- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 1 February 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the independent consultants currently working with Visitscotland are reviewing the Ossian project and what action it intends to take over the performance to date of the Ossian project.
Answer
The project is not at present being reviewed by independent consultants. Continuous improvements are being achieved in the performance of the website, which attracted over 3 million user sessions last year.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 1 February 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the accessibility and structure of the Visitscotland website; if not, why adequate steps were not taken during the development of the website to ensure that it was easily located by Internet search engines and how much it will cost to correct any problems in this regard.
Answer
I am satisfied with the progress that the Scottish Tourist Board is making in developing the visitscotland.com website. The action that the board is taking includes investing in improving accessibility through search engines. A new look site, which will include improved search and navigational techniques, is at the advanced stages of specification.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 1 February 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the original registration procedure for the Ossian project was adequate; if so, why more companies did not register and what action it is taking to ensure that registration will increase in the future.
Answer
The registration procedure is an operational matter for the Scottish Tourist Board. I will ask the Chairman to write to you. The website now contains details of more than 17,400 businesses.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 1 February 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by parliamentary constituency of the #20 million funding announced for libraries for a network of learning centres.
Answer
Distribution of the £11.5 million allocated for the development of the public library network is a matter for the New Opportunities Fund. I shall ask the Director to write to the member.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 1 February 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has in place to increase the numbers of trained psychologists in the NHS across Scotland and in particular in the Dumfries and Galloway area in order to improve waiting times for initial appointments.
Answer
We have recognised the need to address issues of education, training and workforce planning for Clinical Psychologists. The Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education (SCPMDE) was given responsibility for the support of the postgraduate training of clinical psychologists in April 1999. Last August the Scottish Executive allocated £100,000 to SCPMDE to provide extra training posts for Clinical Psychology. In addition, the Chief Medical Officer has appointed a Clinical Psychology Advisory Group to focus on matters such as service design and waiting times. These initiatives are at an early stage and will deal with their remits on a national basis.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 30 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures it has in place to establish when rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway are eligible for European Union funding and how it makes local authorities aware of funding opportunities.
Answer
The Executive works in close partnership with a wide range of public sector bodies, including local authorities and local enterprise companies, to develop, negotiate and implement European Union funded programmes in various spheres. Lines of communication and procedures are therefore in place and well established in all parts of Scotland. Whether rural or urban, local authorities, as key partners, are well placed to understand the funding opportunities and mechanisms.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 30 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10569 by Susan Deacon on 27 November 2000, what information it has on any cost to Dumfries and Galloway Health Board of treating patients from the North of England.
Answer
The treatment costs for patients who are resident in the North of England but have received treatment in Dumfries and Galloway are reimbursed by their host health authority. In the current year, Dumfries and Galloway will receive a total of £176,018 from the Northern and Yorkshire Region of the NHS in England under these arrangements.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 22 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what methods Learning and Teaching Scotland used to assess the applications it received for posts in its senior management team.
Answer
The appointment process for the post of Chief Executive was managed by the Education Department. It followed the procedures as set out in the Commissioner for Public Appointments' Guidance on Appointments to Public Bodies, including the involvement of an independent assessor at both the sift and interview stages.The appointment process for the Assistant Chief Executive posts was a matter for Learning and Teaching Scotland. Each of the candidates was interviewed by an Appointments Board, on which my department was represented. Candidates were assessed on the basis of their CV's, their previous experience and performance, and their match with the job description and person specification approved by the board of LT Scotland.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 22 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the figures for refuge spaces quoted in its press release of 29 November 2000 announcing the funding package to tackle domestic abuse include all refuge spaces provided by unaffiliated women's aid groups.
Answer
Our current figure of 360 refuge spaces is an approximate one but does include both affiliated and unaffiliated groups.
- Asked by: David Mundell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 19 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government regarding the A75 and the draft Multi Annual Indicative Transport Programme to be published by the European Commission on 18 December 2000.
Answer
To be considered for funding under the trans-European Network (TEN) Multi-annual Indicative Programme (MIP) schemes had to be submitted to the Commission as part of a combined UK bid by 16 October 2000. The two schemes currently identified for the A75 were not sufficiently advanced in their design or preparation to meet the MIP criteria at that stage.
