Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-32551

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support people who self-fund their care home costs in cases where there is a disparity between their fees and those paid by local authority-funded individuals receiving the same level of care.

The amount self funders pay for their care home costs is a matter between the individual and the care home provider. It is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to intervene in the contractual arrangements between self funding residents and independent care providers.

Care home rates for publicly funded residents are negotiated on an annual basis between the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and representatives of the independent care home sector as part of the National Care Home Contract. The Scottish Government is not involved in these negotiations. Current fee levels are based on a detailed study that was undertaken in 2004 to establish the cost of residential care and have been up-rated annually since then.

Question reference: S3W-32552

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the fairness of the care home costs system for people who self-fund.

Question reference: S3W-32553

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 April 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage care home providers to liaise with local authorities that will act as agents for people who self-fund their care home costs.

Question reference: S3W-32197

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been received regarding breaches of the Horse Identification (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

Local authorities have responsibility for enforcing the Horse Identification (Scotland) Regulations 2009 which were brought in to comply with European Commission Decision 504/208. Local authorities deal with breaches on a reactive basis.

Scottish Government does not hold a central record of complaints about breaches of the Regulation. Information received from local authorities to date indicates that only a very small number of complaints have been received.

Question reference: S3W-32196

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2010
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure compliance with the Horse Identification (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

Local authorities have responsibility for enforcing the Horse Identification (Scotland) Regulations 2009 which were brought in to comply with European Commission Decision 504/208. Local authorities deal with breaches on a reactive basis. If information regarding a possible breach of the legislation is received it will be investigated in accordance with the local authorities enforcement policy.

Breach of the Regulations is an offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine up to the statutory maximum or three months imprisonment, or both. On indictment the penalty is an unlimited fine or two years imprisonment, or both.

Question reference: S3W-30191

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 December 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on screening for varroa mites resistant to pyrethroid medication in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S3W-30192

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 December 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on services provided by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture in relation to varroa mites.

Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) provides a free diagnostic service to beekeepers to identify and confirm the presence of Varroa and notifiable bee pests and diseases as well as technical advice. The available figures cover the totals for SASA''s work in support of Bee Health:

2006	£12,183.00
2007	£8,659.34
2008	£4,459.00
2009 (up to end September 2009)	£19,481.65

Question reference: S3W-30185

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 December 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how often it has met representatives of the Bee Farmers’ Association since May 2007.

Scottish Government officials have met directly with representatives from the Bee Farmers'' Association formally on several occasions in relation to the Bee Health Strategy for Scotland and the EFB/AFB Disease outbreak. Contact and the sharing of information has also been kept up by correspondence. Officials have also attended meetings arranged by Defra to which representatives from the BFA have also been present.

General Stakeholder Meeting	5 March 2008
Bee Health Strategy Meetings	17 July 2008 2 April 2009
Disease Stakeholder Meetings	20 July 2009 5 August 2009 19 August 2009 11 September 2009 17 November 2009
Defra	26 November 2007

Scottish Government officials have also met BFA representatives through field visits, attending conferences and training events.

Question reference: S3W-30188

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 December 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding it will provide to the bee industry following the announcement by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 21 January 2009 that an additional £2.3 million would be allocated to the National Bee Unit.

The Scottish Government have, in 2009:

contributed £500,000 to a five-year insect pollinator research initiative

confirmed our commitment to the funding of four full-time equivalent Bee Inspectors who will be in post until spring 2011 (when the position will be reviewed)

continued our support of an apiculture specialist at SAC and the provision of a free diagnostic service to beekeepers to identify and confirm the presence of varroa and notifiable bee pests and diseases at SASA

funded, provided and distributed the antibiotic Oxytetracycline (OTC) to beefarmers affectect by the EFB outbreak and provided the training for them to ensure the safe use and administration of the OTC

are currently considering investing in the National Bee Unit''s electronic database (Beebase), which is able to provide services and information to both beekeepers and bee inspectors.

Question reference: S3W-30190

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 December 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, given that the bee strategy in England and Wales was launched in March 2009, for what reason its equivalent strategy has been delayed.

The publication of the strategy has been delayed due to the unprecedented events of two notifiable bee diseases being confirmed during the summer and autumn of 2009.

Scottish Government officials considered it prudent to take time to consider the valuable lessons that could be learned from this experience and incorporate them into the strategy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-30189 on 25 January 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

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