- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 22 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct the Strategic Rail Authority to include in the franchise for the East Coast Rail Line a requirement for electrification from Edinburgh to Aberdeen during the lifetime of the franchise.
Answer
I refer the member to my answer to question S1W-3618.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 21 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how often the Performance Audit Group reports to it and whether these reports will be made available to the Parliament.
Answer
The Performance Audit Group reports regularly to the Road Network Management and Maintenance Division of the Scottish Executive on a range of quality, technical and financial matters. These commercially sensitive reports are not released.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 20 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any information from Moray Council regarding the current and projected rolls for Boharm School since the previous figures were circulated and, if so, what the updated figures are.
Answer
Moray Council's proposal to close Boharm Primary School requires the consent of the Scottish Ministers. The council's application has been received. We are aware that there have been some variations in current rolls and in projections. We shall take all relevant considerations, including roll projections and the factors underlying them, into account before reaching a decision.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 20 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any default notices have been issued to Mouchel and, if so, how many.
Answer
The Scottish Executive do not release commercially sensitive information relating to contractual arrangements with Management Agents or Operating Companies.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 14 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authority access to European grants such as the new INTERREG III programme and European structural funds could be constrained by the issue of additionality.
Answer
No. As Commissioner Barnier confirmed recently in the European Parliament, the United Kingdom meets its obligations, and ensures that Structural Funds are additional.The requirement to provide match funding is the responsibility of the project sponsor. It is therefore up to individual authorities and agencies to give priority to proposals seeking Structural Funds support.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 13 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will assure the Parliament that no NHS laboratory tests in Scotland are being performed by unqualified (non-state registered) staff, as alleged by the Institute of Biomedical Sciences.
Answer
There is no data held either centrally or by Clinical Pathology Accreditation, the main body that accredits laboratories throughout the UK, to indicate inappropriate use of unqualified laboratory staff in Scotland. The Scottish Executive is, however, aware of the problems surrounding recruitment, training and retention of medical laboratory staff. The Scottish Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee (SMASAC) has established a Working Group to identify ways of resolving these issues which will be reporting shortly.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 10 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review council tax banding and whether it will consider adding a separate band for residential caravans and mobile homes.
Answer
We have no current plans to review council tax banding.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 9 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to provide funding for the Scottish Youth Parliament.
Answer
The Scottish Executive made available £25,000 to the Scottish Youth Parliament in the current financial year in part to assist with the costs of its inaugural event in June 1999 and to secure support to enable it to finalise its draft funding strategy and seek long-term funding.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 3 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4052 by Susan Deacon on 11 February 2000, how many nurses completed training in the last three years and how many found posts in the NHS in the same period.
Answer
The numbers of nurses and midwives completing training in the last three financial years were as follows:
1996-97 | 1,806 |
1997-98 | 1,734 |
1998-99 | 1,829 |
It is not possible to identify, on an individual basis, whether those who completed training subsequently secured employment in the NHS.
- Asked by: Brian Adam, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 3 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what priorities and timescales are allocated to the repairs in street lighting identified by regular night inspections by Mouchel on trunk roads throughout Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive gives the identification and repair of street lighting faults a high priority. Street lighting defects which are identified within the North East area by the Management Agent, Mouchel Scotland Ltd which are an immediate or imminent hazard to trunk road users are made safe at the time of inspection, if possible. Failing that, an instruction is issued by Mouchel Scotland Ltd for a temporary repair to be carried out within 48 hours with the permanent repair being carried out within 14 days. Other non-hazardous defects which are identified are repaired within a planned programme of works.
