Alex Salmond

19 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with the upgrade of the Aberdeen-Inverness mainline and what action it is taking to ensure that this takes account of the need to mitigate for flooding.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Network Rail is making good progress with rail enhancements on the line between Aberdeen and Inverness. The project remains on target for completion by March 2019, and within the spending cap. Network Rail appointed BAM Nuttall as the principal contractor fo…

13 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will seek discussions with the insurance industry to ensure that those people and businesses affected by flood damage receive any payments as soon as possible.

Answer · Aileen McLeod: I have the utmost sympathy for those who have been affected by the recent flooding, having seen for myself in my own constituency the devastation that flood water can wreak. The First Minister and Deputy First Minister have also visited flood affected areas, …

12 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to ensure that superfast broadband connectivity is available to all (a) residents and (b) businesses in Aberdeenshire East.

Answer · John Swinney: Our Digital Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme, backed by £410 million of public and private sector funding, is making fibre-based broadband available to 89.4% of premises across Aberdeenshire. Commercial provision alone would only have reached 25.1% of pre…

12 Jan 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of GPs being recruited in Aberdeenshire East to address the impact of GPs retiring, and what action it is taking to increase the number of medical graduates taking up these posts.

Answer · Shona Robison: Information regarding GP retirals is not published by Information Services Division Scotland or recorded by NHS boards in a standardised way. NHS Grampian is however actively assisting local GP practices to recruit qualified GPs to replace those who are retir…

23 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what economic benefits it expects the improvement works to the Aberdeen to Inverness main line will bring to the communities served by it.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of an effective transport network for economic growth in the north east of Scotland. That is why we are investing £170 million in the line between Aberdeen and Inverness which will deliver significant journey …

21 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what benefits it expects the completion of the 1.5 km section of the A96 at Inveramsay will bring to communities along the A96 corridor.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Inveramsay Bridge improvements will bring huge benefits to local communities through reduced congestion and improved journey time reliability by avoiding the existing bridge and enabling the free flow of traffic.

21 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the upgrading of the A96 at Inveramsay.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Construction of the A96 Inveramsay Bridge Improvements is well underway and completion remains on target for spring 2016.

10 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many active cases of recovery of maintenance from someone living abroad are being processed by its Central Authority and International Law Team.

Answer · Michael Matheson: 125 requests for recovery of maintenance abroad were sent from 2011 to 2014 and of these 79 are still being processed by foreign authorities.

10 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average resolution time is for cases of recovery of maintenance from someone living abroad, and how many cases have been resolved successfully since 2011.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Information on the average resolution time for cases of recovery of maintenance from someone living abroad is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The table below shows the number of cases transmitted to foreign authoriti…

10 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of recovery of maintenance from someone living abroad have been processed by its Central Authority and International Law Team since 2011.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The following table shows, for each year from 2011 to 2014, the number of requests for recovery of maintenance from someone living abroad submitted by the Central Authority and International Law Team to foreign authorities. Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 Tota…

10 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of recovery of maintenance from someone living abroad being processed by its Central Authority and International Law Team have taken longer than one year to resolve since 2011.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The following table shows the number of requests for recovery of maintenance from someone living abroad, for each year from 2011 to 2014, that are still being processed by foreign authorities. Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 Totals 7 11 17 28

2 Sep 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to (a) schools and (b) local authorities in North East Scotland to (i) promote the heritage and (ii) help secure the future of the Scots language.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Education Scotland currently provide Scots language CPD to teachers across Scotland, including in the North East. They have paired nine Scots ambassadors with schools in the North East area and have developed a suite of new Scots language resources for school…

6 Aug 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the plans to construct a new integrated health and social care hub for Inverurie, and what action it and NHS Grampian are taking to keep the community informed of progress.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS Grampian has recently provided an update to its board, at its 6 August meeting, on the £14 million inverurie health and care hub project. This paper is available on its website at this address: http://www.nhsgrampian.org/grampianfoi/files/item9infrastruc…

28 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to the NHS to mitigate any adverse impact on staffing and patient care in Scotland of the UK Government's changes to immigration rules.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not support the UK Government’s planned changes to immigration rules which could harm our NHS and have an adverse effect on staffing and patient care. We have already made representations to the UK Government about the changes pla…

22 Jul 2015 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is giving to communities in the north east to ensure that they have access to improved mobile network coverage and fibre broadband.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government’s Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme is investing over £410 million of public and private sector funds to extend the coverage of fibre broadband to 95% of Scottish premises by the end of 2017, with an interim milesto…

17 Apr 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12536 by Mr Jim Wallace on 30 January 2001, what the total staff complement is for each establishment in the Scottish Prison Service broken down into uniformed staff and ancillary staff and what actual numbers are in post in each category.

Answer · Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:<P>The table shows the position on 31 December 2000.<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=609><TR><TD WIDTH="20%" VALIGN="TOP" ROWSPAN=2…

16 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, under the Financial Instruments for Fisheries Guidance, funding assistance is available to equip new-built fishing vessels in terms of Article 9, Section 1, Subsection C of the Official Journal of the European Communities dated 30 December 1999.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: Council Regulation (EC) 2792/1999 sets out detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector, within which member states' FIFG programmes are considered and generally required to operate.<P>Article 9.1(c) of the…

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12300 by Mr Jim Wallace on 26 January 2001, when the Minister for Justice will reply to my letter dated 10 November 2000 regarding Mrs S Murdoch.

Answer · Jim Wallace: A reply was issued on 15 March 2001.

13 Mar 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Rural Development will reply to my letter dated 7 February 2001 regarding Mr A Will.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I replied to the Member on 21 March.

7 Mar 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in meeting the concerns of the Scottish fish catching and processing industry.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: I announced on 8 March a £27 million package of planned investment in the industry, including £25 million for a decommissioning scheme and £1 million to implement recommendations in the Scottish Fish Processors' Working Group report.

28 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive why this year's annual Scottish dental epidemiological survey has been cancelled.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The Scottish Dental Epidemiological Survey was not completed this year due to difficulties in the interpretation by some local authorities of the Data Protection Act. This has led to a potential decrease in the accuracy and quality of the data obtained from t…

28 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Health and Community Care will reply to my letter of 22 December 2000 regarding treatment of mesothelioma.

Answer · Susan Deacon: A reply to this letter was issued on 2 March 2001.

16 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it holds any information on how the amount of assistance received in each of the last seven years by (a) the fish processing sector and (b) the fish catching sector in each European Union country, including the UK as a whole, from (i) the European Union and (ii) national governmen…

Answer · Rhona Brankin: The Executive does not hold the full range of data suggested. Information is available relating to assistance paid from the share of EU structural funds for fisheries available to Scotland, and associated national public funding.

12 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the North Sea catches of industrial fishing boats were, by country and by tonnage, in each of the last five years and what progress is being made in limiting this activity.

Answer · Rhona Brankin: We have reached agreement with the Danes to examine the issue of industrial fishing with a view to reducing industrial species quotas and levels of by-catch.<P>The table shows landings of industrial species in the North Sea, in tonnes, by EU country. Figures …

5 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the (a) analogue hearing aids, (b) digitally controlled analogue hearing aids and (c) hearing aids with both digital audio processing and digital control systems provided by NHS Trusts in each of the last three years were provided to patients aged (i) 11 or under, (ii) …

Answer · Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13069.

5 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10021 by Susan Deacon on 5 October 2000, how many (a) analogue hearing aids, (b) digitally controlled analogue hearing aids and (c) hearing aids with both digital audio processing and digital control systems were provided by NHS Trusts in each of the…

Answer · Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally but can be obtained directly from Trusts who are responsible for keeping records of the equipment they issue to patients to meet their clinical needs.

31 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Rural Development will respond to my letter of 26 October 2000 on agri-money compensation for the cereal sector.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I replied to the member on 6 February.

24 Jan 2001 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils are still awaiting the results of examinations from the Scottish Qualifications Authority's 1999-2000 exam programme.

Answer · Jack McConnell: Every case of incomplete, inaccurate or missing results raised with the Scottish Qualifications Authority has been thoroughly investigated and a result issued to the candidate concerned. I have made clear to the SQA the importance of getting these candidates …

22 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects payments to be made under the 2000-01 Countryside Premium Scheme.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The introduction of a new IT system necessary to satisfy EU requirements has led to delays in the issuing of annual management payments. The first of these payments was issued on 4 December 2000 and payments continue to be made as claims are processed. There …

18 Jan 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the floating pontoon at Lerwick and a slipway at Stornoway have been exempted from regulations under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 concerning the use of Tributylin or Triphenyltin coatings and, if so, whether it will explain the reasons for any exemptions.

Answer · Sam Galbraith: The information requested is not held centrally. The authorisation of processes under the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1991 is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.