Dave Petrie: Scottish Gas operates the warm deal scheme with an expectation to process around 12,000 claims per year. With an estimated 12,000 applicants already on the waiting list, what does the minister plan to do to ensure that the elderly people who are in need of assistance from the warm deal scheme are not let down by the Executive this winter?
Dave Petrie: Will the member take an intervention?
Dave Petrie: I will brief, as time is not on our side. The consultation that Scott Barrie launched yesterday is identical to the consultation that he launched years ago.
Dave Petrie: Phil Gallie's answer illustrates the farce of the consultation. We had the opportunity to change things six years ago.
Dave Petrie: If members reject my proposals, we will face a wait of another seven years. If they agree to them, we will not.
Dave Petrie: High hedges have been on the agenda since the Scottish Parliament started in 1999. I will begin with an illustration. Let us picture the scene. Scott Barrie decides to celebrate his arrival in Parliament by planting a leylandii. If that leylandii was planted in 1999, it would be likely to have reached the same height as the ceiling of this chamber by now. That illustrates the problem. The...
Dave Petrie: Solutions can be achieved by local agreement. With English legislation it has been proved that problems can be solved by reaching local agreements without local authority intervention. If neighbours are not speaking to each other, the next step is mediation, which has worked in several cases. Intervention by local authorities is a last resort. If we do not agree to amendment 146, we could...
Dave Petrie: I know that John Home Robertson is heading for another place and that his concentration level is perhaps not that high, but what I said was straightforward: if amendment 146 is agreed to, it could end the blight of the high hedge problem. I should not have had to repeat that. I understand that the Executive previously rejected dealing with the subject under the justice portfolio, but that...
Dave Petrie: The Conservatives are sympathetic to all TPRA issues. It is vital that the views of all organisations are acknowledged and listened to during the planning process—indeed, that is the aim of the new planning process. However, our concerns lie with the obvious conflict between TPRA and the aims and objectives of what is supposed to be a fast-track comprehensive planning system. I have...
Dave Petrie: I can see where Alex Neil is coming from, but the approach in amendment 121 would be impractical, not just because of the cost and the difficulty of providing a good record of noisy meetings but because amendment 121 would apply to all planning meetings and therefore not just to "substantive" applications as he suggested. A case might be made for keeping a record of meetings at which...
Dave Petrie: We consider Donald Gorrie's amendment 74 to be excessive and believe that it would place unnecessary and extreme pressure on councils. With regard to his amendment 75, each application should be treated without prejudice and it would be unfair to do otherwise. Again, Christine Grahame's amendment 76 is not absolutely necessary and would place undue pressure on busy planning authorities. There...
Dave Petrie: Maureen Macmillan made the point that I was about to make. In rural areas there is sometimes no accommodation on sites, so it would not be practical to hold documentation on site. The approach in amendment 114 would not cover that contingency, so would not be appropriate for inclusion in the bill. Perhaps regulations could encourage such an approach.
Dave Petrie: I almost found myself agreeing with Christine Grahame. My understanding is that it is all to do with the degree of variation. A minor variation should be permitted under the variation rules in planning, but a major variation should mean a resubmission.
Dave Petrie: I do not think that any member of the Parliament would object to what John Home Robertson said. There are massive problems throughout all our constituencies in relation to affordable housing. However, amendment 22 offers a somewhat rigid solution. As he perhaps hinted, it might be more appropriate to deal with the matter through regulation. I have fears about leaving the matter to the...
Dave Petrie: I will restrict my comments mainly to amendment 51. Amendment 50 is somewhat prescriptive and amendment 52 is excessive. As for amendment 51, I seek the Executive's assurance that the "key agencies" will include people such as local communities and their representatives. I realise that that could be specified in regulations, but it is important for the Executive to give such assurances today.
Dave Petrie: As a sports fanatic and extra-curricular supporter, I agree with Pauline McNeill about protection of recreational areas. I am delighted to see that Glasgow City Council is converting all its blaes pitches to all-weather facilities. However, I have a slight concern about the inflexibility of the proposal. If, for any reason, an authority wanted to cover a sports facility or have an indoor...
Dave Petrie: I appreciate the thrust of Iain Smith's argument that councils should be allowed to set up their own strategic development planning authority but, ironically, his proposal could lead to the exclusion of smaller remote authorities. My vision is that rural authorities, island authorities and urban authorities should be able to form part of a cluster if they have the same aims and objectives. My...
Dave Petrie: We welcome this long-awaited day. With regard to Bruce Crawford's amendments, we consider that there is plenty of scrutiny in place in which the public can participate. To Christine Grahame, I say that Parliament can already make comment by resolution or report, so we do not consider her amendment to be necessary. We consider Donald Gorrie's amendment to be somewhat excessive and we will...
Dave Petrie: To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS staff disciplinary cases in 2003 resulted in a suspended employee being (a) reinstated and (b) permanently dismissed, broken down by NHS board.
Dave Petrie: To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS staff grievances were upheld by the investigating body in 2003, broken down by NHS board.
