- 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 Andy Kerr on 27 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for injury benefit have been received under the National Health Service (Scotland) (Injury Benefits) Regulations 1998 as amended in each year since the regulations came into force and what percentage of these were successful on (a) first application, (b) review and (c) appeal.
Answer
Statistics for the three complete years 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 as well as for the year 2002-03 to date are given in the table. It should be noted that the National Health Service (Scotland) (Injury Benefits) Regulations 1998 provide for successful applicants to receive a supplement to their income to bring their post injury income up to a proportion of their pre-injury income, that proportion depending on the degree of disability. "Successful" does not, therefore, mean that an additional payment is made. Reviews and appeals take into account the way the disability has developed since the original application and can be in respect of the degree of disability as well as the existence of disability. Hence, there are reviews of successful original applications.
| Applications | % Succesful |
New | Review | Appeal | New | Review | Appeal |
1999-2000 | 118 | 32 | | 81.40% | 81.30% | |
2000-01 | 76 | 30 | 1 | 75.00% | 80.00% | 100.00% |
2001-02 | 80 | 34 | 1 | 85.00% | 64.70%* | 100.0% |
2002-03 | 68 | 11 | | 91.20% | 54.50%* | |
Note:*Excluding cases on-going.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 27 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will urge Her Majesty's Government to arrange to meet members of the Parliament in order to discuss the situation of members of the Scottish Bus Group pension schemes and, in particular, the issue of whether Scottish Bus Group Pensioners should have to pay tax on their ex-gratia payments, given that members of the National Bus Company pension scheme did not.
Answer
The decision on whether to agree to such a meeting is entirely a matter for UK ministers. Tax and equity issues formed part of the case made by Scottish ministers to the Treasury which secured additional funds of £26 million for distribution to beneficiaries.
- 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 26 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has confidence in the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland and whether the costs of having such a commissioner are justified.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has every confidence that the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland is promoting the interests of customers of Scottish Water in keeping with his responsibilities as set out in the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002. We expect the relatively small investment in maintaining the Water Industry Commissioner's office to contribute significantly to ensuring that customers will pay the minimum necessary for sustainable, effective water and waste water services.
- 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 26 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it became aware that Scottish Water has increased charges for used process water from filleting machines in the fish processing industry from about 9p to 96p per cubic metre; whether the increase is justified, and whether it will take any steps in respect of reducing the charges.
Answer
The Scheme of Charges that determines charges for businesses and households was agreed between Scottish Water and the Water Industry Commissioner on 31 January 2003. The overall level of charges has been set to raise the revenue needed for investment to improve water and waste water services. Scottish ministers have accepted the recommendation from the Water Industry Commissioner that, in principal, charges schemes should reflect the costs of providing the service.
- 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 Lewis Macdonald on 26 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost would be of buying out the public private partnership (PPP) for Inverness airport; whether the terms of the PPP are a disincentive to increasing the number of routes and passengers using the airport; what its estimate is of the total cost of payments due over the life of the PPP contract, and what steps it plans to take in order to increase the number of routes and passengers using Inverness airport.
Answer
The buying out of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) Public Finance Initiative (PFI) deal on the development and operation of the Inverness Airport Terminal is not under consideration by Scottish ministers. The contractual parties to the deal are reviewing the PFI structure, to ensure that it continues to be effective in delivering the intended benefits for the operation and development of the terminal and airport. The Scottish Executive fully supports this review. The estimated cost of PFI payments until the end of the contract is based on a (variable) volume based payment multiplied by the estimated passenger throughout. This is applied through a cost model which is subject to commercial confidentiality.HIAL and the Scottish Executive will continue to pursue the development of new routes from Inverness and other HIAL airports through the Interim Route Development Fund and the company's marketing strategy. In the past six months this has resulted in delivery of a new Manchester service and an additional London (Gatwick) service.
- 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 David Steel on 25 March 2003
To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-33760 on 19 February 2003, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) will provide a breakdown of the #56 million estimate for fees for the Holyrood Project referred to in his letter of 12 March 2003 placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre; how much it is estimated is due to each of the consultants, including Bovis Lend Lease (Scotland) Limited, Davis Langdon & Everest, EMBT/RMJM, Ove Arup and Partners, RMJM Scotland Limited and any other consultants, and whether the figures include any provision for site operation costs and, if so, whether it will provide a full breakdown of such costs.
Answer
It remains the case that the SPCB still regards the details of the amount of fees paid to professional consultants as commercially confidential for reasons given previously and a breakdown of these fees cannot presently be given.
- 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 24 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to assist the scallop fishing industry; whether it will make any announcement in connection with the scallop industry before the dissolution of the Parliament, and whether there will be any decision taken by the Food Standards Agency in relation to the industry and, if so, when it will be taken.
Answer
The Executive is committed to working with the scallop industry to protect scallop stocks and to explore the scope for new research in the context of amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). The Scottish Scallop Advisory Committee, which includes representatives of the scallop industry, Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Fisheries Research Services and the Food Standards Agency, is making good progress with the identification and pursuit of appropriate research. We have also allocated Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance funds to an industry-led project to investigate scallop portion sizes in the EU. No final decision has yet been taken by Scottish ministers as to whether the proposed tiered regime for ASP will be implemented in Scotland.
- 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 Jim Wallace on 24 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many charges of causing death by dangerous driving under section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1991 have (a) been recorded by the police and (b) proceeded to court and how many of the cases that proceeded to court have been proven, showing, in respect of the sentence passed, the number of (i) disposals for a custodial sentence and (ii) other disposals in each year since 1999.
Answer
The available information is given in the following table. The statistics on crimes recorded by the police and on court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime, and a crime may be recorded in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year. Charges recorded by the police may also be altered as a result of the judicial process. Causing Death by Dangerous Driving: Crimes Recorded by the Police and Persons Proceeded Against, 1999-2001
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
Crimes Recorded by the Police | 34 | 35 | 32 |
Persons Proceeded Against in Court1 |
Total | 26 | 14 | 21 |
Charge Proved by Sentence Type |
Total | 22 | 11 | 20 |
Custody | 11 | 5 | 12 |
Other | 11 | 6 | 8 |
Note:1. Where the crime was the main crime.
- 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 21 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it will provide to the fish processing sector.
Answer
The Scottish Executive will fund 95% of the cost of hardship relief awarded by local authorities for those fish processors with a rateable value not exceeding £50,000, affected by the reductions in whitefish catches. The enhanced contribution will be available from 1 April 2003 for a six-month period. Local authorities can still grant hardship relief to applicants who fall outwith this criteria under the normal terms where the Scottish Executive funds 75% of the cost.Nearly £30 million has been made available over the seven years of the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance programme to assist processors in Scotland. Aid under this programme will continue to be available.The Executive is also considering proposals for an extension to the Fish Processors Action Plan.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 21 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that the private developer that installed traffic lights on the A96 trunk road at Bath Terrace, Nairn, fulfils the undertaking given in the letter of 20 May 2002 from the Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning to David Stewart MP to contact my constituents Roddy and Janice McLeod.
Answer
Scottish Executive officials have arranged for a director of the private development company to meet with Mr and Mrs McLeod on 13 March 2003. A representative of BEAR Scotland Ltd will also attend the meeting.