- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 20 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what permanent measures have been put in place to monitor the future impact of the foot-and-mouth disease burial site at Birkshaw on the local environment and specifically on the River Annan.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25708.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 20 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis has been made of the impact of the foot-and-mouth disease burial site at Birkshaw on the local environment and specifically on the River Annan.
Answer
The site used for burial of carcasses was the subject of risk assessment by all the relevant authorities before it was constructed to ensure that it was suitable in terms of its hydrology, geology and topography. Since the site was identified, the surrounding surface water environment, including the River Annan, has been subject to regular monitoring by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Within the boundaries of the site, groundwater monitoring is undertaken by independent environmental consultants in close co-operation and in full consultation with SEPA. SEPAs on-going monitoring of watercourses draining the site has at no time identified any pollution from the burial pits. Consequently, SEPA confirms that there have been no pollution incidents arising in the River Annan or its tributaries from the buried carcasses.Additional to SEPA's general statutory responsibility to monitor ground water quality, they will continue to carry out monitoring of surface waters around the site until they judge that they can return to a standard frequency of monitoring.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 17 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will respond to the recent letter from Mr Watrett of Dumfries to the First Minister in connection with the planning system.
Answer
A reply issued from the Chief Inquiry Reporter on 10 May 2002.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has evaluated the effectiveness of the SCOOT traffic management system deployed in Dumfries town centre; if so, what the results of this evaluation were and, if not, what plans it has to carry out or commission any such evaluation.
Answer
No. The SCOOT traffic management system deployed in Dumfries town centre is not on the trunk road network and it is the responsibility of the local road authority to monitor and assess its effectiveness.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out or commissioned any independent audit of the effectiveness of town centre traffic management arrangements instigated by local authorities and, if not, how it monitors such arrangements.
Answer
No. It is the responsibility of local authorities to monitor and assess the effectiveness of their traffic management arrangements.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 17 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) males and (b) females have gained permanent employment as a result of the modern apprenticeship scheme.
Answer
All Modern Apprentices (MAs) must have employed status to participate in the MA programme.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 17 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of the people undertaking modern apprenticeships are (a) male and (b) female.
Answer
There are currently 23,281 modern apprentices in training of which 16,105 (69%) are male and 7,127 (31%) female.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is of the leaflet promoting the completion of the M74.
Answer
The cost of designing and printing the leaflet was £13,220.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements are planned to the Freight Facilities Grants scheme in the light of statements in the recent report by MDS Transmodal, which it commissioned, regarding taxpayers' value for money.
Answer
We will carefully consider the recommendations within the report to ensure that an integrated and sustainable freight transport system continues to be developed for Scotland.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its civil servants work on rail matters exclusively and how many on road matters exclusively.
Answer
Precise information on the numbers of staff working exclusively on road and rail matters is not available. The following table provides a general picture of the numbers of civil servants working in areas within the Development Department which have responsibility for road and rail matters.In addition to staff working within these areas there will be staff working within other core departments and agencies with close links to road and rail matters, and also staff working in areas indirectly related to road and rail matters.Count of Civil Servants by Area Related to Road and Rail Matters, April 2002
| Division | Staff |
| Trunk Roads Design and Construction Division | 47 |
| Road Network Management and Maintenance Division | 52 |
| Transport Divisions | 65 |
