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This is a matter for NHS Fife. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

This is a matter for NHS Fife. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

This is a matter for NHS Fife. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The groundbreaking new GP contract for Scotland – jointly designed and agreed with the British Medical Association – will help ensure that GPs are able to spend more time with patients and less time on bureaucracy. It will help reduce doctors’ overall workload and make general practice an even more attractive career prospect by allowing GPs to focus on the patients who need them most.

We have recently announced the commitment to increasing the number of GPs by at least 800 over ten years to ensure a sustainable service that meets increasing demand on our services. Our strategy to recruit and retain our existing GPs will be set out in part 3 of the national health and social care workforce plan to be published this month.

This is a matter for NHS Fife. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The groundbreaking new GP contract for Scotland – jointly designed and agreed with the British Medical Association – will help ensure that GPs are able to spend more time with patients and less time on bureaucracy. It will help reduce doctors’ overall workload and make general practice an even more attractive career prospect by allowing GPs to focus on the patients who need them most.

Scottish Government has welcomed and will continue to welcome private sector proposals for film studio infrastructure in Scotland as part of its support for the screen sector. We continue to work with our partners Scottish Enterprise and Creative Scotland to assist those seeking to invest in Scotland’s film and television infrastructure in any appropriate way.

Representatives of Scottish Government, Creative Scotland and Scottish Enterprise, who form the Film Studio Delivery Group, met with representatives of PSL Land Ltd. and Pentland Studios on 17 May. The purpose of the meeting was to advance understanding of the Pentland project and of public sector support, and a presentation about the Pentland project was delivered. Both sides agreed to follow up on that meeting and discuss these matters further.

Creative Scotland is the public body which supports Scotland’s screen, arts and creative industries on behalf of the Scottish Government, along the ‘arms-length’ principle. The Screen Commission within Creative Scotland works directly with production companies and studios to promote locations in Scotland and support them in a variety of ways to bring productions to shoot in or base themselves in Scotland. Creative Scotland also attends events internationally to promote Scottish locations and facilities. I have made Creative Scotland aware of your question and you may contact them directly for an answer on discussions they have had about the promotion of film infrastructure or locations over the last year.

Additionally, I hosted a dinner with Creative Scotland, also attended by Scottish Government officials, on 20 April, with major US production executives who were on a familiarisation tour of Scotland, as part of a British Film Commission tour of the UK.

The Scottish Government is advised that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions intends to lay an order in the UK Parliament in advance of initial payments of Carer’s Allowance Supplement being made. This will ensure Carer’s Allowance Supplement is disregarded as income in reserved income-related benefits, including Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based), State Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance (income-related) and Housing Benefit.

Carer’s Allowance Supplement will already be disregarded in Universal Credit under current rules.

a) Representatives of Scottish Government, Creative Scotland and Scottish Enterprise who form the Film Studio Delivery Group, met with representatives of PSL Land Ltd. and Pentland Studios on 17 May. The purpose of the meeting was to advance understanding of the Pentland project and of public sector support and a presentation about the Pentland project was delivered. The Scottish Government is committed to helping the film and television industry seize new opportunities. This is why we have committed an additional £10 million for screen development, production and growth this year.

b) The information requested on behalf of Creative Scotland is not held centrally and is a matter for Creative Scotland to address directly. I have made Creative Scotland aware of your question and you may contact them directly for a response.

This information is published in successive editions of Scottish Transport Statistics , available at www.transport.gov.scot .

There is no appeal mechanism against unsuccessful applications for blue badges, except in rare cases where a badge is refused on grounds of fraud. No such cases have been handled in the last five years.

Instead, where applicants are concerned there may have been maladministration, they may use the local authority complaints procedure. Information about the number of such cases is not held centrally.

Where applicants disagree with the merits of an eligibility decision, they may request an internal review. An internal review is carried out by someone in a local authority not connected with the original decision.

The information we have on the number of internal reviews is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 59769).

The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 59769).