Parliamentary questions

Rob Gibson

971 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

18 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many cubic metres of (a) soft wood and (b) hardwood timber it estimates will be economically recoverable from Scottish forests in each of the next 30 years.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The tables provide the information requested. National Forest EstateAverage Annual Volumes (Thousands of Cubic Metres, Overbark, Standing)<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> Period </td> …

18 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much in real terms was spent on maintaining the A9 trunk road from Brora to Helmsdale from April 1975 to April 2005, showing also the costs of (a) maintaining the carriageway, (b) improving access and (c) providing footpaths.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Prior to April 2001 the information requested was not collected by the Scottish Executive, and is therefore unavailable on a route by route basis. From April 2001, to date the cost of maintaining the A9 between Brora and Helmsdale was £303,573. The costs for …

18 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much in real terms was spent on installing and maintaining the radio signalling system on the Inverness to Wick and Thurso rail line from April 1975 to April 2005.

Answer · Tavish Scott: This information has not been collected/held centrally. Network Rail have responsibility for this expenditure, but do not have access to records disaggregated in this form for the period requested. Devolution of rail powers to Scotland allows Transport…

18 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much in real terms was spent on maintaining the Inverness to Wick and Thurso rail line from April 1975 to April 2005.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Network Rail organise and manage its network maintenance activities on a geographic, not on a line of route basis. The three geographic areas in Scotland are East, West and Highlands.The Highland area includes the:Inverness to Aberdeen vi…

18 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much in real terms was spent on maintaining the A9 trunk road from Inverness to Thurso from April 1975 to April 2005, showing also the costs of maintaining the (a) Kessock, (b) Ardullie and (c) Dornoch bridges.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Prior to April 2001 the information requested was not collected by the Scottish Executive, and is therefore unavailable on a route by route basis. From April 2001, to date the cost of maintaining the A9 between Inverness and Thurso was £7,980,042. The costs f…

18 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much in real terms was spent on building the A9 trunk road from Inverness to Thurso from April 1975 to April 2005, showing also the costs of building the (a) Kessock, (b) Ardullie and (c) Dornoch bridges.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Records are not available for most construction work undertaken such a long time ago. The details that are available are shown in the following table. These costs have been adjusted to their 2005 equivalent value. Transport Scotland has the operational…

18 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Auditor General for Scotland's comments to the Audit Committee on 13 December 2005 (Official Report c. 1367) and the findings in his report, Overview of the performance of the NHS in Scotland 2004/05, how many consultant vacancies there were in NHS Western Isles on (a) 1 J…

Answer · Andy Kerr: Information on staff in post in NHS Scotland is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, at <a href="http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce">www.isdscotland.org/workforce</a>. Section B gives details of medic…

16 Jan 2006 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Parliament has powers under the Scotland Act to remove the powers of the Crown Estate Commission to control and generate income from the use of inshore waters and the seabed and, if so, by what mechanism this could occur so that such powers are devolved to local authorities.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Schedule 5.2(3) of theScotland Act 1998 reserves the management of the Crown Estate to the UK Parliamentand UK Government. The control of, and generation of income from, those areasof inshore waters and seabed vested in the Crown Estate is therefore a reserve…

11 Jan 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the legality of the Skye Bridge contract documents and subsequent prosecutions can be established beyond doubt, in light of recent comments by the former procurator fiscal at Dingwall.

Answer · Colin Boyd: The legality of the Skye Bridgetolling regime has been challenged on many occasions in both civil and criminalcourts, always unsuccessfully and I do not consider that the matter is affectedin any way by the views expressed by the former procurator fiscal.

4 Jan 2006 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are being made to modernise succession law as proposed and consulted on by the Scottish Law Commission in 1990.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Law Commission’s current programme of law reform, to cover the period to the end of 2009, includes an updated project on the law of inheritance. Work has begun and a discussion paper is due to be published during the course of 2006. We will consi…

19 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what future meetings of the Crofting Advisory Group are planned.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: There are currently no plannedfuture meetings of the Crofting Panel of Experts.

19 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings of the Crofting Advisory Group have been held; where such meetings were held, and on what dates.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: One meeting of the Crofting Panelof experts has been held, on 21 October 2004. The meeting was held in the Marriott Hotel in Inverness.

19 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership is of the Crofting Advisory Group with whom ministers are consulting ahead of the final draft of the Crofting Reform Bill.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The membership of the CroftingPanel of Experts is as follows:Ian MacKinnon (ex Deputy ChairCC, member NFUS Crofting Committee, Skye crofter and farmer, Gaelic speaker)John Laing (SCF Director, Councillor,Highland Council Planning Committee, Skye…

16 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much Forestry Commission Scotland has budgeted for the next three years for biodiversity work in each forest district of the state forest.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The information requested is provided in the following tables. Expenditure represents full costs including staff, materials, cash and overheads and also includes expenditure on heritage work but not deer management operations. The income figures represent fun…

16 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much Forestry Commission Scotland has spent on biodiversity work in each forest district of the state forest in the last three years.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The information requested is provided in the following tables. Expenditure represents full costs including staff, materials, cash and overheads and also includes expenditure on heritage work but not deer management operations. The income figures represent …

12 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been in contact with the Ministry of Defence to seek details of the premises for sale at RAF Saxa Vord to assess whether they meet the criteria of its job dispersal strategy, particularly in respect of its Environment and Rural Affairs Department.

Answer · Allan Wilson: I have written to the Minister of State for the Armed Services asking that the Ministry of Defence considers taking whatever action is necessary to ensure that the impact to the Unst economy is alleviated as much as possible. Shetland Islands Council a…

12 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the sale of RAF Saxa Vord will provide suitable premises to achieve a major job dispersal to Unst.

Answer · George Lyon: The situation on Unst will be taken into account in future dispersal plans. Job dispersal decisions are taken on the basis of information provided by local authority and local enterprise company delivery partners. That information includes details of property…

5 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-8076 on 17 November 2005 by the Minister for Health and Community Care, whether the minister will respond to support expressed at public meetings in Stornoway in the week beginning 28 November 2005 by councillors, health workers and other people pres…

Answer · Andy Kerr: I conducted the Annual Review of NHS Western Isles in Stornoway on 12 September 2005 where I received the personal assurances of the chair in relation to financial balance and governance. In my letter closing the review I said: “I would like to c…

5 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the contents of the report compiled by the Institute of Healthcare Management, as referred to in my supplementary to question S2O-8076 to the Minister for Health and Community Care on 17 November 2005, have now been read by the minister.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The papers referred to are a matter for the Institute of Healthcare Management, the persons referred to therein and the Western Isles NHS Board.

5 Dec 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) managers and (b) clinicians have been paid to commute from their homes on the mainland to posts within NHS Western Isles in each financial year from 2000-01 to 2005-06.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information you requested is an operational matter for the health board, with no central records being held.

25 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Natural Heritage’s guide to managing coastal erosion in beach and dune systems and emergency reports produced following the disaster in the Western Isles in January 2005 will lead to the early publication of a costed recovery plan for protecting low level roads and provid…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Scottish Natural Heritage’s guidance reviews the options available to local authorities for managing coastal erosion, and it is for the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES) to consider the best approach for the Western Isles. Officials from the Executive have had…

25 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken, and associated funding provided, to repair coastal erosion in the Middle District of South Uist in order to provide long-term community and environmental stability.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Primary responsibility for preventing erosion of land by the sea lies with the landowner. However, local authorities have discretionary powers to take forward coast protection schemes to prevent erosion of land. The Executive has produced guidance for local a…

24 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19904 by Mr Tom McCabe on 23 November 2005, what plans it has to extend dual Gaelic/English language activity in the proposed point of entry campaign beyond reflecting existing street signage arrangements.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The point of entry campaign is proposed to be implemented on a rolling annual basis. As stated in the answer of 23 November 2005, “At present, activity is limited to Scotland’s airports. Existing materials are in English; however it is proposed that activity …

24 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19904 by Mr Tom McCabe on 23 November 2005, what plans it has to extend the dual Gaelic/English language activity to points of entry such as train and bus stations.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The point of entry campaign will be posted until June 2006, when there will be a review of impact and a decision taken re. future activity and messages. At this stage, due consideration will be given to dual Gaelic/English language activity at all points of e…

24 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19904 by Mr Tom McCabe on 23 November 2005, what annual funding will be allocated to the proposed point of entry campaign in respect of Gaelic under the Executive's International Image Initiative.

Answer · Tom McCabe: No decision has been taken to date, regarding funding allocation for the on-going Point of Entry campaign. Any decision will be taken in light of the campaign evaluation and also in the context of overall available budget and the wider International Image Pro…

24 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19904 by Mr Tom McCabe on 23 November 2005, what the starting date will be of the proposed point of entry campaign in respect of Gaelic under the Executive's International Image Initiative.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The existing campaign is due for renewal in June 2006. As part of the campaign review of activity, any future activity at Inverness will be reviewed and if implemented, would be in place from June 2006 onwards.

17 Nov 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the Crofters Commission defines non-crofts and how many it has a record of.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: There is no definition of non-crofts. That expression is sometimes used to mean holdings which are not tenanted crofts but are classed as “eligible holdings” for the purposes of Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme (CCAGS). In addition to benefiting c…

31 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what regulatory measures will be taken under the Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions to promote Scottish cultural output abroad.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Convention was approved atthe UNESCO General Conference on 20 October 2005,but has still to be ratified by the EU. It is not expected that any new legislationor regulation will be required within the UK to implement the Convention.

31 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will use the Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions to promote Scottish cultural expression abroad.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive’s InternationalStrategy, published in 2004, sets out strategic goals for the Executive’s internationalactivities. Our cultural agencies are all aware of this strategy and work hard topromote Scotland’s culture abroad. The UNESCO Convent…

31 Oct 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what input it had into the UK Government’s position prior to the passing of the Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive was consultedby the Department for Culture, Media and Sport at each stage of negotiations onthe UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents andArtistic Expressions.