- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 23 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with trade members of tourist boards in Angus and Tayside regarding restructuring of tourism support.
Answer
Trade members of Angus and Dundee Tourist Board had an opportunity to discuss the integrated tourism network directly with VisitScotland at a Tourism Day on 9 February at Discovery Point, Dundee which was organised by the board. The meeting was attended by around 70 people, mostly from the business community, and heard informative presentations from several directors of VisitScotland.
In addition, VisitScotland has used a series of regular newsletters to keep business members of all area tourist boards throughout Scotland, including Angus and Dundee, fully informed of the progress being made with implementing the new tourism network, and the business opportunities that it will make available to them, such as the new VisitScotland marketing Challenge Fund.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 23 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides for local authorities in north east Scotland for the provision of special needs teaching and the establishment of custom-built facilities.
Answer
The main support for local authority net revenue expenditure on special educational needs provision, including teaching staff costs, is provided by the Scottish Executive through the Revenue Support Grant. This is an unhypothecated grant and expenditure on individual areas is a matter for each authority. For information on the allocation of grant to individual local authorities I refer you to the Scottish Executive’s Finance Circular 8/2004 which can be viewed at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/localgov/lgfs-00.asp.Funding is also made available through the National Priorities Action Fund specific grant. In 2005-06, a total of £5.6 million will be provided to Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Angus Council and Dundee City Council to support specific special educational needs provision, including teaching staff costs.
Decisions about work on school buildings, including the provision of facilities for pupils with special educational needs, are the responsibility of the local authorities within the resources available to them. These resources include the financial support we offer for school PPP projects; direct capital grant in the form of the Schools Fund, and the substantial resources which authorities can generate, principally through borrowing, under the prudentialframework.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 23 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with trade members of Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board regarding the restructuring of VisitScotland and area tourist boards.
Answer
VisitScotland has used a series of regular newsletters to keep business members of all area tourist boards throughout Scotland, including Aberdeen and Grampian, fully informed of the progress being made with implementing the new tourism network, and the business opportunities that it will make available to them, such as the new VisitScotland marketing Challenge Fund. In addition, local tourism businesses will have had the opportunity to discuss any issues relating to the new VisitScotland network directly with Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 February 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 23 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected number of special needs teaching staff is for all grades in each of the next five years, broken down by education authority.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when a national access code will be agreed and what issues regarding it have not been resolved to date.
Answer
The Scottish Outdoor Access Code was approved by the Scottish Parliament on 1 July 2004. The access code came into force on 9 February 2005 along with all other remaining provisions of Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 to establish statutory rights of responsible access to land and inland water for recreation and passage and other purposes.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 23 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been given to national parks in respect of the regulation of access under new legislation.
Answer
The two national park authorities were issued with the Scottish Executive guidance Part 1 Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003: The Guidance For Local Authorities And National Park Authorities on 8 February. All 32 Scottish local authorities were also issued with the guidance. The guidance will assist these bodies with the delivery of their functions and responsibilities under the act. Copies have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35204).
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 7 February 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to dual the A90 from Aberdeen to Peterhead.
Answer
We have no current plans to dual the single carriageway sections of the A90 between Aberdeen and Peterhead. However, we are currently discussing with the North East Transport Partnership (NESTRANS) the conclusions of the multi-modal appraisal of the A90 between Balmedie and Tipperty. Decisions on future improvements to that section of the route will be announced in due course.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 June 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 28 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of administrating its Health Department in each year since 1999.
Answer
Actual administration costs of the Health Department were as follows:
(£ Million)
| Year | Outturn |
| 1999-2000 | 10.2 |
| 2000-01 | 11.5 |
| 2001-02 | 13.0 |
| 2002-03 | 14.0 |
| 2003-04 | 15.3 |
During that five year period the annual budget for the Health Department increased by £4.7 million, of which £2.7 million was provided for increases arising from annual pay settlements. Additional funding was received to create an Older People's Unit, for the creation of the Centre for Change and Innovation team which is spearheading the modernisation agenda and a change in working practices to drive down waiting times and improve efficiency. Resources were provided to strengthen the Human Resources Directorate which is responsible for implementing the Pay Modernisation Agenda and workforce planning which has resulted in the New Deal for Junior Doctors, Consultant Contract’s, General Medical Service’s Contract and Agenda for Change. Funding was also provided to increase staff within the Health Improvement Directorate to enable the department to implement the commitments in the Partnership Agreement in relation to health improvement and in improving the health of people in Scotland. Additional resources were required within Community Care Division to support the implementation of Free Personal Care for the Elderly which has benefited 75,000 elderly people and within Mental Health Division to support the introduction of a the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) Scotland Act 2003 and the establishment of the new Mental Health Tribunal.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take following the advice issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on the risk of heart attack following the use of celecoxib.
Answer
On 21 December 2004, the Executive alerted health professionals in Scotland to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) advice, which provided prescribing guidance on the use of celecoxib (Celebrex) and other selective Cox-2 inhibitors in light of concerns about cardiovascular safety. The advice is available on the MHRA website
www.mhra.gov.uk.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 13 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce generic substitution prescriptions to pharmacies.
Answer
We have no plans to do so.
Proprietary (branded) medicines are those protected by a product licence. Generic drugs are those drugs where licence protection no longer applies. They are generally less expensive than the equivalent branded products and their cost effectiveness is recognised. Generic prescribing is encouraged in the NHS and at present around 70% of GP prescriptions are written generically.
Under the Medicines Act 1968 “prescription only” medicines may only be sold or supplied in accordance with a prescription written by an appropriately qualified prescriber, as defined in the act. Under the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995 pharmacists must supply what is ordered on a prescription.
Generic substitution at the point of dispensing is not provided for in the legislation. This is because for some drugs the generic and proprietary versions are not bio-equivalent, which means that patients may need to be maintained on either the branded or the generic product. This issue arises mainly with sustained release products and is particularly relevant to drugs used in the treatment of epilepsy.
