Kenny MacAskill

17 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any proposals to provide a minor injuries clinic in central Edinburgh following the relocation of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and whether there has been an increase in ambulance call-outs from the city centre following the relocation of the infirmary.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The planning and provisionof minor injuries services are operational matters for NHS boards, in this caseNHS Lothian. I understand that NHS Lothian is currently reviewing serviceoptions, including the provision of minor injuries clinics in locations acrossthe…

17 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what regulations exist in respect of the provision of late night chemists; what strategy exists to ensure that such facilities are accessible and central, and how many such chemists there are in the city of Edinburgh.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: NHS boards are required,under the terms of the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland)Regulations, to arrange that one or more community pharmacies in their area beopen “at all reasonable times”. The days and times of “out of hours” openingmust be specified …

17 Mar 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the costs of the Waverley Station upgrade will be met by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA).

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The SRAchairs the group planning the redevelopment of Waverley Station. Discussionsare on-going and decisions, including funding, will be announced in due course.</p>

16 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a building occupied by a GP practice, but not owned by the NHS, that required upgrading work would be eligible for the funding made available for building and upgrading GP premises.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: It is for each NHS board toprioritise the application of local revenue funds in accordance with its localproperty strategy, which should take into account the needs of all GP practicesin its area, irrespective of whether the premises are privately or publicly…

16 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any GP premises that require building work will not be eligible for funding announced in its press release SEHD635/2004 on 13 February 2004.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: It is for each NHS board toprioritise the application of local revenue funds in accordance with its localproperty strategy, which should take into account the needs of all GP practicesin its area.</p>

16 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been provided to NHS boards for primary medical services, as referred in its press release SEHD 635/2004 on 13 February 2004, and how many GP practices in each NHS board area will benefit, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of practices in each board a…

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The amount of funding allocated to NHS boards is highlighted in the following table.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>NHS Health </p> <p>Board</p> </td> <td> <p align=center>2004-5 Allocation</p> <p align=c…

16 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP practices there are and, of these, how many require work to be undertaken in order to be compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2004, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The number of General Medical Service practices, containing unrestricted principals and their equivalents in Personal Medical Service practices, are shown in the attached table.</p><p>It is for NHS boards to maintain plans for the development of GP premises t…

16 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will support GPs who occupy premises that cannot be brought up to standard to provide primary care and therefore require replacement.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Decisions about the locationof GP premises are devolved to local NHS boards. It is for them to developtheir own premises strategy to identify priorities for new builds anddevelopment of existing premises.</p><p>The allocations letterissued on 13 February 2004…

11 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5903 by Ms Margaret Curran on 13 February 2004, whether there are any specific initiatives aimed at providing good quality affordable housing for public sector workers.

Answer · Margaret Curran: The principal mechanism for funding affordable housing is the Communities Scotland Development Programme. It provides new and improved housing to replace or improve poor quality housing and seeks to help people on low incomes to rent social housing or buy a h…

9 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5903 by Margaret Curran on 17 February 2004, how many unit approvals are proposed for 2004-05 and 2005-06, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is asfollows:</p><p>I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-2344 on 24 March 2004.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on th…

9 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the City of Edinburgh Council's Integrated Transport Initiative will be funded through the #375 million investment in public transport improvements for Edinburgh, announced by the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning on 4 March 2003; what informatio…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: On 4 March 2003, the Executive announcedthe future availability of £375 million towards the completion of at least the northEdinburgh tramline and related public transport improvements in Edinburgh. Thatfunding is dependent on City of Edinburgh Council and T…

9 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what input it will have into the BBC Charter Review; whether its evidence to the review will be published, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Answer · Frank McAveety: Although broadcasting is areserved matter, the Scottish Executive has been invited by the Department of Culture, Mediaand Sport to be a member of the internal UK Government officials group whichwill be considering the responses to the current consultation on …

8 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what protocol is being developed to allow for interaction between it and the Director of OFCOM for Scotland and whether there are any plans for the Executive to have involvement in, and the Parliament to scrutinise, OFCOM's annual plan.

Answer · Frank McAveety: Broadcasting regulation isreserved. However, the Executive expects to have close working relationshipswith OFCOM, including with its office and Director in Scotland. Weare in discussion with OFCOM over our arrangements for engagement with the newregulator. Th…

8 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement it had in the recent appointment of a new Controller of BBC Scotland.

Answer · Frank McAveety: The Scottish Executive had no involvement in this internal BBC appointment.</p>

8 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what input it has had into the appointment of a Director of OFCOM for Scotland.

Answer · Frank McAveety: The recruitment of theDirector of OFCOM in Scotland is a matter for the regulator itself. Although OFCOMhas updated us with progress on this appointment, the Executive has no formalrole in the process.</p>

8 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult grass roots organisations involved in football, as well as the Scottish Football Association (SFA), in respect of the support and development of the game at grass roots level and, if so, what organisations it will consult and when they will be consulted.

Answer · Frank McAveety: The Executive has been fullyinvolved in the independent review of youth football commissioned by the SFA.The consultants’ approach to the review was consultative and inclusive andinvolved consultations, including a series of stakeholder workshops, withorganis…

8 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what transport infrastructure projects are scheduled to commence construction in each of the next seven years; what the estimated costs are of each such project, and what the estimated additional costs are of any delay in any such project.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-5044 on 27 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…

4 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to promote Scotland as a cruise liner destination; what steps are being taken to market theme cruises in particular; which organisations are responsible for each such promotion and marketing activity; what mechanisms are available to deliver such activities; what t…

Answer · Frank McAveety: Cruise Scotland wasformed in 2001 as marketing consortium, funded entirely by membership fees, topromote Scotland as a destination for cruise liners. With amembership consisting of a group of area tourist boards and ports, for whichcruise liner business is a …

4 Mar 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what costs it has incurred on parking fines in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive Staff Handbook makes it clear that staff incurring car parking fines for parking illegally whilst on official business will not be reimbursed from official funds.</p><p>However there are occasions when circumstances arise which are beyo…

26 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current relationship is between the music industry forum and New Music in Scotland.

Answer · Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-6449 on 9 March 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/webap…

26 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current priorities are of the music industry forum.

Answer · Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-6449 on 9 March 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/webap…

26 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the relationship is between its music industry forum and the Scottish Arts Council's Scottish Music Industry Forum.

Answer · Frank McAveety: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-6499 on 9 March 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/webap…

26 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current membership of the music industry forum is.

Answer · Frank McAveety: A phased study into a proposal to create an Association for the Professional Music Industry in Scotland is currently being carried out by the Scottish Arts Council. This association will become the voice of the industry in Scotland and will, amongst its other…

25 Feb 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to promote the availability of Scottish literature in Scotland's major bookshops.

Answer · Frank McAveety: the Scottish Arts Council, working closely with the Scottish PublishersAssociation, is supporting a range of initiatives designed to promote thecommercial success of Scottish literature. The Council’s <i>Review of ScottishPublishing in the 21^st Cen…

24 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5903 by Ms Margaret Curran on 17 February 2004, whether it will provide a breakdown of the nature of housing provided in each local authority area into (a) general needs housing, (b) special needs housing, (c) low cost housing and (d) any other ident…

Answer · Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:</p><p>The table shows the planned number of housing approvals set out in answer S2W-5903 on 17 February 2004 in each local authority area split by g…

9 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available to organisations such as Disablement Income Group Scotland who provide advice to individuals making benefit applications.

Answer · Mary Mulligan: The Scottish Executive provides grant funding to voluntary sector organisations through anumber of schemes. These are detailed in the Scottish Executive’s Guide forthe Voluntary Sector to Scottish Executive Grants 2003-04, which isavailable from Scottish Parl…

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding for after-school instruction in martial arts, such as kung fu and kickboxing, can be made available through the Active Schools strategy.

Answer · Frank McAveety: The aim of the ActiveSchools Programme is to increase the numbers and range of opportunities foryoung people to be more active in a variety of settings. It will be forindividual local authorities and schools working with the Active SchoolsCo-ordinators to det…

6 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has regarding the granting of rebates in respect of modes of transport other then buses, including aviation fuel for piston engines.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Taxation, including thelevel of duty applicable to transport, is a matter reserved to the UKGovernment. However, the Scottish Executive has general provision whichenables it to provide grants towards transport. Such grants are subject tospecific criteria as i…

5 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many chief constables, assistant chief constables and deputy chief constables who have been appointed since 1999 have had no previous experience of serving in the police force in Scotland.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: There have been 24 officersappointed to the ranks of chief constable, deputy chief constable and assistantchief constable in the Scottish Police Service since 1999. A number of these wereof officers who progressed from assistant chief constable to deputy chie…

4 Feb 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the book buying policy of Historic Scotland is and what emphasis Historic Scotland gives to books published in Scotland.

Answer · Frank McAveety: I have asked Graeme Munro,Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to reply. His response is as follows:-</p><p>Historic Scotland carriesa wide range of general interest and Scottish related publications, chosen fortheir appeal to its diverse visitor profile. Rel…