Parliamentary Questions

Young offenders

S1W-33089 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) :
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the finding in paragraph 93 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that out of a sample of 17 procurator fiscal offices, the number of cases involving an accused aged under the age of 21 on which no proceedings were taken ranged from 1% to 17%.
Answered by Mrs Elish Angiolini (4 February 2003):
Variations of outcomes across the country are not necessarily indicative of inconsistency of approach, but instead reflect an appropriate response to local circumstances and offending behaviour, as well as, most importantly, the individual circumstances of each case.

The aim of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is to continue to provide a high quality service to the public. In pursuit of this aim, the service is currently undergoing a far-reaching programme of reform and renewal. New information systems are being rolled out as part of the modernisation of the service, and these will offer greater opportunity to area procurators fiscal to monitor trends and ensure continued consistency - not standardisation - of practice.

 

Environment

S1W-33327 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) :
To ask the Scottish Executive what publicity it has funded, or intends to fund, on tackling litter and fly-tipping.

Answered by Ross Finnie (31 January 2003): The Scottish Executive provides annual core funding of £234,000 to Keep Scotland Beautiful, which runs a number of anti-litter initiatives. Over the last year, additional funding of £900,000 has been secured to bolster this programme, including the Have Some Pride anti-litter poster campaign, launched in March 2002. As part of the Executive's Quality of Life Initiative, in addition to the £95 million allocated to local authorities this year, a further £180 million has been provided over the next three years to fund local initiatives that will improve the local environment and quality of life. Around £3 million of this year's allocation has been committed to litter reduction schemes and councils can use this money to raise awareness through publicity campaigns.

S1W-33326 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) : To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have formal litter plans in place.
Answered by Ross Finnie (31 January 2003): Aberdeen City Council, Stirling Council and Shetland Islands Council currently have formal litter plans.

S1W-33325 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) : To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30207 by Ross Finnie on 16 October 2002, when the report by Environment Resources Management into litter legislation will be published.
Answered by Ross Finnie (31 January 2003):
The report submitted by Environmental Resources Management will be published when the Scottish Executive has fully considered the recommendations. The report was somewhat delayed from initial plans, in order to take account of comments from the advisory group, which included representatives from local government, Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

S1W-33328 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) : To ask the Scottish Executive what funding sources are available to local authorities to reduce littering and fly-tipping.

Answered by Ross Finnie (31 January 2003):
Local authorities fund environmental initiatives from monies distributed by the Executive and from their own resources. As part of the Executive's Quality of Life Initiative, £95 million was allocated to local authorities this year, and a further £180 million has been provided over the next three years, in addition to regular annual funding. These additional resources were made available to fund local initiatives that will improve the local environment and quality of life. Around £3 million of this year's allocation has been committed to litter reduction schemes. In addition, the Executive has made £20 million available over the next three years to put in place a network of community wardens, one of whose tasks will be to combat littering.

 

Digital Technology

S1W-33283 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) :
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are in place to ensure the continued administration of the South of Scotland Pathfinder project when the posts of project manager and assistant fall vacant in March 2003, given the procurement process set out in section 4 of Connecting Scotland: our broadband future: Making it Happen.

Answered by Mr Andy Kerr (30 January 2003):
Plans for the Pathfinder procurement in the south of Scotland envisage the continued involvement of these posts.

S1W-33282 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) :
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the final contracts for the pathfinder procurement process referred to in section 4 of Connecting Scotland: our broadband future: Making it Happen will be awarded on the basis of cost only or whether guarantees of overall service provision will also be taken into account.

Answered by Mr Andy Kerr (30 January 2003):
Contracts will be awarded on the basis of best value for money, which takes account of quality as well as cost. The contracts will require guaranteed minimum standards of service. Bids which fail to meet those required minimum standards will not be accepted.

 

Fisheries

S1W-33324 - Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP) :
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to my supplementary question during the ministerial statement on fisheries on 8 January 2003 (Official Report, c 16700) that fishermen will have 15 days at sea if no further decommissioning takes place, what the current position is regarding the decommissioning of fishing vessels in the light of the recent correspondence from EC Commissioner Hans Fischler to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Elliot Morley, and the views of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and whether compensation for decommissioning will be met by HM Treasury.

Answered by Ross Finnie (29 January 2003):
Under the terms of Annex XVII of Council Regulation (EC) 2341/2002, member states are required to report progress on decommissioning to the Commission during 2003. The number of days at sea available to vessels is subject to review by the Commission in the light of that. Regulations on a Scottish decommissioning scheme will shortly be laid before the Parliament. We are aiming to open the scheme to applications during February. Expenditure cover for the scheme will be met by the Scottish Executive.