- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 20 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it is making available to NHS Trusts to improve the information systems used to monitor the use and track the location of medical equipment.
Answer
It is for individual NHS Trusts to determine annually what levels of funding are required for investment in information systems for local management purposes, taking into account the national Information Management and Technology Strategy and other national and local priorities.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 19 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the use of mobile incinerators to dispose of animals slaughtered during the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
Answer
Due to the sheer scale of the number of carcases to be disposed of and the limited number of mobile incinerators that are likely to be available, the use of these is not a practical option.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 19 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what date it has been given by the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for the completion of the pre-emptive, foot-and-mouth disease-related cull of animals on farms in England which are adjacent to or within 3km of farms in Scotland.
Answer
This cull has now been completed.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 18 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14144 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 27 March 2001, how it will make the results of its discussions with regard to the Carbon Trust available to businesses and when these will be available.
Answer
The Carbon Trust was launched on 20 March and only came into being at UK level on 1 April 2001. It has a Chairman, but has not yet appointed a Chief Executive and is currently operating with only a skeleton staff. All discussions to date have been about internal operational issues and there has been little substantive discussion about how the Trust will operate in Scotland. Once decisions on these issues have been taken by ministers, they will be announced in the normal way through the Scottish Executive website and press releases.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much income it estimates the proposed single water authority would lose annually if the existing discrepancy in the charge levels between the current North of Scotland Water Authority area and the remaining two water authority areas were removed by bringing charge levels in the north into line with those in other areas.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no estimate for this scenario. The proposals to create a single water authority have as one of their objectives facilitating the optimum efficiency savings for the benefit of all consumers.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each of the three regional water authorities spends annually on the servicing of debts (a) in cash terms, (b) as a percentage of income and (c) as a percentage of their operating budgets.
Answer
The figures requested may be calculated from those given in each of the water authorities' published accounts, copies of which are held by the Parliament's Reference Centre.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost will be of merging the three existing regional water authorities to form a single water authority for Scotland.
Answer
The proposed merger of the three existing water authorities is dependent on the successful passage of the Water Services Bill through Parliament, during which information of this nature will be presented. If the merger is accepted, there will be some transition costs, the exact level of which will be dependent upon decisions which have yet to be made. These are likely to be insignificant in comparison to the reduction in operating and capital costs generated by the rationalisation of the industry.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it estimates the proposed single water authority would spend annually on the servicing of debts (a) in cash terms, (b) as a percentage of its income and (c) as a percentage of its operating budget in the event that all outstanding debts of the three existing regional water authorities were transferred to it.
Answer
It is not appropriate to make an estimate at this stage as neither the investment programme nor the proposed charge increases for the years beyond 2001-02 have been agreed.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will write off the debts of the three existing regional water authorities in the event that they are replaced by a single water authority for Scotland.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 March 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 April 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive on what legal basis it intends to implement the foot and mouth slaughter programme announced by the Minister for Rural Development on 15 March 2001.
Answer
The legal basis for the pre-emptive cull, which I announced on 15 March, is under section 31, and Schedule 3 to, the Animal Health Act 1981.
