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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-21826

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 17 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the Minister for Health and Community Care in the debate on future arrangements for health services in the Argyll and Clyde area that “the key requirement now is for the outgoing board and the two successor boards to work closely together to agree realistic financial plans for 2006-07 and 2007-08 that will secure the return to financial stability, which we need. We are prepared to consider the case for transitional financial assistance only once that planning task has been demonstrated to be complete and robust.” (Official Report c. 21623), whether these plans have to be submitted by a certain date or deadline and, if so, what that date is and whether the plans will be made public; how the additional funding of £80 million to write off the accumulated deficit of NHS Argyll and Clyde was calculated, and whether the Minister for Health and Community Care will make a statement to the Parliament once the reports have been received, where MSPs will have the opportunity of asking questions.

NHS Argyll and Clyde, in line with all NHS boards, is expected to agree a local delivery plan (LDP), including a five year strategic financial plan, with the Health Department by the end of March 2006. The plan will be allocated between the two successor boards, NHS Greater Glasgow and Highland, and both boards will be required to approve the plan with NHS Argyll and Clyde. Given that LDP’s are approved by NHS boards, they will be made available publicly.

With regard to the calculation of the £80 million funding, I can confirm that this was based on NHS Argyll and Clyde’s revised financial plan as submitted by the board in July 2005. The plan demonstrated a maximum accumulated deficit of £80 million (for financial year 2006-07) with the board returning to in-year financial balance thereafter. The sum was therefore expected to cover all deficits incurred by the board and provide a clean slate to the successor boards.

I do not propose making a statement to Parliament regarding local delivery plans.

Question reference: S2W-21655

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 12 January 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is in respect of disclosing public sector comparator calculations on PFI and PPP contracts and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S2W-21554

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum amount is that can be provided to any one applicant to meet the costs of commissioning reports, such as preliminary environmental assessment or economic impact assessment reports, whether there is any requirement for the company itself to meet a proportion of the cost and, if so, what that proportion is.

No maximum amount is prescribed.Where the enterprise networks provide support towards the costs associated withcommissioning reports, such as environment or economic impact assessments it isfor the networks to determine appropriate levels, having regard to requirementsin the Management Statements between them and the Scottish Executive.http://www.hie.co.uk/hie-network-management-statement---october-2004.doc,http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/publications/management_statement.doc.

Question reference: S2W-21556

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the 30 largest amounts paid by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to enable individual applicants to commission reports, such as preliminary environment and economic impact assessment reports.

Question reference: S2W-21557

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that an economic impact assessement should be carried out before any grant is paid for any environmental assessment or preliminary environmental assessment, with a view to saving public money in the event that there is no need for an environmental report to be carried out if an economic case is not made.

Question reference: S2W-21555

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the 30 largest amounts paid by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, including their local enterprise companies, as financial support to companies in each of the last two financial years for which figures are available.

Question reference: S2W-21566

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 21 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to implement the resolution of the Parliament on 1 December 2005 on motion S2M-3657 as amended, in respect of onboard observers.

Question reference: S2W-21549

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that it may be exposed to legal action, particularly under employment law or the European Convention on Human Rights, if any employee of the Crofters Commission is required to surrender civil service status.

Legislation is underway to change the status of the Crofters Commission. Once this legislation is introduced, staff of the Crofters Commission will be given the choice to transfer to the new non-departmental public body, or to retain their status as civil servants. Those staff based at the commission who do not accept an appointment with the new body will remain Scottish Executive staff and we will endeavour to find posts for them elsewhere within the Scottish Executive or in other parts of the civil service. We therefore do not foresee any member of staff currently employed by the Crofters Commission being required to surrender their civil service status.

Question reference: S2W-21552

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 19 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is able to provide grant funding to new businesses in the timber and timber processing sectors and, if so, what limits apply to such funding.

New businesses in the timber and timber processing sectors can access generic business development support. The provision of advice and support for business start-ups and growing businesses is primarily an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise working with local partner organisations. Access to the range of local and national measures available to support new and growing businesses in the Scottish Enterprise area is available through Business Gateway and in the Highlands and Islands area, access to business support is through Highlands and Islands Enterprise's network of 10 local enterprise companies located throughout the area who are the first stop for information and advice.

In addition, the Farm Business Development Scheme (FBDS) and Agricultural Business Development Scheme (ABDS) are designed to assist Scottish farmers with the restructuring or re-orientation of agricultural production by exploitation of new business opportunities. This could include timber processing. Projects involving diversification outwith agricultural activities may attract a grant of 50% or £30,000 (FBDS) and £40,000 (ABDS), whichever is the lesser.

Forestry Commission Scotland contributes to local initiatives to support timber and wood use. For example, Forestry Commission Scotland is a partner in the Highland Woodfuel Development Programme, which provides support for wood-fuel developments. There are also a number of financial support mechanisms for biomass plant and bio-energy schemes. These include the Department of Trade and Industry’s Bio-Energy Capital Grants Scheme, which will part-fund the planned new biomass electricity plant at Lockerbie. Grant offers are also being made by Forestry Commission Scotland under the Bio-energy Infrastructure Scheme to help develop the supply chain required to harvest, store, process and supply biomass to energy end users.

Question reference: S2W-21547

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 December 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies, excluding those in the Crofters Commission, have arisen in its departments, agencies and non departmental public bodies in Inverness in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05, broken down by (i) department agency or non-departmental public body and (ii) grade and whether it will provide details of any agreement permitting civil servants to fill such vacancies in non-department public bodies without other candidates being considered.

In 2003-04 there were nine vacancies within the Scottish Executive in Inverness as follows:

Band A1 – 2; Band A2 – 1; Band A3 – 2; Band B1 – 3; Band B2 – 1.

In 2004-05 there have been six vacancies within the Scottish executive in Inverness so far, as follows:

Band A1 – 2; Band A2 – 1; Band A3 – 1; Band B2 – 1; Band C1 – 1.

The Scottish Executive has signed up to a Civil Service wide protocol aimed at avoiding redundancies resulting from surpluses across departments. The protocol requires departments to consider surplus staff from other departments before advertising any posts externally.

While the Scottish Executive will work closely with other government departments to meet our commitments to the protocol, it would be for the importing body to determine whether they are prepared to consider surplus Scottish Executive staff and the Scottish Executive cannot require other government departments to absorb any staff we have who may be surplus.