- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 2 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual budgeted cost of Scotland House in Brussels is and whether this cost is met from its block grant.
Answer
Scotland House is an inclusive body that involves a range of Scottish interests. Its principal components are the Scottish Executive EU Office and Scotland Europa, which in turn houses a number of subscribers.The total running costs for the Scottish Executive EU Office are expected to be around £650,000 p.a. These costs will be met from the Scottish Executive's budget. Scotland Europa's costs are a matter for Scottish Enterprise and the Scotland Europa members.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 31 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it can take to alleviate the high costs many households are being required to incur in order to repair failures in old septic tank soakaways, given that many of these were part-constructed by local authorities, and whether it will implement any of these measures.
Answer
Meeting the costs of any repairs required is a matter for the householder in the first instance. Assistance may be available in some circumstances from the improvement and repairs grant scheme. The scheme is administered by the local authorities, and the resources available for it are limited. There are no plans at present to introduce further measures.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 July 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 4 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive in the light of the increasing number of incidents involving harmful internet material on school computers, what measures, further to the use of software guards, it intends to take to ensure that children and teaching staff are protected from inadvertently downloading or viewing such material.
Answer
The risk of inadvertently accessing inappropriate Internet material is small. The nature of such sites is usually evident from the search results displayed before the site is accessed. Good filtering software will prevent access to known harmful sites. The best support to these software precautions is provided by information and education for users.
Guidance has been made available to schools and education authorities over the last four years, and the Scottish Executive is preparing a new pack of materials for schools and others. The pack includes information and resources for children and young people, their parents or carers, as well as for teachers and managers. The materials to clarify potential risks and empower Internet users in schools so they can keep themselves safe. This material will be distributed to schools in September 1999.
Schools and Education Authorities have a key role in protecting children from these risks. When Local Authorities were invited to apply for their share of the Excellence Fund they were reminded of their responsibility for ensuring that clear local policies and procedures exist for the safe and ethical use of information and communications technology (ICT). The training currently provided to Scottish teachers and school librarians through the New Opportunities Fund ICT Training scheme includes training in ethical issues relating to the use of ICT in a teaching and learning environment. This includes the risks of harmful Internet materials.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 July 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 2 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to ensure that labelling of meat or agricultural produce is more detailed in order to draw the consumer's attention to additives such as hormones.
Answer
Additives used in food are agreed at EU level. The use of such additives is controlled in Scotland by the Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 1995 which prescribe permitted additives to be used in certain foods. Food containing additives is required by the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 to be specifically labelled . Hormones are not defined as food additives under these Regulations. The use of hormones is controlled, however, by separate legislation which prohibits their use as growth promoters in animals in the European Union. This measure is implemented in Scotland by the Animals and Fresh Meat (Hormonal Substances) Regulations 1988.
- Asked by: Ben Wallace, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 15 June 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to take to safeguard the long-term future of Stracathro Hospital and to indicate its intended strategy for the retention of rural hospitals across Scotland.
Answer
Tayside Health Board is currently conducting a review of acute services in Tayside which is due to be completed later this year. The services provided at Stracathro hospital are part of that review. The intention is to establish an equitable network of acute services which meets the needs of people across Tayside. The involvement of clinicians and the public is part of the review process. In addition, proposed changes to the configuration of services as a result of the review will be subject to formal public consultation before decisions are taken.The Scottish Executive expects Health Boards to apply the principles of the national Acute Services Review report when planning services for people in rural areas by balancing local access with the provision and maintenance of viable services of appropriate quality.
