- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 20 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Hunter Foundation and the City of Edinburgh Council about the 20:20 Vision programme, in light of the council’s proposal to close both Wester Hailes Education Centre and Castlebrae Community High School which are recipients of funding from the programme.
Answer
We have regular discussionswith the City of Edinburgh Council and the Hunter Foundation about theon-going delivery of the 20:20 project in the city. We understand that theCouncil will not be pursuing the decision they took on 23 August 2007 to consultregarding whether to close these schools.
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will discuss with City of Edinburgh Council options for partial housing stock transfers to community-based housing associations with a view to achieving debt write-off and new investment in social housing in the city.
Answer
I recently metwith the City of Edinburgh Council where a number ofhousing related matters were discussed, including investment in social housingin the city.
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 June 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Bruce Crawford on 26 July 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish a list of all requests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 which were received by it from MSPs who were members of the SNP parliamentary group in the last Parliament and which were refused in whole or in part, showing the (a) name of member, (b) subject matter of the inquiry, (c) date of the request, (d) date of the refusal and (e) reason given for the refusal.
Answer
A summary of all therequests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002which have been received from MSPs who were members on the SNP parliamentarygroup in the last Parliament which have been centrally recorded within the Scottish Executive is provided in a table entitled Summary of requests under Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 notified to the Scottish Executive Freedom of Information Unit from MSPs who were members of the SNP parliamentary group in thelast parliament. A copy of this summary has been placed in the Parliament’sReference Centre (Bib. number 43260). The summary shows the MSP’s name; summaryof the request and the date of the request. Additionally, where the informationis centrally held, the summary includes the date of the response; the outcomeas to release of the information; and the reason for refusal.
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 1 March 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the principle of road pricing in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does notsupport penalising motorists.
There will be no Scotland-wideor UK-wide road pricing in the next four years during the lifetime of the next Parliament.
We will continue to invest inpublic transport across Scotland to reduce congestion and encourage people out of theircars.
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 21 December 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it continues to support the policy of housing stock transfer and, if so, whether it will work with councils to develop alternative models for stock transfer in areas where ballots have rejected stock transfer proposals.
Answer
Transfer remains a key optionfor councils to secure substantial new housing investment for the benefit of theirtenants. If councils in areas where whole stock transfer has been rejected now wishto examine alternative models for transfer, we will consider their proposals.
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings it has had with councillors and officials from the City of Edinburgh Council to discuss an alternative strategy for affordable housing in the city, following the rejection of housing stock transfer, and what commitments it has made to the council in terms of securing debt write-offs and providing financial support as part of such a strategy
Answer
The Scottish Executive has beenin regular contact with the City of Edinburgh Council since the outcome of the stocktransfer ballot in December 2005.
I had a formal meeting with the Executive member for community safety and housing on 22 December 2005 and have had anumber of informal discussions thereafter.
Officials from Communities Scotlandand the Scottish Executive have also been in on-going dialogue with their counterpartsin the Council following the ballot result. Discussions have focussed on how theCity of Edinburgh Council will meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by 2015.
The council has not yet decidedwhat its long term strategy will be, and no financial commitments have been agreed.
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 2 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has made to celebrate the 300th anniversary in 2007 of the Act of Union and when it will announce a programme of events and other commemorative activities.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is intendingto support this anniversary through a range of events planned by our NationalAgencies. Discussions are still on-going so a more detailed response will beissued in due course.
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it welcomes the decision of Tesco to reward customers who use alternatives to plastic bags.
Answer
We welcome moves by retailersto reduce the unnecessary use of plastic bags and to reduce packaging generally.
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 19 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-27328 by Hugh Henry on 1 September 2006, how much funding has been allocated to each local authority for noise nuisance teams in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Answer
In 2005-06, 22 local authorities applied for grant fundingto cover resource and equipment requirements for the provision of an antisocialnoise service, increasing to 25 authorities in 2006-07. The following tables showthe amounts allocated to each local authority under the Antisocial Behaviour NeighbourNoise Grant Scheme, based on bids received. The tables do not show the actual amountspaid, as these were and are dependent on invoices received.
| Local Authority | Amount Offered 2005-06 |
| Aberdeen | £415,000.00 |
| Angus | £189,020.00 |
| Argyll and Bute | £26,600.00 |
| Clackmannanshire | £51,900.00 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | £183,872.00 |
| East Lothian | £105,742.00 |
| East Renfrewshire | £125,291.00 |
| Edinburgh | £895,613.00 |
| Falkirk | £124,400.00 |
| Glasgow | £802,911.00 |
| Inverclyde | £55,090.00 |
| Midlothian | £93,300.00 |
| Total Ayrshire: North Ayrshire South Ayrshire East Ayrshire | £234,388.00 |
| North Lanarkshire | £362,002.00 |
| Orkney Isles | £52,947.00 |
| Perth and Kinross | £336,339.00 |
| Renfrewshire | £100,600.00 |
| South Lanarkshire | £373,300.00 |
| West Dunbartonshire | £130,700.00 |
| West Lothian | £302,600.00 |
| Total | £4,961,615.00 |
| Local Authority | Amount Offered 2006-07 |
| Aberdeen | £260,100.00 |
| Angus | £119,075.40 |
| Argyll and Bute | £82,080.00 |
| Clackmannanshire and Stirling | £207,000.00 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | £162,686.70 |
| Dundee | £554,097.60 |
| East Dunbartonshire | £255,042.00 |
| East Lothian | £78,300.00 |
| East Renfrewshire | £129,348.00 |
| Edinburgh | £654,170.40 |
| Falkirk | £115,623.90 |
| Fife | £477,000.00 |
| Glasgow | £512,325.00 |
| Inverclyde | £17,220.15 |
| Midlothian | £89,086.50 |
| Total Ayrshire: North Ayrshire South Ayrshire East Ayrshire | £247,936.50 |
| North Lanarkshire | £315,125.10 |
| Perth and Kinross | £258,486.30 |
| Renfrewshire | £73,800.00 |
| South Lanarkshire | £276,444.90 |
| West Dunbartonshire | £180,000.00 |
| West Lothian | £213,098.40 |
| Total | £5,278,046.85 |
- Asked by: David McLetchie, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 1 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many fixed penalty notices for noise nuisance have been issued in each year since their introduction, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The number of fixed penalty noticesfor noise nuisance under the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act2004, for each local authority area during the period April 2005 to end March 2006is provided in the following table. There are a total of 25 local authorities whohave applied for funding for noise nuisance teams. These teams have been set upprogressively over this period as shown in the following table.
| Local Authority | Number of Fixed Penalty Notices | Date Noise Nuisance Teams Introduced |
| Aberdeen | 29 | 20 June 2005 |
| Aberdeenshire | 0 | N/A |
| Angus | 0 | 1 July 2005 |
| Argyll and Bute | 0 | 7 November 2005 |
| Clackmannanshire | 0 | 13 July 2006 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 5 | 1 April 2005 |
| Dundee | 0 | 29 May 2006 |
| East Ayrshire | 8 | 1 September 2005 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 0 | 25 July 2006 |
| East Lothian | 0 | 1 April 2005 |
| East Renfrewshire | 0 | 22 August 2005 |
| Edinburgh | 35 | 1 April 2005 |
| Falkirk | 0 | 1 August 2005 |
| Fife | 0 | 2 July 2006 |
| Glasgow | 24 | 4 May 2005 |
| Highland | 0 | N/A |
| Inverclyde | 0 | 1 October 2005 |
| Midlothian | 2 | 1 October 2006 |
| Moray | 0 | N/A |
| North Ayrshire | 4 | 1 July 2005 |
| North Lanarkshire | 0 | 2 May 2005 |
| Orkney Isles | 0 | 1 February 2006 – 31 March 2006 (Ran a pilot) |
| Perth and Kinross | 0 | 10 July 2006 |
| Renfrewshire | 0 | 1 June 2005 |
| Scottish Borders | 0 | N/A |
| Shetland Islands | 0 | N/A |
| South Ayrshire | 0 | 2 August 2005 |
| South Lanarkshire | 9 | 6 June 2005 |
| Stirling | 0 | 13 July 2006 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 7 | 21 November 2005 |
| Western Isles | 0 | N/A |
| West Lothian | 0 | 8 August 2005 |
