- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 13 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2292 by Henry McLeish on 16 November 1999, when it last met representatives of the Scottish Crofters Union to seek its views on the formulation of Her Majesty's Government's policy position for the forthcoming Seattle round of negotiations of the World Trade Organisation; what steps it is taking to keep the Union informed of progress on the negotiations, and whether it plans to publish a consultation paper on non-agricultural aspects of the negotiations to which the Union will be invited to respond.
Answer
The negotiation of International Trade Agreements, including World Trade Organisation talks is a reserved matter and consultations with interest groups, including industry, is a matter for the UK Parliament.The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with DTI on Trade issues and any future WTO talks and how these may impact on the Executive's responsibilities.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 13 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2292 by Henry McLeish on 16 November 1999, when it last met representatives of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to seek its views on the formulation of Her Majesty's Government's policy position for the forthcoming Seattle round of negotiations of the World Trade Organisation; what steps it is taking to keep SNH informed of progress on the negotiations, and whether it plans to publish a consultation paper on non-agricultural aspects of the negotiations to which SNH will be invited to respond.
Answer
The negotiation of International Trade Agreements, including World Trade Organisation talks is a reserved matter and consultations with interest groups, including industry, is a matter for the UK Parliament.The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with DTI on Trade issues and any future WTO talks and how these may impact on the Executive's responsibilities.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 13 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2292 by Henry McLeish on 16 November 1999, when it last met representatives of the Confederation of British Industry to seek its views on the formulation of Her Majesty's Government's policy position for the forthcoming Seattle round of negotiations of the World Trade Organisation; what steps it is taking to keep the Confederation informed of progress on the negotiations, and whether it plans to publish a consultation paper on non-agricultural aspects of the negotiations to which the Confederation will be invited to respond.
Answer
The negotiation of International Trade Agreements, including World Trade Organisation talks is a reserved matter and consultations with interest groups, including industry, is a matter for the UK Parliament.The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with DTI on Trade issues and any future WTO talks and how these may impact on the Executive's responsibilities.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 10 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what the permitted maximum daily level of dioxin release is from waste incinerators.
Answer
Emissions of dioxins from waste incinerators are not controlled on the basis of a permitted maximum daily level. Except for very small incinerators burning animal remains, all industrial and commercial waste incinerators in Scotland are regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) under the provisions of Part 1 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Each incinerator is required to operate in accordance with an authorisation granted by SEPA. The authorisation sets down the conditions under which the incinerator is required to operate. Conditions in authorisations are designed to prevent, or where that is not practicable, minimise the release of substances, including dioxins, into the environment. Such conditions include specifying the types of waste that may or may not be burnt; the operating conditions under which incineration may take place; emission limits; and monitoring requirements. Where an incinerator is subject to EC Directives, SEPA is required to include the necessary requirements in the relevant authorisation. Authorisations, monitoring results and details of any enforcement action are available for inspection in the public registers held in SEPA offices.Emissions of dioxins from incinerators are required to be kept as low as possible and emission limits are set on a case by case basis. European legislation requires that the concentration of dioxins in the waste gases from new hazardous waste incinerators does not exceed 0.1ng/m3. Emissions of dioxins from all other types of incinerators are expected to be less than 1ng/m3.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 10 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to Scottish local authorities to assist them in considering applications for the siting of waste incinerators and whether it will place a copy of this guidance in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
Guidance for planning authorities is contained in National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG)10: Planning and Waste Management and NPPG 6: Renewable Energy. A copy of each of these has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies of all NPPGs are available on the Scottish Executive website, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/planning/.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 7 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S1W-1790 by Sarah Boyack on 16 November 1999, when it will award a research contract that includes an assessment of the economic impact of road charging and workplace parking charges on Scotland's towns and cities.
Answer
I refer to my answer to question S1W-2736.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 7 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-1785 by Sarah Boyack on 16 November 1999, when it will award a research contract that includes an assessment of the potential impact of road charging on the rate of traffic accidents and the number of resultant injuries and fatalities.
Answer
The contract will be awarded after completion of the discussions referred to in my answer of 16 November have taken place and a competitive tendering exercise has been completed. No firm date is available at this time.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 6 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what the proportion is of grant aid distributed by the Scottish Arts Council that has gone to the national companies (Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, Royal Scottish National Orchestra) for each of the last three financial years for which figures are available and, further to the answer to question S1W-2391 by Sam Galbraith on 8 November 1999, what the actual and estimated allocation is to each in the current and next financial year.
Answer
Full details of the Scottish Arts Council's grants to the four National Companies over the last three years are shown below, together with the SAC forecast for 2000-01 and 2001-02:
National Companies Grants
| | | | Forecast |
| | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | | 2000-01 | 2001-02 |
| | £ | £ | £ | | £ | £ |
Scottish Opera | | 4,670,290 | 6,010,600 | 6,085,530 | | 6,314,887 | 6,472,759 |
RSNO | | 1,841,750 | 2,310,550 | 2,339,350 | | 2,427,522 | 2,488,210 |
Scottish Chamber Orchestra | | 1,000,000 | 1,290,600 | 1,306,690 | | 1,355,937 | 1,389,835 |
Scottish Ballet | | 2,121,000 | 2,121,000 | 2,151,180 | | 2,228,376 | 2,284,085 |
Ballet Development Fund | | | 300,000 | 300,000 | | 300,000 | 300,000 |
Touring Funds | | 46,000 | | | | | |
NCCG Money | | 2,400,000 | | | | | |
| | 12,079,040 | 12,032,750 | 12,182,750 | | 12,626,722 | 12,934,889 |
| | | | | | | |
| | £million | £million | £million | | £million | £million |
SAC Arts Expenditure | | 25.437 | 25.676 | 26.589 | | 28.042 | 29.422 |
| | | | | | | |
National Companies | | 12.079 | 12.033 | 12.183 | | 12.627 | 12.935 |
| | | | | | | |
Proportion | | 47.49% | 46.86% | 45.82% | | 45.03% | 43.96% |
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 3 December 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive when it was advised that Sea Containers Limited, or one of its subsidiaries, had sold the former Caledonian MacBrayne vessel Claymore; when this matter was last discussed with representatives of (a) the Scotland Office, (b) Her Majesty's Government, (c) the National Audit Office and (d) Caledonian MacBrayne, and what action it is now taking on this matter.
Answer
Under the previous administration, CalMac were directed to sell the Claymore to Sea Containers in order to facilitate the operation of the Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry service. The Scottish Executive first became aware of the sale of the Claymore through the article in the Herald dated 17 November. This matter has not been discussed with any of the parties mentioned; ownership arrangements for the vessel are a matter for Sea Containers Ltd or its subsidiaries.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 1 December 1999
To ask the Presiding Officer what budget has been allocated to support the operation of each of the Parliament's Committees.
Answer
I refer you to my earlier answer to Parliamentary Question S1W-718 from Mr Keith Raffan dated 10 August which confirmed that budgets have not been set for individual Committees but expenditure incurred by each would be reported at the end of the financial year when actual expenditure was known.The majority of direct budgets for Committee work are presently held within the Clerking Directorate's budget. However, the budgets for support services to Committees are held by the relevant business area, e.g. broadcasting costs are met from the Broadcasting Office budget, the official report costs are met from the Official Report budget. Additionally, Members travel costs are met from a central budget. There is an indicative element for Committees travel, which is separate from other parliamentary travel costs allowed under the Allowances Resolution.