- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 25 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received about the outcome of a complaint considered by the Highland Council's Complaints Review Committee in August 2002 in respect of entitlement of people who provide foster care for their grandchildren to maintenance allowance.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has been provided with background to the case by Highland Council. The Fostering of Children (Scotland) Regulations 1996 and accompanying guidance give local authorities the discretion to decide what allowances to pay in line with local circumstances. We understand that Highland Council has taken these regulations and the accompanying guidance into account in looking at the situation in their council area.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 25 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities provide a financial support scheme for people responsible for the care of their grandchildren.
Answer
We do not hold this information centrally.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Euan Robson on 25 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities that do not provide financial support for people responsible for the care of their grandchildren are in breach of the (a) European Convention on Human Rights and (b) Children (Scotland) Act 1995.
Answer
No. Local authorities have a discretionary power, not a duty, to pay allowances and do so based on individual circumstances and local needs.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 24 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-888 by Allan Wilson on 25 June 2003, what the cost was of the Uist Wader Project.
Answer
The Uist Wader Project (UWP) was formed in April 2000 as a partnership of Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Executive. The costs incurred during the initial three-year period, ending in March 2003 were £261,000. This is well within the original published budget of £300,000.The project aims to stabilise and reverse the decline in wading bird populations and to evaluate practical and humane measures to reduce hedgehog numbers. The work of the project and its costs are therefore not confined to this year's hedgehog cull. Work undertaken as part of the project included research programmes, fencing and trapping trials, feasibility studies, educational material, employment of a full-time project officer and ancillary staff, together with related management, equipment, overhead and travel costs.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial savings will result from dissolving NHS trusts and setting up (a) general hospital and (b) community health divisions, as referred to at the public meeting of Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board on 4 June 2003.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-882 on 14 July 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what short-term costs will arise from dissolving NHS trusts and setting up (a) general hospital and (b) community health divisions, as referred to at the public meeting of Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board on 4 June 2003
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-882. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 July 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what reduction in the number of administration posts will result from dissolving NHS trusts and setting up (a) general hospital and (b) community health divisions, as referred to at the public meeting of Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board on 4 June 2003
Answer
This is an operational matter for NHS Ayrshire and Arran.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 26 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what precise steps it is taking as central authority under the Hague Convention in Scotland to support the Scottish mother and her attorney in the United States of America in the child abduction case Fawcett v McRoberts, and what further action is planned.
Answer
The Scottish ministers transmitted to the United States the application for the child's return to Scotland; supplied the necessary factual information and documentary evidence to support it; provided relevant information about Scots law in connection with the question whether Ms Fawcett had "rights of custody" under the Hague Convention, and liased with the US Central Authority, Ms Fawcett's Attorney and her Scottish solicitors concerning progress with the case. The Scottish ministers have performed all the functions of a requesting Central Authority under the convention, and will continue to do so in connection with any future proceedings in the USA.Provision of legal aid in foreign court proceedings does not form part of the obligations of a requesting Central Authority under the convention. The US authorities have a responsibility to ensure that left-behind parents are properly represented there, as Ms Fawcett has been so far.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 25 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hedgehogs have been culled as a result of Scottish Natural Heritage activity on the Uists and Benbecula.
Answer
Sixty-six hedgehogs were culled on North Uist between 7 April and 23 May 2003.
- Asked by: Phil Gallie, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 25 June 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Natural Heritage's Uist Wader Project has involved using dogs for hunting hedgehogs.
Answer
The use of dogs for the exclusive purpose of locating hedgehogs was trialled on North Uist this year by the Uist Wader Project, a partnership comprising Scottish Natural Heritage, the RSPB and the Scottish Executive. The dogs were accompanied by trained handlers and were not used to hunt or capture hedgehogs.
