- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 7 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding sources are available to (a) local authorities, (b) community councils, (c) independent trusts and (d) other parties for the preservation and display of, and access to, local archives.
Answer
The provision of publicly accessible local archives is part of the routine business of a local authority and so should generally be funded from their existing resources. However, there are other sources of funding. The Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network (SCRAN) has been a source of grants for digitisation of records and associated work for a variety of organisations, including local archives. The National Archives of Scotland also provides small grants for conservation of archives and local archives have benefited from these.It is also open to local authorities to apply for other possible sources of funding for local archives, such as the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). A number of archive projects in Scotland have already benefited from awards from these funds. For example, the HLF-backed Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) project is assisting the automation and remote consultation of local archives by offering direct assistance to local authorities that join the network. Further information on these funds is available from the Lottery distributors.The Executive is not responsible for the funding of individual community councils - their funding comes primarily from local authorities - or for archives of independent trusts and other parties. However, it is also open to these bodies to apply to the NOF or HLF for funding for archives and other heritage projects.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 4 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the finding in paragraph 93 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that out of a sample of 17 procurator fiscal offices, the number of cases involving an accused aged under the age of 21 on which no proceedings were taken ranged from 1% to17%.
Answer
Variations of outcomes across the country are not necessarily indicative of inconsistency of approach, but instead reflect an appropriate response to local circumstances and offending behaviour, as well as, most importantly, the individual circumstances of each case. The aim of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is to continue to provide a high quality service to the public. In pursuit of this aim, the service is currently undergoing a far-reaching programme of reform and renewal. New information systems are being rolled out as part of the modernisation of the service, and these will offer greater opportunity to area procurators fiscal to monitor trends and ensure continued consistency - not standardisation - of practice.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 31 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what publicity it has funded, or intends to fund, on tackling litter and fly-tipping.
Answer
The Scottish Executive provides annual core funding of £234,000 to Keep Scotland Beautiful, which runs a number of anti-litter initiatives. Over the last year, additional funding of £900,000 has been secured to bolster this programme, including the Have Some Pride anti-litter poster campaign, launched in March 2002.As part of the Executive's Quality of Life Initiative, in addition to the £95 million allocated to local authorities this year, a further £180 million has been provided over the next three years to fund local initiatives that will improve the local environment and quality of life. Around £3 million of this year's allocation has been committed to litter reduction schemes and councils can use this money to raise awareness through publicity campaigns.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 31 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding sources are available to local authorities to reduce littering and fly-tipping.
Answer
Local authorities fund environmental initiatives from monies distributed by the Executive and from their own resources. As part of the Executive's Quality of Life Initiative, £95 million was allocated to local authorities this year, and a further £180 million has been provided over the next three years, in addition to regular annual funding. These additional resources were made available to fund local initiatives that will improve the local environment and quality of life. Around £3 million of this year's allocation has been committed to litter reduction schemes. In addition, the Executive has made £20 million available over the next three years to put in place a network of community wardens, one of whose tasks will be to combat littering.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 31 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30207 by Ross Finnie on 16 October 2002, when the report by Environment Resources Management into litter legislation will be published.
Answer
The report submitted by Environmental Resources Management will be published when the Scottish Executive has fully considered the recommendations. The report was somewhat delayed from initial plans, in order to take account of comments from the advisory group, which included representatives from local government, Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 31 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have formal litter plans in place.
Answer
Aberdeen City Council, Stirling Council and Shetland Islands Council currently have formal litter plans.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are in place to ensure the continued administration of the South of Scotland Pathfinder project when the posts of project manager and assistant fall vacant in March 2003, given the procurement process set out in section 4 of Connecting Scotland: our broadband future: Making it Happen.
Answer
Plans for the Pathfinder procurement in the south of Scotland envisage the continued involvement of these posts.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the final contracts for the pathfinder procurement process referred to in section 4 of Connecting Scotland: our broadband future: Making it Happen will be awarded on the basis of cost only or whether guarantees of overall service provision will also be taken into account.
Answer
Contracts will be awarded on the basis of best value for money, which takes account of quality as well as cost. The contracts will require guaranteed minimum standards of service. Bids which fail to meet those required minimum standards will not be accepted.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 29 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to my supplementary question during the ministerial statement on fisheries on 8 January 2003 (Official Report, c 16700) that fishermen will have 15 days at sea if no further decommissioning takes place, what the current position is regarding the decommissioning of fishing vessels in the light of the recent correspondence from EC Commissioner Hans Fischler to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Elliot Morley, and the views of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and whether compensation for decommissioning will be met by HM Treasury.
Answer
Under the terms of Annex XVII of Council Regulation (EC) 2341/2002, member states are required to report progress on decommissioning to the Commission during 2003. The number of days at sea available to vessels is subject to review by the Commission in the light of that. Regulations on a Scottish decommissioning scheme will shortly be laid before the Parliament. We are aiming to open the scheme to applications during February. Expenditure cover for the scheme will be met by the Scottish Executive.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 29 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with the Borders Railway Forum on whether any private bill on the Borders railway will contain provisions that charge expenditure on the Scottish Consolidated Fund; what agreement it has given to any such expenditure; what advice it has given the forum on the bill not progressing beyond its Preliminary Stage in the Parliament if no such funding is made available, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to S1O-6230 on 16 January 2003, which is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/search.htm.
