- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 25 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when the new Warm Deal scheme and central heating programme will be open for applications.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster,Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:
The programme has remained openfor applications during the re-letting of the contract for a Managing Agent.
Eaga Partnership continued torecord the details of householders who contacted them until 30 September 2006 andScottish Gas began recording householders details when they took over administrationof the programmes on 1 October 2006.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 24 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the funding package for local government is sufficient to ensure that street lighting is maintained and that lights are neither turned off nor dimmed during hours of darkness.
Answer
The Executive supportslocal authority core revenue expenditure through its block grant. In distributingthis block grant, the Executive provides support of approximately £365 million perannum through the roads maintenance, winter maintenance, road lighting and roadadministration Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) lines. As part of Spending Review 2004, the Scottish Executiveprovided local authorities with an additional £60 million in GAE for each of 2006-07and 2007-08 for road maintenance, winter maintenance and street lighting. It is for each local authority to decide howbest to allocate its block grant, based on its local needs and priorities.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 24 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue any guidance or advice to local authorities in respect of ensuring that street lighting is maintained and that lights are not turned off or dimmed during hours of darkness.
Answer
The provision and maintenanceof street lighting is a matter for local authorities. Section 35 to the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984states that a local roads authority shall provide and maintain lighting for roads,or proposed roads, which are, or will be, maintainable by them and which in theiropinion ought to be lit. Local authorities are best placed to take decisions onlocal needs on roads for which they are responsible.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 17 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any contact with community radio stations such as Lochbroom FM, Oban FM, Argyll FM, Caithness FM, Nevis Radio, Speysound Community Radio, Isles FM, Ross FM, Two Lochs Radio, Cuillin FM and Ness Community Radio and whether it has any concerns that the existence of any of these community radio stations could be jeopardised by the impact of charges made by Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and the Performing Right Society (PRS).
Answer
Broadcasting is a reserved matterand is the responsibility of the Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS).
The Phonographic PerformanceLtd (PPL) is a not for profit organisation that issues licences to play music inpublic places and collects royalties for the recording companies and performersfor their rights in the sound recording. A PPL licence is therefore required whena radio station plays music or other sound recordings. The Performing Rights Society(PRS) issues licenses and collects royalties for composers and publishers.
Any concerns about the impactof charges by these organisations should be raised with the independent regulatorfor the UK communications industries, Ofcom, through its website at
www.ofcom.org.uk or by writing to Ofcom, RiversideHouse, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 9HA.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 17 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take any steps to promote the continuance and survival of community radio stations.
Answer
Broadcasting is a reserved matterand is the responsibility of the Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS).
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 17 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of charges being faced by community radio stations in respect of broadcasting over the web; whether it will take any steps to protect community radio from the financial consequences of any such charges; whether it considers that any legislative reform should be made to protect community radio from such charges, and what representations it has made to Ofcom on these matters.
Answer
Broadcasting is a reserved matterand is the responsibility of the Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS).
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 10 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide assurances to the staff of the Crofters Commission that they will not lose their status as civil servants in future and that it will not be within the remit of the inquiry into crofting to propose that the commission should become a non-departmental public body.
Answer
I can give no suchassurance.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 10 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the staff of the Crofters Commission will be represented on the committee of inquiry on the future of crofting.
Answer
Decisions about thestructure and membership of the committee of inquiry have yet to be made.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 9 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review its position on classifying the Inverness link route as a trunk road and what the impact of such a classification would be on the Executive’s transport budget.
Answer
The Inverness Southern Distributor Road is a local road and the responsibility of Highland Council.
The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to review the trunk road network.
The possibility of investment on the Inverness Southern Distributor Road, as a regionally significant link, is a matter for Highland Council to discuss with HITRANS in the context of the regional transport strategy.
The Scottish Executive support HITRANS through a capital allocation of £3.53 million in the current financial year (2006-07).
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the senior management of Transport Scotland.
Answer
Transport Scotland staffare Scottish Executive staff. The senior management of Transport Scotland meetsfrequently with other Scottish Executive colleagues. As well as ad hoc meetingsbetween officials, there is also Transport Scotland representation at a widerange of meetings.
