- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 16 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether foie gras has been served at any official engagements in 2009 and, if so, whether it will list the date and occasion.
Answer
Foie gras has been served as a small part of the menu at two official engagements in 2009, a dinner hosted for China stakeholders on 3 February 2009 and a dinner for Scottish Businesses on 10 February 2009.
The contents of the two menus were provided by an outside Scottish catering company and ministers have issued instructions that Scottish produce should be served at such engagements.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 12 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the compatibility of the serving of foie gras with promoting good animal welfare standards.
Answer
The production of foie gras, which involves the force feeding of ducks or geese, is prohibited in Scotland as that production method would be a breach of animal welfare legislation. The Scottish Government has instructed companies who provide catering for official functions to use Scottish produce which would not include the serving of foie gras.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it anticipates that grant funding levels for housing development projects will be reduced in North Ayrshire, as advised to ANCHO in July 2009.
Answer
We anticipate that the North Ayrshire allocation will be affected by the overall reduction in the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) as published in the draft 2010-11 Budget on 17 September. This showed a reduction of £173 million in the AHIP budget between 2009-10 and 2010-11 because of capital having been brought forward over the period 2008-10 to accelerate spending as part of the Economic Recovery Programme.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it is unable to commit to progressing housing development projects proposed by ANCHO in June 2009.
Answer
The North Ayrshire allocation of funding from the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) for 2010-11 is not yet decided. There is already a significant commitment from the budget to re-generate the Vineburgh area in Irvine, which is close to the location of the ANCHO proposal. Decisions on further projects for inclusion in the North Ayrshire AHIP will be taken in line with the local authority''s Strategic Housing Investment Plan priorities, once the level of funding allocated to the area is known.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to restore the funding required for housing development projects proposed by ANCHO in June 2009.
Answer
While the level of funding available for the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) in North Ayrshire remains uncertain, it is not possible to commit funding to additional projects. Future programme priorities will be determined in line with the Strategic Housing Investment Plan for which North Ayrshire Council has the lead responsibility.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total budget for grant funding for housing development projects was in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09 and (c) 2009-10 and will be in 2010-11, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The total allocated Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) budget for financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 broken down by local authority are detailed in the following table. The split of the programme for 2010-11 has not been decided.
| Local Authority | 2007-08 Original Budget | 2008-09 Original Budget | 2009-10 Original Budget |
| Highland | 36.325 | 27.120 | 32.125 |
| Orkney | 6.000 | 5.033 | 7.904 |
| Shetland | 3.800 | 2.640 | 3.800 |
| Western Isles | 6.500 | 4.130 | 6.675 |
| Aberdeenshire | 16.508 | 19.637 | 14.708 |
| City of Aberdeen | 6.767 | 3.922 | 6.767 |
| Moray | 9.525 | 6.372 | 12.525 |
| Angus | 5.714 | 3.890 | 4.798 |
| City of Dundee | 12.250 | 7.766 | 10.000 |
| Perth and Kinross | 15.270 | 10.886 | 15.500 |
| Clackmannanshire | 3.500 | 2.150 | 4.800 |
| Falkirk | 7.366 | 3.866 | 8.000 |
| Stirling | 10.724 | 3.476 | 7.300 |
| East Lothian | 5.600 | 4.400 | 7.900 |
| Fife | 21.545 | 13.133 | 16.945 |
| Midlothian | 4.580 | 3.400 | 5.200 |
| The Scottish Borders | 7.200 | 5.600 | 7.200 |
| West Lothian | 10.220 | 6.600 | 10.000 |
| City of Edinburgh | 36.100 | 36.100 | 41.500 |
| Saughton | 0.000 | 0.000 | 8.000 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 12.767 | 9.700 | 14.267 |
| East Ayrshire | 11.533 | 7.000 | 8.933 |
| North Ayrshire | 10.281 | 6.640 | 7.681 |
| North Lanarkshire | 23.961 | 14.600 | 17.661 |
| South Ayrshire | 6.674 | 6.300 | 6.683 |
| South Lanarkshire | 19.284 | 15.300 | 17.934 |
| Argyll and Bute | 17.675 | 14.757 | 24.675 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 10.350 | 7.835 | 10.350 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 5.800 | 5.386 | 7.950 |
| Inverclyde | 23.565 | 19.280 | 34.500 |
| Renfrewshire | 17.096 | 12.510 | 14.600 |
| East Renfrewshire | 4.775 | 3.271 | 5.425 |
| Glasgow | 83.000 | 83.000 | 83.000 |
| GHA | 68.400 | 79.300 | 77.700 |
| Other Programmes | 3.836 | 4.000 | 1.000 |
| LIFT: Shared Equity Open Market Pilot | 30.000 | 24.000 | 60.000 |
| Mortgage to Rent | 10.000 | 10.000 | 20.000 |
| Total | 584.491 | 493.000 | 644.006 |
Outturn expenditure in 2008-09:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/AHIP0809Report,
2009-10 planned expenditure:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/investment/ahip/ahip-2009-10/.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it anticipates that grant funding levels for housing development projects for all housing associations will be reduced in 2010-11.
Answer
The draft 2010-11 Budget published on 17 September showed the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) budget for 2010-11 as £471 million. This is £120 million less for 2010-11 than originally planned at the start of the spending review period, simply as a result of the acceleration of £120 million of the budget from 2010-11 into 2008-09 (£40 million) and 2009-10 (£80 million). The total funding for the current spending review (2007-09 to 2010-11) is planned to remain at £1.65 billion, as originally announced.
The allocation of the programme at local authority and housing association level for 2010-11 has not been decided, therefore we cannot say how grant funding for all individual housing associations will compare with 2009-10 planned funding levels.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Alex Neil on 5 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what grant funding for housing development in North Ayrshire will be available in 2010-11 and how this figure compares with 2009-10.
Answer
The Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) budget allocation for North Ayrshire for 2010-11 has not been decided. The AHIP budget for North Ayrshire for 2009-10 was £7.681 Housing.
2009-10 planned expenditure was published on:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/investment/ahip/ahip-2009-10/.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures confidentiality of patient records.
Answer
Personal health information is protected by the Data Protection Act and the common law duty of confidentiality.
It is the responsibility of NHS board chief executives to ensure the confidentiality of patients records within their respective NHS board. The Scottish Government supports the execution of this duty through production of guidance and through initiatives such as the NHS Code of Practice on Protecting Patient Confidentiality and the Information Security Policy.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 3 November 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued regarding the sharing of patient information and whether a patient or a patient’s representative requires to give consent to information being shared.
Answer
In July 2003, the Scottish Government published the
NHS Code of Practice on Protecting Patient Confidentiality, which sets out when to obtain consent from patients regarding the disclosure of their information.
When information is shared within the NHS, the legal position is that the patient''s implied consent is all that is required. Nevertheless, the wishes of the patient will always be listened to and discussed. The disclosure of information outwith the NHS e.g. to care homes, usually requires permission from a patient or their representatives except where disclosure is required by law or there is an overriding public interest.
