- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 26 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive when an amended DTZ Pieda Consulting report on the future of raspberry breeding in Scotland will be publicly available.
Answer
DTZ Pieda is currently considering comments made on its report and I understand that an amended version will be submitted shortly. As soon as it is received I shall make it available on the Scottish Executive's website.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 26 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11354 by Mr Jack McConnell on 10 January 2000, in what specific ways the guidelines for initial teacher education require institutions to prepare teachers to be responsive to the linguistic needs of pupils in relation to the Scots language.
Answer
The guidelines for initial teacher education courses are not prescriptive. The competencies set out in the guidelines are generic to enable interpretation relevant to the particular education sector and situation the student teacher is training in. The competence to be attained by new teachers in relation to being responsive to the linguistic needs of pupils is therefore not specific to any language group.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 25 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether details of the financial allocations made to local authorities for criminal justice social work and the service out-turns or workloads in respect of this function are made publicly available.
Answer
The practice to date has been for information on financial allocations for individual local authorities for criminal justice social work to be made available only to the individual local authority. However, I am arranging for current and future financial information to be placed in the Parliaments Reference Centre.Information on historical workloads for the principal elements of criminal justice social work was provided in the form of a Statistical Bulletin published on 23 November 2000.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 22 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how, when and to whom the funding for traditional arts and music, as referred to in the National Cultural Strategy, is to be allocated.
Answer
The Scottish Arts Council are at present devising the detailed criteria for the new programme which will guide their allocation of the available funds.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 18 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing specific funding which could be accessed by schools to provide cycle park facilities and a training programme for young cyclists.
Answer
Each year local authorities receive a block allocation for expenditure on a number of services including transport. It is for local authorities to set their priorities and allocate resources according to local circumstances.However, this year we provided an additional capital allocation of £5.2 million to local authorities to take forward work specifically on safer routes to school. This money could have been used on cycle parking facilities or on capital expenditure to facilitate cycle training if the local authority chose to do so.In 1998, some £580,000 of grant was provided through the Cycle Challenge Initiative as pump priming to 35 innovative cycling projects throughout Scotland. Of these, four related directly to school cycling projects.Finally, I recently announced that in the third round of competition for the Public Transport Fund, £4.3 million was awarded to cycling and walking projects. As I indicated to Parliament on 28 September in my statement on the comprehensive spending review, it is my intention to give prominence to walking, cycling and safer streets in allocating the fund in the future.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 18 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue to make funding available for safer routes to school projects in future financial years.
Answer
Although the additional capital allocation of £5.2 million for safer routes to school schemes which I announced in May was for 2000-01 only, it is my intention to give greater prominence to walking, cycling and safer streets projects when allocating resources from the Public Transport Fund in the future. This could include projects related to safer routes to school. Guidance to local authorities on bids for the next round of the PTF will be issued in the first quarter of 2001.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 18 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive which of the companies in the Miller Group is in joint venture with Dywidag for the purpose of operating the A87 Skye crossing.
Answer
I refer the Member to the answer given to question S1W-12112.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 18 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Miller Civil Engineering Limited is authorised to charge tolls on the A87.
Answer
As I made clear in my letter of 27 October to the member, the right to collect tolls on the Skye Bridge has been assigned to Skye Bridge Limited. The operation and maintenance of the bridge is carried out on SBL's behalf by Miller Dywidag, a joint venture between Miller Civil Engineering Limited and Dyckerhoff & Widmann AG.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 July 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 17 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive why the unsigned and undated Assignation Statement has been the basis for prosecution of non-payers of the Skye Bridge tolls.
Answer
Prosecution for non-payment has been under section 38 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 12 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will follow the practice of the Norwegian Government and support authors who write in indigenous languages by buying the first 1,000 copies of books written in Scots and placing them in libraries throughout the country.
Answer
No. The acquisition of books for libraries is primarily the responsibility of the library authorities.
