- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 28 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what it envisages the impact on air services to and from Scotland will be of BAA’s plans to increase domestic passenger charges at Heathrow Airport from April 2011.
Answer
Removing the domestic charging structure at Heathrow Airport and including domestic air services within a European charge will lead to increased charges for domestic access to Heathrow. We are concerned that this will be a disincentive to airlines to use Heathrow for domestic services and will place increased pressure on those existing services from Scottish airports. We do not accept that costs associated with international travel, including customs and immigration control, should be attributed to domestic services.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 25 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people convicted for shoplifting in each of the last three years have reoffended within a year of conviction.
Answer
The information requested is provided in the following table.
One Year Reconviction Rates for Offenders Receiving a Community Sentence/Released from a Custodial Sentence for Shoplifting: 2005-06 to 2007-08
| 2005-06 | |
| Number of Offenders | 3,761 |
| Number Reconvicted | 2,149 |
| % Reconvicted | 57.1% |
| 2006-07 | |
| Number of Offenders | 3,999 |
| Number Reconvicted | 2,261 |
| % Reconvicted | 56.5% |
| 2007-08 | |
| Number of Offenders | 3,898 |
| Number Reconvicted | 2,156 |
| % Reconvicted | 55.3% |
Note: 1. Re-offending rates cannot be measured directly since not all offences result in prosecution and conviction. Instead, reconviction rates are used as a proxy measure of the rate of re-offending.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 24 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many test purchases have been carried out of deliveries of alcohol purchased via the internet and with what results, in each year for which information is available.
Answer
The use of test purchasing is an operational matter for the chief constables. At present, the police operate an intelligence led deployment of test purchasing to ensure that resources are effectively targeted. There have been no test purchases made on deliveries of alcohol purchased via the internet.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been saved by not offering the hill path or track construction and repair option in the menu of options for the land management option scheme for farmers and crofters.
Answer
Payment for maintaining paths is offered under the Improving Access option within the Rural Development Contracts Land Managers'' Options as part of the 2007 to 2013 Scotland Rural Development Programme.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many farmers and crofters accessed support for developing or repairing hill paths or tracks through the land management option scheme in the years when this option was available and how much money this option cost in each of these years.
Answer
The number of applicants accessing support and the level of support from the Improving Access option under Land Management Contract Menus Scheme (LMCMS) within the 2000 to 2006 Rural Development Programme and under Land Managers'' Options (LMO) within the 2007 to 2013 Scotland Rural Development Programme in each year it was available is as follows.
| Year | Amount Paid (£ Million) | Number of Producers Paid |
| LMCMS 2005 | 6.3 | 2,453 |
| LMCMS 2006 | 9.9 | 3,890 |
| LMCMS 2007 | 9.9 | 3,863 |
| LMCMS 2008 | 9.8 | 3,860 |
| LMCMS 2009 | 9.8* | 3,860 |
| LMCMS 2010 | 3.8** | 1,849 |
Notes:
*Some payments still to be made.
**Estimate - payments due to start in mid 2011.
| Year | Amount Paid (£ Million) | Number of Producers Paid |
| LMO 2008 | 0.1 | 46 |
| LMO 2009 | 0.11 | 32 |
| LMO 2010 | 0.5* | 210 |
Note: *Estimate - payments due to start in mid-2011.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive to what use any money saved by not offering the hill path option in the menu of options for the land management option scheme for farmers and crofters has been put.
Answer
Like applicants under the Land Management Contracts Menu Scheme, Land Managers'' Options applicants choose from a list of options, including path maintenance under the Improving Access option, up to a total maximum yearly allowance based on the area of land declared in their Single Application Form. Applicants who choose not to apply for funding under the Improving Access option may choose other options up to the level of that allowance.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 15 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how long it expects the study into the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot scheme to take.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37999 on 15 December 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facilities for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 15 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive on what date the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot scheme will end and whether ferry prices will immediately revert to pre-pilot scheme prices on that date.
Answer
The RET pilot scheme has been extended to spring 2012. The final results of the evaluation of the pilot will be available early in 2011. This will allow ministers to make decisions on fare levels for ferry services in the Western Isles, Coll and Tiree and the rest of Scotland, beyond the pilot period.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 15 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the concerns of businesses offering tour packages that include routes included in the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot scheme that they will have difficulty in setting 2012 prices as a result of the anticipated ending of the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot scheme.
Answer
Decisions about the future of RET will be taken once the final results of the evaluation of the pilot are available in early 2011. Decisions will be taken in good time to allow ferry operators to set fares for 2012, and for businesses to plan accordingly.
- Asked by: Jamie McGrigor, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 9 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to improve access to innovative treatments for patients with rare diseases.
Answer
There are longstanding commissioning arrangements to ensure patients are able to benefit from specialised services required for the treatment of rare and ultra-rare conditions. Access to this national resource is managed by the National Services Division (NSD) of NHS National Services Scotland, which commissions relevant treatment within NHSScotland or from highly specialised services across the UK or further afield in Europe, as and when it is required.
The European Council published a recommendation on rare diseases in 2009 that proposes a national plan for rare diseases. The Scottish Government fully supports this recommendation and is working with officials from across the UK to explore the extent to which the UK meets the requirements of the Recommendation and to agree areas of possible collaboration and progress in the future.
Our aim for NHSScotland, as set out in our Healthcare Quality Strategy, is that it provides the best quality healthcare services to the people of Scotland through the delivery of person-centred, safe and effective care.
Our ambition to deliver effective care includes providing the most appropriate treatments, interventions, support and services at the right time to every patient and eradicating wasteful and harmful variation in clinical practice. In undertaking their responsibility for the planning and provision of NHS services in their area, we expect NHS boards to focus on the quality of service they provide.
