Tavish Scott

23 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many outbreaks of food poisoning in each of the last five years for which figures are available were (a) proven and (b) suspected to have been caused by the consumption of Scottish caught or farmed (i) king and (ii) queen scallops containing high levels of algal toxins.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Food Standards Agency has informed me that the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH), which monitors outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease (IID) has received no reports of outbreaks of IID suspected to be due to the consumpti…

23 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total weight was of (a) king and (b) queen scallops caught or farmed in Scottish waters and sold as (i) processed out of shell meat and (ii) live in shell whole scallops in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The information requested is not available. The tables show estimated scallop production.<P>Estimated landings into Scotland of scallops and queen scallops from Scottish waters by UK vessels, 1996 to 2000<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=644><TR…

23 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been allocated to the re-start scheme run by Highlands and Islands Enterprise for salmon farms affected by infectious salmon anaemia for each year of the scheme's operation; how much has been paid out under the scheme in each year of operation to date, and how much assista…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The budget for the ISA Re-Start Scheme was £9 million. No applications were approved during 1999-2000 as EC state aids approval was not obtained until May 2000. The value of applications approved during 2000-01 was £2.9 million. Those still under consideratio…

23 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications there have been for assistance under the re-start scheme run by Highlands and Islands Enterprise for salmon farms affected by infectious salmon anaemia; how many of these applications have been successful, and how many are still under consideration, broken down by pa…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: There have been 35 applications. 18 have been approved; a further eight are still under consideration, and if approved these would take the total amount approved to around £4.3 million. A further seven applications were judged to be ineligible; two others, al…

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the December 2000 UK consultation document on shellfish licensing includes provisions for it to operate a licensing scheme and what is meant by "locally managed" in relation to the policing of such a scheme.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Consultation was undertaken on the basis of proposals that there would be, initially, a national shellfish licensing scheme run by the Fisheries Departments and that, subject to the necessary legal powers being secured, this could be supplemented by local man…

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has for the enforcement of the shellfish licensing scheme proposed in the December 2000 UK consultation document on shellfish licensing.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: No final decisions have yet been taken, following the consultation exercise by the Fisheries Departments in the UK, on shellfish licensing.<P>If it is decided to introduce a scheme operated by the Fisheries Departments, enforcement of the scheme arrangements …

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to announce further relaxations of foot-and-mouth disease regulations to allow trading at auction marts in provisionally free areas.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Resumption of trading at auction marts is being kept under review in the light of the improving disease situation. However, I see no immediate prospect of their resumption.

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the foot-and-mouth disease provisionally free area status to be lifted.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Initial discussions have already been held with the European Commission, as a first step to establishing what criteria will be applied before Scotland, or parts of Scotland, will be eligible to export to the EU. It is difficult at this stage to say how long i…

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the enforcement of local shellfish regulation Orders.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Regulating Orders are made under the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967, which places the responsibility for enforcing the Order with the grantee. The local management of shellfisheries under a Regulating Order is an initiative which is designed to improve st…

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its definition is of community enforcement in the context of existing and proposed shellfish regulation orders and how such enforcement will be carried out in practice.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-15859.

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the policy of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency is on the enforcement of inshore fisheries and shellfish regulation orders.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15859.

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the remit and responsibilities of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency were enlarged to include the monitoring of the haddock fishery adjacent to Rockall in the north east Atlantic, as opposed to the enforcement of the Atlanto-Scandinavian herring fishery.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: New enforcement obligations were introduced for EU Member States last year when the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) scheme of control and enforcement was implemented. The Scottish Executive gained new powers to appoint NEAFC inspectors to enf…

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the enforcement procedures in place for existing and proposed shellfish regulation orders are adequate.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15859.

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are contained within the current proposals for shellfish regulation orders in the Highlands, Orkney, the Western Isles and the Solway Firth to ensure that adequate enforcement regimes are in place.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15859.

18 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been made available to the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency for the policing of the haddock fishery adjacent to Rockall in the north east Atlantic.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The costs of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency's involvement in policing the haddock fishery adjacent to Rockall, in both international and EU waters, will be met from its existing budget of £12.8 million for the current financial year.

4 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what baseline data it used in terms of the capacity and supply of electricity from different methods of generation, including renewables, when developing the Scottish Renewables Obligation targets and what its most up-to-date information is on the current levels of electricity generation …

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The target set for the Scottish Renewables Obligation (SRO) in 1994 was to support the development of 150 megawatts of new renewable electricity generation capacity. The latest projections from the energy regulator (Ofgem Scotland), based on feedback from SRO…

4 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any planning or land use policies relating to the location and development of the nuclear industry in Scotland; when these policies were adopted and last reviewed, and whether the policy framework generally supports the development of new or replacement nuclear-powered elec…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Applications for consent for any new electricity generation plants over 50MW in capacity are considered by Scottish Ministers under the Electricity Act 1989, rather than under Town and Country Planning legislation. Any application for a new nuclear power stat…

4 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to encourage the development of renewable energy projects after 2010 to achieve targets beyond those under the Scottish Renewables Obligation.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Renewables Obligation will remain in place until 2015, while the new Renewables Obligation (Scotland) will remain in place until March 2026. The latter obligation on all electricity suppliers will be for a specified proportion of their total elec…

4 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what CO2 emission savings it estimates will be delivered in each year as a result of meeting the Scottish Renewables Obligation target of 18% of electricity produced from renewable sources by 2010.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Our target of 18% of Scottish electricity supply to be accounted for by renewable energy will be achieved by the new Renewables Obligation (Scotland). Resultant CO<B><SUB>2</B></SUB> savings will vary depending on the fuel source of the generation displaced b…

4 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current capacity is of electricity generated from renewable sources, whether this capacity will need to increase to meet the Scottish Renewables Obligation target of 18% of electricity produced from renewable sources by 2010 and, if so, by how much in each year.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: At present, around 11% of Scottish electricity demand is met from Scotland's established hydro schemes. We expect that projects awarded contracts under the previous Scottish Renewables Obligation, once more are built over the next two years, will raise the po…

3 May 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it expects the Registers of Scotland Executive Agency to achieve in the financial year 2001-2002.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have set the Registers of Scotland the following key targets for 2001-2002: <P>For the Trading Fund to achieve a return of 3% on net capital employed over the 3-year period ending 31 March 2002.<P>To reduce the standard production cost index by 3% by 31 Mar…

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the statutory consents necessary for the installation of a floating offshore wave energy power station moored to the seabed, the authorities to whom each application for such consents must be submitted, what average time is taken to issue each consent and what the cu…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15421.

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the statutory consultees which the developer of a floating offshore wave energy power station moored to the seabed has to consult before mooring the station on site and when such consultation should take place.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15422.

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to transfer to local authorities the functions relating to planning which are currently carried out by the Crown Estate Commission.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The primary legislation needed to implement this change will be introduced as soon as an appropriate opportunity arises in the legislative programme. Any legislative proposals will need to take account of the outcome of the Executive's current aquaculture rev…

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14245 by Rhona Brankin on 30 March 2001, when it expects to conclude its review of acquaculture regulation, which bodies and agencies are involved in this review and what the composition is of the review team.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The review is being led by officials within my Fisheries Group, but it is necessarily a cross-cutting exercise involving a number of other interests both within and outwith the Executive. As the first stage in this process, my officials wrote to those with an…

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken in each of the last two years to encourage the development of wave energy power stations on the Scottish coast or in Scottish territorial waters

Answer · Rhona Brankin: We are aware of the excellent work being carried out by Scottish companies in this field, and applaud the progress made thus far, which is due in part to the unique support offered to wave power in Scotland under the third round of the Scottish Renewables Obl…

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has investigated the statutory and regulatory requirements with which developers of wave energy power stations in other countries must comply and whether it has any plans to incorporate any best practices which it has identified.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: No.

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has investigated the statutory, regulatory and financial requirements with which developers of wave energy power stations on the Scottish coast or in Scottish territorial waters must comply and whether it has developed or plans to develop any strategy to reduce any barriers to…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15427.

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken or has any plans to undertake a review of the regulations and consents governing the construction of wave energy power stations on the Scottish coast or in Scottish territorial waters, with a view to streamlining the process and making it more open and accountab…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: We published a consultation paper in February this year seeking views on our proposals to streamline the consents procedures for offshore wind or water driven generating stations in Scottish waters. Our intention is to rationalise and simplify the existing pr…

27 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many developers have applied to it or any of its agencies or public bodies for consents to construct wave energy power stations on the Scottish coast or in Scottish territorial waters since 1990 and whether it will list each application and the current status of each.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Scotland's only existing wave energy power station is Wavegen's LIMPET (Land Installed Marine Power Energy Transformer) built on the shoreline at Islay, which began generating late last year. The station secured planning consent from the local authority befor…