- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 28 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Ministerial Statement by the Minister for Children and Education on 6 September 2000 and in particular his reference to contact with schools and colleges regarding the Scottish Qualifications Authority being behind schedule in collecting internal assessment data, on what date it was first made aware by any such school or college, and by which schools or colleges, of any difficulties in the collection of internal assessment data.
Answer
As I said in my statement of 6 September, I became aware in March of problems reported by schools and colleges with the electronic transfer of information to SQA. These problems related mainly to the transmission of course and unit entries for candidates. Difficulties with the Phoenix software used by some schools were reported in the Daily Mail on 9 March. At a meeting of the Higher Still Development Unit's education authority co-ordinators on 16 March there was discussion of the problems reported by schools and colleges using both the Phoenix and SEEMIS systems.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 28 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of the report commissioned by it from Deloitte & Touche referred to in the Ministerial Statement by the Minister for Children and Education on 6 September 2000 and what their agreed rate of remuneration is per hour.
Answer
The value of the contract awarded to Deloitte and Touche is in the region of £80,000. As usual, the contract is based on the outputs which will be delivered, not the number of hours to be worked.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive which makes and models of motor vehicle are eligible for a grant for conversion to use liquid petroleum gas under the Energy Savings Trust's Powershift programme and, of these, which qualify for a grant of (a) 75%, (b) 60% and (c) 40% of conversion costs.
Answer
There are over 1,000 combinations of vehicle makes/models/conversions available for conversion to LPG, CNG and LNG. The amount of grant depends on the emission reduction produced by the conversion and vehicle model combination. Details can be accessed on the Powershift website, the address of which is
www.est-powershift.org.uk/.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-9005 and S1O-2178 by Sarah Boyack and Alasdair Morrison on 31 August 2000 and 7 September 2000 respectively, why the number of grants made under the Energy Savings Trust's Powershift programme since 1997 for conversion of motor vehicles to use liquid petroleum gas was stated to be 96 in the answer to S1W-9005 and 390 in the answer to S1O-2178 and what the correct figure is.
Answer
The figure of 96 quoted in reply to question S1W-9005 related to the number of grants for conversion of motor vehicles to LPG since 1997, whereas the figure of 390 in question S1O-2178 relates to the number of vehicles converted in that period. The first answer made it clear that some grants are awarded for multiple vehicle conversions or purchases, for example to fleet operators.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the addresses of all establishments which are authorised or otherwise permitted to carry out conversion work for motor vehicles to use liquid petroleum gas under the Energy Savings Trust's Powershift programme.
Answer
A list of converters can be found on the Powershift website at
www.est-powershift.org.uk/.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 26 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been adequate and effective communication with the communities served by the A95 with regard to the various works to be carried out on the road and, if there has not, what measures it proposes to take to address this matter.
Answer
Yes.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 26 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive when it first became aware of any inadequacies in quality control measures to ensure consistent marking of this year's exam papers.
Answer
The Scottish Qualifications Authority has long-established quality assurance procedures for the marking process. The inquiry which I have commissioned will determine whether they were used correctly this year and make recommendations about how quality assurance on marking should operate in future.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 26 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has powers in relation to the Scottish Qualifications Authority and what these powers are; whether it considers that its powers are sufficient, and whether it will take steps to widen such powers.
Answer
The Scottish Qualifications Authority was established under the Education (Scotland) Act 1996. The Act sets out the authority's functions and the powers which Scottish Ministers have in relation to SQA. As a Non-Departmental Public Body, the relationship between the SQA and Scottish Ministers is also set out in the authority's Management Statement and Financial Memorandum.
Ministers' powers in relation to SQA will be considered in the light of the inquiries being undertaken by the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee and the Education Committee of the Scottish Parliament; and by the Policy and Financial Management Review of the SQA being undertaken by the Scottish Executive.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 26 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5993 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 May 2000, what are the "considerable difficulties" which it sees for any proposed legislation in respect of landed estates and what are the "difficulties of regulation" in ensuring any compliance.
Answer
We can see practical difficulties in several areas relating to a proposal to legislate to require non-resident and corporate owners to appoint a legally responsible local agent. For example, how to enforce requirements upon non-residents; and how to address a failure to comply. There is also the matter of attaching liability to secure the compliance of local agents, and setting appropriate penalties to deal with any failure.
As I explained, we fully support the principle of accountability, and our Code of Good Practice on Rural Land Ownership will address the matter of local representation.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 25 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has in relation to the Black Cuillins on the Isle of Skye and whether it will (a) obtain a copy of the title deeds of the Black Cuillins, (b) instruct the District Valuer to carry out an assessment of the value of the Black Cuillins and (c) make representations to the owners of the Black Cuillins regarding the proposed selling price.
Answer
I refer the member to the Executive's position on the Cuillins sale, which I set out in the debate held on 11 May. Since that time the Crown Estate have investigated title to the Cuillin Estate and concluded that they have no claim to title.
