Rob Gibson

21 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it was informed of the contamination of US rice by unlicensed genetically modified LL601 rice and what information it has on when the (a) European Commission and (b) UK Government were informed.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive was informedofficially of this incident on Wednesday, 23 August 2006 by a submission from theFood Standards Agency. We understand that the US authorities informed the EuropeanCommission on the evening of Friday, 18 August 2006 and the F…

21 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the US Government following the contamination of US rice with unlicensed genetically modified LL601 rice and what information it has on any such representations by the (a) UK Government and (b) European Commission.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I am advised by the Food StandardsAgency that as the contamination with unauthorised genetically modified LL RICE601 is an international trade issue, the European Commission is taking the lead.The Commission has written to US authorities requesting further in…

21 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what testing procedures are in place for genetically modified LL601 rice in Scotland and what comparative information it has on testing procedures in the (a) United Kingdom and (b) European Union.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that all consignments of long grainrice from USA which are not accompanied by an analytical report from an accredited laboratorywill be required to be tested by the importer, prior to first placing on the market.There…

21 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much rice from the United States of America is imported annually into Scotland and what comparative information it has on levels of imports into the (a) United Kingdom and (b) European Union.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Separate figures are not availablefor the amount of rice imported annually from the United States of America into Scotland. The following tables give information on the level ofimports into (a) the United Kingdom, and (b) the European Union.</p><p>Table 1: UK…

15 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what checks are made by the Crofters Commission to ensure that common grazings committees are run democratically and in the interests of all shareholders.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: No such checks are made, norwould it be practicable to operate an effective checking regime. However, whenshareholders in a common grazings appoint a committee the Commission carriesout checks to ensure that the correct notification procedures set down in the…

15 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses have been built in each year since 1996 in the (a) Shetland Islands, (b) Orkney Islands, (c) Highland, (d) Western Isles, (e) Argyll and Bute and (f) Moray Council areas.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The following table shows thenumber of dwellings completed in all sectors.</p><p>New Dwellings Completed in allSectors: 1996-97 to 2005-06</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td nowrap valign=bottom> <p align=center> </p> </td…

15 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many affordable houses have been built in each year since 1996 in the (a) Shetland Islands, (b) Orkney Islands, (c) Highland, (d) Western Isles, (e) Argyll and Bute and (f) Moray Council areas.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Theprincipal mechanism for funding affordable housing is currently the CommunitiesScotland Development Programme. Table 1 shows the number of completions of new andimproved dwellings for social rent or low-cost home ownership funded from the DevelopmentProgra…

15 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average costs of serviced house sites have been in each year since 1996, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested isnot held centrally.</p>

15 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average costs of materials for house building have been in each year since 1996, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested isnot held centrally.</p>

15 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average costs of serviced house sites have been in each year since 1996.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested isnot held centrally.</p>

15 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average costs of materials for house building have been in each year since 1996.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested isnot held centrally.</p>

15 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-27108 by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 July 2006, what the average percentage increases in house prices have been in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006 in each postcode area in the Highlands and Islands electoral region.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The available information,for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 has been placed in the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre (Bib. number 40322). The document also provides guidance on the sourceof the information and its interpretation and supporting material on…

10 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place for out of hours cover for paediatric services in each NHS board area of the Highlands and Islands.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information is containedin the forthcoming report <i>The Remote and Rural Paediatric Project</i>. Thisreport will be published in Autumn 2006.</p>

10 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many paediatricians are employed in each NHS board area of the Highlands and Islands.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Information on staff employedin NHSScotland is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under WorkforceStatistics, at <a href="http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce">www.isdscotland.org/workforce</a>.</p><p>Section B gives details of medicalstaff in…

10 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place for the delivery of paediatric care in each NHS board area of the Highlands and Islands.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This information iscontained in the forthcoming report <i>The Remote and Rural Paediatric Project</i>.This report will be published in autumn 2006.</p>

7 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what types of community consultation are undertaken by the Cromarty Firth Port Authority in the course of its work.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Cromarty Firth Port Authorityis a trust port, an independent statutory body established under its own legislationand operating in a commercial environment. Operational matters, including communityconsultation, are the responsibility of the port authority.</p>

7 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the Cromarty Firth Port Authority is fulfilling its role in consulting the local community as laid out in the guidelines for trust ports.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Cromarty Firth Port Authority is a trust port, an independent statutory bodyestablished under its own legislation. Operational matters are the responsibilityof the port authority. While the guidelines for trust ports encourage consultationas necessary with po…

7 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which Western Isles Health Board posts have been filled through the recruitment agency of which the interim board chair is a partner.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Western Isles health board haveadvised that Thomson Partners advertised four posts on the board’s behalf and onthe basis of the applications recieved identified those most suitable for interview.The board then undertook a normal NHS competitive appointments p…

7 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the aid provided by Highlands and Islands Enterprise to BT was specifically intended to support broadband connections for the smallest and most telephonically inaccessible communities.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: For clarification it is the Executivethat has the contract with BT which provides funding support to extend broadbandaccess. The contract, worth £16.5 million, has all been geared towards Scotland’s ruraland remote communities. It has delivered the broadband …

7 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs of providing small inaccessible communities with broadband connections via satellite links are, as compared to wired links via distant telephone exchanges.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Broadband has been deliveredto every Scottish community, as defined using Census Output Areas.</p><p>However, we recognise there arestill some households or businesses who remain without access. The costs and viabilityof satellite or other technical solutions…

7 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which fish farms it considers will be unaffected by the proposed merger of Marine Harvest and Fiord Seafarms with Panfish, also giving their locations and production rates.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive doesnot hold this information. The Executive is maintaining contact with Panfish onthe proposed merger. It is also working with Highlands and Islands Enterpriseto prepare for the different scenarios that could result from the Competitio…

7 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful prosecutions there were of persons for (a) cycling on pavements and (b) obstructing pedestrian use of pavements by illegally parking cars in each year from 2000 to 2005, broken down by sheriffdom.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information onconvictions for cycling on pavements is given in the following table. Convictionsfor obstructing pedestrian use of pavements by illegal parking of cars cannot beidentified separately from other parking offences in the statistics av…

1 Aug 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average energy savings per household have been in respect of projects supported under the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative in each year since 2002, broken down by type of technology.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Community and HouseholderRenewables Initiative (SCHRI) was established in 2002 primarily to promote the development of new communityand household renewable energy projects in Scotland.</p><p>An independent performance reviewof the SCHRI was carri…

18 Jul 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many farmers have (a) joined and (b) opted out of the Organic Aid Scheme in each year since 1994.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The following table showsthe number of farmers that joined the Organic Aid Scheme and those who optedout, or withdrew their applications, within the 5 year agreement period, foreach year. The “opted out” figures includeproducers who have formally asked to wit…

26 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26773 by Rhona Brankin on 23 June 2006, how many bulls were considered to have poor estimated breeding value in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006, broken down by breed.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Information on cattlebreeding values over the 2004-2006 period is not available.</p><p>The following table showsthe percentage of bulls within each of the four breeds within the stud (for whichwe have information) which fall into the top 10%, top 25%, below a…

26 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-26773 and SW2-26744 by Rhona Brankin on 23 June 2006, whether it will provide a breakdown by (a) breed and (b) township of the number of bulls hired to crofters in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006 under the interim arrangements following withdraw…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Tables providing informationon the bulls hired under the Bull Hire Scheme in seasons 2004 and 2005, and theinterim arrangements in 2006 are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre(Bib. number 40070).</p><p>All townships hiring a bullreceived the breed …

26 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average percentage increases in houses prices have been in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006 in the (i) IV52 (Plockton), (ii) IV9 (Avoch), (iii) KW1 (Wick), (iv) KW12 (Halkirk), (v) KW9 (Brora), (vi) IV17 (Alness), (vii) IV27 (north-west Sutherland), (viii) HS1 (Stornoway), (ix) IV…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Table 1 provides thepercentage increase in annual average house prices between 2003 and 2004 andbetween 2004 and 2005 for each of the postcode districts listed. Information isnot yet available on average house prices for 2006. The analysis usesinformation pro…

13 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent the pine marten is seen as a predator of the red squirrel and what figures are available for the (a) pine marten and (b) red squirrel populations in each year from 1996 to 2006.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I am not aware of any publisheddata on this aspect of pine marten behaviour, however, I understand that the extentof pine marten predation on red squirrels is generally believed to be limited. Iwould expect the Red Squirrel Action Plan which I have commission…

13 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it or the Crofters Commission has any plans to increase or decrease the range of breeds for hire under the Bull Hire Scheme and, if so, what breeds are likely to be retained or added.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: There are no firm plans to addto or decrease the range of breeds available for hire from the Crofters Commissionstud farm. Other breeds may be provided inthe future if considered suitable for the conditions in the individual townshipsand breeds could be disco…

13 Jun 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many bulls were hired under the Bull Hire Scheme in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006, broken down by area.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Crofters Commission hiredbulls to crofting groups as follows: </p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td valign=top> <p align=center>Area</p> </td> <td valign=top> <p align=center>No. of Bulls Hired in 2004</p> </td> <td valign=top> …