Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-01183

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce unnecessary night lighting such as decorative flood lighting, shop lights, lighting on advertising boards and sports floodlighting.

One of the commitments in the partnership agreement is to reduce light pollution and save energy by specifying appropriate lighting standards. The Executive intends to develop and publish guidance on public lighting which will meet these aims.Where the installation of lighting may be subject to planning controls a planning authority may take action to reduce any potential adverse effects from the development. This might include imposing suitable planning conditions to prevent or minimise light pollution.

Question reference: S2W-01184

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce legislation to control light pollution.

Question reference: S2W-01185

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out into light pollution and its effects.

Question reference: S2W-01181

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on light pollution.

Question reference: S2W-01001

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will include a requirement for the level of each payment under the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme to be made public in the conditions of payment for the scheme in 2004-05.

The Executive does not intend to include a condition along the lines indicated by the member to achieve the publication of individual payment details. Notwithstanding such a condition, the Executive is required by the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) regime for wider subsidy payments, which supports Less Favoured Area Subsidy Scheme (LFASS) payment administration, to take the measures necessary to protect the data collected (Articles 9 and 9a of Council Regulation (EEC) 3508/92). In addition, the Data Protection Act 1998 requires SEERAD to process personal data, in this case payment details, fairly and lawfully, only for specified and lawful purposes and not in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.

Question reference: S2W-01000

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what payments have been made under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme in 2003-04, broken down by local authority area

The following table shows the total amount of expenditure under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme 2003, as at 30 June 2003. The total is broken down by the council area of the main farm code of the claimant although a producer may hold land in more than one council area. Payments made to individual producers are ascribed to a council area, therefore, will not have resulted solely from land in that area.

Council	Total Paid
Aberdeenshire Council	£4,377,141.58
Angus Council	£1,095,186.41
Argyll and Bute Council	£5,692,082.41
City of Aberdeen Council	£50,587.49
City of Edinburgh Council	£128,150.77
City of Glasgow Council	£7,952.98
Clackmannan Council	£105,495.67
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	£1,496,981.78
Dumbarton and Clydebank Council	£167,243.92
Dumfries and Galloway Council	£9,950,091.02
East Ayrshire Council	£1,267,066.91
East Dunbartonshire Council	£172,525.05
East Lothian Council	£459,157.44
East Renfrewshire Council	£261,819.54
Falkirk Council	£221,781.43
Fife Council	£505,248.16
Highland Council	£9,914,540.81
Inverclyde Council	£196,873.08
Midlothian Council	£398,291.58
Moray Council	£2,185,198.60
North Ayrshire Council	£968,054.12
North Lanarkshire Council	£347,133.21
Orkney Islands Council	£3,257,096.46
Perth and Kinross Council	£3,262,549.07
Renfrewshire Council	£199,027.67
Shetland Islands Council	£1,964,757.49
South Ayrshire Council	£1,614,860.01
South Lanarkshire Council	£2,553,499.22
Stirling Council	£1,571,350.63
Borders Council	£6,348,052.61
West Lothian Council	£374,833.33
Total Paid	£61,114,630.45

Question reference: S2W-00901

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 July 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome has been of any discussions it has had with the Ministry of Defence regarding any objections it has to wind farm constructions in (a) the Highlands and Islands and (b) other areas in Scotland.

Officials continue to have discussions with the Ministry of Defence about individual projects. We believe these discussions have been useful in facilitating the necessary dialogue between the developer and the Ministry of Defence.In addition, we are represented on the Department of Trade and Industry-led Aviation Interests Working Group, which is working on guidelines on aviation issues for wind farm developers. The majority of wind farm projects brought forward by developers do not attract any objection from the Ministry of Defence.

Question reference: S2W-01119

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 July 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the budget allocated by the Department of Trade and Industry to COI Communications to publicise and facilitate the United Kingdom's public debate on genetic modification is adequate to sample opinion in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-00902

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 30 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a strategy for the dispersal of public sector jobs.

Question reference: S2W-00823

Asked by: Rob Gibson, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 27 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the question S2O-169 by Allan Wilson on 12 June 2003, whether it will fund local outreach meetings as part of the United Kingdom's public debate on genetic modification.