- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 5 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when the review of the legislation governing burial and cremation that it announced on 19 July 2002 is expected.
Answer
The review of legislation is being taken forward in a two-stage process. The first phase involves the early introduction of amended cremation regulations to address the specific issues identified by the Independent Review Group on Retention of Organs at Post-Mortem.The second phase will involve establishing an external working group to prepare a more comprehensive consultation paper which identifies the issues and options for change, taking appropriate account of the relevant outcomes of the Shipman Inquiry. Details of the membership and remit of the working group will be announced in due course.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 4 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27648 by Hugh Henry on 22 August 2002, whether the review by Communities Scotland of financial procedures and practices in relation to the Social Inclusion Partnership programme has been completed and, if it is not, when it will be completed.
Answer
Communities Scotland assumed responsibility for the Social Inclusion Partnership Fund from 1 November 2001. An initial review of procedures to ensure that the programme was incorporated effectively into the agency systems has now been completed. General financial procedures and practices in relation to the Social Inclusion Partnership programme are kept under constant review.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 4 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27964 by Hugh Henry on 5 September 2002, whether each local authority listed has now (a) set up registers of interest for Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) board members and (b) made all such registers available for public scrutiny.
Answer
Eleven of the 17 authorities listed in the answer to question S1W-27964 have confirmed that registers of interest for SIP board members are in place and available for public scrutiny. Fife and Inverclyde councils are at an advanced stage in preparing registers of interest and plan to make these available for public scrutiny pending ratification by board members. The following six authorities have not yet set up registers of interest:Argyll and ButeEast RenfrewshirePerth and KinrossRenfrewshireScottish BordersStirlingIt is expected that these authorities will have registers in place by 1 April 2003.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Des McNulty on 26 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the results of the survey "Public Attitudes Towards Wind Farms in Scotland" have been used as part of the decision-making process in (a) local authority planning committees and (b) public inquiries in respect of the location of wind farms
Answer
Information on the considerations of local authority planning committees is not held centrally. Only one wind farm public inquiry has taken place since the survey was published. This case is currently with the Scottish ministers for decision.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Des McNulty on 26 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authority planning departments have been advised that paragraph 32 in National Planning Policy Guideline NPPG6: Renewable Energy Developments and paragraph 70, including Case Study No 5, in Planning Advice Note 45: Renewable Energy Technologies should be disregarded as the survey "Public Attitudes Towards Wind Farms in Scotland" has been withdrawn
Answer
Public concern over residential and local amenity must be addressed on a case-by-case basis so the contents of these paragraphs are still very relevant. We will shortly write to planning authorities confirming that new research has now been commissioned to provide a more up to date picture even though it is not considered that the key conclusions of the previous survey are materially affected by the sampling error.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Des McNulty on 26 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the results of the survey "Public Attitudes Towards Wind Farms in Scotland" were used as part of the decision-making process for the re-drafting of planning guidelines in respect of the location of wind farms.
Answer
The survey was not a significant consideration when National Planning Policy Guideline 6: Renewable Energy Developments was revised. Paragraph 32 of the guideline refers to the research in the context of highlighting the importance of ensuring that local residents are kept informed of individual proposals.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 24 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what grid references were used to identify the wind power sites at Hagshaw Hill, Bein Ghlass, Novar and Windy Standard for sampling purposes in the survey "Public Attitudes Towards Wind Farms in Scotland" and how many people were interviewed at each of the four sites and in each of the 5 km, 10 km, and 20 km proximity 'ones.
Answer
The grid references used to identify the four wind farms were:
| Hagshaw Hill | NS780300 |
| Bein Ghlass | NM970259 |
| Novar | NH610670 |
| Windy Standard | NS620010 |
An incorrect grid reference was used to identify Novar wind farm. The correct grid reference for Novar wind farm is NH570710.The following table shows the number of respondents interviewed, using the correct grid reference, within each of the proximity zones at each of the four wind farms.
| Wind Farm | 0-5 km | 5-10 km | 10-20 km | Total |
| Hagshaw Hill | 8 | 22 | 38 | 68 |
| Bein Ghlass | | 45 | 17 | 62 |
| Novar | | 207 | 24 | 231 |
| Windy Standard | | 27 | 3 | 30 |
| Total | 8 | 301 | 82 | 391 |
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 24 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-32809 by Ross Finnie on 13 January 2003, who is undertaking the new survey on public attitudes towards wind farms
Answer
Following a competitive tender process, a contract to undertake the new survey has been awarded to MORI.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 24 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether parties likely to become involved in applications to build wind farms have been advised that the survey "Public Attitudes Towards Wind Farms in Scotland" has been withdrawn and that references to this survey should be deleted from planning applications
Answer
Industry representative bodies were informed about the error in the data used in undertaking the survey. The content of applications for planning consent is a matter for those submitting the application.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 24 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to publicise the withdrawal of the survey "Public Attitudes Towards Wind Farms in Scotland"
Answer
A message explaining the action that the Executive had taken was placed on the Scottish Executive website. My officials also notified the industry representative bodies.
