- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the Master Policy for Professional Indemnity insurance of the Law Society of Scotland protects the interests of consumers.
Answer
The Master Policy protectsthe interests of consumers by providing professional indemnity insurance for Scottishsolicitors against claims of negligence and claims arising out of any allegeddishonest, fraudulent, criminal or malicious act or omission.
Some aspects of the master policyare under review at present. In thereport of its inquiry into regulation of the legal profession, the formerJustice 1 Committee expressed concern about delays reported by some complainersin receiving a settlement from the master policy. The committee recommendedthat the Scottish Executive should examine ways in which the master policy couldbe made subject to external regulation. We will issue a public consultationpaper at the end of the year on the follow up to the committee’s report. The masterpolicy is also currently the subject of a competition investigation by theOffice of Fair Trading.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 12 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to instruct the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) to make available the transcribed notes of the proceedings of a hearing by the SSDT if requested to by a party with an interest in the case.
Answer
The SSDT is an independentstatutory body whose constitution, procedure and powers are set out in schedule4 to the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980. As an independent body, the tribunal isresponsible for its own proceedings and Scottish Ministers have no powers toinstruct the tribunal.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 11 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning will reply to my letter of 13 July 2004 regarding the rules concerning payment of the educational maintenance allowance.
Answer
As you are aware we receiveda number of representations on this issue and I asked my officials to look againat the eligibility criteria set out for the national rollout of the EMA programme.
Holding replies were sent tooutstanding Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) correspondents in August outliningthe reasons for the delay in responding to them. Your letter was received on 27 July 2004 but itwould appear that your holding letter was missed in this process. I apologise forthe delay in answering your original letter and hope that the subsequent final replysent on 26 October 2004 addresses your constituent Mrs Jane McEwan’s originalquery.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 29 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 11 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to establish a new station at Ballinluig on the Perth to Inverness rail line.
Answer
Proposals to re-open stationsare best promoted, in the first instance, by the relevant local authority or regionaltransport partnership. The Scottish Executive is unaware of any proposal to open a new station at Ballinluig.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 November 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to revise the boundaries of the Cairngorms National Park.
Answer
There are no plans to revise the boundaries of the Cairngorms National Park. The Parliament approved the boundaries of the park on 12 December 2002. The area as designated has a strong coherent identity and a distinctive character. At some 3,800 sq kms, the park is the largest National Park in the UK and is amongst the largest in Europe.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 28 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to revise the eligibility criteria for the education maintenance allowance (EMA).
Answer
We have received a number of representations on this issue and have carefully considered the arguments for and against extending eligibility.
The purpose of the EMA programme is to provide an incentive to young people when they reach their official school leaving date and have to make the decision whether or not to stay on at school. The current eligibility criteria support that policy intention and funding is being provided on that basis.
Although extending eligibility would benefit a small group of students this year, it would immediately create further costs and anomalies in the staged rollout which would be difficult to justify.
It is inevitable when any new scheme is rolled out, that some will fall on the wrong side of the qualifying date. While I recognise their disappointment, we considered it fairer to adhere to eligibility criteria for which there is a rational basis in terms of the policy objective of this scheme.
I have to conclude, therefore, that there is insufficient reason to change the eligibility criteria.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 October 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Members’ Business debate on 23 September 2004, what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government regarding the future of the Scottish regiments.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the United Kingdom on a wide range of issues including Scottish Regiments. Discussions between the Scottish Executive and the UK Government are conducted on a confidential basis.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 April 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 11 May 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will treat existing hydro-electric generating schemes in relation to its renewable energy targets.
Answer
Generation from existing hydro-electricschemes is classified as renewable, and therefore included as such when calculatingrenewable electricity output in Scotland.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions it has received representations from the Office of Fair Trading since 1999 regarding (a) the contents and effectiveness of the Master Insurance Policy of the Law Society of Scotland and (b) the provision of legal services in Scotland and, if it has received such representations, what concerns, if any, were expressed by the Office of Fair Trading.
Answer
We have received no representations from the Office of Fair Trading on the contents and effectiveness of the Master Insurance Policy of the Law Society of Scotland.
As regards the provision of legal services, the Office of Fair Trading published a report in 2001 Competition in Professions which challenged anti-competitive restrictions in England and Wales. The report triggered a range of consultation by the former Lord Chancellor’s Department which led to the far-ranging independent review of the regulation of the legal services market in England and Wales, led by Sir David Clementi, of which competition in the provision of legal services is a significant element.
The Scottish Executive has been in regular contact with the Office of Fair Trading about the implications of competition law for the provision of legal services in Scotland. Regulation and competition in the legal services market in Scotland is to be the subject of research steered by a working group chaired by the Justice Department and including representatives of consumer and professional interests, the Office of Fair Trading and the Scottish Legal Aid Board.
- Asked by: John Swinney, MSP for North Tayside, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is regarding the review of cardiothoracic transplants and when it intends to publish any response to the recommendations of the review.
Answer
The work of the group set upto review the Scottish Heart Transplant Unit will be considered by the NationalServices Advisory Group when it meets in the spring, and will then be referredto me. The over-riding consideration is to provide the service which best meetsthe clinical needs of all the unit’s patients.
