Chamber and committees

The Executive recognises thepotential economic benefits which could flow from there-establishment of the ferry service. We have not yet had the opportunity to discussthe way forward for the Campbeltown to Ballycastle service with the reconstitutedNorthern Ireland Assembly or with the Northern Ireland Executive. We plan to doso soon and will make our intentions clear as soon as practicable.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-424 on 13 June 2007. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

It is the responsibility of eachlocal authority to determine what level of provision is required to meet the needsof its local population and to arrange an appropriate range of services.

We of course recognise the importanceof providing authorities with sufficient resources to fulfil that responsibility.We will therefore ensure in the forthcoming spending review that provision is madeto ensure an appropriate availability of care home places for those who need residentialcare.

The Scottish Funding Councildoes not allocate funding by local authority. However, counting the numbers offull-time equivalent students domiciled in each of the relevant localauthorities and multiplying by the average funding per student in the relevantsector the spending is as set out in the following table.

Estimated Scottish FundingCouncil teaching funding per head of population 2007-08

Area	Population	Total HE spend per head of population	Total FE spend per head of population
Dumfries and Galloway	148,030	£96.86	£53.08
South of Scotland	258,270	£96.73	£55.48
Highlands and Islands	283,310	£125.87	£56.07

Source: Scottish Funding Council/GRO(S).

The revised sport strategy, ReachingHigher, was developed in close partnership with the sporting sector and sets outan inclusive and pragmatic approach to developing the infrastructure of sport inScotland.

The Executive is fully committedto implementing Reaching Higher in full, working closely with key partners in sport.To support this, the Executive is currently developing plans to discuss implementation,monitoring and evaluation processes.

Invitations to tender were issuedby Transport Scotland on 1 June 2007. Subject to agreements being concluded on the necessaryland acquisitions, the contract is expected to be awarded by the end of June witha view to completing the works prior to the start of the Mountain Bike Championshipson 3 September 2007.

Hospitals that currently chargefor parking are Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, Aberdeen MaternityHospital and Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin (NHS Grampian), GlasgowRoyal Infirmary (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) Raigmore Hospital, Inverness (NHSHighland), Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, St Johns Hospital at Howden, Livingston,Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh and Western General Hospital, Edinburgh (NHSLothian), and Ninewells Hospital, Dundee and Perth Royal Infirmary (NHS Tayside).

NHS boards offer dispensationsfor patients who regularly visit hospital as follows:

NHS Hospital	NHS Board	Dispensation for Regular Hospital Visits
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary	Grampian	Free
Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital	Grampian	Free
Aberdeen Maternity Hospital	Grampian	Free
Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin	Grampian	Free
Raigmore Hospital, Inverness	Highland	Free
St John’s Hospital, Livingston	Lothian	£5 per month from 1 April 2007
Western General Hospital, Edinburgh	Lothian	Currently being developed in line with revised charging from 1 April 2007
Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh	Lothian	Currently being developed in line with revised charging from 1 April 2007
Ninewells Hospital, Dundee	Tayside	Free
Perth Royal Infirmary	Tayside	Free

 

The Scottish Executive guidancestates that “Sufficient car parking space and concessionary car parking rates shouldbe available to staff and consideration should be given to providing concessionsto certain categories of patient (e.g. patients attending regularly for dialysisor radiotherapy)”.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH)has no plans for a reduction cull of the red deer herd on Rum during 2007, only a maintenancecull in line with established practice.

SNH manages Rum in line withits objectives for the National Nature Reserve (NNR) as set out in its managementplan.

The current 10-year NNR planwas agreed in 1998, and a new plan is due for agreement in 2008. As part of theprocess of producing the NNR plan, SNH will undertake a consultative exercise todraw together future objectives for the reserve. The process will involve the Rumcommunity, independent advisers, representative groups with an interest in Rum,and others.