Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-12877

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any correspondence with supermarket suppliers who wanted to register their concern over the impact of the Supermarket Code of Practice but who were reluctant to make an official complaint under the code and, if so, what its response to these suppliers was.

The Executive has received little formal correspondence where the supplier wanted to register concern over the Supermarket Code of Practice, but was reluctant to make an official complaint under the code. However, informal and anecdotal views have been expressed over the lack of effectiveness of the Code. The Executive in all cases has invited complainants to contact the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), and also, early in 2003, made representation to the OFT about these views.

Question reference: S2W-12876

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution it made to the Office of Fair Trading"s review of the Supermarket Code of Practice.

The Executive made representation to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), early in 2003, to the effect that there was a very strong view from suppliers in Scotland that the Supermarket Code of Practice was not working. The representation made it clear that fear of de-listing was preventing suppliers making complaints under the code, together with concerns about lack of substantive penalties for non-compliance. The outcome of this representation, and other similar representations, was the OFT’s announcement of an audit of the code, aimed at establishing the effectiveness of the code. The report of the audit is nearing completion and is likely to be published early in 2005. The Executive will make further representation once the outcome of the audit is known.

Question reference: S2W-12879

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has raised any concerns regarding the Supermarket Code of Practice officially with the UK Government and, if so, whether it will give details of the representations made.

The question of the effectiveness of the operation of the Supermarket Code of Practice is currently the subject of an audit by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The Executive made representation to the OFT about the effectiveness of the Code which, along with other representations, led to the audit being conducted. The results are likely to be published early in 2005. The Executive will make further representation once the outcome of the audit is known.

Question reference: S2W-12878

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make any representations to the UK Government regarding the establishment of a confidential system for registering supermarket suppliers' complaints under the code of practice, given concerns expressed by suppliers and trade associations over the impact of the current system.

Question reference: S2O-04679

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 16 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when the TETRA system will be fully operational and ready for use by police.

Question reference: S2O-04393

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Johann Lamont on 2 December 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the main public interest criteria are in respect of planning appeals.

Question reference: S2W-12117

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lewis Peatlands are classified as a Special Protection 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 the 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.

The Lewis Peatlands Special Protection Area (SPA) was classified under the European Council Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds (79/409/EEC) on December 7 2000; the site encompasses an area of 58,984.23 hectares.

The relevant international population by which the importance of any bird species on an SPA can be assessed is expressed in terms of the biogeographic population from which it is drawn or is a part of. A biogeographic population is a group of birds which breed in a particular location (or group of locations), breed freely within the group, and rarely breed or exchange individuals with other groups.

The qualifying species are – black throated diver (11 pairs representing at least 6.9% of the GB breeding population and <0.1% of="" the="" biogeographical="" population),="" dunlin="" schinzii="" sub-species="" (3,650="" pairs="" representing="" at="" least="" 33.2%="" of="" the="" breeding="" baltic/gb/ireland="" population),="" golden="" eagle="" (six="" pairs="" representing="" at="" least="" 1.5%="" of="" the="" gb="" breeding="" population="" and="" 0.1%="" of="" the="" biogeographical="" population),="" golden="" plover="" (1,978="" pairs="" representing="" at="" least="" 8.8%="" of="" the="" gb="" breeding="" population="" and="" 0.4%="" of="" the="" biogeographical="" population),="" greenshank="" (152="" pairs="" representing="" at="" least="" 0.3%="" of="" the="" breeding="" europe/western="" africa="" population="" and="" 0.3%="" of="" the="" biogeographical="" population),="" merlin="" (20="" pairs="" representing="" at="" least="" 1.5%="" of="" the="" gb="" breeding="" population="" and="" 0.2%="" of="" the="" biogeographical="" population)="" and="" red="" throated="" diver="" (60="" pairs="" representing="" at="" least="" 6.4%="" of="" the="" gb="" breeding="" population="" and="" 0.8%="" of="" the="" biogeographical="">

The whole of the Lewis Peatlands SPA is not underpinned by Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) notification. However, four SSSIs are contained within the SPA boundary. These are mainly notified for reasons other than the SPA interest and are:

1. Achmore Bog SSSI (296.73ha. Notified for blanket bog).

2. Loch Laxavat Ard & Loch Laxavat Iorach SSSI (267ha. Notified for woodland,open waters and breeding bird assemblage).

3. Loch Nan Eilean Valley Bog SSSI (33.26ha. Notified for blanket bog and valley mire).

4. Loch Scarrasdale Valley Bog SSSI (218.26ha. Notified for blanket bog and valley mire).

Question reference: S2W-11563

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive who were invited to its consultation seminars regarding the proposed Quality and Standards III investment programme for Scottish Water.

A series of three seminars were organised and hosted by Water Customer Consultation Panels and the Scottish Executive to discuss the issues contained in the Investing in Water Services 2006-2014 consultation These took place in Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow. A wide range of stakeholders were invited and these are listed below:

Aberdeen City Council	Dundee Chamber of Commerce
Aberdeenshire Council	Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce
Angus Council	Federation of Master Builders
Argyll and Bute Council	Federation of Small Businesses
Scottish Borders Council	Fife Chamber of Commerce
Clackmannanshire Council	Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce
Dumfries and Galloway Council	Friends of the Earth
Dundee City Council	Glasgow and Clyde Valley Structure Plan Authority
East Ayrshire Council	Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
East Dunbartonshire Council	Glasgow housing association
East Lothian Council	Graham and Sibbald
East Renfrewshire Council	Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Edinburgh City Council	Highlands and Islands Partnership Programme
Falkirk Council	Homes for Scotland
Fife Council	Initiative on the Edge
Glasgow City Council	Inverness Chamber of Commerce
Highland Council	Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park
Inverclyde Council	McGregor Donald Sols
Midlothian Council	Moray Chamber of Commerce
Moray Council	Moray Firth Partnership
North Ayrshire Council	Orkney Housing Association
North Lanarkshire Council	Renfrewshire chamber of commerce
Orkney Council	Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
Perth and Kinross Council	Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
Renfrewshire Council	Royal Town Planning Institute
Shetland Council	Scottish Building
South Ayrshire Council	Scottish Council for Development and Industry
South Lanarkshire Council	Scottish Centre for Information and Environmental Health
Stirling Council	Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations
West Dunbartonshire Council	Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire
West Lothian Council	Scottish Enterprise Borders
Western Isles Council	Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire
	Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians
Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce	Scottish Enterprise Fife
British Gas	Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley
Burness Solicitors	Scottish Enterprise Glasgow
Cairngorms National Park Authority	Scottish Enterprise Grampian
Caledonian Paper	Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire
Chemical Industries Association	Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire
Civil Engineering Contractors Association	Scottish Enterprise Tayside
Communities Scotland	Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
Confederation of Business and Industry	Scottish Natural Heritage
Confederation of Paper Industries	Scottish Power
Construction Industry Forum	Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (formerly Scottish Landowners Federation)
Director of Public Health Argyll and Clyde	SEPA
Director of Public Health Borders	Scottish Society of Directors and Planners
Director of Public Health Fife	Shepherd and Wedderburn
Director of Public Health Forth Valley	Tulloch Group (Housebuilders) }
Director of Public Health Glasgow	Transco
Director of Public Health Highland	Water Customer Consultation Panel members
Director of Public Health Shetland	World Wildlife Fund

Question reference: S2W-12004

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 19 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to protect the peatland features of the Lewis Peatlands Ramsar site outside the boundary of the Lewis Peatlands candidate Special Area of Conservation.

Question reference: S2W-11999

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2004
Current Status: Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 19 November 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deer were killed in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003 (i) under control agreements made under section 7, (ii) under control schemes made under section 8, (iii) as part of emergency measures taken under sections 10 and 11 and (iv) by occupiers or persons authorised by occupiers acting under section 26 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996.