- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the (a) UK Government and (b) European Commission about the future of the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme.
Answer
Scottish Executive officialsare participating in discussions between UK Government and European Commissionofficials about future designation of Less Favoured Areas within the EuropeanUnion. In addition, the Scottish Executive has been discussing the interimScheme for the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme (LFASS) 2007-2009 with theEuropean Commission in the wider context of the Scotland Rural DevelopmentProgramme (SRDP) for 2007-2013.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to the designation of islands as particularly fragile under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme.
Answer
All Scottish Islands areclassified as “very fragile” under the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme,recognising the higher transport costs and degree of natural handicap.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 June 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 13 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the decision to retain full accident and emergency services at Monklands and Ayr hospitals will have on the (a) current and (b) future budget resources available to NHS Orkney.
Answer
None.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to raise awareness among oil industry brokers of the ship-to-ship oil transfer options available at Scapa Flow.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has norole in promoting operational activities of specific harbour authorities. That isa matter for the ports sector itself and for individual harbour authorities.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a review of the system of penalties applied to mistakes in applications for agricultural grants and subsidies, and of the associated appeal system, with a view to finding ways of making the system fairer and quicker for farmers and crofters.
Answer
We shall be having early discussionswith key stakeholders on general issues surrounding the implementation of the commonagricultural policy. We shall also be undertakinga review of the EU agricultural subsidies appeals procedure.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what contact (a) Scottish Enterprise, (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise, (c) Scottish Development International and (d) the Scottish Affairs Office in Washington DC have had with the North American Celtic Buyers Association in each of the last four years.
Answer
I am not aware of any contactbetween Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish DevelopmentInternational or the Scottish Affairs Office and the North American Celtic BuyersAssociation over the last four years.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider providing additional training and other support to Scottish companies looking to attract increased business from Russia.
Answer
Scottish Development International(SDI), the international arm of the Scottish Government’s economic development agency,has doubled its resources in the Russianmarket in the last 18 months. SDI continuesto look for ways in which to maintain and improve the already exceptional qualityof the service it provides.I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-211 on 4 June 2007, that gives a list of existing services on offer to Scottishcompanies from SDI in the Russian market. Allanswers 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/webapp/wa.search.In addition to these, the Enterprise Networks provide a wide range of products andservices to companies seeking to internationalise. This complements the SDI-ledmarket awareness raising work and guidance on offer through UK Trade and Investmentnetwork/website for companies considering doing business with Russia.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what support is currently being provided by (a) Scottish Enterprise, (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise and (c) Scottish Development International to Scotland’s craft industry.
Answer
This is an operational matterfor the Enterprise Networks and Scottish Development International and I have askedtheir chief executives to respond to you directly.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support a programme of visits by North American buyers to Scottish craft businesses to take place between the major craft shows in Glasgow and Dublin in January 2008.
Answer
Responsibility for internationaleconomic activity such as promoting Scotland as a place to do business in and with rests with ScottishDevelopment International (SDI). The craftindustry is not currently an SDI priority industry and SDI currently has no plansto support a programme of visits by North American buyers to Scottish craft businesses.We are not aware of any evidence of failure within the industry to attract overseasbuyers, though SDI would be happy to discuss with industry representatives how wecan best support the craft industry in the future.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional steps it considers might be taken to attract overseas buyers to Scottish craft trade shows.
Answer
Responsibility for internationaleconomic activity such as promoting Scotland as a place to do business in and with rests with ScottishDevelopment International (SDI). The craft industry is not currently an SDIpriority. We are happy to support priority companies but this may not translateinto directly supporting overseas buyers. SDI is not aware of any evidence of failurewithin the craft industry to attract buyers, though SDI would be happy to discusswith industry representatives how we can best support the craft industry in thefuture.
