- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21547 by Mr Tom McCabe on 19 December 2005, in which of its departments the vacancies in Inverness arose in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05.
Answer
The information is as follows:
in 2003-04, five of the vacancieswere in the Deer Commission for Scotland and the remaining four vacancies were in the Animal HealthOffice in Inverness,
in 2004-05, three of the vacancieswere in the Agricultural area office in Inverness and three vacancies were in the Animal Health Officein Inverness.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 10 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency plans there are in respect of poultry with no access to enclosed areas in the event of an avian flu outbreak in the United Kingdom.
Answer
Planning the response to a legalrequirement for birds to be housed is a matter for individual poultry-keepers. Insupport of this the Executive has published guidance on the issues which individualpoultry-keepers will wish to take into account. A wide range of bird keepers havebeen reminded of this information in recent biosecurity guidance distributed bythe Executive.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 7 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue with current funding arrangements for mountain rescue from 1 April 2006; they plan any reduction in funding, and whether it will make a ministerial statement on the matter.
Answer
Since 2003-04, the Executivehas provided £1.46 million in funding to support mountain rescue. A further grantof £300,000 will be paid to the Mountain Rescue Committee for Scotland in 2006-07.Future funding beyond that period will be considered in the context of the nextspending review.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 7 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when phase one of the upgrade and refurbishment of Waverley Station will be completed; whether this will increase the capacity of the station from 24 to 28 trains per hour, and, if so, when the station will be operating at this new increased capacity.
Answer
The target date forcompletion of the re-development of Waverley Station is November 2007. Thiswill increase the number of trains which Waverley can accommodate from 24 per hour to 28.
The station will have thecapacity for four more train paths. Operationally, this will facilitate futureplanned rail projects such as the new Airdrie to Bathgate services.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for moreinformation if required.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 7 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the total cost of the Waverley phase one works to increase the capacity of Waverley Station, broken down into the main components of the work, including the work on the Waverley Steps, and also allowing for any optimism bias.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is fullyfunding the redevelopment of Waverley Station at an estimated cost of £150 million,broken down into the following components:
| Item | Total Cost |
| Signalling and Telecoms | £34 million |
| Infrastructure | £32 million |
| Waverley Steps | £8 million |
| Network Rail | £13 million |
| Contingency and Optimism Bias | £63 million |
| Total | £150 million |
Source of data: Network Rail.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 7 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when the terms of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 will be brought into force; why it has not yet been brought into force; whether it is intended to bring it into force on 28 April 2006 and, if so, what the reasons are for the decision in respect of which date it comes into force.
Answer
The Family Law (Scotland) Act2006 will come into effect in the late spring or early summer of 2006 once therequisite arrangements have been made in relation to rules of court andsecondary legislation.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 3 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of its consultation on the proposed Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill, what its estimate is of the total cost of the (a) consultation exercise, (b) implementation of the legislation and (c) proposed regulator and, if the regulator is the Fish Health Inspectorate within the Fisheries Research Services (FRS), how much additional funding would require to be paid to the FRS to fulfil the functions of the regulator.
Answer
Two thousand, five hundred copies of the consultation paper on the Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill were produced at a cost of £18,698. In addition, the Executive held 10 public meetings across Scotland, at a total cost of £2,151. The consultation paper included a Draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) which envisaged additional costs of some £250,000 to the public purse. The Executive has yet to analyse the responses to the consultation paper and Draft RIA and has not yet decided on the final content of the bill. An analysis of the estimated costs of implementing the legislation – including the costs of any regulator will be published in the financial memorandum that will accompany the bill when it is introduced into the Parliament.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 3 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of its consultation on the proposed Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill, what liability the proposed regulator would have in the event of salmon dying as a result of the treatment carried out by, or on the instruction of, the regulator.
Answer
The issue of where the liability lies for stock lost as a result of treatment carried out by, or on the instruction of, a regulator is one that has been raised during the consultation. The Executive will give this issue due consideration alongside other points raised by respondents during the consultation.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 3 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of its consultation on the proposed Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill, what the relationship will be between the proposed regulator and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and whose requirements for action will take precedence in law.
Answer
The Executive has yet to analyse the responses to the consultation and consider fully the provisions that will go into the bill, including the need for a regulator, its role and its relationship with other regulators.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 2 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that the evaluation of the speeds of vehicles recorded travelling through Cromdale on the A95 between 8 and 15 August 2005, when a temporary speed limit of 30 mph was applied, indicate that (a) the highest speeds recorded were in respect of a motorcycle travelling at 92 mph and of a car travelling at 85 mph and (b) 76% of the 24,804 vehicles whose speed was measured were in breach of the speed limit; when the Minister for Transport and Telecommunications became aware of these findings; whether he has made any order to reduce the speed of vehicles travelling through Cromdale, and, if not, whether he will introduce appropriate measures, including an order for a permanent speed limit of 30 mph.
Answer
I can confirm that the evaluationof the speeds of vehicles travelling through Cromdale on the A95 during the trial30mph speed limit from 8 to 15 August 2005 is as stated in the question. I can also confirm thatofficials in the Scottish Executive (now Transport Scotland) receivedthis information in September 2005 and are discussing with BEAR Scotland Ltd andthe police the implications of this information, particularly in relation to theproposed speed limit and any appropriate supporting measures.
Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.
