- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 25 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to redress the drops in visitor numbers to Scotland as identified by National Statistics in its press release of 10 December 2001.
Answer
The drop in overseas tourism visitors for October is disappointing, but in line with expectations. Both VisitScotland and the British Tourist Authority are currently working on a number of new campaigns to encourage tourists to come to Scotland. These will be launched early in 2002. VisitScotland's marketing budget is at a record level.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 25 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it gave approval to, or had advance knowledge of, the decision by VisitScotland to issue shopping vouchers as a tourism promotion tool.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-20742 on 20 December 2001.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 25 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that its current proposals for land reform improve the conservation of wildlife and the rearing of managed game, including fish, as core components of rural tourism.
Answer
The Land (Scotland) Reform Bill will not impede the rearing of managed game, including fish.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 25 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of its current research projects into wind energy production and whether it will consult with Her Majesty's Government into the possibility of extending the national grid so that it can link into wind energy developments in the west of Scotland and the Highlands.
Answer
We published two reports on Scotland's renewable energy resource on 10 December. The first outlined the huge scale of that resource, including onshore and offshore wind, marine energy and biomass. The second, related, report, into the Scottish electricity grid, found that there is enough existing capacity to allow our renewable energy targets under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) to be met. Both reports are available on the Scottish Executive website.In addition, the Department of Trade and Industry recently initiated a concept study on a sub-sea electricity interconnector between north west Scotland, particularly the Western Isles, and the UK mainland. We await the outcome of that study with interest.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 25 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to re-appraise the Arbuthnott Index relating to mortality rates among people under 65 as one of the key indicators for the provision of health board funding under the Arbuthnott formula.
Answer
The Scottish Executive currently has no plans to re-appraise any of the key indicators of the Arbuthnott Index. The mortality rate among people under 65 has long been recognised as a good indicator of the relative health of the population living in different areas of Scotland.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that any notional charge on capital under the resource accounting and budgeting system will not result in health boards being required to cut back on service delivery.
Answer
The introduction of the resource accounting and budgeting system has not changed the way NHS Boards account for capital. NHS Boards are given an annual general allocation to meet the health care needs of their resident populations. It is for boards to determine how to manage and deliver local health care services to meet these needs within the funds available. In the current year all NHS Boards received increases in their unified budgets of at least 5.5%, more than twice the rate of inflation.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake research into the provision of maternity services in rural areas.
Answer
NHS Boards have conducted local maternity service reviews, which take account of the various geographical and demographic features of their particular area. The Scottish Executive is currently auditing NHS Board strategies against the principles laid out in A Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland. A working group will meet in early 2002 to consider the appropriate configuration of models of acute and intra-partum maternity care for Scotland.The Scottish Executive set up the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative to explore issues affecting the full range of health services in rural Scotland. A recently formed sub-group has been created to look specifically at maternity services in remote and rural settings.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that health boards receive the necessary level of funds to meet any expected growth in demand on a per capita basis for their services.
Answer
NHS Boards are given an annual allocation to meet the health care needs of their resident populations. NHS Boards received an average increase in unified budget of 6.5% in the current year. Increases to individual boards ranged from a minimum of 5.5% to a maximum of 9.8%. It is for boards to determine, within the funds available, how to manage and deliver local health care services including meeting any expected growth in demand.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 December 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the funding allocated to Grampian Health Board so that the health board is able to fill all consultant vacancies at a time when it is in a position of budget deficit.
Answer
None. Grampian NHS Board has been allocated £453.154 million of revenue resources in the current year, an increase of 5.5% over the equivalent budget for 2000-01. It is for the board to decide how best to meet the health care needs of their resident population from within the resources available.
- Asked by: Mr David Davidson, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 18 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions since May 1999 it has made media announcements outwith the facilities in Victoria Quay, Edinburgh; what venues were used, and what the total cost was of these announcements.
Answer
The Scottish Executive makes announcements in venues appropriate for the nature of the announcement, for example: in Parliament; at events or conferences; through visits to organisations or projects throughout the country, and through news releases, as well as through press conferences. The main venue for press conferences is the Media Centre in St Andrews House, although Victoria Quay and other Scottish Executive buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow are used from time to time.Generally events such as these do not incur cost to the Scottish Executive beyond normal running costs and no central record is kept of them.
