- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 23 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the redundancies at TelesensKSCL in Edinburgh, whether it will make representations to the Department of Trade and Industry in regard to any legislative changes which may be required to guarantee redundancy payments to workers.
Answer
Such guarantees are already in place. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Department of Trade and Industry can pay redundancy pay and certain other debts owed to former employees of insolvent companies out of the National Insurance Fund. This legislation implements the EU Insolvency Directive and guarantees a basic minimum of payments to employees of insolvent employers who would normally have to wait some considerable time for payment as creditors in the insolvency proceedings.The Redundancy Payments Service has investigated the transfer of business from Telesens to Convergys and is satisfied that the dismissals were either unconnected with the transfer, or were made for economic, technical or organisation reasons entailing changes in the workforce. This means that liability for payment lies with the National Insurance Fund. The payments for the former employees have been processed and they should by now have received payment.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 23 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it provided either directly or indirectly to community newspapers in each year since 1999, broken down by newspaper.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give revenue support to the enhancement of the bus service from Ferry Toll to Victoria Quay in order to improve the off-peak service for its staff; whether this is a factor in its Green Transport Plan, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
The current peak-time bus service between Ferrytoll and Victoria Quay is taken into account in the Scottish Executive Travel Plan. This meets the vast majority of the travel requirements of staff who may wish to travel by bus between Ferrytoll and Victoria Quay. There are no plans to provide revenue support to off-peak services.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elaine Murray on 23 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make funding and assistance to organisations and bodies representing and involved in football dependent on structural change and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29111 today. All answers to written PQs 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: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought to ensure that the creation of a Musselburgh Parkway station is a condition of a new franchise for the East Coast Main Line or an extension of the existing franchise, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer
Under the Transport Act 2000, the Scottish ministers can give statutory advice to the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) on cross-border franchises, and did so for the East Coast Main Line extension in September 2001. The Scottish ministers advised that the development of a Parkway station in East Lothian should be considered. A copy of the advice submitted on the franchise extension is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 15773).
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elaine Murray on 23 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that there is a single unified body regulating football and whether it will withhold funds and support from any organisation which does not accede to this aim.
Answer
Scottish ministers have no direct locus in how football is governed. It is a matter for the Scottish Football Association as the recognised governing body of the sport of Association Football in Scotland. I do not anticipate that any strategic decisions about future public funding for football will be reached until the outcome of the review by independent consultants of youth football development in Scotland is known.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 20 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many members of staff have been employed at each procurator fiscal office in (a) Lothians and (b) the Scottish Borders (i) in a secretarial or administrative capacity, (ii) as a procurator fiscal depute and (iii) as a trainee procurator fiscal depute in each year since 1997.
Answer
The information requested is displayed in the tables and is grouped into four categories:Procurator Fiscal and Promoted Legal Staff (Procurator Fiscal (PF), Assistant Procurator Fiscal (Asst PF); Senior Principal Depute (SPD); Principal Depute (PD));Procurator Fiscal Depute (entrant level for fully qualified solicitor);Legal Trainees (serving a two-year traineeship prior to full admission as solicitor), andNon-Legally Qualified Staff includes all other staff (Executive, Precognition, Administrative, Secretarial and support staff).Each office has a procurator fiscal who holds the Lord Advocate's commission with the exception of Selkirk/Peebles and Jedburgh/Duns where one fiscal holds a commission for both offices. All information is based on permanent staff in post (full-time equivalent).1 April 1997
| | Duns | Edinburgh | Haddington | Jedburgh | Linlithgow | Peebles | Selkirk |
| PF, Asst PF, SPD and PD | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Procurator Fiscal Depute | 0 | 20.9 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Legal Trainees | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Legally Qualified | 2 | 89.8 | 5 | 2 | 13.1 | 0 | 2 |
1 April 1998
| | Duns | Edinburgh | Haddington | Jedburgh | Linlithgow | Peebles | Selkirk |
| PF, Asst PF, SPD and PD | 0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Procurator Fiscal Depute | 0 | 19.7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Legal Trainees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Legally Qualified | 2 | 88.8 | 3.8 | 2 | 14.6 | 0 | 3 |
1 April 1999
| | Duns | Edinburgh | Haddington | Jedburgh | Linlithgow | Peebles | Selkirk |
| PF, Asst PF, SPD and PD | 0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Procurator Fiscal Depute | 0 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Legal Trainees | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Legally Qualified | 2 | 92.3 | 4.8 | 2 | 12.5 | 0 | 2 |
1 April 2000
| | Duns | Edinburgh | Haddington | Jedburgh | Linlithgow | Peebles | Selkirk |
| PF, Asst PF, SPD and PD | 0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Procurator Fiscal Depute | 0 | 20.6 | 1 | 0 | 5.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Legal Trainees | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Legally Qualified | 2 | 90.1 | 5.8 | 2 | 14.5 | 0 | 2 |
1 April 2001
| | Duns | Edinburgh | Haddington | Jedburgh | Linlithgow | Peebles | Selkirk |
| PF, Asst PF, SPD and PD | 0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Procurator Fiscal Depute | 0 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 5.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Legal Trainees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Legally Qualified | 2 | 93.1 | 4.8 | 2 | 14.3 | 0 | 2 |
1 April 2002
| | Duns | Edinburgh | Haddington | Jedburgh | Linlithgow | Peebles | Selkirk |
| PF, Asst PF, SPD and PD | 0 | 11.8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Procurator Fiscal Depute | 0 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 5.6 | 0 | 0 |
| Legal Trainees | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Legally Qualified | 2 | 93.1 | 4.8 | 2 | 14.3 | 0 | 2 |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 20 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to (a) introduce technology and, in particular, bus camera technology to assist in the enforcement of bus lanes as dedicated lanes for public transport and (b) for legislative changes to facilitate the introduction of such technology and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
Bus lane enforcement is a matter for local authorities and the police. Legislative powers are already in place to enable the use of camera technology for bus lane enforcement. The Road Traffic Offenders (Additional Offences and Prescribed Devices) Order 1997 amended section 20(2) of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 so that bus lane contraventions could be prosecuted on the basis of a record produced by a prescribed device (e.g. cameras). In addition, the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 introduced provisions for local authorities operating decriminalised parking enforcement to introduce civil penalties for bus lane contraventions, and to enable such penalties to be imposed on the basis of a record produced by a prescribed device.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 20 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any representations to Her Majesty's Government to have Insurance Premium Tax levied on coach and bus operators hypothecated for the benefit of public transport in that mode; if it has made no such representations, whether it will now do so, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including insurance.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 20 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to assist coach and bus operators to obtain motor and public liability insurance in the light of any reduction in the number of companies offering such insurance and what steps it plans to take in order to alleviate any increase in premiums.
Answer
This is a commercial matter for the bus industry. It is not appropriate for the Scottish Executive to underwrite statutory business costs.
