- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 13 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis it was involved in the consideration of Highland Council planning application 05/00543/SL and what the reasons were for its position on the application.
Answer
Transport Scotland is astatutory consultee on planning applications adjacent to trunk roads. Followingfull consideration of this planning application Transport Scotland issueda recommendation to refuse based on the unsafe nature of the access with the trunkroad.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more informationif required.
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 13 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has monitored the costs to it and its agencies of handling requests for information made under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and, if so, what the costs have been and how they compare with the costs of handling requests estimated when the legislation was drafted.
Answer
Responding to requests for information has always been, and remains, part of the overall activities of all Executive staff. The resource implications of dealing with freedom of information requests has varied across the Executive but overall have not exceeded expectations. The period of preparation up until the act came into force was used effectively and has ensured that requests are dealt with without adverse impact on other areas of work.
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 12 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it offers any grants to individuals or businesses for satellite broadband in areas that are unable to receive cable broadband or whether it has any plans to offer such grants.
Answer
We do not currently operate sucha scheme.
The Executive is working withindependent technical consultants to examine the areas where individuals and businessesare out of reach of broadband, as well as the viability of potential technologicalsolutions, including satellite. The results of this work will be available shortlyand thereafter appropriate action will be taken.
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 5 September 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many bookings visitscotland.com has taken in 2006, also broken down by region.
Answer
The number of bookings that visitscotland.comhas taken between January and mid-August 2006 is shown in the following table, brokendown by VisitScotland local office area:
| Area | Bookings |
| Aberdeen and Grampian | 5,643 |
| Angus and Dundee | 1,431 |
| Argyll, Loch Lomond and Forth Valley | 13,337 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 3,324 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 2,639 |
| Edinburgh and Lothians | 20,948 |
| Fife | 3,435 |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley | 6,647 |
| Highlands | 24,691 |
| Orkney | 984 |
| Perthshire | 5,842 |
| Scottish Borders | 2,457 |
| Shetland | 567 |
| Western Isles | 1,122 |
| Total Bookings | 93,067 |
In addition, justunder 1,000 accommodation-inclusive holiday packages of various types have beenbooked on visitscotland.com so far this year. Examples include coach tours aroundScotland, as well as event-based packages includingaccommodation and a ticket to an event.
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 29 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the administration costs were of the Single Farm Payment scheme and how much funding was issued under the scheme last year.
Answer
The cost of administering theSingle Farm Payment and Support Schemes in 2005-06 (including the start-up costsin the first year of the scheme) was £4.142 million with the value of payments todate totalling £427.7 million (which includes £19.586 million paid through ScottishBeef Calf Scheme as a part of the CAP Reform project work).
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by George Lyon on 28 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many petrol stations licensed to sell alcohol will be granted “grandfather rights” during the transition phase of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.
Answer
Petrol stations whose local licensingboards determine as fulfilling the exemption criteria provided in the Licensing(Scotland) Act 2005 of fulfilling a retailing need within the locality will receive“grandfather rights”.
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by George Lyon on 28 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many petrol stations licensed to sell alcohol it estimates will stop selling petrol in (a) Scotland, (b) rural areas and (c) urban areas as a result of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.
Answer
The decision as to whether apetrol station maintains its alcohol licence will be one for the locallicensing board and it is therefore not possible to ascertain how many willstop selling petrol at this time.
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by George Lyon on 28 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it will publish for licensing boards when considering (a) petrol stations not covered by the section 115 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, (b) the evidence required to demonstrate that a garage is, or is likely to become, a principal source of either fuel or groceries and (c) applications for new-build petrol stations licensed to sell alcohol.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is presentlydrafting guidance for Licensing Boards on the Licensing (Scotland) Act2005 which will be published for public consultation in October. For petrol stationsany guidance will reflect the need for licensing board decisions to be based onlocal knowledge and consider local circumstances.
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by George Lyon on 28 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many petrol stations licensed to sell alcohol there are in (a) Scotland, (b) rural areas and (c) urban areas.
Answer
The available information isgiven in table number 4 of the statistical bulletin Liquor Licensing in Scotland, 2000-04published by the Scottish Executive in June 2005, a copy of which is available inthe Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 36787). A breakdown ofoff-sale liquor licences by type of premises was not available for some council areas, as indicatedin the table.
- Asked by: John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 July 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 17 August 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out research into any potential damage to road surfaces resulting from the colonisation of adjacent verges by Japanese knotweed.
Answer
No instances have been reportedregarding the root system of this particular weed having caused any damage to eitherthe road surface or sub base of any trunk roads in Scotland. Inlight of this, no research into this matter has been undertaken or instructed byTransport Scotland.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.
It should be noted that localauthorities are responsible for all matters concerning local roads.
