Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-26522

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 16 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make a decision on the future funding of Arrest Referral schemes.

Question reference: S2W-26521

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 16 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when the evaluation of the pilot Arrest Referral schemes will be completed.

Question reference: S2W-26523

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 14 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been (a) charged and (b) successfully prosecuted under the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002.

The available information isgiven in the following table.

Persons Proceeded Against inScottish Courts for Offences Under the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act2002¹, 2002-03 to 2004-05.

	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Total	-	3	3
Number with a charge proved	-	2	2

Note: 1. Where main offence.

Question reference: S2W-26545

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 13 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26263 by Tavish Scott on 2 June 2006, whether it has any concerns that pensioners who are wheelchair users may not be able to take advantage of their entitlement to free national bus travel because some bus operators do not operate wheelchair-accessible buses on longer routes.

Research has been carried outas part of the Partnership Agreement Commitment to access improved public transportconcessions for disabled people. The research findings entitled Improved PublicTransport for Disabled People were published on 19 May 2006. The recommendationsfrom the research report will help to inform the National Transport Strategy.

The timetable under which busesmust be fully accessable is set out in legislation reserved to Westminster. Allbuses must be fully accessible by 1 January 2017 and all coaches by 1 January 2020. the Executive is committed to encouraging bus operators to meet these regulations withinthe timetable.

Question reference: S2W-26435

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26066 by Malcolm Chisholm on 31 May 2006, whether Dumfries and Galloway Council will receive any additional funding for (a) specific bids, (b) disabled adaptations or (c) care and repair in 2006-07 and what the reasons are for its position on additional funding in this financial year.

I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

In 2006-07 Dumfries and GallowayCouncil will get £2,252,000 of Private Sector Housing Grant funding to cover specificrequirements including disabled adaptations and care and repair in line with thecouncil’s priorities. It is not yet known whether additional funding will becomeavailable during the financial year.

Question reference: S2W-26067

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 8 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25071 by Johann Lamont on 27 April 2006, what action could be taken in respect of a local authority which has acted outwith its powers in failing to take the financial circumstances of applicants for improvement and repair grants into account, as required by Part 13 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 amended by Part 6 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.

If an applicant consideredthat an application had not been properly considered then that applicant mightchallenge the grant made on the basis that it should have been made in terms of the regulations made under Part 13 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (asamended). A person who was not the applicant might challenge the award ofhigher grants than provided for in the regulations on the basis that it was anunfair or improper use of the council’s resources. In either case, the personshould in the first instance complain to the local authority in accordance withits formal complaints procedure and if that did not resolve the issue could,depending on the circumstances, make a complaint to the Scottish PublicServices Ombudsman. The person might choose to initiate a judicial review.

The authority’s auditorscould also qualify the authority’s accounts if they found that it had madepayments that were not in accordance with the regulations.

Most grants are funded byPrivate Sector Housing Grant given by the Scottish Executive to localauthorities. If a local authority was not operating in accordance with thelegislation, appropriate funding could be clawed back in terms of theconditions on which Private Sector Housing Grant had been made.

Question reference: S2W-26329

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 8 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13866 by Lewis Macdonald on 8 February 2005, whether it has identified a legislative opportunity to extend the statutory nuisance provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to include light pollution and when it hopes to introduce such legislation.

I can confirm that it isstill the intention of the Scottish Executive to extend the statutory nuisanceprovisions of the Environment Protection Act 1990 to include light in a similarway to what’s recently been introduced by the UK Government in England. Nosuitable legislative opportunity to allow this to happen has been identified asyet but action will be taken when an appropriate legislative vehicle isidentified.

Question reference: S2W-26434

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26066 by Malcolm Chisholm on 31 May 2006, what the specific bids were for which Dumfries and Galloway Council received Private Sector Housing Grant worth £2.78 million in both 2004-05 and 2005-06.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is asfollows:

Dumfries and Galloway received £2.478 million in each of 2004-05 and 2005-06for project specific bids.

The bids are shown in the followingtable:

Project	2004-05 Funding (£ Million)	2005-06 Funding (£ Million)
Improvement and Repair Grants	1.090	1.090
BTS Rural Estate and Agriculture	0.225	0.225
Supporting Mixed Tenure Registration	0.150	0.150
Town Centre Regeneration (Flats over shops)	0.250	0.250
Care and Repair	0.500	0.500
Assisted Adaptations Programme	0.2625	0.2625
Total	2.4775	2.4775

Question reference: S2W-26432

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 8 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26064 by Hugh Henry on 31 May 2006, what the basis is for Dumfries and Galloway having received 1.4% of the Scottish specific funding allocation for drug treatment in 2004-05 and 2% in 2005-06 and 2006-07, given that Dumfries and Galloway has 2.96% of the Scottish population.

Question reference: S2W-25657

Asked by: Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been allocated to the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) for 2006-07 and whether the Energy Savings Trust (EST) continues to distribute SCHRI grants in the south of Scotland and the central belt and, if so, what funds have been made available to the EST for this purpose in 2006-07.

The original allocation of fundingto the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) for 2006-07was £2.2 million. On 16 May, I announced an additional £3 million for SCHRI foryears 2006-07 and 2007-08. This will ensure that the Energy Saving Trust and Highlands andIslands Community Energy Company can continue to distribute grants to eligible applicantsacross Scotland, including those from the south of Scotland andthe central belt.