- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 13 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out an investigation into road and pathway maintenance similar to that recently instigated by the House of Commons Transport Sub-Committee, detailing the reasons behind its position on the matter.
Answer
The Executive has no plans to carry out a comparable examination. However, officials liaise closely with colleagues in other departments on the development of UK technical standards for roads and we will look with interest to the results of the committee's investigation.Separately, the Executive is supporting the decision of the Society of Chief Officers of Transport in Scotland to take forward a long-term national condition survey of the local road network. This survey will inform future decisions by local authorities on the funding required to tackle maintenance and improvements of local roads.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 5 June 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether further education in Midlothian and East Lothian is adequately provided for in view of anticipated population growth, detailing the reasons behind its position on this matter.
Answer
Since 1 April 1999, the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) has had responsibility for securing the adequate and efficient provision of further education in Scotland, primarily through the distribution of grant-in-aid funds to colleges in accordance with ministerial policy guidance. SFEFC recently completed a supply and demand mapping exercise, which will help the funding council make future strategic decisions on the provision of further education throughout the country.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 27 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents police officers from Lothian and Borders Police Force have been requested to attend by (a) the Vehicle Inspectorate, (b) the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, (c) HM Customs and Excise, (d) the Department for Work and Pensions and (e) local authority social work departments in each year since 1997.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 24 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to amend or replace relevant provisions of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 in order to legislate for the licensing, regulation and monitoring of private vehicle hire companies and those involved in the ownership and operation of such companies.
Answer
The Executive proposes to consult in the near future on the terms of regulations which will allow local authorities to license taxi and private hire car booking offices.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 23 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what funds have been made available (a) directly or (b) indirectly to the Craigmillar Partnership in each year since 1997.
Answer
The Craigmillar Partnership has received indirect funding from the Scottish Executive since 1997 from the Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) Fund. The City of Edinburgh Council as grant recipient, accepts the resources allocated on their behalf. Direct funding from the Scottish Executive since 1997 to the Craigmillar Partnership was made available for CCTV. The details of both indirect and direct funding are as follows:
| | 1997-98(£ million) | 1998-99(£ million) | 1999-2000(£ million) | 2000-01(£ million) | 2001-02(£ million) | 2002-03(£ million) |
| SIP Fund Allocation | 2.337 | 2.201 | 1.723 | 1.723 | 1.916 | 1.970 |
| CCTV | - | - | - | - | 0.096 | - |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 22 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will either reimburse or make additional funds available to Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd for the cost of security imposed on it by instructions issued by the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
Answer
The cost of additional security measures applied by the UK Government, following the events of 11 September, have, to date, been met by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd from its resources which included Scottish Executive support.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 22 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions regarding the provision and need for security at airports managed by the Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) and what level of security it views as required at each airport operated by HIAL, detailing its reasons for its position on this matter.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has regular contact with the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) about a range of issues including security. The Executive believes that the level of security at airports should be appropriate for the type and size of the operation at individual airports; ensuring at all times the safety and security of passengers and aircraft.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 22 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government regarding insurance charges to be levied on air flights following 11 September 2001.
Answer
None.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 22 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has contributed either (a) directly or (b) indirectly through a third party to Care in Craigmillar; how much each individual contribution was, and on what date each contribution was made in each year since 1997.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has made no direct contributions to the project Caring in Craigmillar. I can confirm, however, that the Craigmillar Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) has agreed to contribute the sum of £64,000 to Caring in Craigmillar from its 2002-03 SIP Fund allocation. The City of Edinburgh Council has confirmed that Caring in Craigmillar will manage a service level agreement covering support to the elderly from April 2002. The service prior to that date was delivered by the project Phonelink.Craigmillar SIP has also supported Phonelink from its SIP fund allocation as follows:
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 |
| £9,000 | £30,000 | £40,000 | £60,000 | £60,000 |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 21 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities will be encouraged to ensure that owners of private hire cars display plates on the exterior of their vehicles which easily identify them as such and whether the display of such plates would be beneficial to public safety and the easy identification of such vehicles, detailing the reasons behind its position on this matter.
Answer
Within the licensing framework of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, it is for individual local authorities to determine what plates should be issued for taxi and private hire car vehicles and how these should be displayed. While it is clearly in the public interest for such vehicles to be readily identifiable we believe that, because licensing requirements vary considerably between areas, local authorities are best placed to determine the precise arrangements for their area.
