- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 1 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that, in expanding the field sports sector of tourism, biodiversity and other land use interests are protected.
Answer
Scotland’s unrivalled natural beauty is one of the major assets that attracts visitors to choose Scotland as a holiday destination. The protection of these assets is therefore an essential element in our tourism strategy, and in the development of the tourism products that we offer our visitors.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it anticipates any problems arising from the operation of the TETRA police telecommunication system.
Answer
The operation and maintenance of the Airwave network is a matter for the service provider O2. Scottish police forces and the Scottish Executive have been working closely with O2 with the aim of achieving a smooth migration from existing systems to Airwave.
In planning for the introduction of Airwave, Scottish forces have benefited from sharing information with those forces in England and Wales already using the service. This information has been used at both national and local levels to assist forces in preparing for Airwave.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 July 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how the environmental impact of multiple proposed windfarm developments in a given area should be assessed.
Answer
Advice on how cumulative impacts should be assessed is given in Planning Advice Note 45: Renewable Energy Technologies.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Community Renewables Initiative will have adequate resources for funding renewable energy installation in new schools.
Answer
The Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative supports a range ofapplicants, including schools, hospitals, community centres and local housinginitiatives. Applications are dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis. Extensive efforts are being made to promote the scheme to local authority clients, we are considering the options for extension of the scheme beyond 2005 as part of the current spending review.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 25 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the farm scale evaluation gives a true indication of any environmental harm caused by Chardon LL mai'e, in light of the conclusions of the recent report of the Westminster Environmental Audit Committee GM Food - Evaluating the field scale trials.
Answer
The Scottish Executive, the Science Review, and the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment(ACRE) are all satisfied that the methods used in the farm scale trials forboth design and analysis were valid and robust. They are the most extensive andthorough evaluations of their kind in the world, and gave a clear picture of the changes in biodiversity caused by different herbicide regimes used on geneticallymodified (GM) and conventional crops, including maize.
ACRE recommended that studies were initiated to considerthe validity of the results in light of the phasing out of Atrazine. Furtheranalysis of the farm scale evaluation (FSE) data has been published in the peerreviewed scientific journal Nature. This work concludes that the banning of Atrazine is unlikely to undermine theconclusions of the FSEs.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 24 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any human feeding studies using GM foods have been carried out and, if so, what the results were.
Answer
I am advised by the FoodStandards Agency that all GM foods aresubject to a rigorous safety assessment before they can be marketed anywhere inthe EU. The safety of all novel foods, including GM foods, is assessed on anEU-wide basis using internationally agreed procedures that are recognised byregulatory authorities world-wide. No human feeding studies have been carriedout under these procedures.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has responsibility, under Article 11 of the EC Habitats Directive, for the surveillance of the conservation status of priority habitats and species in Scotland and, if not, where the responsibility lies.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has responsibility for ensuring the requirements of Article 11 areadhered to in Scotland.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive who should be liable for any economic damage caused by material from genetically modified crops if they are cultivated in Scotland.
Answer
We will consult allconcerned on the most appropriate co-existence arrangements for Scotland todeliver choice for both consumers and farmers and on possible compensationarrangements for farmers who suffer economic loss. The present presumption isthat any compensation scheme would need to be funded by the GM crops industry,rather than by the Executive or producers of non-GM crops.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult the Parliament before making any decisions on the approval of Chardon LL mai'e.
Answer
As noted in myministerial statement on 10 March 2004, Chardon LL maizereceived EU-wide approval Part C approval in 1998. We are currently seeking anamendment to this consent.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements have been made for environmental groups and others to peer review the farm scale evaluations, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland.
Answer
The results of the farmscale evaluations were peer reviewed and published in the
PhilosophicalTransactions of The Royal Society: Biological Sciences. They wereimmediately forwarded to the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment(ACRE) for advice on the implications for the possible commercialisation ofthese specific GM crops.
In line with the PartnershipAgreement, environmental groups and other interested parties were invited tosubmit their comments on the results to ACRE. In addition ACRE accepted the Executive’s invitation to hold an openmeeting in Edinburgh, on 4 December 2003, to afford Scottishstakeholders the opportunity to present oral evidence and discuss the results.
All oral and written evidence,including the outcomes of the Edinburgh meeting, were considered by ACRE beforethey gave their advice to government.
