- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 2 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to implement target 16 of objective 10 of the Environment and Rural Development chapter of its Draft Budget 2004-05 in order to support the development of new products, markets and infrastructure and to enable the full potential of Scotland's timber resource to be realised; what budget line will be utilised for this purpose; how much of the budget of (a) its Environment and Rural Development Department, (b) the Forestry Commission and (c) Forest Enterprise will be spent (i) this year and (ii) in each of the next two years to achieve this target, and what proportion of each of these organisation's budgets this expenditure represents.
Answer
Our policiesand priority actions to help the development of new products, markets and infrastructureand to enable the full potential of Scotland's timber resource to be realised are set out in the ScottishForestry Strategy. Key areas of support include Scottish Enterprise supportof the Scottish Forest Industries Cluster of nearly £1 million. Other key areasare support for the new Centre for Timber Engineering at Napier University and membership and support forthe Timber Transport Forum. Forestry Commission staff are working with many partnersto promote more uses for timber and Forest Enterprise offer considerable supportfor industry through long-term contracts. This work is an integral part of our operationsand cannot readily be costed separately.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 1 October 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what responses it has received from local authorities to the legislative requirement that provision be made for Gaelic-medium education as a national priority; what action it plans to take in relation to such responses; whether its draft Gaelic Language Bill will be extended to education and will include a requirement that provision must be made by each local authority for Gaelic-medium education, and, if so, what precise requirements will be placed on local authorities and whether these requirements will be determined by it, Bord na Gaighlig, or some other body.
Answer
Education authorities are requiredby the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000, to prepare and publish an annualstatement of education improvement objectives, which shall include an account of the ways in which they will provide Gaelic-medium education and the ways in whichthey will seek to develop their provision of such education. Authorities’ improvementobjectives also have to take account of the National Priorities in Education andthe performance measures published in respect of the priorities, including the numberand percentage of requests for Gaelic-medium education met by the authority. Severallocal authorities have been able to report meeting all, or the overwhelming majority,of parental requests for Gaelic-medium education. Many authorities have also usedthe improvement framework to embed their policies around Gaelic-medium educationfully into their wider strategy for school education.
I consider that there is scopefor some education authorities to improve further their planning ofGaelic-medium education and am therefore taking action in three areas:
1. education authorities willbe given a clear reminder of their duty to address Gaelic-medium education in theirannual statement of improvement objectives and progress reports, and of the Executive’sexpectation that they will do so;
2. education authorities willbe asked to establish thresholds against which they will assess parental demandfor Gaelic-medium education within their area, and
3. Bòrd na Gàidhlig and the ManagementReview Group of local authorities will be invited to establish a joint sub-groupto review the performance measurement against which Gaelic-medium education developmentis measured.
The content of the forthcomingdraft Gaelic Language Bill has yet to be agreed by Cabinet. However, I am mindedto invite Bòrd na Gàidhlig to offer advice to local authority education authoritieson the development of Gaelic-medium education policies and to give them a role inadvising the Executive on the sufficiency of such policies and plan to consult onthis issue as part of the consultation process around the Gaelic Language Bill.
I take the advancement ofGaelic-medium education very seriously. I will not hesitate to use my powers toissue statutory guidance under the terms of the Standards in Scotland’s Schoolsetc Act 2000 if the further development of education authority improvement plansin relation to Gaelic-medium education demonstrates that is needed.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 30 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how much Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has spent on Kinloch Castle since the inception of SNH; how much has been spent on restoration of the castle; what plans SNH has to restore the castle, and when any such plans will be implemented.
Answer
This is an operational matterfor SNH.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 25 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when a decision will be made on the budget available to mountain rescue teams for (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, and (c) 2005-06; whether funding for mountain rescue teams will be ring-fenced, and whether it will increase funding for police authorities for the purpose of enhancing existing mountain rescue team revenue.
Answer
The Executive has already committed£300,000 for radio equipment. We are in discussion with the Police Service and theMountain Rescue Committee of Scotland about possible options for future fundingsupport. Decisions on future funding will be announced once those discussions arecompleted.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost is to the NHS of administration of payments to GPs.
Answer
The annual cost to the NHS of the central administration of the current General Medical Services contract by theCommon Services Agency is £5.1 million. It is not possible to separate out the costof the payment element for the other central functions which include patient registrationand payment verification.
There will also be costs incurredat both health board level and GP practice level, but this information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated annual cost is of administering (a) the new contracts provided for by the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill and (b) any new quality targets for GP practices arising from the bill and how many additional staff will be employed to carry this out.
Answer
The new UK General Medical Services contract was accepted in a ballot of allUK GPs, the results of which were announcedon 20 June 2003.
The new contract will take effectfrom 1 April 2004 subject, of course, to the Scottish Parliament approving the requiredchanges to primary legislation. Such changes are contained within the Primary MedicalServices (Scotland) Bill which was introduced on 23 June. In the meantime,work is currently under way on implementing the new contract and a national referencegroup and eight working groups have been set up to look at the key issues such asfinance and the quality and outcomes framework. Until this work has been completedit is too early to say what the annual administration costs will be. However, thenew contract does simplify some of the funding streams. The single Global Sum paymentreplaces 25 different fees and allowances, thereby greatly reducing the bureaucracyassociated with the administration of the system.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 24 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2056 by Ross Finnie on 9 September 2003, whether the minutes of all meetings of the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum will be made available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre and whether it will publish a list of the research requests submitted to the forum which were (a) accepted and (b) rejected.
Answer
The Scottish Aquaculture ResearchForum will discuss these issues at its next meeting.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 18 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government regarding more tax powers being devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
Answer
None.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 18 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made, or is making, any representations to Her Majesty's Government regarding the impact of the aggregates tax in Scotland, on whether Scotland and Northern Ireland are treated in the same way in respect of the tax and exemptions to it, and in support of a level playing field between Scotland and Northern Ireland on this matter.
Answer
No such representations havebeen made.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 18 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether expenditure by non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) is properly controlled and achieves value for money.
Answer
Funding provided by the Scottish Executive to NDPBs is authorised by the Scottish Parliament. NDPBs operate underdefined financial arrangements to ensure accountability and the efficient andeffective use of resources in accordance with the principles of Best Value.