- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 3 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its proposals to the European Commission in relation to the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme take account of the issue of remoteness and, if not, whether it will amend the proposals accordingly.
Answer
The Scottish Executive's LFA Scheme is based on the classification of individual farms. That classification takes account of soil fertility, climate, topography, altitude and location. My priority is to secure early European Commission agreement to the scheme. But as the scheme's safety net declines, my intention is to refine the approach when various factors, including remoteness, can be reassessed.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 2 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought and obtained legal advice about whether it is required to honour the assurances given by Lord Sewel in a letter to Mr Jim Wallace MP on 18 February 1999 and, if so, whether it will place a copy of the advice in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
I refer Mr Ewing to the answer I gave to question S1W-3495 on 2 October 2000.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 December 1999
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 2 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers itself bound by an undertaking made by a Scottish Office Minister in February 1999.
Answer
I understand that the question refers to the Agricultural Business Improvement Scheme (ABIS) and a letter written by Lord Sewel on 18 February 1999.
This matter was the subject of proceedings before the Rural Affairs Committee on 3 December 1999. I said to the Committee at that meeting that, in looking at the effect of Lord Sewel's letter, it was necessary to take account of the letter to which he was responding, in the context of the explanatory leaflet that sets out the ABIS scheme's rules. I also said that my position was that, looked at on that basis, Lord Sewel's letter did not amount to a promise.
I remain of the view, taking account of all the advice I have received, that to interpret Lord Sewel's letter as amounting to an undertaking is to ignore the context in which it was made.It follows that I do not consider that Lord Sewel's letter amounts to a promise.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 2 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will be co-operating fully with the National Audit Office in the latter's consideration of the written undertakings given by Lord Sewel on 18 February 1999 that all applications under the original and revised Agricultural Business Improvement Scheme would be accommodated; whether it has sought or will seek from Lord Sewel an explanation for his decision; and whether his decision was the correct one.
Answer
I refer Mr Ewing to the answer I gave to question S1W-3495 on 2 October 2000.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 2 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive on what dates the Scottish Executive/Scottish Qualifications Authority liaison group has met since its inception and whether minutes of its meetings will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
Answer
During the lifetime of this Parliament, the Scottish Executive/Scottish Qualifications Liaison Group met on 10 November 1999, 8 February 2000 and 10 May 2000. The minutes of these meetings have been passed to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee and the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 15 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 29 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, further to its publication The Way Forward: Framework for Economic Development in Scotland, it will develop a structured plan for national partners on communications infrastructure to ensure that investments in the public and private sectors are complementary.
Answer
I refer Mr Ewing to the answer I gave in response to oral question S1O-2316 on 28 September.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 28 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by subject of the appeals expected in relation to this year's exam results.
Answer
This information is not yet available, but I will ask the Chairman of the Scottish Qualifications Authority to reply to the member when the figures are available.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 28 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Ministerial Statement by the Minister for Children and Education on 6 September 2000 and in particular his reference to contact with schools and colleges regarding the Scottish Qualifications Authority being behind schedule in collecting internal assessment data, on what date it was first made aware by any such school or college, and by which schools or colleges, of any difficulties in the collection of internal assessment data.
Answer
As I said in my statement of 6 September, I became aware in March of problems reported by schools and colleges with the electronic transfer of information to SQA. These problems related mainly to the transmission of course and unit entries for candidates. Difficulties with the Phoenix software used by some schools were reported in the Daily Mail on 9 March. At a meeting of the Higher Still Development Unit's education authority co-ordinators on 16 March there was discussion of the problems reported by schools and colleges using both the Phoenix and SEEMIS systems.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 28 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what remuneration is paid to those who mark appeals against exam results and what that remuneration is expressed as an hourly rate.
Answer
The payment of markers is an operational issue for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I have asked the Chairman to reply to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in SPICe.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2000
-
Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 28 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of the report commissioned by it from Deloitte & Touche referred to in the Ministerial Statement by the Minister for Children and Education on 6 September 2000 and what their agreed rate of remuneration is per hour.
Answer
The value of the contract awarded to Deloitte and Touche is in the region of £80,000. As usual, the contract is based on the outputs which will be delivered, not the number of hours to be worked.
