- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 27 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be provided by the Business Growth Fund over each of the next 10 years and from what budget source; who will be responsible for administering this fund; what is the estimated costs for each of the next 10 years, and what gap the fund is designed to fill.
Answer
Funding of £12 million is being provided under the Business Growth Fund over three years (£3 million in 1999-2000; £4 million in 2000-01; £5 million in 2001-02), for loans between £20,000 and £100,000. These funds have been allocated to both Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise who are responsible for the administration of the scheme. £2 million has already been committed under the Fund. A decision on whether to extend the funding beyond the initial three years will be made towards the end of that period following a review of the impact of the scheme.Small companies can face difficulties in raising sufficient funding due to their size and risk profile. The Business Growth Fund seeks to address this by providing assistance to businesses which are commercially viable and have growth potential, but which are unable to access sufficient funding from established sources.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 27 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it has implemented since 1 July 1999 in relation to helping small businesses.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is committed to improving public sector support to small businesses. Through the Executive, and related agencies, we have introduced a number of measures that will have a positive impact on the small business community. New initiatives implemented since 1 1999 July include: the Innovators Counselling and Advisory Service for Scotland which provides a specialist counselling service for Scotland's inventors and small innovative firms; introduction of an e-commerce suppliers directory and SMART guides for users by Scottish Enterprise; the launch of Loan Action Scotland, an energy saving initiative which will allow small companies to adopt energy efficiency measures in the workplace; the Scottish Learning Network which will establish 500 "learning points" within small businesses; establishment of The Improving Regulation in Scotland Unit (IRIS) to assist with regulatory issues; and announcement of the formation of a Small Business Forum. To ensure direct and continuing dialogue between the Scottish Executive and the small business community as a whole, a range of other developments are also ongoing or in the pipeline including: a consultation on Scottish Tourism; the formation of a Scottish Manufacturing Strategy; Knowledge Economy consultation seminars; and the launch of a consultation document to help develop a framework for economic development in Scotland.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 27 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider the introduction of the American policy of corporate venturing to promote growth of small businesses.
Answer
The Scottish Executive believes that corporate venturing can bring significant benefits to both small businesses and their larger corporate partners, and we want to encourage the establishment of more such relationships in Scotland. The Executive therefore fully supports the UK Government's commitment to introduce corporate venturing tax incentives in this year's Finance Bill and we have asked Scottish Enterprise to consider specific initiatives to help stimulate a culture of corporate venturing in Scotland.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 26 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any representations from the Dyslexia Institute Bursary Fund (Scotland); if so, what estimate that body has made as to the proportion of the population suffering from some degree of dyslexia, and what steps it will take in order to provide appropriate tuition at an early age to help children with dyslexia acquire basic skills in reading, writing and numeracy.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has received no representations from the Dyslexia Institute Bursary Fund (Scotland).The Scottish Executive is providing over £5 million in 2000-01 to local authorities for in-service development and training of staff working with pupils with special educational needs, including dyslexia. £1 million of this funding is directed towards staff working with pupils in the early years of primary school.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 25 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what access it has to papers of the previous administration and whether that access differs from the practice followed when there is a change of administration of Her Majesty's Government.
Answer
When there is a change of Administration of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, there is a long established convention that a new Administration does not normally have access to papers of a previous Administration of a different political complexion. The convention covers, in particular, Ministers' own deliberations and the advice given to them by officials, other than written advice from the Law Officers and those papers which were published or put in the public domain by the predecessor Administration.In applying the convention to the devolved administration in Scotland any information contained in administrative and departmental records belonging to a Minister of the Crown or a UK Government Department is treated as if it were contained in papers of a previous Administration of a different political complexion. This convention, therefore, qualifies the right conferred upon the Scottish Ministers by Article 10(2)(b) of the Transfer of Property (Scottish Ministers) Order 1999 (SI 1999/1104) to have access to certain administrative and departmental records belonging to a Minister of the Crown or a UK Government Department. In practice this means, in particular, that Scottish Ministers do not normally have access to advice given to Scottish Office Ministers or to the deliberations of those Ministers in papers dated before 1 July 1999, unless they have been published. Written opinions of the UK Law Officers which date from before 1 July 1999 may be made available.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 24 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects approvals of applications for the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme to be re-started after its announcement of a delay in such approvals on 3 December 1999 and what action it is taking to ensure that the European Commission makes this delay as short as possible.
Answer
The Commission has up to six months to approve the Scottish Rural Development Plan submitted on 29 December 1999 which includes the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme. The Scottish Executive will play its full part in the negotiations during this period.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 24 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult about amendment of the 100 metre rule as contained in section 17 of the Abolition of Feudal Tenure Bill in order to ensure that the feudal title conditions are not simply preserved in most parts of rural Scotland by notice procedure.
Answer
We do not intend to consult further on this matter, but we will listen to any arguments expressed during Stage 2 of the Bill's progress both about the 100 metre rule and about the proposed notices procedures introduced in sections 17 and 18 of the Bill.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 21 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Dyslexia Institute Bursary Fund (Scotland) has drawn its attention to a recent study showing that half of the prison population is dyslexic; if not, what information it has as to the approximate level of the prison population in Scotland which suffers from some degree of dyslexia, and what action it proposes to take to address this problem.
Answer
The Scottish Prison Service is not aware of the study. A significant proportion of prisoners have learning difficulties of various sorts and therefore, prisoner education gives priority to basic literacy and numeracy skills. SPS also works closely with the Scottish Dyslexia Association and where dyslexia is identified, opportunities to address this are offered.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 20 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review its decision to abandon the common poundage across the UK in respect of non-domestic rates as from 1 April 2000.
Answer
I announced on 8 December 1999 a provisional Scottish Unified Business Rate of 45.8p for 2000-01. I published the calculations underlying that rate on 17 January. I will announce a final decision in February.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 20 January 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the measures presently being taken or which it intends to take to tackle levels of unemployment in the Local Enterprise Council areas of Inverness and Nairn, Ross and Cromarty and Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey are sufficient and, if not, what additional steps or measures it plans to take, and whether it will make a ministerial statement on this matter.
Answer
A comprehensive set of response measures is being put in place to place redundant employees in new jobs and assist with skills development, following the recently announced reduction in the workforce employed by Barmac.
On-site information centres are being opened at both Ardersier and Nigg to provide easy-access, first-stop advice on employment, skills development and other issues for employees. A comprehensive information pack, giving advice, contact numbers etc, is being provided for on-site workers and for all those who have already left employment.Highlands and Islands Enterprise are setting up a database (HIE-OPS) of people affected by the rundown of the oil fabrication industry in the HIE area and are working with local labour placement specialists based in the Highlands and Islands to place as many individuals from the list as is practicable.HIE are also working with Barmac management to help identify opportunities for activity in the yards when confidence returns to the market, and are actively engaged in efforts to encourage new inward investment and employment to the area, and to diversify further the Highlands economy so that it can continue to compete vigorously in future markets.
