- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 7 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects all sectors of the tourism industry to be able to participate in the Million Visitor Campaign in view of the expectation for match funding and whether it will provide support to enable the tourism industry to have access to the campaign.
Answer
VisitScotland will provide advice to tourism businesses enabling them to become involved in the campaign and inviting them to enhance their profile further through the provision of special deals for promotion on both BTA and VisitScotland websites.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 7 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support the Million Visitor Campaign and what resources it intends to apply to any such support.
Answer
VisitScotland has committed £100,000 to the Million Visitor Campaign, which will supplement their current marketing campaigns in both the United States and in continental Europe.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 7 March 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what part VisitScotland will play in promoting the Million Visitor Campaign across the whole of Scotland.
Answer
Information will be provided to businesses via the dedicated industry web site, scotexchange.net. Area tourist boards and the Scottish Tourism Forum will also promote the initiative to their members.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 14 December 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 11 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of the administration budgets of all non-departmental public bodies for each of the last two years and any such draft budgets available for each of the next two years, including outturn figures where these are available.
Answer
Annual Reports and Accounts of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) contain detailed financial information including references to administration budgets, and are the main vehicles by which NDPBs regularly inform Parliament and the public about their activities and expenditure. Corporate Plans contain information on budget proposals. All of these documents can be obtained from individual bodies. In addition, a compilation of financial information can be found in the annual publication Public Bodies. Copies are available from the Cabinet Office website at:
www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/quango.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 14 December 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 4 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide level 3 figures for the administration budgets for all its departments in each of the last two years and the draft figures for each of the next two years.
Answer
The table sets out the level 3 figures, based on original published plans, for the Scottish Executive's administration budget, which covers the whole costs of running the Executive, disaggregated where appropriate between departments. Only the administration costs element of the budget, which includes expenditure on pay, office overhead costs, ministers and special advisors is allocated to departments, the remainder of the budget is managed centrally.
| 2000-01 Original Plans (£ million) | 2001-02 Original Plans (£ million) | 2002-03 Original Plans (£ million) | 2003-04 Original Plans (£ million1) |
Total Administration costs | 199.8 | 211.9 | 214.2 | 218.0 |
% change year on year (real terms) | | 3.5% | -1.4% | -0.7% |
Admin costs as a % of Total Managed Expenditure | 1.11 | 1.07 | 1.01 | 0.98 |
Scottish Executive Administration Budget by Department (Level 3) |
SE Administration Costs: | Development | 16.2 | 18.7 | 16.9 | |
Education | 14.5 | 12.9 | 11.3 | |
Enterprise and Lifelong Learning | 9.8 | 11.2 | 11.9 | |
Health | 11.1 | 12.9 | 13.7 | |
Rural Affairs | 27.7 | 31.8 | 32.0 | |
Justice | 13.4 | 18.6 | 17.2 | |
Corporate Services | 61.9 | 64.4 | 48.8 | |
Finance and Central Services (FCSD) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 24.7 | |
Total Administration | 154.6 | 170.5 | 176.5 | 179.8 |
Capital Charges | 20.4 | 23.3 | 24.7 | 25.2 |
Accountant in Bankruptcy2 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
External Relations Initiatives2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Capital Projects | 21.0 | 14.6 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
The variances in departmental allocations from one year to the next are due to restructuring and transferring of functions, creation of a Finance and Central Services Department, and the transfer of HM Inspectors of Schools to agency status.Notes:1. Departmental allocations for 2003-04 have not yet been finalised.2. Accountant in Bankruptcy and External Relations will become the responsibility of the Justice Department and FCSD respectively from 2002-03 onwards.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 November 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 1 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is required to conduct an environmental assessment prior to any application for planning permission being granted for waste management handling facilities and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.
Answer
No. The environmental impact assessment process associated with planning applications is co-ordinated by the planning authority. The responsibility for preparing the environmental statement rests with the applicant. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is consulted by the planning authority when evaluating the environmental statement.These procedures are set out in the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999. These regulations implemented Council Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received in support of an investigation into the winter roads maintenance performance of Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen Councils and BEAR Scotland Ltd and what plans it has for such an investigation.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has asked the Performance Audit Group (PAG) to carry out a comprehensive audit of BEAR's winter maintenance activities in the North East of Scotland over the festive period following the period of severe winter weather which affected the area. PAG is employed by the Executive to monitor the performance of the trunk road Operating Companies and provide advice.The Executive has received representations from several MSPs in respect of BEAR's winter roads maintenance operations. No representations have been received in respect of the winter performance of Aberdeenshire or Aberdeen Councils, on local roads for which, of course, they are responsible.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2002
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 30 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to facilitate the reopening of Laurencekirk station.
Answer
The proposal to reopen Laurencekirk Station is a local transport matter, and as such is the responsibility of the relevant local transport authorities in partnership with the rail industry to take forward.Railway infrastructure projects may qualify for financial assistance from either the Scottish Executive's Public Transport Fund (PTF) or Integrated Transport Fund (ITF). Bids under the PTF would have to satisfy eligibility criteria and compete with other bids, and those under the ITF would have to be considered by the Scottish Executive as being regionally or nationally strategic.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 10 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the current planning regulations for the location of wind farms so that the regulations take account of their proximity to inhabited areas and the possible environmental sustainability of such developments.
Answer
There are no separate planning regulations for wind farm developments. Guidance on such proposals is contained in National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 6: Renewable Energy Developments. We have no current plans to review NPPG 6 which was published in November 2000. A copy of NPPG 6 is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 18113). A revised Planning Advice Note (PAN) 45: Renewable Energy Technologies will be published shortly. PAN 45 will complement the policy framework set out in NPPG 6 by providing advice on good practice and other relevant information.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 10 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Grampian Health Board is unable to fund the use of all drugs which have been approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and what the reasons are for the board's position on this matter.
Answer
The Executive expects NHS Grampian to follow the guidance on drugs from the Health Technology Board for Scotland. The board also has to manage within the resources made available. The Executive is providing substantial funding to NHS Grampian as part of record investment in NHSScotland. Grampian's general funding allocation for 2001-02 is over £453 million. The NHS Board has received an increase of £21.3 million (5.5%) compared with last year and in each of the next two years the increases will be at least 6.5% and 7.4%.
