Parliamentary questions
Murray Tosh
706 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to detail the public money made available to each of the water authorities in Scotland in each financial year from 1995/1996 to 2001/2002, in cash and in real terms, either by way of revenue/capital grants or by the allocation of borrowing consents.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The new water authorities were set up in July 1995 but did not take over operational control of water and sewerage services until 1 April 1996. For the period July 1995 to March 1996 they were grant aided, as below. <FONT FACE="Arial"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">	&…
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive further to the answer to question S1W-342 by Sarah Boyack on 21 July 1999, what representations has it made, or intends to make to Her Majesty's Government in advance of its anticipated decision on "fifth freedom" rights.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The UK Government have been kept fully aware of the Scottish Executive's recognition of the potential benefits to the Scottish economy which could arise through the further liberalisation of airfreight services. They are also aware that we are keen to ensure…
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the most recent estimated cost of each road construction project under consideration in its Strategic Road Review.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Seventeen major road schemes are being considered in the Strategic Roads Review. For 3 of them, 2 options are under consideration, producing a total of 20 options. The estimated capital costs of these options (excluding VAT, expressed in second quarter of 199…
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to detail the capital and revenue expenditure by each local authority in Scotland on roads and transportation, in cash and in real terms, in each of the past four financial years and the projected expenditure by each authority in the current financial year.
Answer · Jack McConnell: Because the information is lengthy I have arranged for it to be sent directly to the member and also placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to outline actual and planned public expenditure, other than by local government, on transport in Scotland for each financial year from 1995/1996 to 2001/2002, in both current and inflated-indexed prices, and to detail separately the expenditure on (a) road construction and improvement, (…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The information requested is shown in the table. The outturn and planned expenditure have been extracted from the Scottish Office Report "Serving Scotland's Needs", a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Information Centre.<P ALIGN="JUSTIF…
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to update, in the light of the 1999 Partnership Agreement, the answers, and all tables, given by the then Secretary for State for Scotland in the House of Commons on 24 July 1998 in response to questions by Mr Browne on Public Expenditure and Local Government Finance (columns 138-144).
Answer · Jack McConnell: As I said during the debate on Financial Issues on 24 June, I intend to make a statement in the autumn on the financial expenditure announced in the partnership agreement. The latest planned spending figures are given in the Departmental Report 'Serving Scot…
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the capital and revenue costs which will fall on water authorities, health boards and other public agencies in Scotland as a result of fluoridation and whether additional resources will be made available to each of the foregoing to offset these costs.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Health boards would be responsible for the capital costs incurred by water authorities in providing the treatment technology necessary to ensure that fluorides are added to water supplies accurately and safely and for revenue costs. Health boards promoting ap…
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the estimated cost of establishing a fluoridation system in Scotland and the estimated annual cost of operating such a system.
Answer · Susan Deacon: Initial estimates by the Scottish water authorities suggest that fluoridating the water supplies where it is possible to do so, serving the majority of the population, would imply capital expenditure in the order of £29 million and annual running costs of £4 …
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to restore funding to Planning Aid Scotland.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: We have no plans to provide funding to Planning Aid for Scotland.
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to notify the Parliament when the structure and local plans of local authorities are (a) submitted for approval and (b) approved.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: This has not been the practice in the past and there are no plans to introduce it in the future. Information relating to the progress of structure and local plans is, however, contained in the Planning Bulletin which is published by the Scottish Executive Dev…
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to detail for each local authority in Scotland the local plans which (a) are currently being prepared, (b) have been issued for local consultation, (c) have been submitted and are awaiting approval and (d) have been approved since 1 April 1996.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The information requested is given in the following table<B>:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY"></B><TABLE CELLSPACING=0 BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=613><TR><TD WIDTH="17%" VALIGN="TOP"><B><FONT SIZE=1><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">AUTHORITY</B></TD><TD WIDTH="23%" VALIGN="TOP"><B><FO…
22 Jul 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the local authorities in Scotland which have submitted structure plans for approval since 1 April 1996 and the structure plans that have been approved during the same period.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Since 1 April 1996 three Structure Plan Authorities have submitted Plans for approval. These are The Moray Council in December 1998, Dumfries and Galloway Council in January 1999 and the Ayrshire Joint Structure Plan Authority in March 1999. The Moray Structu…
24 Jun 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends that proposed work on trunk roads included in Scotland's Strategic Roads review will only be allowed to proceed on the basis of funding from motorway tolls, city centre access charges, and self-financing PFI schemes.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Funding is one of the issues being considered in the Strategic Roads Review. We expect to report to Parliament on the review after the summer recess.
24 Jun 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to commission estimates of the cost to the Scottish economy of congestion caused by the non-implementation of each of the 17 road investment priorities included in the Scottish Strategic Roads Review, and if so, whether it intends to publish these details.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The appraisal framework developed for the Scottish Strategic Roads Review takes into account the estimated journey time savings which would accrue to road users if the schemes under review were to be implemented. A monetary value is then calculated for these…
24 Jun 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to commission estimates of the cost to the NHS of road accidents on the A77 and other trunk routes which are included in the review of Scotland's Strategic Roads, and if so, whether it intends to publish these details.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The appraisal framework developed for the Scottish Strategic Roads Review takes into account the estimated reduction in the number of accidents which would follow implementation of the schemes under review and the resulting savings in medical costs. We expec…
16 Jun 1999 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has for implementing the Environment Protection Act 1990 in respect of contaminated land.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires the Scottish Executive to issue statutory guidance and enact secondary legislation. It also requires the Scottish Executive to consult the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and others before issu…