- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 18 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how the trunk roads maintenance contracts with (a) BEAR Scotland Ltd, (b) Amey Highways Ltd and (c) Autolink Concessionaires Ltd are being evaluated.
Answer
The Scottish Executive employs the Performance Audit Group to undertake audits and investigations of BEAR Scotland Ltd and Amey Highways Ltd to evaluate their performances against the requirements of the trunk roads maintenance contracts.The contract with Autolink Concessionaires (M6) plc is evaluated by Scott Wilson Scotland Ltd who act as the Scottish Ministers' Agent for the M6 DBFO and monitor, inspect and review the performance of Autolink against the requirements of the DBFO contract.
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 13 February 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what volume of herbicide has been used per mile of trunk road by (a) BEAR Scotland Ltd, (b) Amey Highways Ltd and (c) Autolink Concessionaires Ltd since the beginning of their respective contracts.
Answer
The total volume of herbicide used by BEAR Scotland Ltd and Amey Highways Ltd since 1 April 2001 is as follows:
- BEAR Scotland Ltd - 1,371 litres
- Amey Highways Ltd - 1,551 litres
BEAR is responsible for 1,270 miles of trunk road and Amey for 706 miles, although herbicides are only used at specific locations.The approximate volume of herbicide used by Autolink Concessionaires (M6) plc during 2001 on the 56 miles of motorway between Junction 12 and Junction 22 of the A74(M)/M74 was 34 litres per mile. This volume will reduce now that the new motorway landscaping has been established. Autolink do not have figures prior to 2001 due to the subcontractor going into liquidation.
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce special payments to dental practitioners working in rural areas similar to the "Golden Hello" packages introduced to help doctors in such areas.
Answer
Discussions are under way with the dental profession on improved support for dentists in remote areas.
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 9 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17949 by Susan Deacon on 18 September 2001, whether the sub-group of the Scottish Advisory Committee on the Dental Workforce will consider funding a recruitment campaign in other European Union countries to attract dentists to work in the north-east of Scotland.
Answer
The recruitment of NHS staff is a matter for NHS Boards and there are currently no plans for the Executive to specifically fund a recruitment campaign. The Recruitment and Retention sub-group of the Scottish Advisory Committee for the Dental Workforce is looking at all aspects of the recruitment and retention of dentists and is expected to report to the main committee early in 2002. I also refer the member to the answer to given question S1W-20031 on 18 December 2001.
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 11 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the sale of Compound Semiconductor Technologies and why Scottish Enterprise has supported the sale under the terms agreed.
Answer
Commercial decisions relating to investment in Compound Semiconductor Technologies are a matter for the founding shareholders of the company, namely Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde.
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 6 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will address any inequalities in funding for the provision of health, local government and policing in the Grampian region compared with allocations for other regions.
Answer
Local government and health funding are distributed using the Grant Aided Expenditure methodology, and the Arbuthnott formula respectively. These methods take account of a wide range of factors and are accepted as an objective method of distributing resources. The distribution of police funding is under review by a group comprising representatives of the Scottish Executive, COSLA and ACPOS, which has yet to report its findings.
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 July 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 19 November 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what the requirements are for a medical condition to qualify for an exemption from prescription charges.
Answer
There is no process for the admission of further conditions to the list of charge-exempt medical conditions.
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 14 November 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17978 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 20 September 2001, whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise's undertaking, in the agreement made under section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1987, that it may choose to dismantle and remove the funicular and buildings and reinstate the site, breaches the #9.4 million limit on the amount of public money which Highlands and Islands Enterprise is authorised to spend on the Cairn Gorm Funicular railway.
Answer
The capital investment figure relates to the capital cost of the funicular and has since been revised to include additional purchase of associated buildings. To date Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) have invested £11.95 million in the total development. This does not include the cost of dismantling and removing the funicular and buildings and reinstating the site in the event of commercial failure. Any such costs will be a matter for discussion HIE, CairnGorm Mountain (formerly Cairngorm Chairlift Company Ltd), Scottish Natural Heritage and Highland Council.
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 November 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a developer is in breach of planning legislation in circumstances where construction has begun without obtaining planning permission and where retrospective planning permission has been applied for but not yet granted, and what powers are available to local authorities to order work to cease on developments which have retrospective planning applications pending but not yet approved.
Answer
The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act (1997) (Section 123(1)) states that carrying out development without the required planning permission constitutes a breach of planning control.Planning authorities have the power to serve an Enforcement Notice, if appropriate, requiring the alleged breach to be remedied. The notice must, among other things, specify the matters which appear to the planning authority to constitute a breach of planning control, the steps which require to be taken, the date on which the notice takes effect and the period allowed for compliance with its' terms. In addition, where the planning authority considers it expedient that any "relevant activity" should cease before the expiry of the compliance period in the Enforcement Notice, it may also serve a Stop Notice prohibiting the carrying out of that activity on the land to which the Enforcement Notice relates, or any part of that land. A planning authority may also seek to restrain or prevent any breach of planning control, whether actual or threatened, by applying to the court for an interdict. Applications may be made either to the Court of Session or to the Sheriff. Guidance on the range of enforcement action available to planning authorities is outlined in the SODD Circular 4/1999: Planning Enforcement and Planning Advice Note (PAN) 54: Planning Enforcement. Copies of both documents are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 11121 and 1151 respectively).
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 October 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 9 November 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it costs the NHS to purchase a digital hearing aid.
Answer
There are currently 11 different types of digital hearing aids available to NHSScotland through contracts centrally negotiated by Scottish Healthcare Supplies. The prices range from £120 to £535.
