- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 22 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the recommendation of Highlands and Islands Enterprise that a strategic transport authority for the Highlands and Islands, with a wide range of powers to plan, franchise and regulate transport in the area, be created.
Answer
The Scottish Office consultation on Regional Transport Partnerships elicited a variety of views on the need for a strategic transport authority for the Highlands and Islands. I am currently considering the responses on this and related issues and will make a statement later this year.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 22 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the suggestion made by Highlands and Islands Enterprise that the value of the element of Air Passenger Duty collected from internal Scottish island air services be returned to the Scottish islands who received those services to be spent on support of those air services.
Answer
Passengers on internal Scottish island air services are not subject to air passenger duty.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 18 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next meet with representatives of the North of Scotland Water Authority.
Answer
There are regular contacts, in person or by telephone, at both official and Ministerial levels.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government regarding the extension to small to medium businesses in Scotland which are not limited liability companies of benefits under the new enterprise management incentive scheme allowing tax relief on share options granted to key managers of small companies.
Answer
Enterprise Management Incentives will allow small higher risk companies to grant tax advantaged share options to up to ten key employees with the essential skills vital to the company's growth. The incentives will be based on the award of share options, and this means it will only be possible for enterprises with a share structure to take part.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 18 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what is the total cost to date of the Ossian Project and what is the cost of the report by Deloitte & Touche.
Answer
The total cost of the Ossian Project in the period to 31 March 2000 is estimated to be £5.1 million. The cost of the Deloitte & Touche consultancy study is £48,250 excluding VAT.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money is currently being spent in Scotland on research into prostate cancer.
Answer
The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Executive is not currently funding any research projects specifically on prostate cancer. However, in 1998-99, 20 cancer-related research projects with a total value of nearly £2.2M were being funded by CSO. Many of the findings of these projects will have a relevance to prostate cancer.
CSO also funds research indirectly which may have a relevance to prostate cancer. It is estimated that £4.7M of the general funding allocated to the NHS in Scotland for research was used in support of cancer studies.The main agency through which the UK Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC) which is estimated to spend some £15m per year directly on research into cancer.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 18 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive (a) what action it is taking to limit the risk of disease exposure from blood products factors VIII and IX produced from large donor pools of up to 20,000 donors and (b) what consideration it gave to the risk from the imported blood and blood products which use blood from the paid donor clinics in the United States.
Answer
The coagulation factor concentrates prepared by SNBTS use only plasma collected from healthy volunteer unpaid donors from three centres in the US and one in Germany. SNBTS and the Medicine Control Agency have rigorously audited these centres and volunteers must meet rigid health checks.
Each donation is tested for a wide range of markers of infectivity and any donation which tests positive is rejected. Samples of pooled donations, of approximately 5,000 donations, are further tested on arrival at the SNBTS Protein Fractionation Centre and any which test positive are discarded.The manufacturing processes used to make current batches of coagulation factor concentrates are all carefully designed to ensure that infective agents are eliminated.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 18 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next meet with representatives of the North of Scotland Water Authority.
Answer
There are regular contacts, in person or by telephone, at both official and Ministerial levels.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 August 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 17 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what legal expenses have been incurred by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in connection with the judicial review action raised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) over the Cairn Gorm Funicular Railway, what sum has been awarded by way of judicial expenses and what sums have so far been paid in this respect by the RSPB and the WWF.
Answer
This is an operational matter for Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I will ask the Chairman of that organisation to write to Mr Ewing.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 16 November 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order 1998 (SI 1998/46) to ensure that employment defined therein as "customary" is not excluded from protection.
Answer
Under the current Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order (No 46) 1998, hill shepherds are paid at a weekly rate for all hours worked on the "customary" duties related to tending sheep. This rate includes a notional allowance for overtime. Actual overtime is paid only when a hill shepherd undertakes additional duties unrelated to sheep.
From 1 January 2000, hill shepherds will be paid a basic rate for the first 39 hours worked each week and an overtime rate for any additional hours regardless of the nature of the work undertaken. The reference to "customary" duties will disappear from the new Wages Order, but hill shepherds will have the same level of protection of pay and conditions of service as all other agricultural workers.The Scottish Agricultural Wages Board is responsible for making Wages Orders.
