- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2010
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-8010 by Shona Robison on 1 October 2009, what the timescale is for school children in the South of Scotland having access to free swimming, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
We are currently working with Scottish Swimming, sportscotland and others to ensure we offer more and better opportunities for our young people across Scotland to enjoy and benefit from swimming. Our investment of over £1.3 million to Scottish Swimming this year, the biggest ever single investment in a Scottish governing body of sport, shows our commitment to swimming in Scotland.
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2010
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 3 March 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-8010 by Shona Robison on 1 October 2009, what work is being undertaken between Scottish Swimming and local authorities in the South of Scotland to deliver the provision of free swimming for school children, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31441 on 3 March 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 January 2010
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) national and (b) European spend was on the Scotland Rural Development Programme 2007-13 in 2009, broken down by programme components.
Answer
Scottish Government outturn for financial year 2009-10 will be published in the Consolidated Accounts later in 2010 following the end of the current financial year.
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 January 2010
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it planned to contribute to the Scotland Rural Development Programme 2007-13 at the start of the programme, also expressed as a percentage.
Answer
The total value of the Scotland Rural Development Programme at the time of approval was just under ‚¬2.3 billion, or £1.6 billion at the £/‚¬ exchange rate prevailing at that time. The Scottish Government''s contribution was planned to be around 68% of that amount at ‚¬1.55 billion.
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 January 2010
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the projections were as at 1 January 2009 for the (a) national and (b) European spend on the Scotland Rural Development Programme 2007-13 until the end of 2009, broken down by programme components.
Answer
The projections for expenditure for financial year 2009-10 for the Scotland Rural Development Programme from the Scottish Government''s budget documents total £218.3 million. Of this, £146.6 million (67.2%) is from domestic sources and £71.6 million (32.8%) is from the EU. Total predicted expenditure for 2009-10 by programme component is as follows:
| Scotland Rural Development Budget Component | Total £m |
| Business Development | 33.4 |
| Less Favoured Area Support Scheme | 61.0 |
| Agri-environmental Measures | 58.3 |
| Forestry | 32.6 |
| Rural Enterprise | 18.2 |
| Rural Communities | 8.7 |
| Leader | 5.8 |
| Technical Assistance | 0.3 |
| Total | 218.3 |
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 January 2010
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the projections are for its spending on the Scotland Rural Development Programme 2007-13 over the course of the programme, also expressed in percentages.
Answer
At 1 January 2009, the projected spend on the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) from its commencement in 2007, to the end of the current Spending Review Period at 31 March 2011, was £751.1 million. Of this, £511.8 million (68%) is from Scottish Government and £239 million (32%) is from the EU.
Financial year 2010-11 is the last in the current three year Spending Review period. At this stage we cannot pre-empt discussions on the profile of SRDP expenditure in the next spending review period prior to ministerial consideration and Scottish Parliamentary scrutiny in relation to the budget setting process, or indeed knowing what the overall envelope of resources available to the Scottish Government will be.
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the ethics of the sexual orientation of prospective adoptive parents being a prohibitive factor in the adoption of children.
Answer
The most important concern is meeting the needs of the child, regardless of the sexual orientation of the adopters. Where adoption by same-sex couple is the best option for a child, that route should be available. The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 which removes the prohibition on adoption by unmarried couples, including same sex couples, came into force on 28 September 2009.
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on adoption agencies having an automatic presumption against prospective adoptive parents on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Answer
All children deserve a secure and stable home to grow up in. Meeting the needs of the child is the paramount concern. If an unmarried couple, regardless of their sexual orientation, is able to provide the safe, stable and secure home that a child needs then there should be no barrier to the placement of a child with them.
The Scottish Government''s position is that faith-based adoption agencies should be able to continue to operate within the teachings of their faith in order to provide an invaluable service to children who are considered hard to place.
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 12 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is legal for adoption agencies to have an automatic presumption against prospective adoptive parents on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Answer
The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 allows unmarried couples, including same sex couples, to adopt as a couple. Alongside this, the UK Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 make it illegal for adoption agencies to refuse to assess potential adopters on the basis of their sexual orientation unless the agency''s charitable instrument enables it to do so.
- Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 December 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 6 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is appropriate for NHS Dumfries and Galloway, while undertaking a formal public consultation on service delivery change, to develop new or more detailed proposals and arguments on aspects of the changes without resubmitting them to full public consultation and extending the consultation period to enable this to be done.
Answer
I expect all NHS boards to conduct formal public consultation on major service changes in line with national guidance on informing and engaging the public. As in all cases of major service change, I will receive a report on the adequacy of NHS Dumfries and Galloway''s public consultation process from the Scottish Health Council in due course.
