- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 1 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to attract jobs and investment to North Ayrshire.
Answer
We place great importance onattracting jobs and increasing investment throughout Scotland, includingNorth Ayrshire.
Together with the local authority,training agencies, the voluntary sector, Communities Scotland and other local partners,Scottish Enterprise is making a significant contribution to the Ayrshire economyby increasing employment and economic development opportunities.
Examples of such support forNorth Ayrshire include: workforce development, the Lochshore project on the siteof the former Glengarnock Steel Mill, Ayrshire Innovation Centre, the Clyde Marina/ArdrossanHarbour project and the Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what level of additional investment it estimates will be made in the west of Scotland in the first five years after the completion of the M74 northern extension.
Answer
The information requested isnot available. Estimates and projections of the economic benefits of the schemehave been made based on new jobs created to the area during the construction andfollowing completion of the M74 and benefits to users of the road network.I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-64 on 1 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to enhance the road and rail infrastructure of North Ayrshire.
Answer
We are investing £40 millionin the trunk road infrastructure in North Ayrshire including the completed A78“Three Towns Bypass” (Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenson), four improvements schemeson the A737 and a study of the traffic problems affecting Dalry which will feedinto the Strategic Transport Projects Review.
On rail we have an aspirationto lengthen trains to Ayrshire, including Prestwick Airport and to operate an additional hourly service on the Ayr route.
Future options for investmentin the trunk road and rail network will be considered as part of the Strategic TransportProjects Review which is examining the needs of the national strategic transportcorridors throughout Scotland. The review is due to report in summer 2008.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is for upgrading the A737.
Answer
The current investment programme to 2012 will see the delivery of £7.25 million investment in the A737. The Strategic Transport Projects Review will also examine the longer term needs of Scotland''s nationally strategic transport network to develop the investment plan necessary for 2012 to 2022.
Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted if required.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 31 May 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what practical steps it will take to regenerate the centres of small towns.
Answer
One of our central prioritiesis to support Scotland’s economic growth. We have already made clear that oneof the ways in which we will do so is by removing or reducing the burden of businessrates for small businesses, many of which are located in traditional town centresacross Scotland. We will announce further measures in due course.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 31 May 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many offenders have been prosecuted under the Litter Act 1958 in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answer
The Litter Act 1958 was repealedby the Litter Act 1983. Prosecutions for littering offences are generally underthe Environmental Protection Act 1990. The available information for persons proceededagainst for littering offences under the 1990 act is given in the table.
Persons Proceeded against inScottish Courts for Littering Offences Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990,2003-04 to 2005-06.
| Year | Number |
| 2003-04 | 28 |
| 2004-05 | 43 |
| 2005-06 | 32 |
Note: 1. Where main offence.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 31 May 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many migrants from the 12 most recent EU accession states are currently homeless.
Answer
The information requested isnot held centrally at this time. Changes to the homelessness statistics data collectionsystem, introduced from April 2007, allow councils to identify applicants from themost recent EU accession states. The first annual statistics on such applicants,for the year 2007-08, will be published during 2008.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 31 May 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what level of investment it will commit towards the regeneration of Ardrossan.
Answer
The Scottish Executive hasbeen working with Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company (URC) and localpartners, including North Ayrshire Council, Communities Scotland and ScottishEnterprise Ayrshire, to assist in the development of comprehensive regenerationproposals for the Irvine Bay area of North Ayrshire, which covers the town of Ardrossan. IrvineBay URC will be submitting a finalised business plan to the Executive in June2007 for consideration. Decisions on any future investment by the Executivewill be taken in that context.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 31 May 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government about of raising the classification to 18 of any film which shows people smoking and has an under-18 viewing certificate.
Answer
The Scottish Executive recognisesthat images of smokers featured in films, TV and magazines may influence young peopleto smoke. In developing our longer term national smoking prevention strategy, therefore,we will work with the UK Government and other devolved governments to explore waysto reduce positive and increase negative images of smoking in the media. It doesnot seem unreasonable for issues relating to film classification to form part ofthese considerations.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 31 May 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been prosecuted under the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 in each year since its enactment.
Answer
The available information onthe number of persons proceeded against for dog fouling is given in the followingtable.
Persons Proceededagainst in Scottish Courts for Offences Under the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 20031, 2002-03 to 2005-06
| Year | Number |
| 2004-05 | 8 |
| 2005-06 | 8 |
Note: 1. Where mainoffence.
