- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 24 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to alter the system for making local authority capital funding allocations and, in particular, whether the fixed award of #1 million is a sufficient recognition of a local authority's base expenditure need.
Answer
Capital allocations for the period 2001-02 to 2003-04 based on the existing capital formula were announced following Spending Review 2000. Local authorities have set their spending plans on the basis of these allocations and there are no plans to change these. The fixed element of the formula is set at a level commensurate with the overall resources available for local authority capital expenditure. The main factors that determine an authority's (relative) expenditure needs are included in the variable elements of the formula. We have announced plans to reform the local authority capital finance system. Subject to the passage of the Local Government Bill, local authorities will be able to determine their own capital spending plans from 1 April 2004. Proposals for supporting capital expenditure from 2004-05 will be discussed with COSLA.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 24 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any financial assistance has been provided by VisitScotland to promote the Loch Ness Marathon on 29 September 2002; whether any recommendation was made that VisitScotland should finance the marketing costs of the marathon; what response was made by VisitScotland to any such recommendation, and whether any assistance has been provided to promote the marketing of the marathon by VisitScotland
Answer
This is an operational matter for VisitScotland.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was a requirement of the contractual arrangements with BEAR Scotland Ltd that former employees of The Highland Council who, following the assumption by BEAR Scotland Ltd of legal responsibility for the maintenance of trunk roads in the area, were employed by that company should continue to be members of an occupational pension scheme based on final salary and whether such employees continued to be so.
Answer
There was no contractual requirement for transferred employees to be provided with continued membership of a final salary pension scheme.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 19 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the light of submissions made to the consultation exercise on the draft designation order for the proposed Cairngorms National Park, it will now widen the proposed boundaries and, if so, whether it will undertake a new consultation exercise on such new boundaries.
Answer
The consultation exercise into our proposals to establish a national park in the Cairngorms area has only recently finished. The responses are now being reviewed. We hope to complete that process shortly and will then bring forward a draft designation order for Parliamentary consideration.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 18 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the ex-gratia payments to be made to members of the Scottish Bus Group Pension Funds, how much the highest 20 payments will be; whether payments will be made to former directors of the Scottish Bus Group or the Scottish Transport Group companies, and, if so, how much will be paid to each former director, detailing in each case the name of the director.
Answer
It is not possible to provide details of the amounts paid to individual former members of the Scottish Bus Group Pension Schemes, as to do so may breach the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will commit to the development of land management contracts under its A Forward Strategy for Agriculture.
Answer
The future development of Land Management Contracts is being considered in a working group comprising a range of industry stakeholders. The working group is scheduled to report on this work to the Agriculture Strategy Implementation Group in early October. Decisions on the level of resources necessary to develop Land Management Contracts will be made in the light of both the report and the advice of the Agriculture Strategy Implementation Group.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will clarify its policy intentions in respect of how the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will impact upon the recreational use of navigable rivers and, if its position is that the bill should not prevent the use of such rivers by canoeists, how legitimate interests of the various recreational users of rivers can best be protected.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28859 today. 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/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether section 6(f) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill applies to rivers navigable by canoe; whether this provision is intended to permit landowners possessing fishing rights over such rivers to exclude access to canoeists and, if so, how and to what extent, and if this is not the purpose of the provision, whether it will amend the bill in order to ensure that fishing rights should not be given precedence over other recreational users, such as canoeists.
Answer
I see no reason why responsible canoeists and angling should not be able to co-exist on the same stretch of water. I understand that the current voluntary code relating to canoeing and angling works well and this will be reinforced by guidance in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Section 6(f)(ii) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill excludes from access rights land developed or set out for a particular recreational purpose while in use for that purpose. It applies to rivers navigable by canoe but is not intended to permit fishermen to prohibit canoeists from exercising access rights in relation to a river when fishing is under way. I accept, however, that the provision as presently drafted may in some cases be legitimately used for that purpose. For example, the construction of pools in a river bed for the purpose of fisheries management would be caught by that provision and fishermen could claim that access rights are not exercisable in relation to any such river when fishing is under way. That is not our policy. Amendment 153 to the bill seeks to address this issue and we have indicated that we would be content to accept it. This amendment would have the effect that rivers developed for fishing will not be excluded, under section 6(f), from the responsible exercise of access rights when fishing is taking place.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, regarding its proposals for ex-gratia payments to be made in relation to the Scottish Bus Group Pension Funds, whether (a) it has (i) sought and (ii) obtained support from Her Majesty's Government that a concession should be granted by the Inland Revenue that recipients of such payments will not attract a liability for income tax, (b) the widow or widower of a member of the pension scheme who died on or after 18 December 2000, but before 7 June 2002, will receive the same payment as the member would have received if he or she had survived or whether that payment will be reduced by 50% and (c) common law spouses will receive the same entitlement to payments as widows and widowers.
Answer
I wrote to HM Treasury on 9 August 2002 asking for further consideration to be given to the tax charge applicable in respect the ex-gratia payments. I await a reply.Where the principal beneficiary died on or after 18 December 2000, but before a payment is made, a full payment will be made to the widow or widower, or estate. Unmarried partners of deceased former members will also receive the full payment, subject to appropriate evidence that the relationship constituted a marriage by habit or repute.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 16 September 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions were raised under section 272 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority.
Answer
There have been no prosecutions under section 272 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.
