- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 23 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made, or will make, to Her Majesty's Government in relation to improving Scottish rail freight services and to the timetable for the implementation of its commitment to the establishment of Eurostar services from Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has concurrent responsibility with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions for rail freight grants in Scotland. The UK Minister for Transport and I announced on 13 September a £9.7 million Freight Facilities Grant award to TDG Nexus for works at Grangemouth.Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority has served a petition on the British Rail Board in respect of its plan of 1989 for regional Eurostar services.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 23 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of passengers resident in Scotland fly on package holidays from airports outwith Scotland.
Answer
In 1998, the latest year for which figures are available, the percentage of package holiday passengers resident in Scotland who flew from airports outwith Scotland was 29%.**Information derived from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) by the Office for National Statistics. The IPS is a sample survey and the results are, therefore, subject to sampling error.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 21 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to re-introduce free school milk to Scottish primary schools for pupils whose parents are in receipt of either income support or the working families tax credit and disabled persons credit.
Answer
Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, as amended, local authorities must provide free school milk, meals or other refreshments to all school children whose parents receive income support or the income based job seekers allowance.Local authorities are not obliged to provide free school milk etc to pupils whose parents receive financial assistance under the new Working Families Tax Credit and Disabled Persons Tax Credit schemes as both schemes already contain an element to cover the cost of school milk and meals.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 21 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to inform the Parliament's Committees about Executive announcements.
Answer
Committee members may be informed of forthcoming announcements, such as news events or consultation documents, at briefings to Committees by Ministers or Scottish Executive Officials. Committee Clerks may also be informed of announcements through their Committee Liaison contacts in the Scottish Executive.
Executive announcements in the form of consultation documents are made available to the Parliament's Document Supply Centre. All papers laid before Parliament, whether or not they will be subject to any Parliamentary proceedings, are listed in the Business Bulletin under Section H, and are also available through Document Supply.
Scottish Executive announcements in the form of press releases are available on the Scottish Executive web-site. The Parliamentary Information Centre (SPICe) currently takes press releases off the web-site and these are available from the reference centre in Parliamentary Headquarters.It has recently been agreed that SPICe will be included on the electronic press mailing list thereby speeding the transmission of announcements between the Scottish Executive, Parliament and Committees. It is our intention to continue to make improvements in informing Members as systems develop and in light of experience.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 15 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to encourage a greater number of tourist visits to Glasgow.
Answer
The Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board has recently announced that hotels in the City enjoyed a 10% increase in occupancy in the first five months of this year compared with the same period in 1998. The new strategy which we are preparing will contain actions designed to boost the performance of the industry across Scotland.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 15 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for the completion of the M77 and M74, the envisaged timescale, and how these plans will be funded.
Answer
The M77 (Fenwick to Malletsheugh) and the M74 Northern Extension are 2 of the 17 schemes under consideration in the Strategic Roads Review. I plan to report to Parliament on the Review shortly.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 15 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will provide to ensure that businesses are year 2000 compliant, given that the award of training grants to deal with this problem has now been terminated.
Answer
The primary responsibility for taking action to prepare for the millennium bug rests with the business community. However, the Government have taken action to help businesses respond quickly and effectively. £2.6 million of Government money was made available to provide companies in Scotland with suitable training to tackle the millennium bug. We are on course to train 3,000 people before the end of the year.
The availability of free courses was always limited, and the demand has been such that the allocation has now been used up in some areas. However, assistance and advice are still available from a number of sources, including Action 2000, Local Enterprise Companies and Local Support Centres.Although many Scottish companies are on course in their preparations, others have done little or nothing to prepare yet. They should urgently make use of the available resources to ensure their operations are Year 2000 compliant.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 August 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it will give to former World War Two prisoners of war residing in Scotland and claiming compensation from Her Majesty's Government for suffering endured whilst captives of the Japanese.
Answer
These are matters reserved to the UK Government. They are included in the Scottish Government's continuing liaison with the UK Government on all relevant matters.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 14 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government requesting that internet websites which encourage suicide be prohibited, given the increased incidence of suicide among young people in Scotland in recent years.
Answer
We have no plans to do so. A wide range of social, cultural, psychological, economic and other factors contribute to suicide rates, including accessibility to the means of suicide. The regulation of internet services is a reserved matter.
- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 August 1999
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 13 September 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure minimum nutritional standards for school meals.
Answer
Each education authority is responsible for the nutritional standards in the school meal service which they administer.The Scottish Diet Action Plan Eating for Health made a large number of recommendations and included nutritional guidelines for catering specifications for the public sector, targeted primarily at pre-school and school age children. The Scottish Executive has initiated discussions with Directors of Education and progress in this area is being monitored through inspections by HM Inspectors of Schools. We will be considering the need for any further action in the light of inspection reports.
