- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce legislation to confer powers on local authorities to enable them to determine whether the existing 50% council tax discount for holiday homes should be removed in whole or in part and in respect of specific types of property; if so, whether it will enable local authorities to retain the additional revenue yielded, and what the cumulative total of revenue forgone in council tax receipts as a result of the 50% discount has been in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority.
Answer
We are giving careful consideration to the responses received to the recent consultation on council tax for second and long-term empty homes. Information on the number of second homes in each local authority is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the Fort William Medical Community Working Group's proposal that Belford Hospital become a rural general hospital and what action it will take to put this proposal into effect.
Answer
It is for NHS Highland in the first place to consider any proposals for service change and development in consultation with all interested parties and the wider public.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 20 May 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports an inquiry into proposals to close 42 fire auxiliary units in the Highland Council area.
Answer
The programme of fire station upgrading is a matter for the Highland and Islands Fire Board. I understand that at this stage no decision has been made about closure of basic volunteer stations. If, following consideration by the board, such a decision is reached then, as part of the process, there would have to be a public consultation.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 20 May 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to VisitScotland that it should display on the visitscotland.com website online booking system full contact details of those accommodation providers that subscribe to the website, ensuring equal prominence with the contact details of the VisitScotland call centre.
Answer
This is an operational matter for visitscotland.com.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 28 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from Dumfries and Galloway Council in relation to the rejection of the recommendation made to the Executive by the reporter to the planning inquiry that the proposed weight restriction order U111w to the Polbae Road near Newton Stewart be not made; whether the imposition of such an order would damage forestry interests; whether the roads maintenance budget of the council is sufficient, and what action it will take to protect the interests of those that would be affected by the granting of such a weight restriction order.
Answer
To date, no representations have been received.Should representations be received, it would not be appropriate to make any specific comment at this time which could prejudice any future involvement the Scottish ministers may have.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 28 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met with COSLA to discuss the implementation and funding of the McCrone settlement; what action the Executive will take following that meeting; whether The Highland Council has a shortfall in funding of around #6.6 million over the period 2001-02 to 2003-04; whether the formula used for distributing funds to local authorities was correct, and what account the formula took of the needs of local authorities with sparsely populated areas and with very small schools and of the costs of providing Gaelic-medium education.
Answer
The Scottish Executive meet regularly with COSLA on all aspects of implementation of the agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century. The Scottish Executive and COSLA agreed funding arrangements for the three years from 2001-02 to 2003-04 when the agreement was signed early in 2001. Additional resources were announced in the Scottish Budget in September 2002 to cover costs up to 2005-06.The Scottish Executive have recently agreed with COSLA the provision of additional resources of £80 million over the three years 2003 to 2006, a considerable element of which is designed to help those authorities, including Highland Council, who have carried higher teachers' salary costs than assumed in funding calculations.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 28 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total estimated cost is of implementing the McCrone settlement and whether this estimate is lower than COSLA's estimate.
Answer
The Scottish Executive remain committed to delivery in full of all recommendations of the agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century.Following Spending Review 2000, the funding agreed for implementation of the agreement was £174 million in 2001-02, £285 million in 2002-03 and £405 million in 2003-04. The Scottish Budget in September 2002 identified an additional £282 million for implementation in 2003-06 (£11 million /£108 million /£163 million over the three financial years). The Scottish Executive and COSLA have now agreed funding in addition to that already identified of £80 million over the three years 2003-06 (£25 million /£20 million /£35 million). This will ensure that all the elements within the agreement are delivered on time and reinforces the commitment of all parties to full implementation.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will reply to my letter of 27 February 2003 to the Minister for Environment and Rural Development about the future of the Ardtoe Marine Farming Unit; whether the minister will meet me to discuss the issue, and whether he will visit the unit to meet staff and hear their views about the future of the unit and the value of the work carried out there.
Answer
A reply was issued today.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 28 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Transport Planning Group will meet representatives of the Fort William and District Chamber of Commerce to discuss the Chamber of Commerce's campaign to upgrade the A82.
Answer
On 20 March I announced that we will be commissioning a full Route Action Plan study for the A82 trunk road between Tarbet and Fort William. This study will identify particular problems on the route and identify priorities and targets for future investment in the road. I will ensure the Chamber of Commerce is invited to submit its views to my officials.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 28 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the EU structural funds allocated to the Highlands and Islands has been used on road improvements in each year since 1999 and how much it estimates will be used on the basis of its present policy intentions in the current year and the next two years.
Answer
No structural funds monies have been allocated to trunk roads projects during this period, or in the current year. The Executive is currently considering making application for Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme support for the proposed upgrade of the A9 between Helmsdale and Ord of Caithness. Details of the amount and timing have not yet been finalised.For local roads, some £2.820 million in 1999 and £2.692 million in 2002, of EU structural funds, were allocated across the Highlands and Islands for road improvements. We estimate that almost £10 million could be allocated for roads works in the next two years.
