- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 5 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to contribute funding to any university-based pilot projects on wave power; whether it will detail any such planned contributions, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
No. Renewable energy research and development funding is a reserved matter, and the programme is the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry. Many Scottish projects have benefited from this funding over the last decade, and should continue to do so as extra resources are devoted to the programme over the coming years. In recent weeks the Department of Trade and Industry has announced further support for Wavegen.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 5 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding has been made available to local authorities in order to address the requirements of the road traffic accident casualty reduction targets.
Answer
Local authorities receive a block allocation to meet all non-housing capital spending. It is for each local authority to decide spending priorities based on local needs. For 2001-02, the single allocation has been increased by 24% overall.
The Scottish Executive made available additional resources, totalling £5.2 million, to enable local authorities to take forward a wide range of Safer Routes to School projects in 2000-01. Between 2001 and 2004 a further £16 million is being made available to local authorities to take forward cycling, walking and safer streets projects.
The Executive announced on 4 September funding of £810,000 over six years for pilot child pedestrian training schemes. Local authorities have been invited to bid for funding to run pilot training schemes for five to seven-year-old children in selected primary schools.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 September 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 4 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the impact of the Child Strategy Statement.
Answer
The Child Strategy Statement urges all parts of the Scottish Executive to take children's interests into account when developing and implementing policy, noting the importance of ensuring that overlapping areas of policy affecting children are properly co-ordinated. This will be particularly emphasised in a report on integrated children's services in Scotland, written by a team of secondees to the Executive from local government, the health service and the voluntary sector, which will be published soon.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 September 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 1 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is its policy to increase the numbers of speakers of Scots and, if so, how this policy is being implemented.
Answer
The Executive has not formulated a policy on the number of speakers of Scots.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 September 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 1 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what joint action it plans to take with Her Majesty's Government to comply with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of the Scots language.
Answer
The Executive does not consider any joint action is necessary to comply with the Charter in respect of the Scots language.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 September 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 1 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set for the number of speakers of Scots in (a) 2011 and (b) 2021.
Answer
The Executive has not set targets for the number of Scots speakers.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 27 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce victim impact statements into Scottish courts and, if so, over what timescale.
Answer
The Scottish Strategy for Victims of Crime includes a commitment to pilot a victims' statements scheme. We shall be consulting on the proposed procedures for this scheme in the autumn.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 27 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is reviewing issues relating to sentencing and remission of sentences.
Answer
We continue to keep sentencing policies and arrangements under review and will bring forward proposals for change as appropriate. On 11 June I announced proposals for new arrangements for the sentencing and management of serious violent and sexual offenders. These proposals will be included in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 27 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to discontinue use of the term "life imprisonment" as a description of sentences.
Answer
We have no plans to discontinue the use of the term life imprisonment as a description of sentences.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 26 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of providing supply teachers to cover for teachers absent from school to mark additional examination scripts and whether all vacancies created by such absences were filled.
Answer
Specific arrangements for the release of teachers from schools to carry out marking are a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), and I will ask the Chair to write to you with a more detailed response to your query.
I refer to my responses to questions S1W-17820 and S1W-17821 on the marking of additional scripts. Where teachers were released their centres to mark examination scripts, SQA met the cost incurred by the centres involved.
