Parliamentary questions

Murray Tosh

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

6 Feb 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many actions have been initiated by local authorities in each year since 1997 for alleged breaches of building warrants; how many actions have proceeded to court, and how many have resulted in successful prosecution.

Answer · Elish Angiolini: In the period April 2002 to March2006, procurators fiscal received reports in respect of 2 offences relating to breachof building warrants under Section 6(1) of the Building (Scotland) Act 1959. Detailsare set out in the following table.Charges under S…

6 Feb 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the publication in November 2006 of Communities Scotland’s research report 72, “Local housing need and affordability model for Scotland – Update”, whether it or Communities Scotland plans to commission further research into the impact on housing demand and supply of recent and…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: There are currently no plansto commission further national research into the impact of recent and projectedin-migration to Scotland on housing demand and supply. However, following onfrom the publication of Communities Scotland research report 72, the Executi…

5 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to issue regulations under section 11 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 to amend the consent regime to allow local authorities to dispose of land for less than the best that can reasonably be obtained.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Executive has consultedon draft regulations under Section 11 of the Local Government (Scotland) 2003to enable local authorities to dispose of land for less than full value withoutthe need to seek the prior consent of Scottish ministers, subject to athresh…

5 Dec 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4928 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 9 June 2000, whether it will publish a list of disposals of property or land at less than full market value which were (a) agreed and (b) refused since June 2000.

Answer · Tom McCabe: I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.

2 Nov 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, following the announcement by the Minister for Transport, during the debate on the Elgin Bypass on 21 September 2006, that a liaison officer with specific responsibility for Elgin and Moray has been appointed by Transport Scotland (Official Report, c. 27876), whether it will publish the…

Answer · Tavish Scott: The issues raised by Moray Councilin relation to Elgin involved a number of officials from within TransportScotland. To ensure good lines of communication between the Council and TransportScotland, a single official in Transport Scotland was identified to act…

1 Nov 2006 · Written Question

Answer · Tavish Scott: I refer the member to answerto question S2W-29449 on 15 November 2006. Allanswers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website,the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.se…

20 Sep 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the report of the House of Commons all party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism in September 2006 and whether it will take action in respect of any of the report’s conclusions.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is consideringthe report of the House of Commons all party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism.However, the Executive has worked with all faith communities, including the Jewishcommunities, for a number of years and we will continu…

4 Sep 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will identify all road bridges on the trunk road network where traffic movements are controlled by traffic lights and which of these bridges are programmed to be upgraded or replaced in order to allow continuous traffic movement.

Answer · Tavish Scott: There are 19 locations where traffic movement over a trunk road bridge is controlled by traffic lights. These are as follows:Fixed Bridges with Permanent Traffic Signals:A828Connel.A83 Aray Bridge.A96 Inveramsay Bridge.A95 D…

4 Sep 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the estimate by Communities Scotland in its Investment Programme 2006-07 that the Executive’s affordable housing investment programme to build or improve 7,100 affordable homes will generate at least £200 million from the private sector to support the programme, whether it wil…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:The 2006-07 Investment Programmeestimates that at least £200 million of private finance will be generated in supportof delivering 7,100 housing…

4 Sep 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it invited the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland to comment on the recommendations which applied to that commission contained in the Arbuthnott Commission report on boundary differences and voting systems.

Answer · Tom McCabe: No, however, there is nothingto prevent the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland fromcontributing or responding to a published report or consultation paper that hasbeen placed in the public domain. The secretary of the Boundary Commission for Sco…

17 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue instructions or advice to local authorities in relation to delayed starts to local plan inquiries, in light of criticisms made by the Chief Inquiry Reporter in the foreword to Inquiry Reporters Unit: Review of the Year 2005 - 2006.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive InquiryReporters Unit (SEIRU) has already issued advice to local authorities on this matter.In March of this year the Chief Inquiry Reporter wrote to all Heads of Planningin local authorities explaining how improvements in current pract…

9 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will invite the City of Edinburgh Council to consider re-running the community ownership ballot in Edinburgh and, if so, whether it will extend the eligible electorate to include prospective tenants, in addition to current tenants, given the interest which the former have in th…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Community Ownership Programmeis open to any local authority in Scotland, and each application is considered on its own merit.The City of Edinburgh Council is reviewing the options for the future of its housing and any decisionto re-apply to the com…

9 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership and remit will be of its Affordable Housing Working Group and whether it will identify all research sponsored by or for the working group and the anticipated timescales for reporting.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The remit of the Affordable HousingWorking Group is “To establish means of securing the more effective supply of affordablehousing in areas of greatest need”. The group has met on one occasion and was attendedby representatives from four local authorities, Ho…

9 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the speech by Malcolm Chisholm MSP to the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference on 7 March 2006, when it will publish research into potential planning mechanisms such as a use class for affordable housing to secure an adequate supply in the long term of affordable h…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The research into allocationof land for affordable housing through the planning system, which is to includeconsideration of the potential introduction of a use class for affordablehousing, is expected to conclude in September and will inform the progress of t…

9 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the speech by Malcolm Chisholm MSP to the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference on 7 March 2006, which local authorities it considers have shown an insufficient commitment to the identification of a genuine long-term effective land supply that will provide an opport…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: My remarks to the conferenceon 7 March 2006 were intended to urge local authorities collectivelyto show much greater commitment through their development plans to the identificationof a genuine long-term effective land supply. I expect this to be achieved by …

9 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the speech by Malcolm Chisholm MSP to Homes for Scotland on 19 May 2006, what steps it is taking to ensure that local authorities’ development plans contain adequate allocations of land for house building, reasonable estimates of the potential contribution of windfall s…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: An adequate supply of landdepends upon up to date and relevant development plans. One of the foundationsof our current proposals to modernise the planning system is that developmentplans must be reviewed every five years. In doing so, planning authoritiesshou…

9 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the speech by Malcolm Chisholm MSP to Homes for Scotland on 19 May 2006, what mechanisms it is putting in place to monitor the full impact of PAN 74 and assess whether it is delivering an adequate land supply for affordable housing development.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: We are expanding the rangeof statistics that are collected by the Scottish Executive DevelopmentDepartment to monitor the impact of PAN 74. In particular, we have begun workto introduce a new data collection from 2007-08 to gauge the contribution ofplanning a…

3 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to issue revised guidance to local authorities on local housing strategies and whether the revised guidance will ensure that housing needs assessments are conducted sufficiently rigorously to meet the requirements of local development planning and to form the basis of hous…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows:A number of changes will affecthow local authorities prepare their Local Housing Strategies. These include legislativechanges arising from the H…

29 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the volume of minerals which will be required for the construction of the M74 Northern Extension; what its policies are for sourcing the necessary minerals locally; what work it has carried out to satisfy itself that sufficient local mineral sources exist, to …

Answer · Tavish Scott: An analysis of the quantityof materials required and the proposed mitigation is described in some detailin the Environmental Statement prepared for the scheme a copy of which can be obtained from the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 40051).…

29 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many newly-qualified teachers have been given a probationary teaching post under its teacher induction scheme in each year since the scheme was introduced; how many of these teachers have completed their probationary years successfully in each year; how many have gone on to find perma…

Answer · Peter Peacock: The following table providesnumbers of probationers participating in each year of the induction scheme sinceit started in August 2002. Most of those who fail to complete do so either due tohealth related absence or competence related issues or a combination o…

22 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will identify the councils whose council leaders and/or chief officials have suggested that their councils should be merged with others and what steps it has taken to establish whether any such suggestions represent the views of either those councils or their local electorates.

Answer · Tom McCabe: No Scottish councils have formallyapproached the Scottish Executive with proposals to merge with other councils. However,many councils across Scotland are looking into how they can work more closely togetherand integrate frontline and support services to bene…

21 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what amounts at current prices were paid in government grants in each year since 1997 to meet any annual deficits where the cost of pensions exceeded the amount of contributions made in respect of each of the pay-as-you go pension schemes identified in Public sector pension schemes in Sco…

Answer · Tom McCabe: Audit Scotlandpublished a report entitled Public Sector Pension Schemes in Scotland on20 June 2006. The Executive pointed out to Audit Scotland beforethe report was published that, in relation to the NHS and Teachers Schemes iswas inaccurate and (poten…

20 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much Single Farm Payment it anticipates will have been made to claimants in respect of “naked acres”, once all payments for 2005-06 have been made; of this, how much will have been in respect of claimants domiciled (a) in Scotland, (b) in the rest of the United Kingdom and (c) oversea…

Answer · Ross Finnie: I am sorry but I am not ableto answer that part of the question dealing with “naked acres”, which Iunderstand to mean land rented from a third party for the sole purpose of claimingthe Single Farm Payment. Farmers are required to declare all the land theyfarm…

20 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) project to link sites of significant industrial archaeological heritage and whether it is considering developing, or supporting the development of, a Scottish “themed route” comparable with those being developed in…

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: Historic Scotland is awareof this cultural route. Under development since 2001, it was launched in October2005. Three Scottish anchor points are already identified on this route: DundeeHeritage, New Lanark and the Scottish Mining Museum. These three partners …

6 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24694 by Peter Peacock on 20 April 2006, whether decisions by education authorities to cap the rolls of secondary schools, to disallow placement requests from households resident in neighbouring local authority areas, are notified to the Executive an…

Answer · Peter Peacock: Such local authority decisionsin relation to individual schools are not required to be notified to the ScottishExecutive.

25 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its target date would have been to respond to my letter of 20 December 2005 on the performance of SEERAD officials and requests for a trial marine protection area in Lamlash Bay, Arran; when it expects to answer my letter, in relation to which I issued reminders on 9 March 2006 and 2…

Answer · Ross Finnie: The target date for respondingto your letter of 20 December was 30 January. I have written to you explaining thatbecause of the extent of the issues raised by the COAST proposals it has not yetbeen possible to provide COAST or you with a substantive response.…

23 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to respond to my letter of 20 December 2005, and the reminders issued on 9 March 2006 and 21 April 2006, on the performance of SEERAD officials and requests for a trial marine protection area in Lamlash Bay, Arran, and whether it is aware of any impact on constituents and …

17 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what weighting it expects planning authorities to give to Scottish Planning Policies (SPPs) and Planning Advice Notes (PANs) in assessing planning applications in the period between the issuing of the policy or advice and the subsequent finalisation of updated structure and local plans, i…

Answer · Johann Lamont: Decisions on planning applicationsare required to be made in accordance with the development plan unless materialconsiderations indicate otherwise. Depending on the circumstances of the case, suchconsiderations can include Scottish Planning Policies (SPP) and…

17 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23456 by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 March 2006, to what extent the procedure for public inquiries held by reporters under the Electricity Acts is determined by those set out for inquiries under planning legislation in Scottish Office Development Departmen…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are no procedure rulesfor public inquiries held under the Electricity Act 1989. For that reasonreporters routinely request in such cases that parties consider whether theywould be prepared to agree to apply by analogy the Town and Country Planning(Inqui…

15 May 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the decisions on 4 May 2006 by the Court of Justice of the European Communities in respect of cases C-290/03 and C-508/03, published on 10 May 2006, have implications for the law on environmental impact assessment in Scotland and whether it will amend the law in this regard throug…

Answer · Johann Lamont: The Executive is currently consideringthose decisions and any implications they might have for legislation, whether primaryor secondary, or for planning guidance. We will make any amendments as necessaryat the appropriate available opportunity.