Parliamentary questions

John Swinney

262 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact there will be on the ability of fire and rescue services to co-operate at New Dimension incidents as a consequence of any different standards of training and equipment in different parts of the United Kingdom .

Answer · Hugh Henry: Training standards that are applicableto New Dimension are the same across the UK. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) personnel havebeen trained to those recognised standards and in some areas of Urban Search andRescue to a more enhanced level.The …

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether fire and rescue services in Scotland which are deemed to be New Dimension services are nominally part of Scottish-wide resilience capacity or UK-wide resilience capacity.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The New Dimension strategy inScotland involves all eight Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) who have undertaken aspart of a Scottish-wide Mutual Aid arrangement to support any major incident occurringin Scotland. The present Scottish Mutual Aid agreement also cov…

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of funding it is making available to fire and rescue services to cover the additional personnel costs associated with the New Dimension programme.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The New Dimension programme inScotland has been developed in full collaboration with all eight Fire and RescueServices (FRS). Its aim is to enhance day-to-day capability across all eight FRSby increasing their level of capability and resilience with the neces…

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has produced person specifications, job descriptions or self-assessment and selection criteria for use by chief fire officers in Scotland in selecting candidates for urban search and rescue training equivalent to those issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Any relevant national standardswhich are developed and approved through the appropriate bodies, that provide Fireand Rescue Services (FRS) with guidance in such areas as person specifications,job descriptions and individual selection criteria, would as a matt…

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what expected time and travel distance are used in the planning assumptions for the New Dimension programme in Scotland.

Answer · Hugh Henry: As the Scottish strategy is predicatedaround an enhanced capability being available across all eight Fire and Rescue Services(FRS), the original planning assumptions for travel and time of deployment are determinedby the nature of the risk and location of the…

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what planning assumptions were used to assist the selection of suitable fire and rescue services for the New Dimension programme.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The objective of the New Dimensionprogramme in Scotland is to enhance the resilience of the Fire and Rescue Services(FRS) and their capability to deal collectively with catastrophic incidents as wellas the more frequently occurring major incidents and natural…

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many fire and rescue services have been identified as New Dimension services.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The enhanced New Dimension capabilityand resilience arrangements for Scotland involve all eight Fire and Rescue Servicesin line with the original project strategy approved by ministers and supported bythe initial £5 million additional funding that was announc…

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new appliances have been provided by the Scottish Executive to the fire and rescue authorities for the New Dimension programme.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive in collaborationwith the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have to date funded 13 new vehicles aspart of the New Dimension programme.

27 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many trained urban search and rescue technicians are available throughout each day.

Answer · Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive fundsthe centralised training for all Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) urban searchand rescue (USAR) technicians and USAR operators. To the present date a total of90 FRS personnel have been trained to USAR Technician standard and …

7 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of appeals against council tax banding has been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · George Lyon: The information requested isnot held centrally.

31 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on set-aside payments in each of the last five years.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Set-aside payments made ineach of the last five years are:<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td valign=top> Year </td> <td valign=top> Set-Aside Payment (£) </td> <t…

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many private water supplies there are in Scotland.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Executive estimates thatthere are approximately 21,000 private water supplies in Scotland.

18 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide the names and places of residence of the members of the NHS appeals panel that considered the case for the Kinloch Rannoch Medical Practice to opt out of providing 24-hour medical cover.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The NHS board applies to an assessmentpanel under the terms of the NHS (GeneralMedical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004.Information on the members ofassessment panels is not held centrally.

11 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it took to appoint a Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman after receiving notification of the resignation of Linda Costelloe Baker.

Answer · Hugh Henry: Mrs Linda Costelloe Baker tenderedher resignation on 25 January this year and her period of notice expired on 25 April.An advertisement to recruit a new Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman was publishedon 31 March 2006.To ensure that there is no gapin of…

11 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to appoint a Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman.

Answer · Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25197 on 27 April 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.…

6 Apr 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why the transition period for the charge regime under the Controlled Activities Regulations has been extended.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Water Environment ChargingScheme, which came into full effect on 1 April 2006,provides for a reduced level of application fees for those on-going activities,such as abstractions and impoundments, which were commenced prior to that date.During the …

15 Mar 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates since June 2003 ministers met to discuss the provision of grant funding to install a wood fuel heating system in PPP school projects and which ministers were present on each occasion.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: There have been two meetingsbetween ministers on this subject. The first was on 10 February 2005 and involvedAllan Wilson and Peter Peacock. The second was on 21 June 2005, involving JimWallace, Peter Peacock and Euan Robson. In addition, individual ministers…

15 Mar 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates between 30 November 2005 and 14 March 2006 civil servants met representatives of the Drinking Water Quality Regulator to discuss Scottish Water's Business Plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Officials maintain regular contactwith representatives of the Drinking WaterQuality Regulator and discuss a range ofsubjects with them. The matter of Scottish Water’s delivery plan for 2006-10 wasraised in these discussions on various occasions.

15 Mar 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates between 30 November 2005 and 14 March 2006 civil servants met representatives of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to discuss Scottish Water's Business Plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Officials maintain regular contactwith representatives of the Scottish EnvironmentProtection Agency and discuss a range ofsubjects with them. The matter of Scottish Water’s delivery plan for 2006-10 wasraised in these discussions on various occasions.

15 Mar 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates between 30 November 2005 and 14 March 2006 civil servants met representatives of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland to discuss Scottish Water's Business Plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Officials maintain regular contactwith representatives of the Water IndustryCommission for Scotland and discuss a range of subjects with them. The matterof Scottish Water’s delivery plan for 2006-10 was raised in these discussions onvarious occasions.

15 Mar 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates between 30 November 2005 and 14 March 2006 ministers met representatives of the Drinking Water Quality Regulator to discuss Scottish Water's Business Plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Ministers did not meet representativesof the Drinking Water Quality Regulator to discuss Scottish Water’s delivery plan for 2006-10.They corresponded with the Drinking WaterQuality Regulator about the plan. Copiesof that correspondence can be viewed at:<p…

15 Mar 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates between 30 November 2005 and 14 March 2006 ministers met representatives of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to discuss Scottish Water's Business Plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Ministers did not meet representativesof the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to discuss Scottish Water’s delivery plan for 2006-10.They corresponded with the Scottish EnvironmentProtection Agency about the plan. Copiesof that correspondence can be view…

15 Mar 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on which dates between 30 November 2005 and 14 March 2006 ministers met representatives of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland to discuss Scottish Water's Business Plan.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Ministers did not meet representativesof the Water Industry Commission for Scotland to discussScottish Water’s delivery plan for 2006-10. They corresponded with the Water Industry Commission for Scotland aboutthe plan. Copies of that correspondence can be vie…

27 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are required to approve a contract or an operating basis for Scottish Water Solutions.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Water(Delegated Limits etc) Directions 2003 sets out the financial limits delegatedto the Board of Scottish Water. The Scottish Water (Delegated Limits etc) Directions 2003 are published on the Scottish Executivewebsite.The creation of…

27 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has approved a contract or an operating basis for Scottish Water Solutions.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executiveapproved the arrangements underpinning the creation and operation of Scottish WaterSolutions Ltd for the delivery of Quality and Standards 2 in July 2003. the Executive is currently considering Scottish Water’s capital deliveryproposals …

27 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it to be the responsibility of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland to approve the business plan of Scottish Water and, if so, on which date this requirement was made clear to the Water Industry Commission for Scotland.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: When Professor AlanAlexander was re-appointed to the Chair of Scottish Water on 1 April 2005 he wasrequired, within eight weeks of Scottish Water having decided to accept theWater Industry Commission for Scotland’s determination of charges for 2006-10, to sub…

27 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it to be the responsibility of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to approve the business plan of Scottish Water and, if so, on what date this requirement was made clear to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

27 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it to be the responsibility of the Drinking Quality Regulator to approve the business plan of Scottish Water and, if so, on what date this requirement was made clear to the Drinking Quality Regulator.

27 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its recruitment personnel have taken any action to recruit a Chair of Scottish Water and, if so, on what date such employees were first instructed to take action.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Officials of the ScottishExecutive are working with the search consultants Odgers to identify potentialcandidates for appointment as interim Chair of Scottish Water. They were askedto commence this work on 2 February 2006, when it had become clear to the Exec…

27 Feb 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps were taken to rectify any deficiencies in the business plan of Scottish Water identified by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency prior to the resignation of the Chair of Scottish Water.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Professor Alan Alexanderresigned as Chair of Scottish Water because he did not agree with the ScottishExecutive, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the other regulators thatScottish Water‘s 2006-10 delivery plan fell short of their requirements fo…