Adam Ingram: 13. To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable is for the transition from the individual patient treatment request system to the peer-approved clinical system. (S4O-02699)
Adam Ingram: I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer, but he will be aware that there are many anxious patients out there who have not had IPTRs approved. They feel that time might be running out for them to take advantage of the more patient-friendly climate that PACS promises. Can the cabinet secretary provide any reassurances for those patients?
Adam Ingram: I will endeavour to do that, Presiding Officer. I am pleased to wind up the debate, which has been constructive, on behalf of the committee. It is clear that there is, and has been, cross-party support for most of the committee’s findings and the recommendations that it made to the Scottish Government. There is obvious recognition of the valuable role that community transport plays in the...
Adam Ingram: Thank you, Presiding Officer. On the surface, that extension would appear to be a simple and natural solution to the problem. However, as the committee heard during the course of its evidence taking, the issue is significantly more complex than that. We have recommended that the Scottish Government come up with alternative appropriate means to address the inequities. I thank my colleagues for...
Adam Ingram: I, too, have a constituency interest in Prestwick airport. On behalf of my constituents, I very much welcome the Deputy First Minister’s action, which secures the airport’s short-term future. Will the Deputy First Minister say how confident we can be for the longer term and in relation to investment prospects? Will she give early consideration, perhaps in the development of the business...
Adam Ingram: What response has the minister had from the United Kingdom energy minister to his request that the coal authority levy of 17p per tonne of coal mined should be applied to restoration purposes? Unlike the Scottish Government, the UK Treasury has benefited from a significant income stream from opencast mining and should surely assume more financial responsibility for its clear-up.
Adam Ingram: The subject matter of the debate is of vital interest to the communities that I represent in East Ayrshire. The scale of coal operations in this area is very significant. In 2012, opencast coal production in East Ayrshire represented 15 per cent of the total coal production of the UK—that is including underground mining. For opencast mining alone, East Ayrshire produced more than 25 per...
Adam Ingram: Presiding Officer, I do not think that this specific matter is for the courts. It is unacceptable that East Ayrshire has been left with a notional bill of £161 million to restore former opencast sites to a state that was agreed at planning consent, but the total restoration bond coverage amounts to only something like £29 million. Clearly, we need alternative restoration plans that, as a...
Adam Ingram: I congratulate my colleague John Wilson on securing this debate on Oxfam’s report “Our Economy: Towards a new prosperity”. The subject is fundamental to understanding the current state of our economy and society and what we as policy makers need to do to create the sustainable and socially just Scotland that most of us seek. It is clear from the report that maintaining the status quo...
Adam Ingram: Will the First Minister mobilise Scottish Government support to its fullest extent to maintain the coaling operations of the Scottish Resources Group, which were reported this morning to be in severe financial difficulties? He will be aware that many hundreds of jobs and the economic wellbeing of communities in Cumnock and Doon Valley depend on those activities.
Adam Ingram: 7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support Carrick community councils forum in creating a lion of Alba sculpture and visitor centre at Turnberry, birthplace of Robert the Bruce, as a permanent legacy of the 2014 year of homecoming. (S4O-01805)
Adam Ingram: I thank the cabinet secretary for her positive response. I understand that much of the funding for Robert the Bruce-related events for the 2014 Bannockburn anniversary has focused on the Stirling area, for obvious reasons. Will she give an undertaking that the Scottish Government and its agencies, such as Creative Scotland and EventScotland, will engage with the significant efforts that...
Adam Ingram: 6. To ask the Scottish Government what its priorities are for sentencing policy. (S4O-01754)
Adam Ingram: Can the cabinet secretary tell me whether the sentencing council will review sentencing practices, which to ordinary citizens do not accord with the proposition that the punishment should fit the crime? For example, a recent spate of housebreakings in Girvan resulted in two perpetrators being caught, tried in Ayr sheriff court and sentenced to just six months and nine months respectively....
Adam Ingram: I thank the members whose support has allowed the debate to be brought to the chamber this evening. Although the Scottish coal industry is no longer the industrial behemoth of the past, it remains a significant contributor to the Scottish economy through surface mining activities. It supports around 1,500 direct, full-time jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs in the Scottish supply chain, and...
Adam Ingram: 6. To ask the Scottish Government how it is developing the ancestry theme for homecoming Scotland 2014 and how it is supporting cultural events that promote and celebrate Robert the Bruce connections. (S4O-01664)
Adam Ingram: Is the cabinet secretary aware of the work that the association of South Ayrshire community councils is progressing to develop a Robert the Bruce trail and to create events and activities that are based on the former Earl of Carrick’s extensive connections in the land of his birth? What support can the Scottish Government and its agencies offer to help to develop that programme for the 2014...
Adam Ingram: 4. To ask the Scottish Government what key issues were raised by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing at NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s annual board review meeting on 17 December 2012. (S4O-01621)
Adam Ingram: On the question of board governance and management accountability, how does the cabinet secretary propose to deal with the deficiencies and gaps that, from recent experience, are clearly evident in Ayrshire and Arran? The lack of accountability to the local public has long been evident—witness the board’s attempts to close Ayr hospital’s accident and emergency unit, at Labour’s...
Adam Ingram: It is fair to say that the Water Resources (Scotland) Bill is not the most controversial bill that the Parliament and its committees have considered. That is not to say that making the most of Scotland’s water resources, as the bill seeks to do, is not vital. Scotland is a lucky country when it comes to natural resources. We have a superabundance of fresh water. Indeed, I am told that the...
