Maureen Watt: Thank you, Presiding Officer, for allowing me time in this debate to get my first speech over at an early stage. As Stewart Stevenson did, I want in this debate to draw on my 14 years' experience as a prison visitor at Craiginches, where I have witnessed the human misery that is suffered by individuals as a result of drug misuse and involvement with drugs. Over the years, I have seen the...
Maureen Watt: Does the minister recognise that local action group areas under LEADER are somewhat large for a small country such as ours? The minimum population for an area is 10,000 and the maximum is 100,000. Is not that prescriptive? Are those thresholds based on EU figures for larger countries such as Germany, Denmark and England?
Maureen Watt: As Rob Gibson said, we broadly welcome the consultation document, "Rural Development Programme for Scotland 2007-2013", and the chance to debate the future of the land of Scotland and the part that it plays in our overall economic development. As with any plan, the devil will be in the detail and in the funding that is available. Much is said about the rural economy and the need to diversify...
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to reduce ambulance cover in rural towns and villages in Aberdeenshire and Moray and which communities will be affected by any such plans.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a strategy in place to target road safety campaign advertising on areas that suffer from high levels of fatal accidents.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of fatal and serious road accidents is taken into account when decisions are taken about whether to upgrade trunk roads.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive what the overall impact on local authority budgets, council tax levels and local services will be of implementing free personal care. (S2O-9761)
Maureen Watt: Does the minister agree that the figures of £145 for personal care and £65 for nursing care, which were introduced back in 2002, no longer cover the real costs that councils pay for those services? Wales now offers £107.63 for nursing care and Northern Ireland provides £100, but in Scotland the council tax payer is bearing the brunt of the cost of a policy that the Executive heralds as a...
Maureen Watt: Although the publication of the "Hidden Harm—Next Steps" report gives the Executive another opportunity to highlight the plight of children who are exposed to drugs, I hope that the many professionals who work with vulnerable children do not say, with an air of resignation, "Aye, another report—aims but nae action and nae meaningful money into the right places." I hope that the report is...
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive how many fatal accidents there have been on each trunk road in each year since 1999.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on upgrading each trunk road in each year since 1999.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on road safety improvements on each trunk road in each year since 1999.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on pedestrian safety improvements on each trunk road in each year since 1999.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on road safety campaign advertising in each year since 1999.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive what support or encouragement it has given to VisitScotland or other tourist bodies to promote Doric or Lallan Scots language tourism.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it has given to organisations to promote Doric or Lallan Scots in each year since the inception of the Parliament.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive what value eco-tourism contributes to the Scottish economy.
Maureen Watt: I welcome this debate not because I want to praise the Executive—which is what Richard Baker no doubt intends—but because I want to highlight some barriers that hinder the development of an integrated transport system in the north-east. I should point out that the Aberdeen crossrail project is only one strand of the work of NESTRANS. Given the focus of the public and media on the western...
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive what schemes are in place to assist new entrants to the agriculture sector.
Maureen Watt: To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-25540 by Mr Andy Kerr on 10 May 2006, what ambulance cover has been available in each town in Aberdeenshire and Moray in each year since 1999.