Richard Lochhead

10 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports any current proposals to cap the level of subsidy granted to any single farming unit.

Answer · Ross Finnie: No. The Executive does not support arrangements which discriminate between producers on the basis of scale of subsidy payments or scale of operation more generally.

10 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why the Minister for Environment and Rural Development was not listed as an attendee of the most recent meeting of the EU Fisheries Council.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Council Secretariat's formal minutes do not include the names of those attending. The Council Secretariat's press release is clearly at fault.

10 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has adopted any position on any proposals for effort limitation measures such as days at sea schemes as part of the current negotiations on the Common Fisheries Policy.

Answer · Ross Finnie: When we were discussing multi-annual management plans at the September Council, we said that effort control should be one of the instruments available to fisheries managers under a reformed Common Fisheries Policy. When we were discussing the European Commiss…

10 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has commissioned any studies into the impact on the scallop industry and the rural economy of the Executive's scallop technical conservation measures and any other proposals on scallop fishing and, if so, when the results were or will be published.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-30540 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/sear…

10 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any studies have been carried out into the economic impact of its proposed technical conservation measures for the scallop fishing industry and, if so, what the results of any such studies were.

Answer · Ross Finnie: A draft Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared. It will be published when the SI is laid before parliament, in accordance with normal practice.

10 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure that France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Spain do not exercise excessive influence during the current negotiations on the Common Fisheries Policy.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Ministerial and official bilaterals are taking place with the Danish Presidency, the European Commission, and various member states as we move towards this year's decisions on reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, the cod and hake recovery plan, and next yea…

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Police Activity Analysis was completed; when it will respond to the findings of (a) the analysis and (b) any further work undertaken, and whether it will give details of any such further work.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Results from an activity analysis carried out by the Scottish Police Service in spring 2001 were used by a working group (involving representatives from the Executive, COSLA and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland) which has been reviewing th…

9 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what research the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) has carried out into the establishment of a parliamentary office in Brussels to represent the Parliament independently of the Scottish Executive.

Answer · David Steel: The European Committee is at present conducting a short Inquiry to consider the role for, and activities of, the various bodies representing Scotland in Brussels. These bodies include parliamentary representation, government representation, commercial groups,…

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister has a special adviser on European and external relations policy and, if so, what the advisor's name is.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The First Minister has a team of Special advisers whose purpose is to provide advice to ministers on the full range of topics covered by the Scottish Executive. None of the advisers is dedicated solely to European and External Relations policy.

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what regular bulletins or reports are compiled by its officials in Scotland House, Brussels, for submission to its departments and what discussions it has had with the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body on whether any such bulletins or reports should be made available to members as a m…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive EU Office provides Scottish Executive Departments and ministers with regular information about the EU agenda in a wide variety of forms. There have been no discussions with the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body on providing this inf…

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) grants and (b) training it offers groups and organisations to participate actively in the European legislative process.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive does not at present offer grants or training to groups or organisations to participate actively in the European legislative process.

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out, or has commissioned, into funding sources available to assist groups and organisations to participate actively in the European legislative process.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive has not to date undertaken or commissioned specific research in this area.

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what agreements, understandings and declarations it has entered into with other national bodies and national and regional devolved assemblies since 1999; who the other signatories to any such documents are, and what the status is of each such document and, in particular, whether there are…

Answer · Jim Wallace: Details of the agreements, understandings and declarations that the Executive has entered into with overseas national bodies and national and regional devolved assemblies are noted in the following table. In addition, the Executive has entered into a large nu…

9 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many submissions there were to its consultation on technical conservation measures for the scallop industry; when and where the submissions were made publicly available, and what percentage of them supported the introduction of such measures.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Twenty-six responses were received to the consultation on technical measures for scallops. All responses except those marked as confidential were made available in the Scottish Executive Library in early October 2002. <P>Most of the respondents broadly suppor…

7 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what conclusions the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice has drawn from his visit to HM Prison Aberdeen.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I was impressed by the dedication of the Governor and her new team who are having to deal with large prisoner numbers and help tackle a serious drug problem in the area.<P>I was pleased to learn that the staffing complement at Aberdeen has been increased by f…

3 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28868 by Lewis Macdonald on 18 September 2002, in what ways, other than by circulating a brochure, it has sought to promote the case to locate the European Maritime Safety Agency in Glasgow.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The UK position in relation to the siting of EU Agencies is reserved and a matter for the UK Government. The Executive is in regular contact with the Department for Transport about the Glasgow bid. However, decisions about promotion are ultimately a matter fo…

3 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28868 by Lewis Macdonald on 18 September 2002, whether it has made any representations, or has been involved in any joint representations with Her Majesty's Government, to secure the location of any European agency in Scotland other than the European…

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is in touch with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the location of EU agencies.

3 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-23950 and S1W-24928 by Mr Jim Wallace on 3 April and 7 May 2002, why the brochure summarising Glasgow's case for securing the location of the European Maritime Agency was not mentioned in these answers.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Questions S1W-23950 and S1W-24928 asked about efforts and representations that had been made on the issue of European Union agencies' location. The brochure summarising Glasgow's case on the location of the European Maritime Agency was distributed to the othe…

3 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28868 by Lewis Macdonald on 18 September 2002, when the brochure promoting the location of the European Maritime Safety Agency in Glasgow was published.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The UK position in relation to the siting of EU Agencies is reserved and a matter for the UK Government. The brochure summarising the case for Glasgow was produced jointly by the Executive, the Department for Transport and the Scotland Office and was circulat…

3 Oct 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the results have been of the most recent research into links between salmon farming and wild fish stocks and what action will be taken in the light of such results.

Answer · Allan Wilson: Recent research results suggest a correlation between levels of sea lice on salmon farms and in the local marine environment. Proposals for further research into the distribution and behaviour of sea lice and their impact on wild stocks are under consideratio…

2 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether there are any plans to introduce a one-stop-shop for new members of staff employed by MSPs that allows for all relevant paperwork to be completed in one process rather than separately filling in different forms for, for example, security passes.

Answer · David Steel: This matter has already been identified by the SPCB as requiring attention. The SPCB is considering ways, in time for the next Parliament, of streamlining the paperwork associated with granting access to parliamentary services for new MSP staff.

2 Oct 2002 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer what steps are being taken to provide induction training for new members of staff employed by MSPs.

Answer · David Steel: As employers in their own right, the Members of the Scottish Parliament are responsible for the training and development of their staff. The SPCB is, however, committed to providing basic induction training for MSP staff, particularly as this relates to the u…

26 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide statistics on cattle movements, by category, into and out of Scotland over the last six months and whether it can provide details of the amount of carcass meat, including primals, being brought into Scotland and what the eventual market is for such meat.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The statistics on cattle movements cannot be produced for the reply deadline but will be sent to the member in due course and a copy placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 24521). The information relating to carcass meat is not available.

26 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the basis is for continuing with the 20-day standstill rule for livestock movements and whether it has any plans to review the position.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The 20-day standstill movement is an important element of the Scottish Executive's animal disease control strategy. If there were to be a further outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease or another infectious disease the 20-day standstill would greatly reduce the r…

26 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of any financial benefit the current exemption from the 20-day standstill regulations has brought to the islands.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Scottish Islands must comply with the general requirements of the 20-day standstill arrangements but livestock from the Northern Isles and the Western Isles Council area are allowed to be moved to a mainland market within 20 days of being at a market on the i…

26 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is carrying out to ascertain the economic impact on various different types of farms and, in particular, on hill and upland farms of the temporary 20-day standstill rule on livestock movements.

Answer · Ross Finnie: A comprehensive cost benefit analysis of the post-foot-and-mouth disease 20-day standstill arrangements is being commissioned. The analysis will take account of the differences in the livestock industry in the various parts of Great Britain, including the str…

26 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of community orders were breached in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Richard Simpson: Information on Scottish totals for community orders and breaches for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 is available in the statistical bulletin <I>Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics, 2000-01</I> (available at <A HREF="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00125…

25 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of the European Commission Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting on 23 to 24 September 2002 and whether it will give details of any discussion on the deep water fishery.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I attended the first of the newly merged Agriculture and Fisheries Councils with Margaret Becket, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Elliot Morley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of the same department on behalf of the UK in Brusse…

25 Sep 2002 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it now has any plans to measure the impact on the economy of Her Majesty's Government's 10% tax on oil and gas profits.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Executive will continue to work with the UK Government to support the success of the North Sea oil and gas industry and is committed to the PILOT targets to promote and sustain investment.

18 Sep 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each task force created since May 1999, giving the membership and the dates established and terminated in each case.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally.