- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received in respect of the condition of nephrops stocks in the west coast of Scotland; whether Fisheries Research Services has made any recommendation to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas or the European Union that nephrops quotas should be increased this year and, if so, what that recommendation was; whether it will support such an increase, and whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre all the background information and advice it (a) has received and (b) expects to receive on this matter in the run-up to the annual negotiations.
Answer
The most recent assessment ofNephrops stocks to the West of Scotland is presented in the October 2003 AdvisoryCommittee on Fishery Management (ACFM) report from the International Councilfor the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which is publicly available at
www.ices.dk. The next assessment will not be completeduntil the meeting of ICES’ Advisory Committee on Fisheries Management, meeting inCopenhagen in October. The final stock assessment is normally made publicly available,with the corresponding management advice, within seven days. Fisheries Research Services hasnot recommended an increase in west of Scotland nephrops quotas to either ICES orto the European Union, and does not routinely recommend any quota level: quotasare normally set by managers on the basis of stock assessments and correspondingcatch forecasts, in accordance with the fisheries management objectives for thestocks concerned.
The Scottish Executive does notnormally receive details of the technical and complex components of the preliminarystages of fish stock assessments; these are presented in the final stock assessments,in the relevant ICES working group reports and in the fisheries management advicereceived – all of which are made publicly available on www.ices.dk. The Scottish Executive does not expect to receive information on the condition of nephrops stocksto the west of Scotland in addition to that which will be made publicly available.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 August 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 1 September 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the state of monkfish stocks and whether monkfish quotas can be further increased.
Answer
With the agreement of the EUFisheries Council, monkfish quotas can be further increased on the basis of a proposalfrom the European Commission to do so.
The most recent scientific assessmentof monkfish stocks is presented in section 4.5.6 of the autumn 2004 Advisory Committee on Fishery Management (ACFM) report from the InternationalCouncil for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which is publicly available at www.ices.dk.Neither the size of the spawning stock biomass nor the current level of fishingmortality is known.
In response to a special request,ICES’ advice for long-term management of the monkfish stock is presented in Section1.3.3.1 of the spring 2005 ACFM report, also publicly available at
www.ices.dk. The long-term advice is to substantiallyimprove the quality and quantity of data collected in the fishery, whilst maintainingexploitation of the stock at its current level, in so far as that can be determined.A further stock assessment withmanagement advice is expected in October 2005.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the draft invitation to tender for Clyde and Hebridean ferry services makes any provision in respect of the successful tenderer being liable to pay UK taxes and national insurance and, if not, whether it will consider bids from companies which are registered offshore for tax purposes.
Answer
The draft service specification,published for consultation in December 2004, does not make any specific referenceto the liability of the operator of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services in relationto UK taxes and national insurance. If tendering is required, the liability of theoperator of the services to UK tax would be determined according to UK tax law.
If tendering goes ahead the Executivewould be required, by the Maritime Cabotage Regulation, to conclude the contracton a non-discriminatory basis in respect of all community shipowners (as definedby the Regulation). The Executive would not be able to take into account the placewhere a bidder is registered, providing the bidder fulfils the criteria for a communityshipowner
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 July 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will clarify the position in respect of employees of Caledonian MacBrayne regarding their security of employment if the company registers offshore for tax purposes and, in particular, whether their (a) security of employment and (b) rights and conditions of employment would be affected by any such change.
Answer
Caledonian MacBrayne has advisedits employees that should offshore crewing proceed, the company would ensure thatthere was no financial detriment to any employee as a result of any changes andthat this guarantee would be written into employees’ terms and conditions of employment.CalMac employees would continue to be employedwithin the UK and on UK flagged vessels. As such they would continue to havethe same statutory rights they currently enjoy in relation to their employment suchas rights to redundancy consultation and payments and protection against unfairdismissal.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 25 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recent appointments to the board of the Water Industry Commission, including the post of Chief Executive, were subject to an open and competitive selection process and if so, how many applicants were interviewed for the posts.
Answer
The chair and other ordinarymembersof the Water Industry Commission were appointed after an open competition conductedunder guidelines issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland(OCPAS) and in accordance with Schedule A1,paragraphs 3(1) and 5(1) of Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 as amended by theWater Services etc (Scotland) Act 2005. The Chief Executive was appointed by Scottish ministersafter consultation with the chair in accordance with schedule A1, paragraphs 7(2)& (3). Four applicants were interviewed for the chair post and ten for member posts fromtotal applicant numbers of 24 and 93 respectively.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 8 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on whether private sector providers of outdoor education consider the level of business rates to be a significant factor in the operation of their business.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17467 on 18 July 2005. 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/wa.search.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 8 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a survey to ascertain whether the cost to outdoor education providers of obtaining insurance cover against third party public liability risk of accidents has increased in recent years; whether information will be sought from, or a survey will be carried out of, private sector outdoor education providers on this matter and, if such a survey is to be carried out, whether it will include detailed questions seeking to elicit the amount of cover required in relation to the size and turnover of the business and the level of increase in the annual premiums payable.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17467 on 8 July 2005. 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/wa.search.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 8 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a survey of private sector providers of outdoor education to ascertain whether the availability of labour is a barrier to providing outdoor education.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17467 on 18 July 2005. 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/wa.search.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 8 July 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the development officer appointed to take forward the development of outdoor education will seek to identify barriers to the provision of outdoor education; whether a survey will be carried out of those who provide outdoor education in the private sector in respect of what any such barriers are and, if so, whether the survey will ask specific questions on matters which may constitute such barriers.
Answer
A priority for the national development officer will be to map out current provision and identify barriers to participation in outdoor education. This will be a matter for the development officer to take forward with the support of the outdoor connections steering group. This group will consist of outdoor education experts and providers, including representatives of the private sector.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 June 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make an order to lower the speed limit to 30 mph on A95 at Cromdale, as indicated on the plan sent by the Secretary of Cromdale and Advie Community Council to it on 9 February 2004, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter; whether any objections were raised by local residents during the consultation process on a proposed order; how many objections there were to the proposed order and, of these, how many were from local residents, and how much the consultation cost, including time spent by civil servants working on it.
Answer
As stated before, I wish to overrule the objections and proceed. It is now one year since the objections were received and officials have had more than adequate time to carryout all investigations. In the absence of this work being done timeously, I wish to confirm the order now. I appreciate that this involves a certain risk.
The following is a corrected answer (published on 20 June 2005); see below
Nicol Stephen: A response to the above question was issued on 20 June 2005 in error.
In 2004 the Scottish Executive published a draft order for a 30 mph speed limit on the A95 at Cromdale. Two objections were lodged; neither of these were from local residents. Information submitted by the objectors in support of their objections has been considered in conjunction with the advice given in SOID Circular 1/93 Speed Limits – Guidance for Roads Authorities.
Further consideration is now being given to identify actions aimed at addressing the substance of these objections. This will include the installation of a temporary 30mph speed limit and monitoring of driver behaviour for a trial period. I have asked officials to meet the Community Council to discuss these actions. The intention of the Executive remains to proceed with the confirmation of the draft order.
The consultation costs amounted to £450.
