- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 September 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to address the cost of travel on lifeline air services between the Scottish mainland and the Northern Isles.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is committed to the maintenance of affordable links to island communities. Our subsidy to Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd results in lower costs to airlines than if the full economic costs were applied.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive when the analysis of the 2001 Less Favoured Area scheme will be complete so as to allow any changes to be proposed to the European Commission in time for the scheme's operation in 2002.
Answer
The Industry/Scottish Executive Working Group set up to consider the operation of the scheme is currently considering an initial analysis of this year's payments with a view to assessing possible changes to next year's scheme.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 August 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 29 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of infringement of fisheries regulations the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency referred to the Procurator Fiscal in each of the last five years for which figures are available and how many of the cases referred in each year resulted in prosecutions, broken down by court in each case.
Answer
The table refers to the financial years 1996-97 until 2000-01 inclusive, and lists the number of cases sent to the Procurator Fiscal Service by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.
| 1996-97 | 117 |
| 1997-98 | 117 |
| 1998-99 | 93 |
| 1999-2000 | 69 |
| 2000-01 | 74 |
The following table shows the number of these cases which resulted in a prosecution and the sheriff court at which they were heard. Not all cases were dealt with in the same financial year in which they were referred to the Procurator Fiscal.
| Court | Year Referred |
| | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 |
| Arbroath | | | 2 | | |
| Ayr | 1 | | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Banff | 60 | 50 | 44 | 38 | 30 |
| Campbeltown | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Cupar | 1 | 2 | | 1 | 1 |
| Dingwall | 2 | | | 1 | |
| Dornoch | 3 | 2 | | | |
| Fort William | 2 | | | 1 | 2 |
| Kilmarnock | 2 | 2 | | | 2 |
| Kirkwall | 1 | 1 | 3 | | |
| Lerwick | 16 | 25 | 21 | 13 | 11 |
| Lochmaddy | | | | | 1 |
| Oban | | | | 1 | 1 |
| Peterhead | 1 | | | | |
| Portree | | | | | 1 |
| Stornoway | 3 | 5 | 1 | | 1 |
| Stranraer | 2 | 2 | 1 | | |
| Tain | | | | | 1 |
| Wick | 3 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
Seven cases from this period, on which a decision on whether or not to proceed to prosecution, remain in the hands of the Procurator Fiscal Service.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 20 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what provision it is making to ensure that the subvention paid for livestock shipments from Orkney and Shetland to the mainland will continue after the expiry of the current contract with P&O Scottish Ferries on 1 October 2002.
Answer
The Scottish Executive's current Northern Isles subsidy contract with P&O Scottish Ferries and the recently awarded contract with NorthLink for the period 2002-07 provides subsidy for passenger and car ferry services only.The Scottish Executive provides considerable financial support for the movement of livestock between Orkney, Shetland and the Scottish mainland under the Tariff Rebate Subsidy (TRS) scheme for bulk and livestock shipping. The TRS scheme provides 50% rebate on shipping costs for exporting and importing livestock. As indicated in my reply to S1W-14998 the Executive received recently the report of an evaluation of the TRS Scheme conducted by consultants. The evaluation report is being considered in detail and Ministers will announce their conclusions on the review in due course. These will reflect the Executive's commitment to maintaining essential ferry services to Orkney and Shetland and their communities.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 20 August 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many claims under the Less Favoured Area scheme for 2001 were submitted before the deadline and how many have been paid.
Answer
My Department received 13,718 claims. A small number have been either rejected, because they did not fulfil the basic criteria of the scheme, or withdrawn by the applicants. This left some 13,535 claims to be paid and to date 13,343 have been paid in full (98.6%). The claims awaiting settlement are typically the more difficult cases involving cross-border claimants, business transfers and are made up of: 100 (0.7%) where the claimants have already received the minimum payable under the scheme using the transitional payment arrangements (more commonly called the safety net) and 92 (0.7%) where the claimants have yet to have their payments calculated. In both cases, my officials are liasing closely with the appropriate parties whether they be other administrations or claimants in order to get these claims paid as soon as possible.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 31 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote the development and manufacturing of renewable energy technologies as a key driver in the Scottish economy.
Answer
Our promotion of renewable energy developments through the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) is intended to build up a Scottish renewable energy capability, as well as reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. One early result was the recent announcement of a significant inward investment from Vestas, the Danish wind turbine company, whose new manufacturing facility near Campbeltown will provide over 150 jobs in the area.
We are also working with Scottish Enterprise to encourage Scottish companies to diversify into the manufacturing opportunities which will arise from further development of renewable energy. A series of Scottish Enterprise roadshows on the subject attracted interest from a variety of companies and, as a direct result, several of them are now pursuing opportunities for new business. We will continue to work to strengthen the renewables industry, enabling it to attract investment to Scotland and bring the newer and more expensive technologies nearer to the market.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 31 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to determine the underlying causes of any fall in the rate of new business start-ups and whether it will instigate changes in policy to address any such trend.
Answer
The recently completed Fraser of Allander Institute review of Scottish Enterprise's Business Birthrate Strategy (BBRS) addresses a range of issues relevant to Scotland's business start-up rate. We shall use the report, and the consultation period now in train, to look again at what can be done to improve Scotland's performance in this area.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 31 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the comparative strength of the pound is undermining the competitiveness of Scottish tourism and, if so, what role local economic development policies have in countering this.
Answer
The value of sterling is only one of a number of factors that may be taken into account by potential visitors to Scotland. The Executive's National Tourism Strategy, published in February 2000, contains actions that will increase Scotland's competitiveness as a tourism destination. The effectiveness of these actions is currently being assessed.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 July 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 31 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive when it last assessed trends in the levels of recruitment and retention of staff in the higher and further education sectors.
Answer
Responsibility for recruitment and retention of staff rests with further and higher education institutions and we do not we hold centrally all the data necessary to assess trends.
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 June 2001
-
Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 30 July 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether planning for the introduction of NHS24 has taken into account the complexities of delivering primary health care in remote and island areas.
Answer
The NHS24 service is being designed to complement and enhance existing health services throughout Scotland and will be developed in partnership with them. NHS24 has begun discussions with health boards and other partners on the nature of the link they wish to have with NHS24. Local Implementation Teams drawn from the local NHS and its partner agencies are being formed to reach agreements on service delivery arrangements and plan the introduction of the service in each health board area. This will ensure NHS24 will reflect the varied geography and service delivery arrangements in remote and island areas. Initial visits to Shetland and the Western Isles were made on 2 May and 11 June respectively.
