- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 14 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 28 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is to be offered to Inverness Airport to address issues relating to the PFI contract.
Answer
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) has recently undertaken a full review of the PFI contract at Inverness Airport Terminal and the impact of a buy-out on the airport and the wider economy. With the support of the Executive, HIAL is now seeking to secure the buy-out of the contract. HIAL will be aiming to secure best value for the taxpayer in these sensitive negotiations and an announcement will be made at their conclusion.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 14 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 28 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being given to Highland Council to assist with the maintenance of all bridges in its area.
Answer
Funding for local roads and bridges forms part of the general Local Government Finance settlement. As part of this Highland Council will receive above inflation increases in revenue support of £18.8 million (5.3%), £19.5 million (5.2%) and £10.9 million (2.8%) over 2005-06 to 2007-08. It is for the council to decide how this funding is spent.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12168 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 December 2004, what the underspend was in respect of the Rough Sleepers Initiative for each of the 11 local authorities referred to.
Answer
The underspends over the period 1997-2002 are set out in the following table.
| Local Authority | Underspend (£) |
| Angus | 6,477 |
| Argyll and Bute | 15,670 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 9,892 |
| City of Edinburgh | 887,868 |
| Glasgow | 1,417,834 |
| Inverclyde | 6,663 |
| North and South Ayrshire | 47,632 |
| Renfrewshire | 65,310 |
| Stirling | 16,904 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 18,283 |
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12168 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 December 2004, what the underspend from 1997 to 2004 was in respect of the Empty Homes Initiative for each of the 20 local authorities referred to.
Answer
The underspends over the period 1997-2004 are set out in the table below. Throughout the life of the Empty Homes Initiative (EHI), underspends were re-allocated to other authorities which were able to use additional resources. Taking account of these re-allocations, the net underspend on EHI amounted to £1.419 million.
| Local Authority | Underspend (£) |
| Aberdeen City | 42,157 |
| Aberdeenshire | 102,306 |
| Argyll and Bute | 182,968 |
| Clackmannanshire | 180,000 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 114,895 |
| East Ayrshire | 12,890 |
| East Lothian | 60,241 |
| City of Edinburgh | 649,332 |
| Eilean Siar | 12,802 |
| Falkirk | 19,330 |
| Inverclyde | 267,532 |
| Moray | 115,345 |
| North Lanarkshire | 146,704 |
| Orkney Islands | 3,275 |
| Perth and Kinross | 57,000 |
| Scottish Borders | 184,640 |
| Shetland Islands | 47,494 |
| South Ayrshire | 8,437 |
| South Lanarkshire | 134,892 |
| Stirling | 530,000 |
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12168 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 December 2004, what the underspend was in respect of the New Housing Partnership Programme for each of the 28 local authorities referred to.
Answer
The following table sets out the underspends incurred in each of the financial years from 1998 to 2004. The figures in the table are not cumulative. Allocations have been determined on an annual basis taking into account the outturn in previous years and the total resources earmarked for each council.
| Council | Underspend in 1998-99 | Underspend in 1999-2000 | Underspend in 2000-01 | Underspend in 2001-02 | Underspend in 2002-03 | Underspend in 2003-04 |
| Aberdeen City | 187,000 | 100,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Argyll and Bute | 0 | 0 | 71,250 | 100,000 | 42,327 | 389,900 |
| Clackmannanshire | 0 | 20,975 | 13,776 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 0 | 6 | 0 | 85,048 | 0 | 0 |
| Dundee City | 2,563,000 | 5,272,685 | 371,718 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 25,858 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 1,000 | 361,751 | 448,413 | 0 | 95,982 | 101,681 |
| East Lothian | 1,025,241 | 887,822 | 919,000 | 0 | 0 | 223,925 |
| East Renfrewshire | 0 | 100,000 | 20,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| City of Edinburgh | 1,669,468 | 658,000 | 589,332 | 345,950 | 259,249 | 0 |
| Eilean Siar | 35,000 | 63,595 | 44,750 | 0 | 191,563 | 118,261 |
| Falkirk | 200,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fife | 29,000 | 185,420 | 0 | 139,669 | 66,463 | 0 |
| Glasgow City | 1,932,680 | 126,465 | 3,497,097 | 4,762,152 | 3,061,350 | 912,000 |
| Highland | 77,000 | 120,460 | 139,050 | 524,394 | 0 | 0 |
| Inverclyde | 33,000 | 85,100 | 24,133 | 170,360 | 97,988 | 0 |
| Midlothian | 0 | 31,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Moray | 12,000 | 7,000 | 98,293 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| North Ayrshire | 4,000 | 187,455 | 536,611 | 740,076 | 0 | 0 |
| North Lanarkshire | 226,571 | 86,000 | 11,625 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Perth and Kinross | 113,000 | 47,000 | 41,128 | 43,290 | 0 | 0 |
| Renfrewshire | 0 | 979,543 | 103,733 | 7,182 | 0 | 0 |
| Scottish Borders | 22,000 | 0 | 0 | 619,294 | 0 | 0 |
| Shetland | 0 | 346,208 | 71,749 | 743 | 250 | 0 |
| South Ayrshire | 0 | 18,887 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Lanarkshire | -75,000 | 69,300 | 1,138,888 | 1,332,103 | 0 | 0 |
| Stirling | 306,000 | 178,788 | 601,319 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 4,000 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 0 |
| West Lothian | 543,000 | 250,000 | 263,362 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 8,907,960 | 10,193,460 | 9,020,227 | 8,980,261 | 3,905,202 | 1,771,625 |
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 27 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how the term "public benefit" in the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill can be interpreted more broadly than as a material benefit and whether the benefit can be spiritual or moral.
Answer
It is well-established in existing charity case law that public benefit can mean spiritual and moral benefit rather than merely material benefit and the Executive intends this to continue under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland)Bill.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 26 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all new doctors from other countries are placed in overseen appointments for an appropriate period prior to practising independently to ensure that they are fully aware of all NHS protocols, procedures and administrative requirements.
Answer
Any doctor wishing to work in Scotland or the rest of the UK must be registered with the General Medical Council. Qualifications, skill, and experience will dictate whether the doctor is eligible for full or limited registration. All doctors with limited registration are eligible only for supervised posts, until they meet the criteria for full registration All appointment procedures are designed to ensure that doctors are fit for purpose for the particular post to which they are appointed. It is an essential component of the recruitment process by NHS Scotland boards to ensure that all doctors have a full and complete induction process which would embrace NHS protocols and administrative procedures.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 25 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what effect the new GP contract will have if GPs choose not to offer an enhanced service for drug users.
Answer
NHS boards are under a duty to provide primary medical services for the patients in their area and free to commission enhanced services, such as the treatment of patients suffering from drug misuse, from those providers which they consider most appropriate to meet local health needs. This means that an enhanced service for drug misusers could be provided by a GP practice or another NHS provider or even the board itself.
A model specification for the delivery of a National Enhanced Service (NES) for patients suffering from drug misuse has been published. The specification sets out the service elements which the provider must already have in place, such as safe and secure premises, and details the elements which the commissioned provider must then deliver to its patients such as, developing and co-ordinating the care of drug users.
The new General Medical Services contract comes with a patient services guarantee which ensures that patients continue to receive at least the level of services they received previously, although these may not necessarily be delivered in the same way.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 25 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are sufficient crisis and respite beds for drug users to access treatment programmes.
Answer
As set out in the National Strategy, Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership, it is for local drug action teams and constituent partners to plan and deliver the full range of drug treatment and care services in line with identified need and local priorities, and to spend available resources accordingly. Whilst it is not for the Executive to direct local plans, nor to make a judgement on whether or not there are “sufficient” crisis beds, or any other specific intervention in an area, a key element of the action plan published in the Summary and Actions of the Drug Treatment and RehabilitationReview is to widen and improve the range of interventions available locally, toimprove outcomes for drug misusers. In support of this an additional £6 million per annum has been identified to develop and enhance a full range of drug treatment and rehabilitation services from 2005-06 to 2007-08.
- Asked by: Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when the building of the Fochabers bypass will commence.
Answer
The report of the Public Local Inquiry into the A96(T) Fochabers Mosstodloch Bypass is currently under consideration. Every effort is being made to reach an early decision on whether or not the scheme should proceed.
