- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any meetings with the board of the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) to discuss the proposed closure of the Craibstone campus and, if so, what the outcomes were and which ministers attended.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has had no meetings of the type specified but my officials and I have had a number of meetings with SAC over their rationalisation proposals. I have raised a number of concerns with SAC about its proposals for rationalisation and I expect SAC to address those concerns and submit revised proposals to the Executive.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with Her Majesty's Government on entry to NHS pharmaceutical dispensing contracts and, if so, what the outcomes were.
Answer
There have been no discussions with the UK Government following the Scottish Executives decision, announced on 26 March, that de-regulation of community pharmacy control of entry arrangements was not the way forward for Scotland.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next meet (a) Aberdeenshire Council and (b) Aberdeen City Council.
Answer
We have no plans to meet at present. However, I met with both councils during 2002 and would be happy to consider requests to meet again.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to reverse its decision not to accept the recommendations of the report by the Office of Fair Trading on entry to NHS pharmaceutical dispensing contracts.
Answer
There are no plans to reverse the decision.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next visit the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) Craibstone campus and which minister will visit.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no plans to visit the college's campus at Craibstone. However, I have raised a number of concerns with the college in relation to its proposals for rationalisation and have asked it to submit revised proposals. When considering these I will be taking account of the comments and representations I have received in relation to SAC's strategic review.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next meet representatives of the fish processing industry.
Answer
The Executive frequently meets with representatives of the fish processing industry and I intend to meet with the Scottish Fishmerchants' Federation Ltd in the near future.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate the continuing issue of sewage escaping into the River Dee around Banchory.
Answer
This is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) rather than the Scottish Executive.I understand that SEPA is aware of occasional intermittent instances of untreated sewage being discharged into the River Dee. Each reported incident is investigated by SEPA.SEPA will continue to proactively control sewage discharges to the River Dee and react promptly to reported incidents, taking action in accordance with its enforcement policy and available statutory powers.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will increase funding to Grampian NHS Board following reductions in funding under the Arbuthnott formula and, if so, when it will do so.
Answer
There have been no reductions in funding to Grampian NHS Board due to the Arbuthnott formula. Since the formula was introduced in 2001-02, Grampian NHS Board's unified budget has increased by over 20% and is currently £483.662 million.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the funding for the Aberdeen western peripheral road will be met by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils.
Answer
It was announced on 19 March 2003 that Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils would together contribute 19% towards the total costs of the Western Peripheral Route. This sum will be divided equally between the two local authorities, meaning that each will contribute 9.5% of the total costs. The remaining 81% of total costs will be funded by the Scottish Executive.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what train operating companies have indicated an interest in running the passenger rail franchise.
Answer
A pre-qualification exercise has identified a shortlist of four companies (Arriva Trains Ltd, First Group plc, National Express Group plc and Serco Rail/Netherlands Railways) which will be invited to bid for the next Scottish passenger rail franchise.
