Chamber and committees

I met with representatives of the utility roadworks industry on 25 May this year to discuss the regulation of their activities. Additionally, my officials are in contact on a regular basis with utility company representatives and their local authority counterparts through the Roads Authorities and Utility Committee (Scotland)(RAUC(S)).

Increased regulation of utility roadworks is proposed in response to concerns about the existing poor standards of co-ordination and subsequent reinstatement of affected roads in certain cases. These standards need to be improved and that is why the Scottish Executive is giving consideration to strengthening local authority regulatory powers.

The Scottish Executive has examined the findings of previous research as well as a more recent formal consultation on utility roadworks. These highlighted the significant disruption caused by utility company roadworks although clearly there are other significant factors which contribute to traffic congestion.

Almost 70 responses were received to this consultation from utility companies, roads authorities and other interested parties. The responses have been independently analysed and have been published on the Scottish Executive website. Proposals for changes to legislation were included in the white paper a copy has been place in the the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33072) Scotland’s Transport Future which was published in June.

Proposals for changes to legislation which were included in the white paper Scotland’s Transport Future are currently being formulated. Careful consideration will be given to any potential conflict of interest relating to local authority powers.

We have madegood progress in implementing A Partnership for a Better Scotland which setsout our vision for a confident Scotland of enterprise and opportunity for all.

Yes. The Executive remainsfirmly committed to A Smart, Successful Scotland (SSS) and the broad themesand priorities within it. However, we need to ensure that we have an up-to-dateanalysis of the challenges under each priority, the necessary levers in placeto address them and a clear understanding of the strategy’s potentialcontribution to cross cutting objectives. Over the coming weeks my departmentwill meet with relevant stakeholders, discussions will take place as part of the business in Parliament conference and those with an interest will have theopportunity to input their views. Once this exercise is complete, the refreshedversion of SSS is expected to be published in the autumn.

There are no plans tointroduce an advertising campaign to promote the Protection of Children (Scotland)Act 2003. However, over 10,000 information notes to raise awareness of the Actand its implications have already been widely distributed and a targeted ongoingcommunication strategy is being developed.

Implementation of theProtection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 is to be phased in starting in June 2004.Organisations will not have a duty to make referrals to the list until theautumn in recognition of the time required to gear up to meet the new duties.

This information is not heldcentrally.