- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether charging older people for personal care through compulsory sale of their home accords with Article 1 of The First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answer
Interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights legislation is a matter for the courts in the particular circumstances of each application.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9447 by Henry McLeish on 18 September 2000, with which organisations within the agricultural industry and which other interested parties it is in contact with regard to the strategy to assist the future viability and sustainability of Scottish farming.
Answer
The Executive has engaged in wide-ranging consultation and discussions with interested parties from all sectors of the agriculture industry in Scotland. These contacts have ranged from individual farmers and bodies representing farmers' interests, other parts of the food industry, including those involved in the marketing and processing stages, through to retailers and consumers. Additionally there has been contact with many bodies and organisations with environmental, other specialist rural and professional agricultural business interests.
The work has been taken forward in various ways: the publication in April 2000 of A Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture - A Discussion Document (over 3,000 paper copies distributed in addition to the text being available on our website); a major conference in June 2000 with over 170 attendees from over 70 organisations; over 80 public contributions in response to the Discussion Document (see Table 1 for a list of the contributors), and seven regional discussion meetings held throughout the summer months (see Table 2 for meeting locations). I also chair an Agriculture Strategy Steering Group (see Table 3 for the membership list) created to advise me on the development of the Agriculture Strategy.
Table 1: List of Public Contributors
| Aberdeenshire Council |
| Abernethy Trust |
| Angus Council |
| Argos Associates |
| Association of Deer Management Groups |
| The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland |
| Bidwells |
| Cairngorms Partnership |
| Central Scotland Countryside Trust |
| CoSLA |
| Council for Scottish Archaeology |
| The Crofters Commission |
| Dr R H M Hay on behalf of the crop scientists of the International Crop Science Congress |
| Deer Commission for Scotland |
| Dumfries and Galloway Council |
| Easter Weens Enterprises |
| European Rural Exchange (Scottish network) |
| Farm Stock (Scotland) Ltd |
| Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group - Scottish Borders |
| Forestry Commission |
| Formartine Partnership |
| The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Committee on Church and Nation |
| The Highland Council |
| Highlands & Islands Enterprise |
| The Law Society of Scotland |
| Macaulay Land Use Research Institute |
| Meat and Livestock Commission |
| Midlothian Council |
| Moray Council |
| National Farmers' Union of Scotland |
| National Farmers' Union of Scotland - Selkirk Branch |
| National Pig Association Scottish Campaign Group |
| National Pig Association Scottish Campaign Group |
| The National Trust for Scotland |
| North of Scotland Water Authority |
| Organic Farmers Scotland |
| Organic Scotland |
| Orkney Islands Council |
| The Paths for all Partnership |
| Perth & Kinross Council |
| The Ramblers Association |
| Renfrewshire Council |
| The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland |
| The Royal Society of Edinburgh |
| The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Scotland |
| Safeway Stores |
| Scottish Agricultural College |
| Scottish Borders Council |
| Scottish Borders Economic Development Forum |
| Scottish Consumer Council |
| Scottish Enterprise Network |
| Scottish Enterprise Grampian |
| Scottish Environment Protection Agency |
| Scottish Landowners' Federation |
| Scottish Natural Heritage |
| Scottish Organic Producers Association |
| Scottish Retail Consortium |
| Scottish Wildlife Trust |
| South Ayrshire Council |
| The Southern Uplands Partnership |
| Standards Committee of the Biodynamic Agricultural Association (Demeter) |
| Stirling Council |
| Tilhill Economic Forestry Ltd |
| The Vegan Organic Network (VON) |
| West Lothian Council |
| West of Scotland Water |
| The Woodland Trust Scotland |
| World Wildlife Fund Scotland |
| 16 Individuals |
Table 2: Meeting Locations
| St Boswells, Scottish Borders |
| Thurso, Caithness & Sutherland |
| Kirkwall, Orkney |
| Lerwick, Shetland |
| Turnberry, Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway |
| Inverurie, AberdeenshirePerth, Perth and Kinross |
Table 3: Agriculture Strategy Steering Group Membership List
| Jim Walker | President, National Farmers' Union of Scotland |
| Jonathan R Hall | Rural Policy Adviser, Scottish Landowners' Federation |
| Jim McFarlane | Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise Borders |
| Andrew Raven | Chairman, Deer Commission for Scotland |
| John Markland | Chairman, Scottish Natural Heritage |
| Neil Stoddart | President, Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers |
| Chris Gilbert-Wood | Technical Manager, Marks & Spencer |
| Neil Kilpatrick | Chairman, Quality Meat Scotland |
| Jim McLean | Agricultural Services Manager, Royal Bank of Scotland |
| Sandy Cumming | Acting Chief Executive, Highlands & Islands Enterprise |
| Graeme Millar | Chairman, Scottish Consumer Council |
| J Barclay Forrest OBE | Chairman, British Cereal Exports |
| Donald Maclennan | President, Scottish Crofters Union |
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 1 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7804 by Iain Gray on 26 September 2000, what the timetable is for (a) the submission of plans by local authorities outlining how they will use the additional monies and (b) the disbursement of the #10 million to help tackle delayed discharges and whether this #10 million allocation will be ring-fenced.
Answer
Each local authority was requested to submit its proposals for the additional monies by 15 September 2000. The letters indicated that, where local authorities could resolve problems of delayed discharge without using all the resources allocated, they could propose to deploy the balance to improve the level and extent of other services.
All authorities provided proposals which, after some adjustment, were considered satisfactory. Letters confirming this were sent to authorities on 5 October. They indicated that, in mid-January 2001, we will require confirmation that the respective proposals (or revised proposals) are being successfully acted upon. Following that, the monies will be disbursed later this financial year as part of the local authority's Revenue Support Grant.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 1 November 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8789 by Sarah Boyack on 28 September 2000, whether any environmental costs of transporting timber from Kielder through the Southern Borders by road as opposed to rail have been considered as part of the assessment of the value of transporting harvested timber by rail; what the reasons are for the inclusion or otherwise of such consideration in this assessment and whether it would commission a supplementary report to the Scott Wilson study if the price of timber was projected to rise.
Answer
The Borders Railway Feasibility Study states that the impact of the railway would be to make it environmentally more acceptable to extract the timber. However, the overriding conclusion of the report remains that under current market conditions a Border railway would be unlikely to improve the competitiveness of Border forests with other sources of timber.
Timber prices are at an historic low point in real terms because of a combination of events: the strong exchange rate, the impact of recycling, the impact of cheap imports from the Baltic countries and consequential effects of the downturn in the Asian economy.
The Scottish Executive has no plans to commission a supplementary study to the Scott Wilson study. Any study to explore further potential markets for the Kielder Forest is a matter for the timber industry.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 30 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9838 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 28 September 2000, whether it will make it a duty of the Minister for Children and Education to collect centrally information regarding swimming instruction for primary school pupils.
Answer
No.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 30 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent the public sector is affected by the proposed Climate Change Levy (CCL); whether it took the impact of the CCL into account when arriving at the recent local authority financial settlement and, if so, what criteria were applied.
Answer
The Climate Change Levy will apply to all public and private sector organisations. It is intended to encourage organisations to become more energy efficient. It would be counter-productive to meet the cost of the levy on local authorities. However, there will be an opportunity for CoSLA to discuss this as part of the local government finance settlement consultations if they wish.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 27 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9804 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 8 September 2000, whether the new data collection will enable it to identify the number of households in temporary accommodation which include people of pensionable age.
Answer
No, the new data collection system will not separately identify the number of households in temporary accommodation which include people of pensionable age.
However, information is available from the homelessness applications data collection which separately identifies single person households of pensionable age. This provides information on the number of households placed in temporary accommodation rather than the number in temporary accommodation at any one time.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 27 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-2328 by Mr Frank McAveety on 28 September 2000, who is being invited to join the group being convened to determine how the central heating initiative will be implemented; what issues the group will consider and what the timetable is for the group's work.
Answer
The members of the implementation group are drawn from the power companies and Transco, CoSLA, Eaga, Scottish Homes, the SFHA, Age Concern, Help the Aged, Energy Action Scotland, the Energy Saving Trust and the Solid Fuel Association. The group's remit is to advise the Scottish Executive on how best to implement the central heating initiative and it will consider a range of issues under that heading. The first meeting was held on 24 October and a second is planned. I cannot yet say when the work will be completed.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 October 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 17 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authority takes financial responsibility for the care provision for elderly people when they move from one local authority area in which they have been assessed to another where the care provision is provided and what the statutory basis for this is.
Answer
If a local authority decides, after an assessment of need, that a person requires care and they decide that the care should be provided in another local authority's area, they retain responsibility for the costs of that person's care. The person is regarded as "ordinarily resident" in their area. These arrangements only apply where the decision to provide the care outside their own area is taken by or agreed with the local authority who has assessed the person's need.
The statutory basis for these arrangements is founded on section 86(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. There is no definition of "ordinarily resident" in the Act, but it is subject to interpretation by the courts. Scottish Executive Circular SWSG1/96, a copy of which has been placed in SPICe, sets out guidance derived from relevant legal proceedings.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 12 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities are obliged to complete form SWSG 2/97 in terms of the Community Care Plans (Information) Directions.
Answer
The form referred to is at the Schedule to the Community Care Plans (Information) Directions 1997, which compares projected costs of residential care for older people in council homes and independent sector care homes. Local authorities are required to include the information from the form:
(a) in their Community Care Plans and
(b) annually at the council committee debating the community care budget.
