- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 31 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for new investment in rural bus routes; whether any such investment would be on a par with the #17 million pledged for this purpose by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and whether Executive investment in any such initiatives would be subject to the availability of additional funding from other partners such as local authorities.
Answer
As part of the additional funding for rural transport announced in the 1998 and 1999 Budgets the Executive is investing a total of more than £14 million in rural transport measures in Scotland between the financial years 1998-99 and 2000-01. In the first two years the Executive has provided local authorities with an additional £3.5 million per year for the provision of rural public passenger transport services - mainly bus. This funding is additional to what local authorities currently spend on rural bus services. Also £0.6 million per year (increased to £0.9 million in 1999-2000) is being invested in rural community transport projects in the form of support to community and voluntary groups to help them organise and operate transport in rural areas. As part of the overall package £4.5 million is due for disbursement in 2000-01.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 31 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to make the Water of Leith tidal once again; whether it has any plans to do so and, if so, what is the timescale involved.
Answer
These issues are primarily within the responsibility of Forth Ports Authority as port authority for the area involved.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 28 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government regarding the impact of an aggregates tax on jobs and the environment in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has made a number of representations to HM Government on a wide range of issues including the aggregates tax.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 28 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to answer outstanding questions S1W-1364 and S1W-1366, lodged on 2 September 1999.
Answer
PQ's S1W-1364 & S1W-1366 were answered on the 17 January.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will comment on its proposed changes to trunk road management and maintenance.
Answer
New arrangements are required once the existing contracts for the trunk road premium units expire on 31 March 2001. I explained my proposals in the answer I gave to Karen Gillon on 24 December 1999 (S1W-3538).
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 26 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3270 by Mr Jim Wallace on 11 January 2000, whether it is able to break down the administrative costs of issuing fixed penalty fines by type of fine and by constabulary area and, if not, whether it will provide an estimate of these costs.
Answer
No. Police administration costs of issuing fixed penalties are not calculated in the form requested and could not be estimated with any degree of accuracy.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 24 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3269 by Mr Jack McConnell on 27 December 1999, what amount or percentage of District Court activity was related to Road Traffic offences.
Answer
It is not possible to breakdown District Court activity by time or effort in this way. As a broad indicator, the table below compares the number of persons proceeded against in district courts for motor vehicle and other offences. The table excludes cases where the motoring offence is a secondary offence, and fiscal fines and police conditional offers, which are collected, but not imposed, by the courts.
| | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 |
Non motor vehicle offences | 45,669 | 46,685 | 46,176 | 44,155 | 39,569 |
Motor vehicle offences | 33,524 | 30,291 | 26,497 | 27,656 | 25,560 |
Motor vehicle offences as % all offences | 42% | 39% | 36% | 39% | 39% |
All offences | 79,193 | 76,976 | 72,673 | 71,811 | 65,129 |
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Andrew Hardie on 24 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3010 by Lord Hardie on 21 December 1999, whether the Crown Office was advised by the Ministry of Defence as to whether all of the software defects in the Chinook FADEC system were removed by the time the FADEC system went into production.
Answer
The information which Crown Office obtained from the Ministry of Defence focussed on whether there were any defects in the FADEC system which could conceivably have contributed to the crash. The Ministry of Defence explained that there were no such defects. As I explained in my answer to question S1W-2002, and repeated in my answer to question S1W-3471, the allegations in relation to the FADEC software were considered fully by the House of Commons Defence Committee in March 1998 and that Committee concluded that there was no evidence to support claims that design flaws in the aircraft or its components (including the FADEC system) contributed to the crash.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 21 January 2000
To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the answer to question S1W-3268 by Sir David Steel on 27 December 1999, to specify the amount of power expected to be generated by solar panels in the Holyrood building and the approximate percentage of the domestic water supply to be provided by this method.
Answer
The solar panels to be installed in the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood are expected to generate 24,000 kw per annum of primary energy. This will heat an estimated 400,000 litres per annum of domestic hot water which will be equivalent to 16% of the total hot water consumption for the complex.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 20 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made or intends to make to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions or the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency regarding the legality of the use of the term SCO on vehicle registrations in Scotland and what response it has received to any such representations.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has made no representations regarding the legality of the use of the term SCO on vehicle registrations in Scotland and has no plans to do so.
