- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it has instigated in order to celebrate, and respond to, the enlargement of the European Union.
Answer
We have instigated a rangeof initiatives to celebrate EU enlargement, in Scotland, in Brussels andin the new member states.
In Scotland Ihosted a business event in Glasgow on 5 May to celebrate enlargement and the success ofScottish business in the new member states. The Deputy Education Minister participatedin an enlargement webchat with young people on the Scottish Executive website on 29 April. The Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services hostedan enlargement/Europe day lecture given in Edinburgh Castle on 10May by the Estonian Minister for Economic Affairs and Communications, Mr MeelisAtonen.
The First Ministersent a letter to major newspapers in the new member states, welcoming theircitizens to the EU.
In Brussels, wehave organised a season of films from the new member states throughout 2004.This was opened in January by the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport.
Officials from the Scottish Executive are undertaking a programme of fact-finding visits to the new member statesto mark enlargement; three of these visits were timed to coincide with accessionday.
We have also developed an EUenlargement section of our website.
Additionally, we continue towork closely with external partners, including the Foreign and CommonwealthOffice, the British Council, the European Commission, Scottish businessorganisations and the Edinburgh Consortium on a further range of initiatives tocelebrate EU Enlargement. This included my opening speech at the outdoor familypublic event in Princes Street Gardens, organised by the Edinburgh Consortium to mark accessionday on 1 May.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will use the underspends in respect of the 2003 decommissioning, transitional aid and hardship relief schemes for providing assistance to the fishing industry.
Answer
Any funds allocated in 2003for decommissioning and transitional support but not used for that purpose willbe available for reallocation. An announcement on the use of all 2003-04underspend will be made in due course by the Minister for Finance and Public Services.
In relation to the hardshiprelief scheme there was no underspend as the £1.8 million figure was anestimation of the maximum amount of relief that could be granted. It was nevera commitment to put this amount aside in order to aid the onshore sector asthat could be classed as a state aid.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether there should be further changes to the Common Fisheries Policy that have not already been agreed and, if so, what such changes would be.
Answer
We believe that there shouldbe progressive change within the Common Fisheries Policy, not least to ensureappropriate regional and devolved management in the light of the Council’s recentDecision to establish Regional Advisory Councils.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 30 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 4 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to commission any studies regarding the economic and social impact of post office closures.
Answer
The Royal Mail, Post Officesand postal issues are reserved matters and the UK Government remains committed toa viable network of post offices across the country. The Scottish Executive recognises the importance of the availability across Scotland of servicesprovided by the Post Office Network. The Executive has already put in place a £2million fund to assist urban deprived areas to retain service provision and willmonitor post office developments to identify any other role it can play within itsdevolved powers.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 30 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 4 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government with regard to recent post office closures announced in Aberdeen and the north east.
Answer
Detailed arrangements for therestructuring of the post office network are operational matters for the Royal Mailwhich is answerable to its regulator, Postcomm and the UK Government on all aspectsof these reserved matters. A decision to close a Post Office branch is made onlyafter taking full account of feedback received from customers, MPs, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ or assemblymembers, councillors, local authorities, groups such as Age Concern and Citizen’sAdvice Bureau, and the independent consumer watchdog, Postwatch. To date in Scotland the Royal Mail have proposed for closureonly branches where the sub-postmaster has expressed a desire to leave the businessand the business is designated as not viable.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Mary Mulligan on 3 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been paid out under the fund to develop post offices in deprived urban areas in each local authority area.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to reply. Her response is as follows:
Payments to the value of £219,451.66 have been made. The table below shows the relationship between number of grants awarded, value of grants awarded and monies actually paid out by local authority area.
| Local Authority | Total Number of Grants Awarded | Total Value of Grants Offered | Payments Made as at 21 May 2004 |
| Dundee City Council | 3 | £124,166.00 | £ 66,796.00 |
| Glasgow City Council | 4 | £187,491.84 | £102,655.66 |
| Highland Council | 1 | £ 15,680.00 | Ìý |
| Scottish Borders Council | 1 | £ 37,155.94 | Ìý |
| Stirling Council | 1 | £ 50,000.00 | £ 50,000.00 |
| West Dunbartonshire Council | 1 | £ 44,918.40 | Ìý |
| Totals | 11 | £459,412.18 | £219,451.66 |
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 3 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive why it is seeking a new logo for Scotland and whether it will instigate a public debate to seek suggestions on the issue.
Answer
As Mr Lochhead knows from my previous answers, the Executiveis considering ways to help achieve Partnership Agreement objectives bypromoting Scotland overseas in a more effective way.
This workinvolves many different elements, one of which will be a campaign to promote Scotland internationally, which the FirstMinister announced on 25 February. Visual imagery will be a part of thiseffort, but no decisions have yet been taken about the role a logo might play.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 2 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-21028 and S2W-3175 by Mr Jim Wallace and Mr Andy Kerr on 3 January 2002 and 30 October 2003 respectively, whether Scottish ministers have officially led any further UK Delegations to the Council of Ministers and, if so, whether it will provide similar details to those provided in the answer to question S1W-21028.
Answer
Scottish Executive ministers have not led any further UKdelegations to EU Councils.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 2 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent it considers industrial fishing to be detrimental to commercial stocks caught by the Scottish fishing fleet.
Answer
The Scottish Executive remains concerned about the level of by-catch in industrial fishing. Weare currently working with the Commission in order to develop a more rigorous systemfor measuring the by-catch of human consumption species in industrial fisheries.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 May 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 2 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the fisheries budget has been in each year since 1999, showing year-on-year increases and decreases and, for each year, providing details of any element that related to aid schemes for industry such as decommissioning or transitional aid.
Answer
The following table shows outturn and planned spending on Fisheries in the period 1999-2000 to 2003-04. The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural AffairsDepartment Fisheries Budget makes provision mainly for the Operating and Capital expenditure of the Scottish Fisheries Protection and Fisheries Research Services Agencies and a range of EU and domestic grant schemes in support of marketing and processing and fishery harbours.
| Ìý | 1999-2000 Outturn (£ Million) | 2000-2001 Outturn (£ Million) | 2001-02 Outturn (£ Million) | 2002-03 Outturn (£ Million) | 2003-04 Plans (£ Million) |
| Expenditure | 33 | 32 | 35 | 41 | 48 |
| Change on Previous Year | - | -1 | +3 | +6 | +7 |
Ìý
These figures exclude agency consumption of cost of capital and capital depreciation. They exclude also the provisions made for the 2001 and 2003 decommissioning schemes and in-year allocations made for the 2003 Transitional Aid package and for a new Fisheries Protection Vessel. Decommissioning expenditure under the 2001 scheme was £3.6 million and £21.2 million in 2001-02 and 2002-03 respectively. For 2003-04, additional in-year provision was made for the Fisheries Decommissioning Scheme (up to £40 million), the Transitional Aid package (up to £10 million) and the new Fisheries Protection Vessel (£18million). Excluding such exceptional items, provision for the two Agencies typically accounts for over 75% of total Executive expenditure on fisheries. The balance of spending in any year is mainly in respect of awards under the EU Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance and the related domestic back-up grant scheme.
