- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation and representations it has had with the Meteorological Office with regard to the radar station located on the site of the proposed wind farm at Whitelees Forest.
Answer
Defence Estates submitted a representation on behalf of the Meteorological Office in response to the consultation on the application by ScottishPower to build a wind farm at Whitelee Forest. The Meteorological Office's concerns are about the possible impact of the proposed wind farm on the operations of the Corse Hill weather radar. Officials from my department have subsequently twice met officials from the Meteorological Office to discuss these concerns and will maintain contact with them as long as this matter remains unresolved.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of ScottishPower's renewables obligation will be met by the proposed wind farm at Whitelees Forest.
Answer
The way in which ScottishPower meets its obligation under the Renewables Obligation Scotland is a commercial matter for that company.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much electricity generation has been cut at Cocken'ie and Longannet power stations as a direct consequence of generation from wind power.
Answer
It is not possible to calculate this precisely. Coal fired generation is flexible, and varies in response to the demand on the electricity network. The Renewables Obligations Scotland sets specific targets for renewables which can be assumed to displace generation (and hence emissions) from coal fired plant.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25833 by Lewis Macdonald on 27 May 2002, whether it will publish the results of the consultation exercise relating to the proposed wind farm at Whitelees Forest.
Answer
The issues raised in the course of the consultation are still under consideration. When the matter is determined the reasons for that determination will be published.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25833 by Lewis Macdonald on 27 May 2002, whether it will institute a public inquiry to examine issues surrounding the planning application for a proposed wind farm at Whitelees Forest.
Answer
This matter is still under consideration and whether it will be referred to a public local inquiry will be determined in due course.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many sites utilising wind turbines are currently operational; what the generation capacity of each site is and what amount was generated by each site in 2001 and so far in 2002.
Answer
There are 14 wind turbine developments currently registered with the electricity regulator (Ofgem) as accredited generating stations under the Renewables Obligation Scotland. Details are contained in the table. Information about electricity generation by individual site is not available at present.
| Generating Site | Installed Generating Capacity (MW) | Developer | Location |
| Beinn an Tuirc | 30 | CRE Energy Ltd | Carradale, Mull of Kintyre |
| Beinn Ghlas | 8.4 | National Wind Power Ltd | Taynuilt, Argyll |
| Burradale | 1.98 | Shetland Aerogenerators Ltd | Burradale Hill, Shetland |
| Deucheran Hill | 15 | Powergen Renewables | Campbeltown, Mull of Kintyre |
| Dun Law | 17.16 | CRE Energy Ltd | By Oxton, Lauder, Berwickshire |
| East Kilbride | 0.6 | Merchant Wind Park (East Kilbride) Ltd | Langlands Industrial Estate, East Kilbride |
| Fair Isle | 0.16 | Fair Isle Electricity Company Ltd | Fair Isle |
| Windy Standard (Gallow Rig and Polwhat Rig) | 21.6 | National Wind Power Ltd | Carsphairn, Dumfries and Galloway |
| Hagshaw Hill | 15.6 | CRE Energy Ltd | Hagshaw Hill, Douglas. |
| Hare Hill | 13 | CRE Energy Ltd | New Cumnock, Ayrshire |
| Liniclate | 0.06 | Element Engineering | Liniclate, Isle of Benbecula |
| Novar (Bendealt and Meal an Turic) | 17 | National Wind Power Ltd | Evanton, Ross-shire |
| Myres Hill | 1.9 | Thorfinn Wind "A" Ltd | Test site, near Eaglesham, Glasgow |
| Thorfinn | 2.7 | NEG Mikon Ltd | Evie, Orkney |
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive when a decision will be made in respect of the proposed wind farm at Whitelees Forest.
Answer
The issues raised in the course of the consultation are still under consideration. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28169 today.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation has taken place with the European Commission with regard to the proposed wind farm at Whitelees Forest and the effects on the six bird species which Scottish Power has confirmed are present on Eaglesham Moor, given that the birds' priority habitat or species is defined in Article 1 of the European Habitats Directive and are listed under EC directive 79/409/EEC as needing special protection.
Answer
There is no requirement on the Scottish Executive to consult the European Commission on this issue since the area is not designated as being of national or international importance for bird species or habitats. Scottish Natural Heritage was among the bodies consulted about the environmental impact of the proposed wind farm and has welcomed the developer's proposal to put in place a Habitat Management Plan with the aim of enhancing the existing peatland habitat across the moor, which they believe should contribute towards the offsetting of any local adverse impact.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 30 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior civil service appointments in the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Administration in each of the last five years were exceptions, approved by the Civil Service Commissioners, to appointment on merit on the basis of a fair and open competition, broken down by (i) secondments, (ii) re-appointments, (iii) appointments without competition of up to two years, (iv) any other short-term appointments made without open competition, (v) extension of fixed-term contracts and (vi) transfers from other public services.
Answer
Over the past five years only one exception has been recorded in 1998-99 under (i) above.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 July 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 28 August 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it plans to give to the Scottish Ambulance Service and, in particular, to the ambulance service in Lanarkshire to help them to overcome any problems they currently face.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has provided the Scottish Ambulance Service with an allocation of £108.783 million for 2002-03, an increase of 7.4% on last year. The indicative allocations for 2003-04 and 2004-05 provide for further uplifts of 7.4% in each year. These represent unprecedented levels of investment and reflect our support for the service's modernisation agenda. Across Scotland these increased resources will support the improvement of the service's operations rooms functions, the roll-out of priority based dispatch, the conversion of a number of part-time ambulance stations to full-time and the introduction of dedicated non-emergency transport services for renal dialysis patients. The service plans to employ around 200 additional staff over the next two years to support these developments.How these improvements are rolled-out across Scotland and how these additional staff are deployed are operational matters for the Scottish Ambulance Service and its divisions. For Lanarkshire, this means an additional 10 accident and emergency staff this financial year to help alleviate the problems of uncovered shifts. They will be fully trained and operational by mid-September. Over the next two years, the service will also be providing an additional 24 front-line paramedic vehicle crew staff for priority based dispatch. These two initiatives represent a 23% increase in current staff establishment. Another step which has been taken in Lanarkshire is the introduction of revised shift rotas to provide more effective cover. These rotas are constantly reviewed to ensure that resources match demand. The merger of the Glasgow and Motherwell operations (control) rooms (at Glasgow) in October will also allow for better deployment of emergency ambulances in the Lanarkshire area, since the merger will enable the operations rooms staff to know immediately where the emergency resources are across the area.The Scottish Executive monitors the performance of the Scottish Ambulance Service and holds the service to account through the Accountability Review process supported by the Performance Assessment Framework. The issues surrounding performance within the West Central Division, including Lanarkshire, were discussed at the Accountability Review meeting on Monday 5 August 2002. Response times performance across the six divisions of the service shall continue to be monitored by the department.
