- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 23 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended or officially recognised shade of blue for the Saltire is.
Answer
The heraldic description of the Saltire is an argent cross on an azure background, although heraldic colours are not strictly defined. There is no recommended or officially recognised shade of blue for the Saltire, the longstanding convention being that any blue that is clearly "blue" is acceptable.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 12 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities had a discrete post of Director of Education in each year since the reorganisation of local government in 1996, and how many no longer have a dedicated Director of Education post.
Answer
The information requested is provided in the table below. It is based on information provided by education authorities in each year. Figures for this year are provisional.
Year | Number of authorities with discrete Director of Education posts* |
1996 | 29 |
1997 | 26 |
1998 | 23 |
1999 | 21 |
2000 | 20# |
* Where authorities have posts which are not titled "Director of Education" but deal solely with education (e.g. Director of Education Services) then those posts have been counted as discrete.
# One Director of Education post will become Director of Education and Social Work from 1 July 2000.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 9 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to specify in legislation the proportions and colours of a national flag for Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no such intention.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to take forward the Scottish Berry Project proposals to protect the viability of raspberry growers and promote health benefits.
Answer
The Berry Project was considered for funding from a number of sources including the "Heart of Scotland" and Starting Well" health demonstration projects that were announced in the White Paper "Towards a Healthier Scotland". The project was not selected in the face of strong competition. The Scottish Executive are exploring other avenues of support for a project which has potential to provide benefits both to the raspberry industry and to the health of the nation.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive to outline the sources of funding for local rural partnerships and the length of time for which these commitments will be guaranteed.
Answer
Funding of Local Rural Partnerships is met from the Executive's Rural Strategic Support Fund, part of the Scottish Rural Partnership Fund. Grants are limited to the minimum needed for the Partnership to succeed, subject to a maximum of £40,000 in Year 1. Executive support is for up to three years only, staged degressively to encourage an exit strategy by the organisation concerned.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many rural partnerships are currently operational in Scotland, and in which local authority areas they are based.
Answer
Thirty-five Rural Partnerships registered with the Scottish Executive are operational. Thirty-two of these Partnerships are based in a unitary local authority area. The remaining three Partnerships serve more than one local authority area. Details of the former are in Table A (by local authority), and the latter (by Partnership) in Table B below.Table A
Local Authority | Partnership |
| Aberdeenshire | Birse Community TrustFormartine Area PartnershipFoveran PartnershipHuntly LtdKincardine and Mearns Area PartnershipMarr Area PartnershipPortsoy and District Ltd |
| Angus | Angus Rural Partnership |
| Argyll and Bute | Argyll and Bute PartnershipIslay Sustainable Development CompanyIsle of Jura Development Trust |
| Dumfries and Galloway | Luce 2000 |
| East Ayrshire | Doon Valley Local Rural PartnershipIrvine Valley Local Regeneration Partnership |
| Fife | Fife Rural Partnership |
| Highland | Caithness Economic PartnershipHighland Primary and Community Care Locality PlanningLaggan Community PartnershipLoch Ewe Action ForumRural Inverness and Nairn PartnershipSutherland Partnership |
| Perth and Kinross | Crieff and West Strathearn InitiativeHighland Perthshire Communities PartnershipPerth and Kinross Local Rural Partnership |
| Scottish Borders | Scottish Borders Rural Partnership |
| South Lanarkshire | South Lanarkshire Local Rural Partnership |
| Stirling | Rural Stirling Partnership |
| Shetland Islands | Shetland Islands Partnership |
| Western Isles | Harris Development LtdIomairt NisUist 2000 |
Table B
Partnership | Local Authority |
| Moray Firth Partnership | Moray, Highland |
| Not for Profit Landowners Project Group | Highland, Western Isles (and other parts of Scotland) |
| Out of School Federation | Argyll and Bute, Highland, Western Isles |
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Donald Dewar on 27 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister had responsibility for making or recommending recent judicial appointments in consultation with the Lord President.
Answer
Yes.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 27 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to include a question on the Scots language in the next Household Survey.
Answer
There are no current plans to include a question on the Scots language in the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). The SHS questionnaire is revised slightly each year and a trawl for bids will take place in summer 2000 for questions/topics for possible inclusion in the SHS 2001 questionnaire.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive why its proposals for the Integrated Transport Bill contain no proposals to encourage walking and cycling.
Answer
Responsibility for the provision of walking and cycling infrastructure rests with the local authorities. The local authorities already have powers under existing legislation to promote and implement schemes designed to encourage walking and cycling, and further legislation is not necessary. The Local Transport Strategy Guidance suggests the inclusion of walking and cycling opportunities as part of an integrated approach to improving transport choices in local areas.
- Asked by: Irene McGugan, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will commit and what action it is taking to address any problems which are barriers to more children walking or cycling, such as the lack of secure cycle parking, too much traffic, speed of traffic and lack of facilities at danger points.
Answer
In December the Scottish Executive published guidance on Safer Routes to School. Copies of the guidance have been sent to each local authority and every school in Scotland. The purpose of the guidance is to provide a tool kit of measures which can be used to remove barriers to children walking and cycling to and from school.I intend to commence shortly the Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997 in Scotland. Once commenced, local authorities will be required to produce a report to assess existing levels of traffic on their roads, forecast expected growth in these levels and set targets for reducing levels of road traffic.I am in the process of commissioning a pilot study of Home Zones in Scotland. One of the aims of the study will be to assess the effectiveness of a range of techniques, including speed reducing and traffic calming measures, that roads authorities may use to implement Home Zones. Another aim of the research is to evaluate the extent to which the broad quality of life aims of Home Zones can be achieved within existing legislation.The Scottish Executive is currently evaluating the effectiveness of 20mph pilot projects implemented in a number of local authority areas throughout Scotland in 1998. The pilot projects are testing the effectiveness of 20mph schemes which do not include the use of relatively expensive engineering measures to force down the speed of traffic. The final results will be available in September and the final report published soon after.The Scottish Executive and the UK Government published on I March a GB strategy to reduce road traffic casualties. Among other things, the strategy includes measures to protect vulnerable road users such as children, pedestrians and cyclists.
