Mrs Margaret Ewing

10 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there have been of shop owners or managers for selling alcohol to a person under the legal age limit in each of the last five years, broken down by licensing board area.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The available information, which relates to offences by licensed persons, is given in the following table. Prosecutions of shop owners or managers cannot be identified separately within these statistics.</p><p>Number of licensed persons proceeded against for …

3 Mar 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assurances it can give that all applicants to tertiary education who have been educated in Scottish schools will have equal access to Scottish universities.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We expectall universities to admit students on merit, regardless of where they went toschool.</p>

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considered promoting Scotland as the leading region in the European Union, as part of its European strategy.

Answer · Andy Kerr: No. Scotlandworks closely with a number of leading regions across Europe.</p>

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for promoting Scotland "as one of the leading regions in the EU", as stated in the Scottish Executive's European Strategy, rather than as a nation state.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Under the Treatyestablishing the European Community, the United Kingdom is a member state of theEuropean Union. Scotland is not a member state. The Treaty does not refer tonation states; it does refer to regions.</p>

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have taken to implement the objectives of its European strategy.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Implementing the EuropeanStrategy is an on-going process on which I have already undertaken to report tothe European and External Relations Committee twice a year.</p>

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, what methodology it used to arrive at the conclusion that its European strategy is "ambitious and demanding".

Answer · Andy Kerr: The statement isself-explanatory.</p>

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership of the Ministerial Group on European Strategy is; how many times the group has met; what issues were discussed, and whether it has any plans to publish the minutes of such meetings.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The <i>ad hoc</i> Group of Ministers on European Strategy has now concluded its work and reported its recommendations to the Cabinet. The members were:</p><p>First Minister (chair);</p><p>Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise;</p><p>Minister for F…

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each success referred to in paragraph 2 of the introduction to the Scottish Executive's European Strategy.

Answer · Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to the question S2W-4000 on 24 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament…

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what methodology it used to arrive at the conclusion that "Scotland is now firmly established as a leading legislative region in Europe", as stated in Scottish Executive's European Strategy.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Scotland is a founding member of European Group of Regionswith Legislative Powers, the group of EU regions with legislative powers. TheFirst Minister is currently President of this group of powerful regions, whichview Scotland as a valued and influential part…

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, what methodology it used to arrive at the conclusion that "over three-quarters of the work of the Scottish Executive and Scottish Parliament is, to a greater or lesser extent, influenced by decisions taken in Brussels", as stated in Scottish Executive's European Strategy.

Answer · Andy Kerr: This figure is a broadestimate of the extent to which different policy groups in the Scottish Executive are influenced or affected by EU decisions. It was calculated byexamining the various devolved responsibilities of the Executive and Parliamentand determin…

17 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what legal basis it makes the statement that &#147;the European Union passes laws&#148;, as contained in the Scottish Executive's European Strategy.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The European Union makeslaws under Articles 249 to 256 of the Treaty establishing the EuropeanCommunity.</p>

14 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were prescribed (a) donepe'il, (b) rivastigmine, (c) galantamine and (d) memantine in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The data available centrallyare not patient-specific. Data collated centrally relate to the numbers andcost of prescribed items dispensed by community pharmacists and dispensingdoctors. These data are given in the following table for the calendar years 1998to…

13 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on Band B households should the Transitional Water and Waste Water Charges scheme end in March 2004.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive is currently assessingthe impact that ending the current Water and Sewerage Charges Reduction Scheme will havein light of harmonisation of charges. This includes looking at the impact onBand B households. A decision on whether any further action…

13 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual level of price rises for water and sewerage charges to household customers has been in each year since 1996, showing a comparison with the rate of inflation.

Answer · Allan Wilson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5059 on 13 January 2004.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/we…

13 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on transferring responsibility for the collection of water and sewerage charges to Scottish Water.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The responsibility for thecollection of water and sewerage charges falls to local authorities asspecified under the terms of The Water Services Charges (Billing andCollection) (Scotland) Order 2002. This order is due to expire on 31 March 2005. Apublic consul…

13 Jan 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will extend its current water and sewerage transitional scheme in scale, scope and time beyond March 2004.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Executive is assessingthe impact that ending the current Water and Sewerage Charges Reduction Scheme will havein light of the harmonisation of charges. A decision on whether any furtheraction is required will be made in light of this assessment.</p>

10 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what statutory regulations apply to the training of statutory organisations in respect of careful handling of people with mental illness and whether any specific information is given to police, teachers and GPs on this matter.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: No such regulationspresently apply to the training of statutory organisations.</p><p>To inform professionals whomay, from time to time, come into contact with people with mental disorder, in1999 the Executive issued good practice guidance for the police, GPs …

3 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the funding allocated to its cancer plan is from national lottery funding.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: None. New Opportunities Fund(NOF) complements and enhances funding available from other public and privatesources. NOF programmes support local, regional and national strategies andplans in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.</p>

3 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants who work in NHS hospitals are funded by charitable trusts.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is notcollected centrally.</p>

1 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have a specific post with the remit of assisting young people with autism to transfer from education to employment.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This is an operationalmatter for the local authorities. The information requested is not heldcentrally.</p>

1 Dec 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any specific funding allocation for local authorities to assist young people with autism to transfer smoothly from education to work-based opportunities.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: A small proportion of theLearning Disability Change Funds (£16 million) provided to local authorities toimplement <i>The same as you?</i> may be used in this way. However, informationprovided by local authorities to the Executive does not identify funding use…

13 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of how fuel poverty impacts on its target for providing warm, affordable housing.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: We will publish the annualreport for 2002-03 on the central heating programme and the warm deal which willdetail how much they improve the energy efficiency of dwellings in the new year.We have commissioned research into how the central heating programme impa…

12 Nov 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2447 by Ross Finnie on 19 September 2003, what progress has been made on the publication of regulations relating to tenancy arrangements following the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 and what facility the Parliament will have prior to the M…

Answer · Ross Finnie: The draft AgriculturalHoldings (Consequential Amendments) (Scotland) Order was laid before Parliament on 2 October 2003. Followingconsideration in accordance with the standard procedure for draft instrumentssubject to affirmative resolution, Parliament approv…

30 Oct 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications it is currently considering for the establishment of (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind farms, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: We are presently considering12 applications for onshore wind farms under section 36 of the Electricity Act1989. Three of these applications extend over more than one local authorityarea . There are no applications for offshore wind farms before the Executive …

30 Oct 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many turbines and blades have been produced in Scotland for Scottish and UK-based wind farms in each of the last five years and how these figures compare with exports of turbines and blades to other EU countries developing wind farms.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The information requested isnot held centrally.</p>

30 Oct 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into the possibility of job creation in connection with the development of alternative energy.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive, in partnership with Renewables UK, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands andIslands Enterprise, has commissioned a study of the current status of the UKrenewables industry and its future potential. Employment opportunities arisingfrom the …

30 Oct 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place in respect of applications to build wind farms; whether such measures include impact assessments on social and economic criteria, and how many jobs are currently involved in building wind farms.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The planning regime aims toensure that changes in land use occur in suitable locations and aresustainable. This principle equally underpins determinations on wind farms witha capacity up to 50 Megawatts, which are determined by the planning authorityin terms …

27 Oct 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to undertake any research into economic migration between the EU accession states and Scotland and what assessment has been made of the impact of such migration within an EU of 25 states on emigration and immigration figures for Scotland.

Answer · Jim Wallace: At the moment there are noplans to undertake such research. There is no data available on migration flowsbetween the EU accession states and Scotland.</p>

22 Oct 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking, and will take, to promote the fishing industry in Scotland.

Answer · Ross Finnie: TheDecember Council this year promises to be a difficult negotiation. However,given that there are some encouraging signs in relation to cod recovery, myobjective will be to assist fish processors and others by resisting closurewhile pressing on with the cod …

21 Oct 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what permanent arrangements it has established to ensure the identification, at the earliest possible opportunity, of the implications of proposed EU policies and which ministers are involved in such arrangements.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Executive has a varietyof different arrangements in place for identifying, tracking and analysing theimplications of EU initiatives throughout the EU policy process, depending onthe policy area involved and the likely impact of the proposed measure on the…