Adam Ingram: Will the member give way?
Adam Ingram: Will the member give way?
Adam Ingram: Will the member give way?
Adam Ingram: Is it not the case that both Lord James and Mr Raffan have served in another place? The question of bidding wars was raised in the report of the Trade and Industry Select Committee in December 1997. The committee concluded that claims about bidding wars were based on "a great deal of hype and exaggeration based on figures of questionable validity." Does Lord James agree with that conclusion?
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to protect council tax payers in East Ayrshire from additional costs incurred by the council as a result of housing benefit claims not being processed within the six week timescale required.
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures were agreed by East Ayrshire Council with the Accounts Commission, following their investigation into the financial management of the council in 1998, to ensure that housing benefit claims are processed within the statutory timescale and that no future penalties will be incurred, and whether these measures been followed.
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to ensure that employment opportunities in rural areas do not suffer as a result of transport restrictions on rural economic development as laid out in the national planning policy guidelines. (S1O-467)
Adam Ingram: I contradict the minister's answer. Could she clarify what measures are being taken to ensure that public transportation—particularly in the south of Scotland and in Moffat—is of a sufficient standard to ensure that jobs do not suffer? I ask that in the light of the Executive's decision against the building of a factory outlet centre at Hammerlands. It stated: "While the prospect of...
Adam Ingram: I have not made a request to speak, Sir David.
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what are the projected deficits or surpluses in housing revenue accounts and general service budgets for the current financial year in each of Scotland’s local authorities and what percentage of budgeted expenditure do these variances represent.
Adam Ingram: I would like to focus on the Executive's commitment to full employment in Scotland by 2020. I welcome the Executive's recognition that full employment in Scotland is an achievable objective. For the past 20 years, we have been lectured by unionist politicians of all shades that a reserve army of the unemployed was an inevitable consequence of post-industrial society. More recently, we have...
Adam Ingram: I will finish on this point. If those people were counted as unemployed, the real unemployment rate would be more than doubled. Some scepticism is called for when we consider claims that unemployment is being reduced because one statistic moves in a certain direction.
Adam Ingram: I welcome the opportunity to debate this extremely important issue in Parliament. I will use my time to draw attention to the needs of the valuable people who care for those with mental illness. I would like to make three points. First, I wish to flag up the difficulties that exist in identifying carers of the mentally ill. Secondly, I wish to highlight the different needs of carers of people...
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are currently in place in Scotland to distribute European LEADER funding.
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the specific areas into which the £10 million pledged to assist carers will be channelled. (S1O-903)
Adam Ingram: Will the minister acknowledge that the Executive's response to the needs of carers is wholly inadequate? Will he comment specifically on the plight of families and friends whose informal caring for mentally ill people saves the Government £280 million each year, according to Accounts Commission estimates?
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive how many people admitted to accident and emergency at Ayr Hospital and Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock: (a) had been admitted to either of these two hospitals at any point in the previous year, and (b) had been admitted with a complaint related to that for which they had previously received treatment from Ayrshire and Arran health board in the preceding year, in...
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what were the numbers of cancellations of planned admissions for in patient and day patient treatment due to: (a) unavailability of intensive care or high dependency beds; (b) unavailability of consultants, and (c) patients having a medical condition which prevents treatment being undertaken, in Ayrshire and Arran Health Boards over the past three years, broken...
Adam Ingram: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to ensure security of funding for local area tourist boards. (S1O-921)
Adam Ingram: Will the minister provide assistance to area tourist boards to bridge the funding gap that was created by the Executive's failure to have the applications system in place to access objective 2 funding from the EU in time for the new financial year? What assurances can he give the tourism industry in areas such as Dumfries and Galloway that were hit by the loss of objective 5b funding that the...
