- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 28 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive when it first set out its policy intention to repeal section 2A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1986; in what forum or publication did it set its policy intention out, and whether there are any implications in constitutional law of how, when and where it set out its policy.
Answer
Jackie Baillie, Deputy Minister for Communities, set out the policy position on repeal of section 2A to the Equal Opportunities Committee on 28 September 1999 and the Executive subsequently set out its case for the repeal in the consultation paper
Standards in Public Life: Consultation on the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Bill.We are not aware that the manner in which the Executive announced its policy has any implications in constitutional law.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 28 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider launching a public health campaign to help men better understand the treatments available for prostate cancer.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is aware of the threat to male health which prostate cancer can pose, but there is no clear consensus internationally on the best way to treat prostate cancer. The issues involved in improving the care of those with prostate cancer are being actively considered by the Lead Clinician for Cancer Services and the Scottish Cancer Group. Meanwhile, anyone worried about symptoms, which might be suggestive of this type of cancer, should seek medical advice.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has logged requests from members of the public for their consultation document National Parks for Scotland; whether there has been an unmet demand, especially in the Badenoch and Strathspey area, for copies of the document; what consideration it gave to the limited Internet access for persons within Badenoch and Strathspey as a means of obtaining copies; whether it will ensure that all parties who expressed an interest will receive copies of the consultation paper; whether it will extend the period for consultation from 3 March 2000 by 30 days so as to include comments from any persons who may have experienced difficulty in obtaining a copy of the paper and ensure that additional copies will be available, and whether it is satisfied that it has involved fully the local community.
Answer
Copies of the consultation document have been distributed in response to all requests received from members of the public and interest groups who contacted the Scottish Executive. All requests have been logged. Over 2,500 copies have now been distributed. All Community Councils in the proposed National Parks areas were sent copies. We had no plans to extend the consultation period: this would inevitably have delayed the introduction of the Bill into Parliament. Copies are still available from the Scottish Executive. The text is also available on the Scottish Executive Internet website.Local communities with an interest in the Bill have therefore had a full opportunity to comment on it. In addition to the consultation on the content of the Bill, there was the previous consultation on the National Parks, conducted by Scottish Natural Heritage throughout 1998. There will of course be further opportunities for comment in the course of parliamentary consideration of the Bill, and of the formulation of National Park Designation Orders.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding will be made available to the Highlands and Islands Integrated Transport Forum to commission a study to assess the economic impact on their communities of weight restrictions on roads and bridges and whether these restrictions are due to the level of investment in local road maintenance.
Answer
It is for the Highlands and Islands Integrated Transport Forum to consider whether or not to fund such a study from the resources available to it. As local roads authorities it is for the individual councils concerned to decide what priority should be given to the maintenance of local roads and the upgrading of associated bridges and to allocate the necessary funding from the resources available to them.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 26 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a rebate for water charges similar to that available to council tax payers in order to help those with the least ability to pay.
Answer
Water and sewerage charges, in common with other utility charges, cover the provision of specific services. They are not taxes and it would not be appropriate to treat them as such by introducing rebates for them. I have, however, asked my officials to consider if we can improve on the protection that the current charging arrangements provide for many of those with the least ability to pay.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 26 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider locating the Scottish University for Industry in Inverness and, if so, whether it could be linked with the University of the Highlands and Islands.
Answer
I announced to Parliament on 13 April that Europa Building, in Glasgow's Argyle Street, has been chosen as the location for the Scottish UfI's headquarters. Scottish UfI Ltd, which expects to recruit around 25 staff in all, is likely to occupy the building from the end of May.
The Scottish UfI will act as a broker, not a provider of learning. It will stimulate the demand for learning and for providers that will mean rising to the challenge of providing learning where, when and in the format it is needed. The link to the proposed new higher education institution UHI, when it is established, will be the same as with any other higher education institution wishing to supply learning. Scottish UfI Ltd is already actively engaged in building strong partnerships with education and training providers and is collaborating with the University of the Highlands and Islands Project, sharing what works and what does not, where access to more advanced learning opportunities and qualifications is concerned.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 26 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government opposing the proposals in the Utilities Bill that the existing area electricity consumer committees be abolished and replaced with a single Gas and Electricity Consumer Council for the whole of the UK.
Answer
The Executive does not propose to make such representations. Under the provisions of the Utilities Bill, the new council must establish one or more committees of the council for areas in Scotland and must also maintain at least one office in Scotland at which consumers may apply for information.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what was the cost of preparing, printing and publishing National Parks for Scotland; how many copies were published and whether using less expensive paper would have enabled more copies to be provided to the public.
Answer
The cost of printing the consultation document on the draft National Parks (Scotland) Bill was £22,000. There were also unquantified Scottish Executive staff costs included in the preparation and distribution of the document. Over 2,500 copies of the document have been distributed. Cost of paper was not a factor in determining the number of copies printed. The Bill was also published on the Intranet.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 25 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Minister for Finance met Angela Morgan of the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) in October 1999; whether the Minister was informed at that meeting that SAMH would, unless interim funding arrangements were put in place to bridge the gap between the end of existing European Social Fund programmes and the start of new programmes for 2000 to 2006, have to make staff redundant, and whether, if the situation is not addressed by the end of March, SAMH will issue 54 project staff with 90 day redundancy notices, affecting eight projects training 500 people.
Answer
Interim funding arrangements were put in place by extending the previous European Social Fund programmes. I have now issued a guarantee for voluntary organisations sponsoring European Social Fund projects in relation to the remaining funding gap before the issue of approvals under the new structural fund programmes.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 25 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5181 by Ross Finnie on 22 March 2000, why it has not published the report prepared by a panel of industry representatives on the red tape involved in paying EU subsidies to farmers and whether it will now place a copy in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
The report to which you refer was published in January of this year. Copies of this are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
