Brian Adam

26 May 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has conducted into vehicular accidents involving deer.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Deer Commission for Scotland, which is funded by the Scottish Executive, has undertaken research into issues relating to wild deer welfare and public safety, which included deer related road accidents in Scotland. A summary of the research was published i…

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in respect of paying compensation to people who have contracted hepatitis C and similar diseases from treatment with contaminated blood products and what action it is taking to ensure that they have timeous access to their medical records in order to allow them …

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answers given to questions S2W-273 on 4 June 2003 and S2W-313 on 5 June 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:<P><A HREF="http://…

21 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reconsider its policy on the 24-hour car ban in respect of bus lanes on trunk routes in Aberdeen.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: There are no plans to alter the 24-hour bus lane restriction on the A90 trunk road in Aberdeen. However, the Scottish Executive will continue to liase with Aberdeen City Council when changes occur to their bus lane regulations.

14 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the owners of Aberdeen Airport and what discussions took place with regard to the airport's development.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive and its agencies meet BAA Scottish Airports Ltd on a regular basis to discuss a range of aviation matters, including developments at Aberdeen Airport.

14 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any applications for support from the route development fund to create new services from Aberdeen Airport.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Officials from the Executive and Scottish Enterprise, together with consultants appointed to support the Interim Route Development Fund, have discussed a number of possible routes from Aberdeen. Whilst none of these discussions has led to an agreement as yet,…

14 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether plans for another road crossing over the River Don in Aberdeen have implications for the Aberdeen western peripheral route.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is committed to building the Aberdeen western peripheral route, which includes a new crossing of the River Don. I am aware of the report prepared by Aberdeen City Council in April 2003, outlining possible options for a new local road cr…

14 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a national strategy for the delivery of drug detoxification, rehabilitation and throughcare and whether local provision of residential facilities forms part of that strategy.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The provision of treatment and rehabilitation services is a key component of the Scottish Executive's integrated strategy, <I>Tackling Drugs in Scotland</I>: <I>Action in Partnership</I>. The Executive has supported the development of drug treatment services …

14 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the police funding formula will be revised and a revised formula implemented

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: A review of the police funding formula is currently on-going and work on outstanding issues should be completed by March 2004. However, in response to the provisional conclusions of the review, a transitional adjustment was fed into the calculation of forces'…

14 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will review the Arbuthnot formula for NHS funding.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The formula is kept under review by the Standing Committee on Resource Allocation chaired by Sir John Arbuthnott. There are no plans at this stage to carry out a major review.

12 May 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review as a matter of urgency the support it gives to the Scottish Agricultural College and, in particular, its education programmes.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive regularly reviews its level of funding of the Scottish Agricultural College for the various publicly funded services it provides. On its education programme, the college's student numbers have fallen significantly in recent years and th…

3 Mar 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has about the impact on businesses of increases in public and product liability insurance costs and what representations it has made to the insurance industry and HM Treasury on this matter.

Answer · Iain Gray: Statutory requirements affecting liability insurance costs are a reserved matter and therefore responsibility rests with the UK Government. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including this.

26 Feb 2003 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when remedial works to the A95 trunk road following the autumn storms will be completed.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The major landslip and bridge failure at Auchlunkart, which closed the A95 between Mulben and Craigellachie, is expected to be repaired by mid-April.<P>Repairs to the other areas affected by the autumn storms will continue beyond this date. With the exception…

6 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure the maintenance of gravestones and to safeguard them as a source of historical and genealogical information.

Answer · Elaine Murray: I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:<P>Responsibility for the maintenance of gravestones lies with their owners. On the advice of Historic Scotland, significant graveyards and gravestones are …

6 Feb 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to request the service records of Scottish armed forces personnel from the Ministry of Defence archive at Hayes, Middlesex, for archiving in Scotland for the purposes of genealogical research and as part of its cultural strategy and what the reasons are for its po…

Answer · Jim Wallace: No. Service records are entirely a matter for the UK Government.

29 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any action has been taken against NHS boards that have failed to give timeous access to patients' records in cases of complaint or alleged negligence.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: In his recent letter to NHS board and Trusts Chief Executives about access to medical records the Chief Executive, NHSScotland, referred to my statement that the NHS must be as open and transparent as possible and indicated that:<P>the service should continue…

29 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage NHS boards to allow patients access to their own records.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Chief Executive, NHS Scotland, has written to the Chief Executives of all NHS trusts and boards to remind them of their obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 to make available medical records to patients.

21 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to fund improvements in quality associated with the new GP contracts and whether it will use a central fund for this purpose and, if so, what impact this will have on funding for other local health services.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The April 2002 framework for the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract stated that practices providing GMS will be able to increase their income if they achieve a series of quality standards. I am happy to confirm our commitment to this. <P>Negotiations…

21 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the review by the Standing Committee on Resource Allocation of the formula for the allocation of NHS board funding will be complete; what consultations it has carried out on this matter, and when it plans to implement any revised recommendations of the committee.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: I expect the Standing Committee on Resource Allocation (SCRA) to produce its conclusions by the summer of 2003. To date, no consultation has been carried out. The extent of any future consultation and the timing of the implementation of any revised recommenda…

20 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what weight it gives to cumulative effects of multiple proposals across local authority boundaries in consideration of planning applications for wind farms.

Answer · Des McNulty: It is for the decision-maker to decide how much weight should be attached to each material consideration in the context of individual proposals. When considering cumulative effect, account will need to be taken of the scale and location of other wind farms, r…

20 Jan 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider reviewing the practice of self-regulation in the legal profession.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Executive is at present considering recommendations made by the Justice 1 Committee in the report which it published on 27 November 2002 on its inquiry into the regulation of the legal profession. The committee recommended the continuation of self-regulat…

18 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in achieving the targets for (a) reducing drinking alcohol by young people, (b) binge drinking and (c) mortality from alcohol.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Young people's drinking is increasing. In the latest survey 23% of 13-year-olds and 46% of 15-year-olds reported that they had drunk alcohol in the previous week. This upward trend is very worrying and reducing harmful drinking by children and young people is…

18 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in delivering its alcohol strategy.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: Good progress is being made in delivering the <I>Plan for Action on alcohol problems</I>. Key Executive action to date includes:<P>Launch of a national communications strategy to target male and female binge drinkers.<P>Additional funding for local alcohol ac…

18 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the review by the independent committee on liquor licensing will be completed and when the report of the review will be published.

Answer · Hugh Henry: It is expected the review will be completed early in 2003. A decision on the timing of publication will be taken when ministers have seen the report.

12 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received information about any plans to roll out access to appropriate digital hearing aids throughout Northern Ireland and what plans it has to make similar provision.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: The Executive is aware of the recent announcement in Northern Ireland. <P>Digital hearing aids are already included within the wide range of hearing aids available on the central contracts arranged by Scottish Healthcare Supplies for the NHSScotland. The deci…

10 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been made available to the voluntary sector for training as a consequence of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 and the carers strategy.

Answer · Frank McAveety: In the period 2000-03 the Executive has provided £99,000 for training to organisations in the voluntary sector that specifically support carers. Over the same period we have also provided £500,000 to voluntary sector bodies to help implement the Carers Strate…

10 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will continue funding the carers strategy for carers' respite and support at the conclusion of the current three-year funding cycle.

Answer · Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-32152 on 16 December 2002. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: <A HREF="http://www.scottish.parliament.…

10 Dec 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the creation, location and opening dates for the proposed Intermediary Technology Institutes will be announced.

Answer · Iain Gray: The First Minister and I visited Dundee on 10 December to announce details of the launch of three Intermediary Technology Institutes. These institutes will operate in the fields of energy, life sciences and communications technology and digital media and will…

26 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will deploy to determine and enforce pollution prevention and control applications timeously.

Answer · Allan Wilson: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for implementing the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (PPC). SEPA is resourced to undertake these duties from grant-in-aid provided by the Scottish Executive, and fro…

26 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when and how the transitional Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations (Scotland) 2000 will be replaced.

Answer · Allan Wilson: There is no proposal to replace the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (PPC). However, the Executive has consulted on amendments to the PPC Regulations, including to the transitional timetable set out in the regulations for a number …

26 Nov 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish regulations to enforce Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The consultation paper <I>Safer Landfill</I>, published on 29 August, included draft Regulations to implement EC Directive 1999/31/EC on the Landfill of Waste. The consultation period ended on 22 November 2002. We are now considering responses and will shortl…