- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Agricultural College has received the responses to the consultation on the Scottish Rural Development Plan (SRDP); whether the college has collated and analysed the responses and, if so, when it completed the work; whether the results of the analysis will be made public; whether the results have been provided to the SRDP and LMC Stakeholder groups and what the reasons are for its position on the matter, and whether the results will be provided to the groups before any proposals for the SRDP are finalised and before they are submitted to the European Commission for approval.
Answer
The consultation on theScotland Rural Development Plan 2007-13 attracted 259 written responses, whichhave been analysed by the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) on behalf of the Scottish Executive. The final report has since been finalised and published onthe Scottish Executive website.
For data protection reasons,it would not be proper for me to release personal information on individuals. Table1: SRDP Consultation List, provides details of the organisations to whomthe Executive sent the consultation to in that first phase, and is available inthe Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 40741).
Copies of the responsesthemselves, including contact details where the consultee has agreed that theirresponse can be made public, are available from the Scottish Executive library.
The results of theconsultation are helping to inform our consideration of the future content of the SRDP and will be a major factor as we develop the Programme in advance of itsformal submission to Brussels. In addition to placing the report of the consultationon the Scottish Executive website, my officials have circulated it to the SRDPand LMC stakeholder group in advance of finalising the proposals for submittingthe SRDP to the European Commission.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the responses to its consultation on the proposed Scottish Rural Development Plan, also showing the names of those who were consulted and an analysis of the responses to the questions asked in the consultation process.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28729 on 25 October 2006. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliaments website, the search facility forwhich can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals are on the waiting list, opened by the Eaga Partnership Ltd in April 2006, for referrals under the Warm Deal scheme and central heating programme.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:
The number of applicants on theWarm Deal Programme list, as notified by Eaga, was 2,204 at the end of September2006.
The number of applicants on thecentral heating programme list, as notified by Eaga, was 12,319 at the end of September2006.
It should be noted that not allhouseholders who apply to the programmes will necessarily fulfil the eligibilitycriteria.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when the new Warm Deal scheme and central heating programme will be open for applications.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:
The programme has remained openfor applications during the re-letting of the contract for a Managing Agent.
Eaga Partnership continued torecord the details of householders who contacted them until 30 September 2006 andScottish Gas began recording householders details when they took over administrationof the programmes on 1 October 2006.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre a copy of the contract awarded by Communities Scotland to British Gas for the delivery of the next stage of the Warm Deal scheme and central heating programme.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:
Copies of the contract are availablein the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number No 40709). For reasonsof commercial confidentiality certain sections of the contract will be withheld.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 24 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue any guidance or advice to local authorities in respect of ensuring that street lighting is maintained and that lights are not turned off or dimmed during hours of darkness.
Answer
The provision and maintenanceof street lighting is a matter for local authorities. Section 35 to the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984states that a local roads authority shall provide and maintain lighting for roads,or proposed roads, which are, or will be, maintainable by them and which in theiropinion ought to be lit. Local authorities are best placed to take decisions onlocal needs on roads for which they are responsible.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 24 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the funding package for local government is sufficient to ensure that street lighting is maintained and that lights are neither turned off nor dimmed during hours of darkness.
Answer
The Executive supportslocal authority core revenue expenditure through its block grant. In distributingthis block grant, the Executive provides support of approximately £365 million perannum through the roads maintenance, winter maintenance, road lighting and roadadministration Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) lines. As part of Spending Review 2004, the Scottish Executiveprovided local authorities with an additional £60 million in GAE for each of 2006-07and 2007-08 for road maintenance, winter maintenance and street lighting. It is for each local authority to decide howbest to allocate its block grant, based on its local needs and priorities.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 17 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of charges being faced by community radio stations in respect of broadcasting over the web; whether it will take any steps to protect community radio from the financial consequences of any such charges; whether it considers that any legislative reform should be made to protect community radio from such charges, and what representations it has made to Ofcom on these matters.
Answer
Broadcasting is a reserved matterand is the responsibility of the Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS).
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 17 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any contact with community radio stations such as Lochbroom FM, Oban FM, Argyll FM, Caithness FM, Nevis Radio, Speysound Community Radio, Isles FM, Ross FM, Two Lochs Radio, Cuillin FM and Ness Community Radio and whether it has any concerns that the existence of any of these community radio stations could be jeopardised by the impact of charges made by Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and the Performing Right Society (PRS).
Answer
Broadcasting is a reserved matterand is the responsibility of the Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS).
The Phonographic PerformanceLtd (PPL) is a not for profit organisation that issues licences to play music inpublic places and collects royalties for the recording companies and performersfor their rights in the sound recording. A PPL licence is therefore required whena radio station plays music or other sound recordings. The Performing Rights Society(PRS) issues licenses and collects royalties for composers and publishers.
Any concerns about the impactof charges by these organisations should be raised with the independent regulatorfor the UK communications industries, Ofcom, through its website at
www.ofcom.org.uk or by writing to Ofcom, RiversideHouse, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 9HA.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 17 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take any steps to promote the continuance and survival of community radio stations.
Answer
Broadcasting is a reserved matterand is the responsibility of the Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS).
