- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 17 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many full and part-time wildlife crime officers are employed by Scottish police forces and, of these, how many are civilian employees.
Answer
Within Scottish police forces, there are two full-time police staff employed on wildlife crime and 86 police officers who have wildlife crime designated as part of their normal police duties.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 17 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many alleged offences under the Food and Environmental Protection Act 1985 have been reported to procurators fiscal in each year since 1999, and, of these, how many have proceeded to prosecution and how many have resulted in a conviction.
Answer
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2002-03, only two charges were reported to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Servicie - both were prosecuted and both were convicted. In FY 2003-04, three charges were reported, three were prosecuted and (to date) only one has been convicted. The two remaining charges are still subject of court proceedings.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) regarding the proposed Quality and Standards III investment programme for Scottish Water and whether this includes advice about compatibility with the EU Water Framework Directive.
Answer
SEPA is a key stakeholder actively involved in the Quality and Standard three project group which is advising on the extent of the industry’s investment requirements, post 2006. This work has informed the content of the recent consultation, Investing in Water Services 2006-2014. As part of this process, SEPA’s advice has covered the extent of investment required for environmental targets including the Water Framework Directive. SEPA has also submitted a formal response to this consultation.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 17 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when the specialist environmental prosecutors, announced on 9 February 2004, will begin work and whether it will publish their names and office addresses.
Answer
The network of specialist environmental prosecutors, announced on 9 February 2004, was fully operational from that date. The names and contact details are available to the relevant reporting agencies but there are no plans at present to publish more widely the names and office addresses of the specialistprosecutors.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 17 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many alleged offences against protected wildlife have been reported to procurators fiscal in each year since 1999 and, of these, how many have proceeded to prosecution and how many have resulted in a conviction.
Answer
Complete and accurate information on the number of offences against protected wildlife reported to procurators fiscal prior to 2002 cannot be provided without disproportionate cost. Information available for financial years 2002-03 and 2003-04 relates to cases reported under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and is as follows:
| Number of Cases Under Wildlife and Countryside Act and Protection of Badgers Act | FY 2002-03 | FY 2003-04 |
| Reported | 18 | 36 |
| Proceedings taken | 13 | 19 |
| Alternative to prosecution | 1 | 5 |
| Conviction | 10 | 8 |
| Proceedings not yet completed | - | 4 |
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has received from Scottish Natural Heritage regarding the proposed Quality and Standards III investment programme for Scottish Water.
Answer
Scottish Natural Heritage is a key stakeholder involved in the Quality and Standard three project group which is advising on the extent of the industry’s investment requirements, post 2006. This work has informed the content of the recent consultation, Investing in Water Services 2006-2014. In addition, Scottish Natural Heritage has also submitted a response to this consultation.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2004
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Current Status:
Awaiting answer
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lewis Peatlands are classified as a SpecialProtection Area under the EU Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds (79/409/EEC) and, if so, what the extent is of the site; what species of bird in the area are listed as a qualifying interest; how many of these species occur in the area and what proportions of national and international populations they represent, and whether the site is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Answer
Awaiting answer
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how the Integrated Transport Fund is supporting projects that include the provision of infrastructure for cycling.
Answer
The Integrated Transport Fund supports cycling infrastructure projects through its Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets projects and Public Transport Fund awards.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many strategic environmental assessments have been carried out since the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes (Scotland) Regulations 2004 came into force and what effect these have had on decision-making.
Answer
To date no Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) have been carried out since The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes (Scotland) Regulations came into force on 20 July 2004.
It is not possible at this early stage to quantify what effect the SEA Regulations have already had on the decision-making processes within responsible authorities.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 30 September 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to protect native biodiversity from the impact of non-native species.
Answer
We are concluding the analysis of the Consultation of Non-Native Species Policy which closed at the end of June. We had an excellent and informative response – with over 60 consultees contributing. That will help us put in place appropriate measures to address non-native issues. I expect to publish these responses and our conclusions early in the New Year.
