scottish Bus Group pension scheme.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive's timetable for the payment process to begin is dependent upon the formal wind-up of the Scottish Transport Group pension schemes by the trustees.

19 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to take forward the implementation of the National Waste Strategy.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Implementation of the National Waste Strategy is well under way, with most draft area waste plans expected to be published by the end of March. The draft plans will then be integrated into a National Waste Plan for Scotland. The integration process will be ca…

19 Feb 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding the environmental impact of decommissioning nuclear submarines in the Aultbea area.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has had no recent discussions with the UK Government on this issue, as no sites have been selected for the decommissioning of nuclear submarines. I understand that, in its announcement on the publication of the final report of the Proje…

30 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fourth year pupils have left school before the age of 16 in each of the last five years.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Information is not collected centrally that is sufficient to calculate the age of pupils on the date they left school. Information is, however, collected and published on the number of pupils who leave school at the minimum school leaving age and is presented…

23 Jan 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20608 by Ross Finnie on 17 December 2001, on what date the draft Agricultural Holdings Bill will be published.

Answer · Ross Finnie: It remains my intention to issue a draft bill on Agricultural Holdings Legislation in the spring of this year. No date has yet been fixed for publication.

21 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the options for further decentralising administration of forestry policy and management.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Following the completion of the first stage of the review of the Forest Enterprise Executive Agency in May 2001, we agreed with Environment and Rural Development Ministers in England and Wales that we intended to review the options for further decentralisatio…

15 Jan 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which body would be liable for any remaining debt on the Skye Bridge should the tolls there be declared illegal.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The statutory basis of the Skye Bridge tolling regime has been examined and upheld by the Scottish courts on a number of occasions and we see no reason to believe that the position will change. However, as owners of the bridge, the Scottish ministers would be…