- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 12 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to make, or has considered making, non-judicial mediation procedures compulsory in cases of family breakdown.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentis committed to delivering effective support for families experiencing breakdown.Mediation is a key part of the family support sector and is appropriate where bothparties are willing to participate. We do not believe that compulsion for familiesalready under pressure arising from the family breakdown would yield successfuloutcomes.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 12 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many small businesses in the Clackmannanshire local authority area will benefit from the proposed cut in business rates.
Answer
Information on smallbusinesses in the form requested is not held centrally. However, information onthe number and rateable value of non-domestic properties which may be eligible forrelief under the Small Business Bonus scheme is available for the local authorityarea concerned on the Scottish Assessors Portal (
www.saa.gov.uk). This information is shown asfollows: | Number of Properties | Rateable Value of Property |
| Up to £8,000 | £8,001-£10,000 | £10,001-£15,000 | Total up to £15,000 |
| Clackmannanshire | 977 | 77 | 125 | 1,179 |
Notes:
(i) The rateable valueranges shown in the table correspond to those on page 12 of the Scottish BudgetSpending Review 2007.
(ii) The table showsthe number of non-domestic properties, excluding zero rated properties, with rateablevalues of up to £15,000 in the Clackmannanshire local authority area.
(iii) The number ofeligible businesses will be lower than the number of non-domestic properties ineach area, because some businesses have more than one property. This may affecteligibility for relief under the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which will dependon:
the combined rateablevalue of all properties in Scotland which a business owns, leases or is otherwiseentitled to occupy;
whether the propertyis eligible for one of the existing rates relief schemes, and
the level of otherpublic sector assistance received by the business.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 12 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executivewhether, in light of the current reviews of quangos, it has any plans to work with Historic Scotland to take further active steps to reinforce its role to safeguard the nation’s historic environment.
Answer
We want to achievea simpler, more effective public sector for Scotland by removing duplication, simplifyingstructures and stopping activities that do not contribute to the government’s objectives.Work is underway to consider specific proposals to simplify and streamline the existingpublic service landscape, including the organisations which have a role in safeguardingScotland’s historic environment. We will announce further details to Parliamentshortly.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 11 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many small businesses in the Stirling local authority area will benefit from the proposed cut in business rates.
Answer
Information onsmall businesses in the form requested is not held centrally. However,information on the number and rateable value of non-domestic properties whichmay be eligible for relief under the Small Business Bonus scheme is availablefor the local authority area concerned on the Scottish Assessors Portal
www.saa.gov.uk. This information is asfollows: | Number of Properties | Rateable Value of Property |
| Up to £8,000 | £8,001-£10,000 | £10,001-£15,000 | Total up to £15,000 |
| Stirling | 2,816 | 260 | 380 | 3,456 |
Notes:
(i) The rateablevalue ranges shown in the table correspond to those on page 12 of the ScottishBudget: Spending Review 2007.
(ii) The tableshows the number of non-domestic properties (excluding zero-rated subjects) withrateable values of up to £15,000 in the Stirling local authority area.
(iii) The numberof eligible businesses will be lower than the number of non-domestic propertiesin each area, because some businesses have more than one property. This mayaffect eligibility for relief under the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which willdepend on:
the combinedrateable value of all properties in Scotland which a business owns, leases or -is otherwise entitled to occupy;
whether theproperty is eligible for one of the existing rates relief schemes, and
the level ofother public sector assistance received by the business.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 11 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will rule out any merger of Clackmannanshire local authority with Stirling.
Answer
I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-6972 on 29 November 2007, where I reaffirmed my announcement of the summerthat there will be no boundaries reform of local government during thisParliament. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.We are currentlyfunding Stirling and Clackmannanshire to deliver a feasibilitystudy into joint working. The project timescales have been extended to ensurethat the report has fully addressed the complex issues associated with a jointworking proposal. I await that report and any further joint proposals theauthorities might make with interest.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 11 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to make changes to local authority boundaries.
Answer
I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-6972 on 29 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can befound at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 October 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support allotments through its national planning strategy.
Answer
National planningpolicy on open space is set out in
National Planning Policy Guideline 11: Sport,Physical Recreation and Open Space. This is currently under review and willshortly be replaced by
Scottish Planning Policy 11: Open Space and Physical Activity(SPP 11).Allotments can beof great value to the community and can create opportunities for local food production,physical activity, healthy eating and biodiversity. SPP 11 recognises thisand will require local authorities to take a strategic, long-term approach to managingopen space, including allotments, within their areas, objectively assessing communityneeds and protecting open spaces which can help to meet those needs.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 1 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether representations have been received from Clackmannanshire Council concerning any unforeseen costs associated with PFI schemes and, if so, what the outcomes of any discussions have been.
Answer
I am not aware ofany recent representations made by Clackmannanshire Council concerning unforeseencosts associated with their schools PPP project.
- Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Ochil, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether an agreement between eight leading banks and the Office of Fair Trading to put on hold the legal claims of customers regarding unfair penalty charges is being improperly applied to claims made under Scots law and preventing them from proceeding.
Answer
Thereis no evidence to suggest that the agreement is being improperly applied to preventsuch claims before the Scottish courts from proceeding. Any decision as to whetherto put any particular Scottish proceedings on hold by sisting them is entirely amatter for the Scottish court in question having regard to the whole facts and circumstances.
