- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 1 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is monitoring Her Majesty's Government's pilot schemes for the establishment of Arms Length Housing Companies to increase investment in local authority housing; whether it intends to commission any research on the use of Arms Length Housing Companies, and whether it plans to identify any pilot schemes for the use of Arms Length Housing Companies to increase investment in local authority housing.
Answer
A number of councils in England are in the process of setting up arms length housing management companies to support capital investment in council housing. There are currently no plans to establish such companies in Scotland.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the extent was of any addition to the Scottish Assigned Budget for 2000-01 arising from negotiations with the Department of Work and Pensions and based on calculations of rent rebate payments and average rent levels in Scotland in that financial year.
Answer
No adjustment was made to the Scottish Assigned Budget in 2000-01. We expect to receive shortly the agreement of Treasury and the Department of Work and Pensions to the adjustments in respect of 2000-01 and 2001-02, and I will announce the relevant sums when the figures have been finalised.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 23 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is monitoring Her Majesty's Government's pilot schemes for the use of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to increase investment in local authority housing; whether it intends to commission any research on the use of the PFI, and whether it plans to identify any pilot schemes for the use of the PFI to increase investment in local authority housing.
Answer
A small number of HRA PFI Pathfinder schemes have been set up in England, however, there are no plans to set up similar schemes in Scotland. One of the key elements of the Executive's housing policy is the promotion of community ownership. With PFI models it is not clear that tenants would be fully involved in investment decisions and they would not have the opportunity to ultimately take on the ownership of their housing.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the impact of the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill on existing legislation on deer or any other species whose conservation or control is regulated by statute.
Answer
As with any new Bill, Scottish Executive lawyers have checked the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Bill for potential impacts on other legislation in order that any consequential amendments may be brought forward if necessary.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 26 November 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to amend sections 37 or 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 following the publication of The Use and Effectiveness of Planning Agreements by Colin Buchanan & Partners with Dundas & Wilson and Robert Turley Associates and commissioned by its Central Research Unit.
Answer
The Executive has no such plans at present. The recommendations of the research report The Use and Effectiveness of Planning Agreements are still under consideration. Such amendments would require primary legislation.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 13 November 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to create the new legal mechanism proposed in paragraphs 7.7 and 7.8.3 of The Use and Effectiveness of Planning Agreements by Colin Buchanan & Partners with Dundas & Wilson and Robert Turley Associates and commissioned by its Central Research Unit.
Answer
The Executive has no such plans at present. The recommendations of the research report The Use and Effectiveness of Planning Agreements are still under consideration. The creation of such a mechanism would require primary legislation.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 13 November 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to replace Scottish Office Development Department circular 12/1996, to update the guidance on best practice in the use and content of planning agreements and to provide guidance on the specimen wording of such agreements.
Answer
The Executive has no such plans at present. The recommendations of the research report The Use and Effectiveness of Planning Agreements are still under consideration.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 9 November 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13198 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 9 February 2001, whether it intends to proceed by primary or secondary legislation to incorporate the EC Landfill Directive into law and whether it will set out its timetable for consultation, the publication of the legislation and its passage through the Parliament.
Answer
The Scottish Executive intends to proceed by secondary legislation to implement the technical and operational aspects of the EC Landfill Directive 99/31/EC into law. An initial public consultation on these issues was completed earlier this year and the Executive is now preparing a second consultation paper with the aim of issuing this later in November. After a 12-week consultation period it is planned that the regulations will be laid before the Scottish Parliament in draft, and following the 40-day affirmative resolution procedure, the final regulations would be made in April 2002.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it proposes to take on the short-term changes to the operation of compulsory purchase within the existing legislative framework, as recommended in the report Review of Compulsory Purchase and Land Compensation prepared by its Central Research Unit.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1O-3788 on 20 September 2001. Detailed proposals have still to be worked up and it is therefore too early to comment.
- Asked by: Murray Tosh, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 30 October 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive why the Minister for Transport and Planning cancelled her meeting in early August with Councillor Andrew Hill of South Ayrshire Council to discuss road improvements at Maybole and around Turnberry, whether an alternative date for the meeting has been arranged and, if so, when and where that meeting will take place.
Answer
I had hoped to visit South Ayrshire, at the invitation of Councillor Hill, earlier in the year to look at the problems arising from timber traffic on rural roads in the area. However, this visit had to be postponed due to other diary pressures. I will now be visiting the area on 19 November following a further invitation from Councillor Hill to discuss other transport issues and I would be happy to include Maybole and Turnberry in that discussion.
