Parliamentary questions
Michael Russell
1,207 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
22 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much special grant aid was promised to museums for transitional purposes pending the final outcomes of the National Audit of Collections; how much such aid has been paid, and to whom.
Answer · Elaine Murray: The National Cultural Strategy committed the Executive to initiate a national audit of collections in museums and galleries, beginning with the industrial museums. £250,000 has been made available for the audit and an interim report was published in October 2…
22 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19901 by Mr Andy Kerr on 14 January 2002, whether it will name any special advisers to the former First Minister who worked with him on constituency correspondence and matters relating to his constituency accounts over the period from 2 November to 5…
Answer · Andy Kerr: I have nothing to add to the answer given to question S1W-19901 on 11 January 2002.
22 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will arrange for access to information held by the General Register Office for Scotland which is available online for paid usage to be provided free of charge to schools for use in history and modern studies classes.
Answer · Richard Simpson: The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) has no plans to provide free of charge to schools the information held by it and available online. <P>The GROS currently has its major Digital Imaging of the Genealogical Records of Scotland's people (DIGROS) pr…
22 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make access to the online 1901 census details available free of charge to schools for use in history and modern studies classes.
Answer · Richard Simpson: The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) has no plans to make online access to the 1901 census through the Scots Origins website available free of charge to schools. The process of making these records available online involved considerable expenditure…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its consultation paper of 1 November 2001 on the draft Guidance on the Circumstances in which Parents may Choose to Educate their Children at Home was available or referred to on its website at the time of publication; what the reasons are for the position on this matter, and why …
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The draft <I>Guidance on the Circumstances in which Parents may Choose to Educate their Children at Home</I> was available on the Scottish Executive website on 27 December 2001. It had been mailed to key interested parties and organisations prior to this, on …
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its consultation paper of 1 November 2001 on the draft Guidance on the Circumstances in which Parents may Choose to Educate their Children at Home was released at the end of December 2001 and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The draft <I>Guidance on the Circumstances in which Parents may Choose to Educate their Children at Home</I> was issued on 20 December 2001, as soon as drafting and printing were complete. The consultation period on the draft guidance runs until 29 March 200…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is its policy to release consultation papers during the winter holiday season.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive engages in consultation activity throughout the entire year, and consultation papers are released at times to meet expressed commitments, to suit the consultees and the policy timetable. Consultation periods which include the winter hol…
17 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a local authority may make planning decisions on the basis of a local plan which is subject to legal challenge.
Answer · Margaret Curran: An application to the Court of Session challenging a local plan may seek an interim order suspending such local plan either wholly or in part or generally or in relation to specific property owned by the applicant. If such an order were granted by the court i…
17 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it takes to ensure that local authorities fulfil their obligations set out in SODD circular 4/1997, Notification of Planning Applications, to notify it about certain applications and, in particular, any in which the council has a financial interest.
Answer · Margaret Curran: It is for the planning authority to consider the terms of any direction requiring the notification of a particular planning application, or category of planning applications, to the Scottish ministers and to act accordingly. Where a planning authority failed …
17 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any financial interest on the part of East Lothian Council in the planning application before the council for developments in the area of Aberlady Bay and whether it will call in any application in respect of Aberlady Bay should it become aware of any financial inte…
Answer · Margaret Curran: We are not aware of any financial interest by East Lothian Council although it would be possible for the council to enter into an agreement with the developer for the provision of certain infrastructure associated with the development. This is standard practi…
16 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to replace the remaining lead piping which distributes water supplies in Clydesdale.
Answer · Ross Finnie: There are a number of measures planned to deal with lead water supply pipes throughout Scotland. These were published in my <I>Quality and Standards</I> paper (August 2001) (Parliament's Reference Centre, Bib. number 15676) and The Water Supply (Water Quality…
16 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses in (a) South Lanarkshire and (b) the Clydesdale constituency receive their water supply through lead pipes.
Answer · Ross Finnie: There are no lead pipes in the distribution network for public water supplies. Service connections to individual houses were typically made using lead pipe until the early 1960s. The use of lead pipe for plumbing services within houses declined during the 195…
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in developing plans for the evaluation of future school projects and on what date the strategy documents regarding these are due for publication.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: We have issued an invitation to tender for evaluation teams to evaluate the pilot projects supported by the first phase of the Future Learning & Teaching Programme. Full evaluation plans will be published later this year.
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all pilot future school projects currently in operation.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive's Future Learning & Teaching Programme has already provided financial support for two pilot projects: Dundee City Council's Personal ICT project, and the SCHOLAR programme run by Heriot-Watt university. We are in discussion with a number of othe…
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in establishing a method for recording the educational achievement of children leaving care.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Starting this year, the Scottish Executive will collect information about the educational qualifications of careleavers aged 16 to 18.<P>As part of the monitoring of the delivery of national priorities for education through the School Improvement Framework, w…
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils at publicly-funded schools in primary (a) 1, (b) 2, and (c) 3 were being educated in classes of 30 or more as at 31 August 2001.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The information is not available in the form requested. Definitive information and figures on class sizes will only be available once the results of the September 2001 School Census have been validated. <P>However, in order to gauge the progress made by local…
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it undertook any review before 23 February 2001 of the state veterinary service; if so, who carried out the review, what recommendations the review contained, what action was taken by Ministers in the light of the review and whether it (a) contained any assessment of or any other…
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive did not undertake a specific review of the State Veterinary Service (SVS) before 23 February 2001. However, it did examine and clarify the relationship between the SVS and the Scottish Executive in 1999. This led to the production of th…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to make available a complete, accurate and regularly updated database of farms giving precise details of their locations, si'e, nature and current operational status.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Farmers are required to register their holdings under the Agriculture Act 1974 with the Agricultural Census branch, and thus a complete database of farms already exists. However, in reality, it is acknowledged that a small number of farmers refuse to complete…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it received any complaints or comments from the state veterinary service, the police or other services, including local authorities, during or after the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 regarding the accuracy of information on the location, si'e, nature and current opera…
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive have not received any complaints or comments from the police, State Veterinary Service or any other organisation concerning the accuracy of the information on the location, size, nature, and current operational status of farms.
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any assessment of the accuracy of information regarding the location, si'e, nature and current operational status of farms available to the state veterinary service, to the police or to other services during the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001.
Answer · Ross Finnie: SEERAD made two key sources of information available to those involved in tackling the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001.<P>The first source was basic information held in the EU Agricultural subsidies database, the Integrated Administration and Contr…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates of (a) the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, (b) the likely number of cases and (c) the need for specialist assistance in slaughter and disposal including the hire or purchase of specialist or additional equipment and supplies were contained in any contingency or emergency …
Answer · Ross Finnie: Since the scale and nature of outbreaks are unpredictable it is not possible to make any realistic estimate about the spread of foot-and-mouth disease or the likely number of cases. SEERAD Area Office and State Veterinary Service plans do not contain estimate…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency or emergency plans existed for coping with an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Scotland before 23 February 2001; when any such plans were drawn up; then when were subsequently reviewed, and what changes were made to them in the light of such review.
Answer · Ross Finnie: All SEERAD Area Offices and sub-offices have contingency plans for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks and each of the five Divisional Animal Health Offices have detailed instructions for dealing with all notifiable disease emergencies including FMD. Pract…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it had with Her Majesty's Government, with other governments or with any other international bodies before 23 February 2001 about any threat posed by the PanAsia Type O strain of foot-and-mouth disease, when any such discussions took place and what the outcomes were.
Answer · Ross Finnie: There were no discussions between the Scottish Executive and the UK Government, other Governments or any other international bodies prior to the outbreak of the disease about any threat posed by PanAsia type O strain of foot-and-mouth disease virus.
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers were made aware before 23 February 2001 of any substantial risk of infection in previously clear areas of Europe from the PanAsia Type O strain of foot-and-mouth disease and what action it took in the light of any such information.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Ministers were alerted to the current outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on Wednesday 21 February 2001. Prior to that they were not aware of any substantial risk of infection from the PanAsia Type O strain of the virus. All strains of foot-and-mouth disease a…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers were first alerted before 23 February 2001 to any report from the Institute of Animal Health or from any other body that indicated a threat from the PanAsia Type O strain of foot-and-mouth disease.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Ministers were alerted to the current outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on Wednesday 21 February 2001. Prior to that they were not aware of any report of any threat from the PanAsia Type O strain of the virus.
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its Chief Veterinary Officer received or saw before 23 February 2001 any report from the Institute of Animal Health or from any other body that indicated a threat from the PanAsia Type O strain of foot-and-mouth disease to previously clear areas.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Leslie Gardner is the Senior State Veterinary Service representative in Scotland and advises the Scottish ministers on all animal health matters. He did not see any specific report of any threat from the PanAsia Type O strain of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). …
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive at what international conferences on agriculture or animal health and disease it was represented by its officials in each of the last two years and whether foot-and-mouth disease was discussed at any such conferences.
Answer · Ross Finnie: In the past two years the Scottish Executive has been represented at the following international conferences:<P>Conference of Directors of EU Paying Agencies, Portugal - May 2000;<P>The World Potato Conference, Amsterdam - September 2000;<P>The Annual General…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it first became aware of the existence of the PanAsia Type O strain of foot-and-mouth disease.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The pandemic strain of foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype O, which has been named PanAsia, was first identified in northern India in 1990. It spread westwards into Saudi Arabia in 1994 and then throughout the Near East and into Europe (Turkish Thrace, Bulg…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when was it informed that sportscotland wished to restructure its senior management, what response it made to such information and when it will make an announcement to the Parliament about the restructuring.
Answer · Elaine Murray: The final report of <B>sport</B>scotland's Organisational Review recommended a revised management structure. <B>sport</B>scotland sought the Scottish Executive's views in October 2001 and the latter accepted the case for the changes proposed. It is for <B>spo…
10 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussion it has had with sportscotland regarding the recent departure of three senior members of staff.
Answer · Elaine Murray: The cessation of these three posts formed part of the proposed new management structure of <B>sport</B>scotland as recommended in last year's Organisational Review of <B>sport</B>scotland. This was approved by the Scottish Executive.