Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-07551

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 20 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses have achieved a diploma in asthma under Education for Health's education and training programme in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S3W-07091

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 13 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the Strategic Timber Transport Fund remains unallocated.

The value of the currentfund is £13 million. To date £9 million has been allocated from the fund, therefore,at this time £4 million is unallocated.

However, six additionalprojects to the value of £1.3 million are currently under consideration throughthe Strategic Timber Transport Scheme and another four, to the value of £700,000,are under revision by the applicants. If all are accepted this will leave £2 millionunallocated, pending a final round of submissions in January 2008.

Pre-submissions indicatethat potential applications for the final round on 31 January 2008 already total £1.9 million. If this came to fruition,then only £100,000 of the original fund would be unallocated by the end completiondate of 31 March 2008.

Due to the long lead-intimes associated with many of the approved partnership projects, there has beena delay in actual uptake of the grant monies. Projected total cash expenditure inthe life of the Fund, by the end of March 2008, is approximately £4 million. Thereforethe carry over into the next tranche of the fund could be as much as £9 million,dependant on performance of the projects up to 31 March 2008.

Question reference: S3W-07093

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 13 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to continue the Strategic Timber Transport Fund in its current form or to review it after 31 March 2008.

I have today announcedthat the fund will continue for a further three years until March 2011. I have agreedan allocation of £5 million per annum, a total of £15 million, to finance carry-overprojects approved before 31 March 2008 and future projects thatcomply with the conditions of the Strategic Timber Transport Fund. The fund willcontinue to be managed and delivered through Forestry Commission Scotland. As partof their continuous improvement process, Forestry Commission Scotland, in conjunction,with The Strategic Timber Transport Forum, have commissioned a review of the currentawarding process, to explore ways of improving the effectiveness and efficiencyof the delivery mechanism.

Dates of future roundsof applications will be announced some time after March 2008.

Question reference: S3W-07241

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of NHS staff are still waiting for a salary banding under Agenda for Change, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) profession.

At the end of Novemberthere were around 18,000 substantive staff still to be assimilated to the new Agendafor Change pay bands across NHSScotland. However, the substantial majority of thosehave been through the job evaluation process, and therefore know which pay bandthey are to be assigned to.

A table outliningthe position with substantive staff by health board and profession at the end ofOctober has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 44256). This is the latest date that data at that level of detail is available.

Question reference: S3W-07217

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 12 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS staff are tasked with assessing and banding colleagues under Agenda for Change, broken down by NHS board.

This information isnot held centrally.

The implementationof Agenda for Change locally, including populating job matching and evaluation panels,is a matter for each individual health board in partnership with the NHS tradesunions and professional organisations.

I can also reportthat health boards are close to concluding the implementation of Agenda for Changepay, with the vast majority of staff now assimilated to the new pay bands and inreceipt of arrears of pay. There has been no target set for conclusion, buthealth boards are aware that it needs to be done as quickly and effectively as possible.Progress continues to be closely monitored and supported where possible by the ScottishGovernment.

Question reference: S3W-07094

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3598 by Michael Russell on 5 September 2007, to which local authorities the £19.5 million for flood prevention was allocated, showing the original bid made by each.

The following awardshave been made;

Local Authority	Grant Offer
Moray	£455,000
West Lothian	£22,000
South Lanarkshire	£836,000
East Ayrshire	£6,672,000
Fife	£3,638,000
City of Edinburgh	£7,900,000

Question reference: S3W-07095

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3598 by Michael Russell on 5 September 2007, which local authorities applied for flood prevention funding but were unsuccessful and for what reasons they were unsuccessful.

Question reference: S3W-07092

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-27234 by Rhona Brankin on 20 July 2006, whether it will list subsequent (a) projects and (b) applicants seeking financial assistance from the Strategic Timber Transport Fund, also showing whether each application was successful and, if so, the amount (i) applied for and (ii) awarded.

To date, 20 projectshave been approved and awarded financial support through the Strategic Timber TransportFund. Six further projects are under consideration with another four under revisionby the applicants. Three projects have been rejected, but two of these have beensubsequently accepted as new applications after significant revision.

Full details of all applications received to date underthe Strategic Timber Transport Scheme are summarised in the following table:

Project Title	Applicant Name	Amount Awarded	Potential Award	Current Position	Overall Project Value
Timber Transport Officer – Stirling and Tayside	Stirling and Tayside Timber Transport Group	£25,000		On target	£34,000
South of Scotland Timber Logistics Programme	Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway	£68, 900		On target	£457,645
Programme Manager/Co-ordinator (Argyll)	Argyll and Bute Council	£94,000		On target	£152,000
Rosneath	Tilhill Forestry Ltd			Rejected
Eskdalemuir	Tilhill Forestry Ltd	£2,918,448		On target	£4,468,448
Study of performance of forest and public roads under construction	Forest Enterprise	£232,500		On target	£336,500
Project Co-ordinator, Highland and Grampian	Forestry Civil Engineering			Rejected
Floating Pier	Scottish Woodlands Ltd			Rejected
Rannoch Rail Head	Tilhill Forestry Ltd		£128,000	Under consideration	£371,500
Developing and promoting a Timber Transport Strategy and solutions for the Highlands	Forest Enterprise on behalf of the Highland Timber Transport Group	£43,333		On target	£65,000
Fersit Road, Lochaber	Highland Council	£100,000		On target	£850,000
Dunoon Timber Haul Route	UPM Tilhill	£324,034		On target	£586,200
Glen Masson – B836 link	Scottish Woodlands Ltd	£44,085		On target	£92,771
Barrhill railhead catchment	FCS Galloway Forest District	£1,682,337		On target	£2,687,437
B8024 Tarbert Bypass	Argyll and Bute Council	£600,000		Delayed	£802,000
Argyll Central Tyre Inflation	Argyll and Bute Council		£237,000	Being revised	£355,000
Rathad-Mara (Sea Road)	Scottish Woodlands Ltd		£150,000	Being revised	£190,000
Arran Link Road	Forest Enterprise	£318,000		Delayed	£623,680
South of Scotland Timber Transport Officer	Dumfries and Galloway Council	£85,000		On target	£135,000
Driver Training Programme	FC Learning and Development	£17,725		On target	£34,445
Facilitating change in Forestry Industry supply chains, South of Scotland Focal Study	ConFor		£77,500	Being revised	£118,500
Ardfern Bypass	J Robin Dixon	£39,990		On target	£99,975
B836 phase 2	Argyll and Bute Council Operations Department	£655,000		On target	£1,230,000
Glenstriven Timber Haul Route	UPM Tilhill		£218,000	Being revised	£396,700
Peaton Hill Link Road	Tilhill Forestry Ltd	£45,000		On target	£90,000
Hareshawmuir Road Project	UPM Tilhill	£37,000		Delayed	£120,000
Moray Strategic Timber Transport Road Infrastructure Project	Moray Council	£65,000		On target	£131,000
A897 Partnership Project	Highland Council		£400,000	Under consideration	£500,000
Upper Loch Fyne Pier, Technical and Financial Feasability Study	Argyll and Bute Council	£6,000		On target	£12,000
Marr area	Aberdeenshire Council		£82,900	Under consideration	£165,800
Tomdoun Link Road	J Robin Dixon		£74,579	Under consideration	£186,447
South West Glendaruel Timber Haul Route	Argyll and Bute Council		£253,450	Under consideration	£741,500
North West Mull Community Woodlands	North West Mull Community Woodlands Company Ltd		£398,530	Under consideration	£936,465
Timberlink Project (inshore shipping from Argyll)	Forestry Commission Scotland	£1,800,000	This project is supported through the Fund and not the Scheme	On target	£1,800,000
Total		£9,201,352	£2,019,959	33

Question reference: S3W-07096

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 10 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3598 by Michael Russell on 5 September 2007, how many applications for flood prevention funding are in progress, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) amount applied for.

Since 5 September,grant applications from the following local authorities are in progress:

Local Authority	Grant Applied For
North Ayrshire	£968,000
City of Edinburgh	£4.4 million
Glasgow City	£5.7 million
Moray	£3.4 million
Falkirk	£641,000

In addition, EastAyrshire, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian Councilshave advised that they intend submitting detailed costed applications by 14 December2007.

Question reference: S3W-07240

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 10 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of staff working in the NHS in the last 12 months are appealing their new salary bandings under Agenda for Change, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) profession.

We are currently inthe early stages of gathering data on the number of job evaluation review requestswhich have been received by health boards. Initial indications are that approximately20% members of staff are seeking a review of their Agenda for Change job evaluationoutcome across NHSScotland. The information held centrally does not break this downby health board or profession.

Of the reviews processedto date 14% have resulted in post holders being awarded a higher band while in 85%of cases the initial decision was found to have been correct. 1% of cases were re-directedto another Agenda for Change process related to job evaluation and are currentlyunder further consideration.