- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 3 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has issued to local authorities on the use of community consultations on school closures and mergers.
Answer
In such cases, there is a statutory requirement on education authorities to consult parents of pupils and school boards of the schools affected, and relevant church or denominational bodies.The Scottish Office issued advice when the relevant regulations were made, drawing education authorities' attention to them.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentists will retire in each of the next five years; how many dental practices have given notice of closure, and whether it will provide information on dental practitioner shortages, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
The actual number of NHS general dental practitioners who intend to retire in the next five years is not available centrally. The following table shows the number of NHS general dental practitioners who will be aged 65 in this period. Number of NHS General Dental Practitioners Aged 65 on or Before Year to 31 March
| Health Board | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Borders | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Argyll and Clyde | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Fife | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greater Glasgow | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Highland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lanarkshire | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Grampian | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Orkney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lothian | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Tayside | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Forth Valley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Western Isles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shetland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scotland | 5 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 18 |
Source:MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).The number of dental practices who have given notice of closure and information on dental practitioner shortages are not available centrally.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support is available to dental practices that seek the services of foreign-qualified dentists and need to support them through their pre-registration training prior to acceptance by the General Dental Council allowing them to practice; how many dental practices have (a) sought and (b) received such support in each of the last three years, and what sums were (i) sought and (ii) received.
Answer
There are no schemes directly designed to facilitate foreign-qualified dentists entering dental practice in Scotland.Vocational training is available to both Scottish and EC graduates on a competitive basis for which appropriate funding and support is given to the dentist and their trainee.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 28 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether road tolls will not be included in its funding package for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.
Answer
The Scottish Executive will fund the strategic elements of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (WPR). We have no plans to include road user charging in our funding package for the WPR.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 28 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what investigations it has carried out, or is carrying out, on the recent closures of the A90 between Stonehaven and Aberdeen; what support it will give Aberdeenshire Council in making good any resulting damage to verges, drains and the road surface on the B979 between Stonehaven and Maryculter caused by additional heavy traffic loads, and whether it will impose a weight restriction on the B979 except for strictly local access.
Answer
The Scottish Executive, before implementing the planned road closures on the A90 between Stonehaven and Aberdeen, investigated appropriate diversion routes which included discussions with the affected local road authority, Aberdeenshire Council. Appropriate diversion routes, to assist local traffic entering or leaving the affected section of A90, were identified and orders were promoted and published. The B979 is not part of the diversion routes.Local roads are the responsibility of local road authorities and it is for them to ensure that these roads are maintained and to identify any restrictions that require to be implemented in order to protect the road and its users.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 26 February 2003
To ask the Presiding Officer what minimum notice periods must be complied with prior to surrendering the leases for the Church of Scotland Assembly Hall and other buildings in the parliamentary estate.
Answer
The Parliament's lease of the Assembly Hall may be surrendered on provision of six months' written notice. No notice is required where the lease is surrendered at the end of the period of lease.There are no notice periods stipulated by our current arrangements with the City of Edinburgh Council in respect of 369 and 375 High Street, the Parliamentary Headquarters on George IV Bridge, the Committee Chambers or Cannonball House.The Parliament's lease of office accommodation at the Tun may be surrendered by either party with effect from 28 May 2004, on provision of not less than six months' written notice. There are no notice periods stipulated by the Parliament's lease of the Interim Visitor Centre, also at the Tun.Finally, the Parliament's license in respect of interim office accommodation at the MWB Business Exchange in Edinburgh may now be terminated on provision of three months' written notice.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 25 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive where the proposal for intermediate technology institutes originated.
Answer
Based on the principles outlined in Smart, Successful Scotland, Scottish Enterprise identified a need to stimulate the emergence of more high-growth technology companies in Scotland. This required the commissioning of research to develop intellectual property based upon industry-led assessment of future market opportunities. This would, in turn, be diffused into new and existing companies. Having looked at various international approaches to this problem, and with consultation within Scotland and around the world, Scottish Enterprise developed the Intermediary Technology Institute model based upon international best practice, tailored to suit the circumstances in Scotland.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 25 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with the applicants for the ScotRail franchise and Aberdeenshire Council regarding reopening Laurencekirk Station and, if so, what the outcomes of any such discussions were.
Answer
Proposals to re-open a particular station are a local transport matter and as such are the responsibility of the relevant local transport authority or transport partnership to take forward. Aberdeenshire Council, in conjunction with ScotRail and Network Rail, is currently examining the potential demand for a new passenger station at Laurencekirk.The pre-qualification process for the next franchise is currently under way, and no announcement has yet been made regarding the companies that will be invited to submit a bid. Accordingly, discussions about potential new services have not taken place.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 20 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether fare paying bus passengers should be allowed to access school bus services if the local authority does not provide a chaperon to accompany the children.
Answer
While the law does not allow fare-paying adults to access services that operate exclusively as school buses, they may use joint local bus/school bus services. In such circumstances, in meeting their statutory obligations to provide free transport to schools for entitled pupils, the local authority must have regard to the pupils' safety.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 19 February 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when the junctions on the A90 at Laurencekirk will have street lighting installed.
Answer
There are no plans to install street lighting on the A90 in the vicinity of the junctions at Laurencekirk.
