Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is aware that research has shown that declines have been observed for 4 of the 12 Scottish species of social bumblebees as the result of losses of flower-rich habitats: bilberry (Bombus monticola), moss carder (B. muscorum), red-shanked carder (B. ruderarious) and the great yellow bumblebee (B. distinguendus). The other species are believed to be either stable or increasing.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has supported and promoted several initiatives, including working in conjunction with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, to address the decline of bumblebees and other wild bees and the potential consequences to Scottish biodiversity.

SNH is in the early stages of preparing a bee action plan. They will liaise with the relevant organisations and individuals to ensure a pragmatic and evidence-based way forward. The plan will address the complexity of issues which compound to cause declines in bumblebee populations and, in particular, it will recognise the large-scale measures which are necessary to halt or reverse declines. Reversing the impact of agricultural intensification and the loss of unimproved grassland on bee populations will be key to this: such objectives are heavily dependent on mechanisms to support large-scale, sympathetic management of habitat, including those that might be available under the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

In addition to influencing core management practices, SNH will also be considering action to monitor the effects of the ban on neonicotinoids and developing the licensing system to prevent the introduction of invasive non-native species in pollination boxes. SNH will be preparing publications which encourage citizen science involvement in record collection to help gain a better understanding of the distribution of some of our native bees.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

We do collect information on the type of Houses in Multiple Occupation, and this can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/HMO.

However, it should be noted that these figures relate to the number of licences in force as at 31 March 2012 rather than the number granted during the year.

Figures for the number of licences in force for 2012-13 (to 31 March 2013) are currently being collected from local authorities and will be published towards the end of August 2013. Those for 2013-14 are due to be published in August 2014.

Houses in multiple occupation: year ending 31 March 2012

Source: HMO returns by local authorities to the Scottish Government, Communities Analytical Services (Housing Statistics)

Note: Figures for 2012-13 (to 31 March 2013) are currently being collected from local authorities and will be published towards the end of August 2013. Those for 2013-14 are due to be published in August 2014.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

14 June 2013

Index Heading: Learning and Justice

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what action Police Scotland (a) can and (b) does take against drivers of slow moving vehicles whose driving its officers consider could increase the likelihood of an accident; whether Police Scotland has plans to change its approach to dealing with such driving, and what information it (i) records and (ii) has on the number of accidents caused by this.

(S4W-15541)

Kenny MacAskill: Police Scotland is committed to influencing road user behaviour and making Scotland’s roads safer for everyone.

Driving behaviour which can be construed as increasing the risk of a collision is dealt with under the provisions of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Section 3 of this Act caters for offences of driving “without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place”. Police officers who either detect or respond to a report of a driver travelling at a slow speed will deal with each incident as they deem appropriate. This will involve reviewing the individual circumstances and may result in the reporting of the incident to the Procurator Fiscal.

Following the UK Government’s recent proposal to introduce a fixed penalty ticket for careless driving offences, Police Scotland is currently working with partners regarding its implementation in Scotland.

Whilst all detected offences of careless driving and injury collisions are recorded by Police Scotland, the information is held in such a way that it could only be extracted at disproportionate cost.

Network Rail is continuing to undertake detailed development on the Inverness to Aberdeen Rail Improvements Project to ensure that the scheme better reflects the priorities and timings detailed in the Scottish Government’s High Level Output Specification, published on 21 June 2012.

My officials in Transport Scotland are continuing to work closely with Network Rail on the detailed requirements and timescales for the project. A decision on which options to pursue cannot be made until detailed proposals have been submitted to Transport Scotland by Network Rail.

The 2012 High Level Output Specification states that phase two of the project will be delivered in Control Period 5 (2014-19). Due to the complexity of this project, detailed analysis must be undertaken to ensure that Ministers’ aspirations are achieved. Network Rail are expected to deliver a report on the options for phase two later this year.

The first phase of the Highland Main Line improvements has been completed delivering two extra trains each way per day from December 2011 and journey time improvements of up to 18 minutes from December 2012.

Over the last 18 months a Rural Parliament Steering Committee has undertaken an intensive programme of fact finding, consultation, engagement and discussion with support from the Scottish Government of under £40,000.

Outputs have included:

A Report on Rural Parliaments in Europe published in January 2012.

A Briefing paper on a Rural Parliament for Scotland published in May 2012.

A Rural Parliament Seminar involving 100 people from a wide range of rural sectors and interests held in May 2012.

A Rural Parliament Survey published in August 2012.

A Report on Identifying Next Steps for Scotland’s Rural Parliament published in August 2012.

A Stakeholder Workshop on a Rural Parliament for Scotland held in August 2012.

A Report on attendance at Swedish Rural Parliament by Scottish delegation in September 2012.

All outputs are available on the Scottish National Rural Network website:

https://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/en/rural-parliament

Ministers are currently considering a proposal for next steps from the Steering Group.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15064 on 03 June 2013. 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has no plans at present to carry out a further review of community eyecare services.

Free NHS eye examination: The NHS eye examination is tailored to meet the needs of the patient, taking into account their history and symptoms, allowing the patient to receive, free of charge, an appropriate health assessment of their whole visual system and allowing for early diagnosis of potential sight threatening disease.

For the year ending 31 March 2012, high street optometrists performed 1,913,565 free NHS eye examinations in Scotland (36.4 per cent of the population)

Optometrists can also directly refer patients to the hospital eye service; for the year ending 31 March 2012, 48,745 people were directly referred to a hospital eye service from an optometrist.

Diabetic retinopathy screening : Diabetic retinopathy is regarded as the leading cause of blindness in people of working age. It is therefore essential that retinopathy is detected and treated as early as possible.

The Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening (DRS) Programme offers retinopathy screening to all eligible people with diabetes in Scotland.

The DRS programme is widely regarded as a world class service and has robust processes in place to ensure that all people who are eligible for diabetic retinopathy screening are offered it on a regular basis.