- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 24 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Northern Ireland Executive regarding its tender process for the introduction of 100% broadband coverage in Northern Ireland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is in discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on a wide rangeof matters, including broadband.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 18 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the proposals by Amey Highways Ltd to increase the number of winter maintenance patrols on the A76 and A701.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has asked Amey Highways Ltd to prepare a business case for introducingwinter maintenance patrols on the A76 and A701. The Executive will considerAmey’s proposals and make a decision based on the merits of the case before the2003-04 winter period.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 17 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances the flying of a national flag would breach any of the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984.
Answer
Those regulations (asamended) provide for the control of the display of advertisements in Scotland.The regulations specify the types of advertisement that are exempt fromcontrol, those that may be displayed with “deemed consent” and those whichrequire to be the subject of applications for express consent to displayadvertisements, within the interpretation of "advertisement" given inthe regulations. It would be a breach of advertisement control to fly any flagfalling within that definition where any necessary consent has not beenobtained.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Duncan McNeil on 16 September 2003
To ask the Presiding Officer what the policy of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is on the employment or placement of people with learning difficulties.
Answer
The Scottish Parliamentary CorporateBody (SPCB) does not have a formal policy on the employment of people with learningdifficulties. The SPCB recruits on the basis of fair and open competition. However,officials are actively working towards the SPCB becoming a user of the Jobcentredisability symbol Positive about Disabled People to ensure a better representationof disabled candidates, including those with learning difficulties.
We also consider and accommodate,where possible, requests for work placements for individuals with disabilities,including those with learning difficulties.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 8 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how businesses in the south of Scotland will directly benefit from its Broadband Pathfinder project.
Answer
The Pathfinder Projects areaimed at broadband service provision for the public sector. Potentially, thesupplier’s investment in broadband infrastructure in the South of ScotlandPathfinder area may also result in broadband being made available to businessand the wider community, but this would be a decision for the supplier.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for the planned improvements to the A75.
Answer
Further to the answer to question S1W-30886 on 19 November 2002 and subject to the satisfactory completion of the statutory procedures the current position on the A75 planned improvements is:
| Cairntop to Barlae | Construction start programmed for autumn 2004 |
| Newton Stewart (DAL) Differential Acceleration Lane | Construction start programmed for summer 2004 |
| Barfil to Bettyknowes | Construction start programmed for winter 2003-04 |
| Planting End to Drumflower | Construction start programmed for autumn 2004 |
| Dunragit Realignment | Construction start programmed for autumn 2006 |
| Hardgrove to Kinmount | Construction start programmed for autumn 2006 |
The Cairntop to Barlae scheme has encountered poor ground conditions and as a consequence will require a redesign and the publication of additional statutory orders.
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/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the economic impact of increased water charges on small businesses in the south of Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has not made such an assessment. However, the Water Industry Commissioner provided an economic assessment for Scotland as a whole in the Strategic Charges Review, following which ministers set the revenue cap forScottish Water and decided that charges should be harmonised across Scotland andreflect the costs of provision of water and sewerage services. Under the WaterIndustry (Scotland) Act 2002, it is then for Scottish Water and the WaterIndustry Commissioner to decide the level of individual charges for particulargroups of customers within the framework set by ministers.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 August 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-6679 by Ross Finnie on 20 March 2003, what progress has been made in developing a national disposal scheme for fallen stock.
Answer
Following further negotiations with industry organisations, the other devolved administrations and DEFRA a revised financial framework has been agreed and an announcement was made on 24 July that a UK-wide national scheme would be set-up. This will be administered by a company limited by guarantee which will have industry and official representation on the board. The projected date for starting the scheme is January 2004 and officials and industry representatives will focus on finalising operational rules and other details in the run up to that date.Establishing a UK service has been a main objective for the Executive for many months and I very much hope that producers will take full advantage of the central funding being directed to address the problem of disposal of fallen stock and subscribe to this scheme.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 21 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it, or any of its agencies or non-departmental public bodies have used the construction management method of procurement and, if so, what the client, project and (a) expected and (b) actual timescales for, and costs of, delivery were in each case.
Answer
The construction management procurement route is suited to large, complex projects where aspects of the briefing and design are incomplete at the commencement of site works. No projects of this nature, using this procurement route, have been completed in recent years by the Executive or its Agencies and associated departments.Information in respect of projects completed by non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2F-84 by Mr Jack McConnell on 12 June 2003, how many responses it has received to its consultation on a long-term solution for the management of radioactive waste and when the consultation will be completed.
Answer
The Executive received 25 responses to the consultation document
Managing Radioactive Waste Safely: proposals for developing a policy for managing solid radioactive waste in the UK, which ran from 12 September 2001 to 12 March 2002. The consultation was undertaken jointly with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the devolved administrations for Wales and Northern Ireland. Three hundred and thirty responses were received in total across the UK, and
Managing Radioactive Waste Safely: Summary of responses to the consultation September 2001 - March 2002 was published in July 2002 and was placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 22822) at the time.I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27786 on 29 July 2002 which announced how we planned to take forward jointly the consultation process, including the establishment of an independent body to oversee the review of waste options and make recommendations to ministers. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) is currently being established and we recently announced the appointment of Katharine Bryan to the position of Chair of CoRWM. 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/webapp/search_wa.
