- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 17 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the standard of service provided under the central heating programme administered by Eaga Partnership Ltd.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is asfollows:
A tendering process iscurrently underway to appoint a managing agent to administer the central heatingand warm deal programmes on behalf of the Scottish Executive. To ensure animpartial process is maintained it would be inappropriate to comment publiclyon quality performance at this time. However, Communities Scotland continues toaddress customer service issues directly with Eaga.
As a result of experience gainedfrom issues identified during the first phase of the programme, obligations on thenew management agent in the new contract have been tightened to ensure enhancedlevels of customer satisfaction.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 12 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it audits the customer satisfaction of individuals in receipt of installations or renewals under its central heating programme.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is asfollows:
Eaga Partnership, which isthe managing agent contracted to deliver the Central Heating Programme on behalfof the Scottish Executive, is required to provide details of customersatisfaction in monthly reports submitted to Communities Scotland. In addition,Communities Scotland commissions independent inspections of installations.These include monitoring of customer satisfaction.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £500,000 committed to Auchterarder for a legacy project following the G8 summit at Gleneagles in summer 2005 could be made available to refurbish Aytoun Hall.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25202 on 10 May 2006. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government regarding it matching the Scottish Executive’s commitment of £500,000 to Auchterarder for a legacy project following the staging of the G8 summit at Gleneagles in summer 2005.
Answer
Community projects in Scotland arerightly the responsibility of the Scottish Executive. The Foreign and CommonwealthOffice (FCO) gifted memorabilia to Perth and Kinross Council but the main legacy of the G8 wasthe exposure that the area received on television and newspapers around the worldand the longer term economic benefit that we believe will result from that in theway of tourism and other economic activity in the council area. As such it wouldbe wholly inappropriate to expect the FCO to match the funding committed by theExecutive.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the commitment of £500,000 to Auchterarder for a legacy project following the G8 summit at Gleneagles in summer 2005 will be implemented through a grant or match funding.
Answer
The First Minister has committedup to a maximum of £500,000 towards the cost of the upgrading and refurbishmentof Aytoun Hall, subject to the council or the local community being able to raisethe remaining funding. The actual method of payment will be agreed once thecouncil advise on the funding proposals for the refurbishment
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 10 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the commitment of £500,000 to Auchterarder for a legacy project following the G8 summit at Gleneagles in summer 2005 will be for projects chosen by the Executive or by the community of Auchterarder.
Answer
The First Minister announcedin July 2006 that a commitment of up to a maximum of £500,000 will be used for thespecific purpose of upgrading and refurbishment of Aytoun Hall. This is subjectto Perth and Kinross Council and/or the local community being able to raise any remainingfunding required.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 4 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions for anti-depressant drugs have been issued for under-18-year-olds in the last 12 months, broken down by (a) Prozac and (b) other anti-depressants.
Answer
At present, the prescriptiondata collected centrally do not relate to the number or age of patients receivingtreatment. In order to provide patient-specific information, such as age, it willbe necessary to identify the patient. The standard health identifier for patientsin Scotland is the Community Health Index (CHI) number. Work is currentlyunderway in NHS National Services Scotland to capture patient information (includingage) from computer-generated prescriptions using the CHI number. The results ofthis work are expected to become available towards the end of this year.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 3 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24660 by Mr Tom McCabe on 19 April 2006, why the figures for total private sector employment are different from those referred to in the answers to questions S2W-9099 by Nicol Stephen on 29 July 2005 and S2W-17703 by Mr Jim Wallace on 30 June 2004 and, in light of this difference, which set of figures it considers gives the most accurate account of total private sector employment in each year from 2001 to 2004.
Answer
Private sector employment iscalculated as total employment minus public sector employment. The most accuratemeasure for public sector employment estimates are taken from the Quarterly PublicSector Employment in Scotland (QPSES) series. Data from the QPSES was used in the answer to question S2W-24660.
Data referred to in writtenquestion’s S2W-9099 and S2W-17703 were based on estimates of public and privatesector employment taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS was used forwritten question S2W-9099 as the QPSES did not exist at the time this writtenquestion was answered and was used for written question S2W-17703 as an industrybreakdown was requested which cannot be provided using the QPSES.
All answers to written questionsare available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 3 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many VisitScotland regional offices are in operation; where they are located; what areas they cover, and what their responsibilities are.
Answer
There are 14 VisitScotland networkoffices located throughout Scotland as shown in the following table:
| Network Office | Location | Local Authority Area |
| Aberdeen and Grampian | Aberdeen | Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Moray |
| Dumfries and Galloway | Dumfries | Dumfries and Galloway |
| Angus and Dundee | Dundee | City of Dundee; Angus |
| Edinburgh and Lothians | Edinburgh | City of Edinburgh; East Lothian; West Lothian; Midlothian |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley | Glasgow | City of Glasgow; East Dunbartonshire; Inverclyde; Renfrewshire; East Renfrewshire; North Lanarkshire; South Lanarkshire |
| Orkney | Kirkwall | Orkney |
| Shetland | Lerwick | Shetland |
| Fife | Markinch | Fife |
| Perth | Perth | Perth and Kinross |
| Ayrshire and Arran | Prestwick | East Ayrshire; North Ayrshire; South Ayrshire |
| Borders | Selkirk | Borders |
| Argyll, Loch Lomond, Forth Valley | Stirling | Argyll; Clackmannan; Falkirk; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire |
| Outer Hebrides | Stornoway | Western Isles |
| Highland | Strathpeffer | Highland |
This network of VisitScotlandoffices represents the organisation, in all the activities it provides, at a locallevel. These offices work towards achieving tourism objectives at that level, whileensuring that this work is linked to the vision and strategies for tourism at anational level. This is achieved through the development of strong partnershipswith local businesses, local authorities, and local enterprise companies. In addition,the 122 tourist information offices are managed by the VisitScotland network offices.
In addition, VisitScotland alsooperates a visitor centre and office in London, which provides an information and booking service foraccommodation and tours in Scotland. The London office also plays an important part in VisitScotland’smarketing, business tourism and public relations activities. It maintains closelinks with other public sector partners as well as being the main point of contactfor VisitBritain and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 27 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many area tourism partnerships are in operation; what areas they cover, and what their responsibilities are.
Answer
There are currently 17 Area TourismPartnerships in operation covering: Aberdeen and Grampian; Dundee and Angus; Fife; Orkney;Perthshire; Argyll, Stirling and the Trossachs; Western Isles; Edinburgh andLothians; Dumfries and Galloway; Ayrshire and Arran; Borders; Shetland; Highlands; Glasgow; Northand South Lanarkshire; Renfrewshire; and East Dunbartonshire.
The Area TourismPartnerships currently involve 250 individuals with approximately halfrepresenting tourism businesses and the remainder representing a cross sectionof the public sector. The Area Tourism Partnerships have responsibility for overseeingthe production and implementation of local Tourism Action Plans; interpretingand implementing the Tourism Framework for Change at a local level andreviewing local alignment on an on-going basis; acting as a lobbying body and “voice”for local tourism; and monitoring and reporting on performance of local tourismaction plans.
