- 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 Stewart Stevenson on 19 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when the new cassette system for transporting livestock to and from the North Isles will be introduced.
Answer
I can confirm thatfurther development work on the new livestock containers continues and is beingtaken forward by NorthLink Ferries Ltd in conjunction with industry representativesand animal welfare authorities. NorthLink expects to have new prototypes availablefor testing and further consultationwith industry interests in time for this year’s autumn peak season, with new containersbeing phased in thereafter to be fully available by autumn 2008, in time for thatyear’s peak livestock season.
- 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 Stewart Stevenson on 19 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it remains committed to the arrangements in relation to freight and livestock transport to and from the North Isles and the mainland.
Answer
Under the terms of the public service contract for the provision of lifeline ferry services to andfrom the Northern Isles, which commenced on 6 July 2006, NorthLink Ferries Ltd is contractually obliged to carryfreight and livestock as part of the Approved Services in accordance with relevantcontractual terms. We have no plans to vary the Approved Services set out in thatcontract.
- 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 Stewart Stevenson on 19 June 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact of the introduction of the new cassette system for transporting livestock to and from the North Isles will be on the cost of such transport.
Answer
Freight and livestocktariffs are charged on the basis of the lane meterage used per journey and the agreementbetween Scottish ministers and NorthLink Ferries Ltd provides for annual index linkedincreases to those tariffs. The charge per head of livestock shipped will dependon how effectively the container space is used. As the new system will incorporateprovision for some “double decking”, average charges per head should fall, againassuming that container space is used effectively.
- 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 representations it has made to the (a) UK Government and (b) European Commission on designating islands as particularly fragile under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme.
Answer
I refer the member to the answerto question S3W-629 on 14 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- 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 whether it supports the designation of islands as particularly fragile under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme.
Answer
I refer the member to the answerto 3W-629 on 14 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- 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: 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: 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.
