- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the chief executive of Transport Scotland received (a) advice or (b) recommendations from members of the Infrastructure Investment Group in relation to the Edinburgh trams project and, if so, what advice or recommendations.
Answer
The Infrastructure Investment Group had no involvement with the Edinburgh trams project.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Infrastructure Investment Group made recommendations to the (a) Scottish Government or (b) City of Edinburgh Council in relation to the Edinburgh trams project and, if so, what recommendations.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-39592 on 25 February 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has received from SEPA regarding the environmental impact of the development of biomass plants.
Answer
At the beginning of last year the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) provided guidance which was incorporated into the Scottish Government''s Generic Scoping Guidance for Biomass Plants. The guidance sets out what developers need to consider in assessing the environmental impacts of a biomass development.
In addition, SEPA is a statutory consultee for all applications for consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 and has therefore also responded to consultations on recent biomass applications.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the director of the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) Forensic Services stated a preference to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice for any of the options in the SPSA modernisation options paper prior to being informed of the recommended option in September 2010.
Answer
The provision of forensic science services is the responsibility of the SPSA. It was the SPSA board which took the decision about which of the options, set out in the SPSA forensics modernisation option paper, it would recommend to me in its letter of 30 September 2010.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate of how much students from England who have attended Scottish universities and colleges have paid in council tax in each of the last four years.
Answer
Students are exempt from paying council tax in Scotland, where they met the following criteria: aged either under or over 20 and are enrolled at a prescribed educational establishment for the purpose of undertaking a specified course of education which they are normally required to attend for at least 24 weeks in each academic year and which requires on average at least 21 hours of study, tuition or work experience in each of those weeks.
Further guidance on how council tax applies to students in Scotland can be found at the following web address: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/localgov/ctst-00.asp.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 25 to 50 and (b) 51 to 75 have been convicted of causing death or serious injury through dangerous driving in each of the last five years; how many have (i) received a lifetime ban and (ii) had their licence removed, and what the average period of disqualification was.
Answer
The available information is given in the following table.
There were no disqualifications for life during this period.
Persons Convicted of Causing Death by Dangerous Driving1 in Scottish Courts, 2005-06 to 2009-10
| Causing Death by Dangerous Driving | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 |
| 25 to 50 | | | | | |
| Convicted | 10 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Disqualified | 10 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 6 |
| Average disqualification2 (months) | 90 | 6 | 80 | 88 | 76 |
| 51 to 75 | | | | | |
| Convicted | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Disqualified | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Average disqualification2 (months) | 0 | 0 | n/a | 30 | 60 |
Notes:
1. Where main offence.
2. Excludes disqualifications for an indeterminate period.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 25 to 50 and (b) 51 to 75 have been convicted of dangerous driving in each of the last five years in the Lothian and Borders Police force area; how many have (i) received a lifetime ban and (ii) had their licence removed, and what the average period of disqualification was.
Answer
The available information is given in the following table.
There were no disqualifications for life during this period.
Persons Convicted of Dangerous Driving in Lothian & Borders1, 2005-06 to 2009-10
| Dangerous Driving | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 |
| 25 to 50 | | | | | |
| Convicted | 62 | 51 | 50 | 40 | 45 |
| Disqualified | 60 | 47 | 37 | 36 | 42 |
| Average disqualification (months) | 19 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 38 |
| 51 to 75 | | | | | |
| Convicted | 3 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 4 |
| Disqualified | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| Average disqualification2 (months) | n/a | 36 | 13 | 12 | n/a |
Notes:
1. Where main offence.
2. Excludes disqualifications for an indeterminate period.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 25 to 50 and (b) 51 to 75 have been convicted of causing death or serious injury through dangerous driving in each of the last five years in the Lothian and Borders Police force area; how many have (i) received a lifetime ban and (ii) had their licence removed, and what the average period of disqualification was.
Answer
The available information is given in the following table.
There were no disqualifications for life during this period.
Persons Convicted of Causing Death by Dangerous Driving1 in Lothian and Borders, 2005-06 to 2009-10
| Causing Death by Dangerous Driving | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 |
| 25 to 50 | | | | | |
| Convicted | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Disqualified | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Average disqualification2 (months) | n/a | n/a | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| 51 to 75 | | | | | |
| Convicted | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Disqualified | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Average disqualification2 (months) | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0 | 0 |
Notes:
1. Where main offence.
2. Excludes disqualifications for an indeterminate period.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it can provide assurances that any future changes to police support services, such as the Scottish Police Services Authority, will be made in consultation with police boards and the procurator fiscal.
Answer
The Scottish Government launched a consultation on the future of Scottish policing on 10 February 2011 in order to widen the debate and build consensus about how we can maintain our excellent police service in the face of unprecedented cuts from Westminster. No decisions have been taken and we will continue to engage with all key stakeholders, including police authorities, and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, as we consider how our police service should respond to the challenges of the 21st century.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 23 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate of how much students from England who have attended Scottish universities and colleges have contributed to the economy during their studies in each of the last four years.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no plans to make such an estimate.
