- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a local authority is legally competent to manage its allotments if it has no regulations for that purpose that have been confirmed by the Scottish Ministers in terms of section 6(1) of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-30799 on 21 January 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers are available to compel a local authority to comply with its statutory management obligations under section 10(2) of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1950 and sections 7(5) and 11 of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892.
Answer
If a local authority fails to comply with its mandatory obligations regarding management of allotments, it could be liable to legal action if those concerned decide to pursue this to compel the local authority to fulfil those obligations.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers are available to compel a local authority to cease invoicing its tenants in advance for more than 25% of allotment rents, as provided for in section 10(2) of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1950.
Answer
Under section 10(2) of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1950, a tenant cannot be required to pay more than 25% of annual rent in advance, unless the rent is £1 or less. However, the legislation does not prevent a local authority from invoicing a tenant for the full sum.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers are available to compel a local authority to prepare and publish the annual statement of receipts and expenditure for its allotments required by section 14 of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892.
Answer
Section 14 of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892 requires that an annual statement is made available for inspection. It does not formally require the publication of the statement. If a local authority fails to comply with its obligations, it could be liable to legal action if those concerned decide to pursue this to compel the local authority to fulfil those obligations.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-31590 by John Swinney on 12 February 2010, what powers are available to compel a local authority to comply with its obligation under section 7(5) of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892 to demolish unauthorised buildings on an allotment.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31821 on 10 March 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the powers conferred on English and Welsh local authorities by the Clean Neighbourhood and Environments Act 2005 and, if so, how they compare with the equivalent powers of Scottish local authorities.
Answer
Scottish Government has looked at some of the provisions of the act in relation to equivalent powers available to Scottish local authorities under other legislation. However, no overall assessment has been made.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 4 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review legislation in relation to wheelie bins being left permanently on pavements.
Answer
Scottish Government has no plans to review legislation in relation to wheelie bins left permanently on pavements. Local authorities have the power to issue notices and fixed penalties under Section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act (1990) and there has been no indication from local authorities that this provision is insufficient in tackling this issue.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 4 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the powers available to local authorities in relation to wheelie bins being left permanently on pavements.
Answer
Scottish Government has made no assessment of the powers available to local authorities in relation to wheelie bins left permanently on pavements. Local authorities have the power to issue notices and fixed penalties under Section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act (1990) and there has been no indication from local authorities that this provision is insufficient in tackling this issue.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs there have been in the oil and gas industry in each year since 1997.
Answer
The following table reports employment levels in the oil and gas sector in Scotland and Great Britain between 1997 and 2008. The latest data available are for 2008.
| | Scotland |
| Extraction of Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas | Service Activities Incidental to Oil and Gas Extraction Excluding Surveying | Total |
| 1997 | 8,500 | 13,100 | 21,600 |
| 1998 | 8,800 | 13,200 | 22,000 |
| 1999 | 8,300 | 13,400 | 21,700 |
| 2000 | 7,500 | 12,200 | 19,700 |
| 2001 | 7,100 | 12,400 | 19,500 |
| 2002 | 6,400 | 12,400 | 18,800 |
| 2003 | 7,400 | 11,100 | 18,500 |
| 2004 | 7,900 | 11,000 | 18,900 |
| 2005 | 8,900 | 12,300 | 21,200 |
| 2006 | 7,500 | 14,400 | 21,900 |
| 2007 | 7,700 | 14,300 | 22,000 |
| 2008 | 7,100 | 15,900 | 23,000 |
| | Great Britain |
| Extraction of Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas | Service Activities Incidental to Oil and Gas Extraction Excluding Surveying | Total |
| 1997 | 13,800 | 17,000 | 30,800 |
| 1998 | 15,800 | 16,000 | 31,800 |
| 1999 | 13,700 | 16,400 | 30,100 |
| 2000 | 12,700 | 17,200 | 29,900 |
| 2001 | 12,400 | 16,700 | 29,100 |
| 2002 | 11,400 | 15,200 | 26,600 |
| 2003 | 12,400 | 13,200 | 25,600 |
| 2004 | 12,700 | 13,900 | 26,600 |
| 2005 | 13,800 | 14,300 | 28,100 |
| 2006 | 13,000 | 17,200 | 30,200 |
| 2007 | 13,300 | 16,000 | 29,300 |
| 2008 | 12,800 | 17,700 | 30,500 |
Source: Annual Employment Survey rescaled 1997, Office for National Statistics, Annual Business Inquiry 1998-2008, Office for National Statistics
Notes:
1. Data have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
2. Estimates for 2005 and earlier are on a different basis to those from 2006 onwards, mainly due to a change in the survey reference date “ this may give rise to discontinuities. More information is available from: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/news/files/ABI2006discontinuities.doc.
3. The data for 2003 onwards is based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2003 which differs from previous years Annual Business Inquiry data (based on SIC 1992) “ this may give rise to discontinuities. More details are available from:
http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/ref/abi/ETApr03Jones.pdf.
These figures relate to direct jobs only. The representative body, Oil and Gas UK, estimate that in 2008 the industry supported around 195,000 jobs in Scotland. This comprised 24,500 directly employed by oil and gas companies, plus around 94,000 within the wider supply chain, with another 36,500 jobs supported by the economic activity induced by employees'' spending. In addition, export activities were estimated to support a further 40,000 jobs.
- Asked by: Nanette Milne, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 12 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether an allotment tenant has a right of appeal against a local authority decision to demolish and remove unauthorised buildings from the allotment.
Answer
Section 7 of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892 provides that no building other than one of a specified type (such as a tool-house or shed) may be erected on an allotment. It obliges a local authority to pull down any other building. Tenants are given no right of appeal against such demolition.
