Parliamentary questions
Tavish Scott
2,683 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the total renewable energy resources available from the tidal currents in the seas round Orkney and Shetland.
Answer · Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-30112 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…
1 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the total renewable energy resources available from wave energy in the seas round Orkney and Shetland.
Answer · Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-30112 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…
1 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the total renewable energy resources available from on-shore and off-shore wind farms in Orkney and Shetland.
Answer · Ross Finnie: We have not undertaken such an assessment. We have, however, assessed the potential renewable energy resource from all renewables sources throughout Scotland. This study, <I>Scotland's renewable resource 2001</I>, which we published in December last year, est…
1 Oct 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a policy to encourage the use of renewable energy resources, such as biomass and solar energy, for the provision of heating for domestic and commercial premises.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The DTI is responsible for capital funding for bio-energy and solar technologies. Additionally in Scotland, the Scottish Clean Energy Demonstration Scheme supports renewable energy projects including heat pumps, biomass to heat and solar to heat schemes. The …
26 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote canals and waterways as tourist attractions.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Promoting Scotland's canals as tourist attractions is undertaken mainly by British Waterways, VisitScotland and Sail Scotland.<P>We published our canals policy document <I>Scotland's Canals: an asset for the future </I>today. One of its chief aims is to incre…
26 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the value of canals and waterways to the economy.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: It is estimated that the Scottish canal network currently supports over 1,000 jobs in the leisure, recreation and tourism sectors. The Caledonian Canal contributes 14% of the tourist spend in the Great Glen.<P>The value of canals to the Scottish economy is ex…
26 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it will give to British Waterways' future activities in Scotland.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: A close liaison between the Executive and British Waterways Scotland will continue to be maintained as regards the upkeep and development of Scotland's canals.<P>The Scottish budget for the period April 2003 to March 2006 includes the provision of £33 million…
4 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the total annual cost of internal air transport from the islands to the mainland to (a) the Northern Constabulary, (b) relevant local authorities, (c) relevant NHS boards, (d) the Crofters Commission, (e) Scottish Natural Heritage and (f) Scottish Water.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This is a matter for the organisations concerned.
4 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made, or is planning to make, into the optimum number of NHS boards.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are no plans to vary the number of unified NHS boards, which were established as recently as September 2001. <P>However, a longer-term review of management and decision-making in NHSScotland is now under way. We have made it clear that the review is not…
4 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has for health councils.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The <I>Patient Focus and Public Involvement </I>framework - published in December last year - indicated that we would consult on a proposal to establish a Scottish Health Council as a national body with a local presence to replace local health councils. Our p…
4 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish any guidelines which police forces will follow when using baton guns.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The tactical deployment of baton guns and other less lethal options is a police operational matter and guidelines are contained in a <I>Manual of Guidance on the Police Use of Firearms</I> produced jointly by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) an…
4 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of baton guns by police forces will be limited to circumstances where conventional firearms are currently used.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has made clear that baton guns will be used to deal with firearms incidents and that they will only be deployed where a Chief Constable is satisfied that an incident involves risk to life or serious injury.
4 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be a prohibition on the use by police forces of baton guns when dealing with public order disturbances or political demonstrations.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has made clear that baton guns are to be deployed in Scotland in situations where police officers are faced with life threatening incidents as a less lethal alternative to conventional firearms. I have been…
4 Sep 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of baton guns by police forces will be monitored by any independent body reporting to ministers.
Answer · Jim Wallace: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary monitors all aspects of policing which includes the deployment of firearms and less lethal weapons and equipment.
28 Aug 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what benefits would accrue to the economy from the development of the aquaculture industry.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Scotland produces in the region of 150,000 tonnes of aquaculture products which constitute some 40% of Scottish food exports. The principal benefit of developing this market would be the creation of jobs in areas where other sources of employment are not read…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether grants made to the fish processing industry under the #1 million announced by the then Deputy Minister for Rural Development during the debate on the fishing industry on 8 March 2001 were paid through Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise and their local enterpri…
Answer · Ross Finnie: The payment of all action plan grants is administered by Scottish Enterprise Grampian for accounting reasons. Payments are approved by the Action Plan Working Group who assess bids against the objectives set out in the plan. <P>The Action Plan Working Group i…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the #1 million for grants to the fish processing industry announced by the then Deputy Minister for Rural Development during the debate on the fishing industry on 8 March 2001 has been spent and what the benefits of these grant awards have been.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The action plan for the fish processing sector was prepared in co-operation with the fish processing industry and is currently being implemented. Expenditure on the plan is entirely driven by the level of up-take by the industry. So far, £350,000 has been spe…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what grants have been made to the fish processing industry under the #1 million announced by the then Deputy Minister for Rural Development during the debate on the fishing industry on 8 March 2001, listing for each grant, the (a) recipient, (b) project for which it was given, (c) value, …
Answer · Ross Finnie: The most recent figures (for 2002 to end July) are given in the following table. £60,000 was spent implementing the action plan in 2001.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=434><TR><TD WIDTH="37%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Recipient</TD><TD WIDTH="39%" VALIG…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of overall project costs were grant aided when awarding grants to the fish processing industry under the #1 million announced by the then Deputy Minister for Rural Development during the debate on the fishing industry on 8 March 2001; whether the percentages varied from pr…
Answer · Ross Finnie: Based on the action plan that was originally submitted, the £1 million (the grant) covered approximately 60% of the total cost of implementation. The percentages varied from project to project. Some projects were fully supported while others only needed aroun…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many crofts were added to the Register of Crofts that were not previously recorded on the register in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The number of crofts added to the Register of Crofts in each of the last 10 complete calendar years is indicated in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=255><TR><TD WIDTH="19%" VALIGN="TOP"><P>Year</TD><TD WIDTH="81%" VALIGN="TO…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Crofters Commission maintains and makes available for public inspection a series of definitive maps detailing the boundaries of all crofts recorded on the Register of Crofts and areas of these crofts which have been decrofted and, if not, whether it has any plans to initiate t…
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Crofters Commission does not currently have any maps detailing the boundaries of all crofts recorded in the Register of Crofts and there are no current plans to create such maps. However, chapter 9 of the white paper entitled <I>Crofting Reform Proposals …
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what access the general public have to plans and other documentation regarding croft registration kept by the Crofters Commission on the Register of Crofts and whether there are any proposals that would change this.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Register of Crofts is an administrative record and does not include plans. There is currently no public right of access to information contained in the Register of Crofts. By virtue of section 41(3) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 the Crofters Commiss…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what access crofters have to plans and other documentation regarding croft registration kept by the Crofters Commission on the Register of Crofts and whether there are any proposals that would change this.
Answer · Ross Finnie: Section 41(3) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 requires that the Crofters Commission must provide, on request, an extract of any entry on the Register of Crofts to any person who, in the opinion of the Crofters Commission, has good reason for desiring an e…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive in what form the Crofters Commission keeps plans and other legal documentation regarding croft registration on the Register of Crofts and whether there are any proposals that would change this.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Crofters Commission does not keep and is not required to keep plans and other legal documentation regarding croft registration. Section 41 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 specifies the information to be entered in the Register of Crofts. This consists…
23 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the Crofters Commission's policy is in dealing with croft land that is currently not recorded on the Register of Crofts.
Answer · Ross Finnie: For the purposes of crofting legislation a croft is defined by section 3 of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993. The Crofters Commission policies apply to all land undisputedly covered by that restrictive, statutory definition. All crofts should be recorded in t…
13 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will be undertaking a review of the national free concessionary travel scheme for blind people and what the terms of reference for the review will be.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: In the answer given to question S1O-5499 on 5 September 2002, I indicated that agreement had been reached for the National Free Concessionary Travel Scheme for Blind People to continue in its current form indefinitely. No review of the scheme is planned.
13 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27322 by Lewis Macdonald on 8 August 2002, what statistics are gathered to monitor the use and effectiveness of the national free concessionary travel scheme for blind people.
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: No such statistics are collected by the Scottish Executive. The administration of the 16 local concessionary travel schemes which comprise the National Blind Scheme is a matter for the relevant local authorities.
13 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27318 by Lewis Macdonald on 8 August 2002, why it has not made any assessment of the number of registered blind persons living in the islands who would benefit from the extension of the national free concessionary travel scheme for blind people to co…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28378. All answers to written PQs are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa">http://www.scottish.…
13 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27319 by Lewis Macdonald on 8 August 2002, why it has not made any assessment of the cost of an extension of the national free concessionary travel scheme for blind people to travel between the islands and the Scottish mainland and whether it has any…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This is a matter for local authorities who are responsible for making concessionary travel schemes under the Transport Act 1985.
13 Aug 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-27320 and S1W-27321 by Lewis Macdonald on 8 August 2002, why air travel between the islands and the Scottish mainland should be included in an island council's local concessionary travel scheme for blind people rather than in the national free conc…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The National Free Concessionary Blind Scheme is an amalgam of the 16 local concessionary travel schemes currently operating in Scotland. It is therefore for the island local authorities to consider whether their particular local schemes should be extended to …