- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 20 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that funding made available to finance core path planning by local authorities is adequate, given that the core path planning process which is due to be completed by 2008 has not started in approximately 50% of the Perth and Kinross Council area and that funding for one of the council’s Access Officer posts is due to end in March 2007.
Answer
Drawing up a plan of core pathsby February 2008 is a statutory obligation for local authorities under the LandReform (Scotland) Act 2003. Failure to meet statutory obligations is notan option for local authorities. This is a matter of prioritising within availablefunding consistent with the general principles of the local government funding arrangements.The top priority for local authorities must be to fulfil their statutory obligations.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 20 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has made available to finance core path planning by local authorities, as required by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.
Answer
At the time of the introductionof the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, and with the agreement of COSLA, provisionof £7.4/£8.1 million was reallocated to the GAE line for the Remainder of Leisureand Recreation, to help fund access from 2004-05. These sums were intended to makeprovision for funding of core path planning as well as other access functions. Theyare not ring fenced but part of the block grant the Executive provides to localauthorities. Each local authority is responsible for deciding how best to allocatetheir share of the block grant based on their local needs and priorities.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 20 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will fund the implementation and future maintenance of core paths once they have been identified, taking into account the ongoing need to resolve access complaints arising from the planning process in respect of such paths.
Answer
Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act2003 gives access authorities the power to undertake the maintenance of core paths.Exercise of that power is a matter for the discretion of individual authoritiesand they will need to determine the extent of any such activity on the basis oftheir assessment of local needs and priorities and having regard to the availabilityof funds within their overall budget. Funding for work on paths is also availablefrom other sources, including land management contracts under the Scottish RuralDevelopment Programme. Decisions on funding for local government and other programmesbeyond 2007-08 are a matter for the next Spending Review which is due to take placenext year.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for work to be carried out on homes of older and disabled owner-occupiers under Care and Repair schemes, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
These data are not collectedcentrally. However, work is in hand to improve local data and performancemanagement systems, following a review of indicators last year by the Care andRepair Working Group.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 4 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether supply under Care and Repair schemes is meeting demand for aids and adaptations to homes of older and disabled owner-occupiers.
Answer
Demand for housingadaptations for older and disabled people, including owner-occupiers, isdetermined on the basis of the number of people with an assessed need. Assessmentis normally carried out by an occupational therapist, on behalf of the localauthority.
Details of the number ofclients assisted by Care and Repair projects in Scotland are published annuallyin Care and Repair in Scotland: National Indicators, copies of which areavailable from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40258).
However, information on thenumber of owner-occupiers assessed as requiring some form of housing adaptationis not collected centrally.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 9 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of research by the Energy Institute indicating that the number of petrol stations in Scotland has almost halved since 1990 from 1,723 to 970, resulting in job losses and causing congestion as drivers travel further to fill up, and what action the Executive will take to address the issue.
Answer
We are aware of the researchquoted in
The Scotsman on 13 May. The Energy Institute’s figures are,however, at variance with the latest data produced by the Office for NationalStatistics, which show that the number of petrol stations operating across Scotland fellfrom about 880 in November 1999 to approximately 700 in November 2004.
Since 1998-99, the Scottish Executive’sRural Transport Fund has spent £57.7m to improve transport services in ruralareas. In addition to providing grants to rural petrolstations to help with the capital costs of fuel supply infrastructure, the Fundis also helping to reduce people’s need for private transport by funding newand improved public and community transport services in rural areas.
Urban areas which have ahigher concentration of petrol stations also benefit from a wider and morefrequent range of bus and rail services which reduce the need to rely onprivate transport.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 9 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Rural Petrol Stations Grant Scheme is succeeding in its aim of supporting the retention of a sustainable and accessible network of fuel supply throughout rural Scotland and whether its budget of £400,000 for 2005-06 is adequate for this task.
Answer
Independent research in 2004found that the Rural Petrol Stations Grants Scheme was a successful scheme that had providedsubstantial social, economic and environmental benefits to many ruralcommunities in Scotland. The research also found that the scheme wasresponsible for almost all rural LPG provision in Scotland.
Although the 2005-06 budget forthe scheme was £400,000, actual spend amounted to almost £483,000, with theexcess being funded from underspends elsewhere in the Transport budget. The2006-07 budget has been increased from the proposed £600,000 to £1 million tocope with the current high demand for the scheme.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 9 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it monitors the number of petrol outlets in rural areas; whether it has made any assessment of the impact of falling numbers on local communities, and whether it has given any consideration as to how this issue could be addressed.
Answer
We support the retention ofa sustainable and accessible network of fuel supply throughout rural Scotlandthrough the Executive’s Rural Petrol Stations Grants Scheme, which providesassistance towards essential capital expenditure on fuel supply infrastructureand involves regular assessments of local petrol retail services across Scotland.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 8 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average sentence has been in each of the last five years in respect of convictions for (a) egg collecting, (b) the use of poison to kill or attempt to kill protected species and (c) illegal possession of proscribed pesticides.
Answer
The available information isgiven in the table.
Persons with a Charge Provedin Scottish Courts for Selected Offences(1), 2000-01 to 2004-05
Offence | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 |
| Number: | | | | |
Egg Collecting(2) | 2 | 1 | - | 3 | - |
Kill or Attempt to Kill Protected Species(3) | - | 2 | - | - | 2 |
Illegal possession of Pesticides(4) | - | - | - | 1(5) | 1 |
| Average fine (£) | | | |
Egg Collecting(2) | 550 | 800 | - | 933 | - |
Kill or Attempt to Kill Protected Species(3) | - | 1250 | - | - | 975 |
Illegal Possession of Pesticides(4) | - | - | - | - | 1200 |
1. Where main offence.
2. Sections 1(1)(c),1(2)(b), 3(1)(a)(iii) and 6 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981.
3. Sections 5(1), 9, 11 and12 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. Use of poison specifically isnot separately identifiable in the data.
4. The Control of PesticidesRegulations R4(4)(a/b).
5. Offender admonished.
- Asked by: Roseanna Cunningham, MSP for Perth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 2 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that the legislative improvements made by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 are effective in deterring wildlife crime.
Answer
The Crown Office and ProcuratorFiscal Service has taken steps to enhance the effective prosecution of wildlife crime by establishing a network of wildlife specialist prosecutors who provideexpertise in wildlife law in Procurator Fiscal offices around Scotland. TheWildlife and Habitats Crime Prosecution Forum, involving representatives from thepolice and other agencies working on the investigation of wildlife crime, has alsobeen set up to identify any problems in achievingthe effective enforcement of wildlife and habitats policy.
The Scottish Executive has beeninvolved in a programme of joint training courses with the police service, dealingexclusively with wildlife crime issues and the recent legislative improvements.As chair of the Scottish Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime, the Executivehas produced a wide range of material to publicise the new legislation. This aimsto inform both the general public and key agencies of the measures contained inthe Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act, including the increased penalties now available.