- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many court actions over child contact and residence took place in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003, stating what the total legal aid bill was for such cases and how the legal aid bill was distributed between (i) parents with and parents without residence and (ii) mothers and fathers.
Answer
In 2002 there were 1,138court actions for child contact and residence in the Sheriff Court.There were also 6,422 divorce actions some of which may have includedapplications for contact or residence. In the Court of Session there were 68“Family Actions” raised and six “Husband-Wife” cases which did not includedivorce but may have included applications for contact or residence.
In 2003 there were 989 courtactions for child contact and residence in the Sheriff Court. There were also6,126 divorce actions some of which may have included applications for contactor residence some of which may have included applications for contact orresidence. In the Court of Session there 66 “Family Actions” and 6“Husband/Wife”cases which did not include divorce but may have included applications forcontact or residence.
As many applications forchild contact and residence are integral to other court actions, such asdivorce, it is not possible to separately identify the legal aid costs of suchapplications.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 March 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1101 by Mr Andy Kerr on 3 July 2003, what the administrative cost of collecting non-domestic rates has been in 2003-04, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The following table provides budget estimates of total expenditure on collection of non-domestic rate income for each authority for 2003-04, and is the mostup-to-date information that we hold on local authority expenditure.
| Local Authority | £000’s |
| Aberdeen, City | 217 |
| Aberdeenshire | 185 |
| Angus | 150 |
| Argyll and Bute | 118 |
| Clackmannanshire | 75 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 333 |
| Dundee | 252 |
| East Ayrshire | 132 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 65 |
| East Lothian | 122 |
| East Renfrewshire | 97 |
| Edinburgh, City | 131 |
| Eilean Siar | 120 |
| Falkirk | 246 |
| Fife | 339 |
| Glasgow | 890 |
| Highland | 263 |
| Inverclyde | 86 |
| Midlothian | 182 |
| Moray | 110 |
| North Ayrshire | 89 |
| North Lanarkshire | 206 |
| Orkney | 18 |
| Perth and Kinross | 197 |
| Renfrewshire | 118 |
| Scottish Borders | 59 |
| Shetland | 112 |
| South Ayrshire | 133 |
| South Lanarkshire | 644 |
| Stirling | 169 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 169 |
| West Lothian | 110 |
| Scotland | 6,160 |
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 9 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it is spending in the current year on publicity and advertising to encourage the take-up of broadband and how much it expects to spend in the next two years.
Answer
The campaign to encouragethe take-up of broadband is a joint publicity initiative between ScottishEnterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Scottish Executive. In the current year, a total of £172,653.99 has been spent by the Executive on publicity and advertising for this campaign. This figure howeverdoes not include spend by Scottish Enterprise or HIE on publicity andadvertising related to this campaign.
It is not possible to give the Executive’s expenditure for the broadband campaign in any future years as levelsof Executive advertising spend have yet to be decided by ministers.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change the family income threshold for qualifying for the Educational Maintenance Allowance before the scheme is rolled out nationally in the academic year 2004-05.
Answer
Income thresholds will be expanded for national rollout of the EMA programme in academic year 2004-05.
Thresholds have been developed in line with Treasury and Inland Revenue advances in the Tax Credit system.
| | Minimum Income Threshold | Maximum Income Threshold |
| Original pilot figures (1999-2000) | £13,000 | £25,000 |
| Revised pilot figures 2003-04) | £15,000 | £30,000 |
| National rollout thresholds (2004-05) | £19,630 | £30,000 |
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 8 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage fathers, in cases of divorce or separation, to stay in contact with their children and to simplify the legal process and what the planned timescale is of its proposed bill on family law.
Answer
The Scottish Executive believes that both parents should continue to be involved in theirchild’s upbringing following separation or divorce, where this is practical andin the best interests of the child. The Children (Scotland)Act 1995 provides the court with sufficient powers to deal with the complexsituations that can arise when families are in transition and arrangements forresidence or contact may be disputed.
In our white paper Parentsand Children we proposed giving automatic parental responsibilities andrights to unmarried fathers who in the future register the birth of their childjointly with the mother. We will issue in the near future a furtherconsultation on our proposals for the reform of family law. We will bringforward a bill in due course and when Parliamentary time permits.
We realise that someparents, especially fathers, are not aware of the current law and how itaffects their parental rights. We will make sure that any changes that we maketo family law are made widely known so that parents are aware of their legalposition in relation to their children.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any non-financial incentives were offered to Hoover as part of the agreement to retain research and development and manufacturing at its Cambuslang plant.
Answer
The incentives offered to Hoover areas outlined in the answer to S2W-5032 on 12 February 2004 with the addition that South Lanarkshire Council has agreed to lookinto reviewing Hoover’s rates as a result of its reduced floorspace. Therewere no non-financial incentives offered to Hoover as part of the agreementto retain jobs at Cambuslang.
All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility forwhich can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on the Education Maintenance Allowance pilot schemes in (a) East Ayrshire, (b) Glasgow, (c) West Dunbartonshire and (d) Dundee in each of the financial years in which the schemes operated.
Answer
The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) pilot areas have spent as follows:
| Financial Year | 1999-2000 (£) | 2000-01 (£) | 2001-02 (£) | 2002-03 (£) | 2003-04 (£) |
| East Ayrshire | 892,479 | 1,316,653 | 1,161,000 | 1,140,500 | Not available |
| Dundee | nil | nil | 915,000 | 1,310,000 | Not available |
| Glasgow | nil | nil | 2,912,000 | 4,900,000 | Not available |
| West Dunbartonshire | nil | nil | 488,000 | 774,100 | Not available |
EMA budgeting followsfinancial not academic years.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 8 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5032 by Mr Jim Wallace on 12 February 2004, what the original terms were of Hoover's regional selective assistance offer of #1.7 million.
Answer
Hoover was offered a regional selective assistance grant of£1.7 million in October 1998. The project involved planned capital expenditureof over £5,195,000 and the planned safeguarding of 475 jobs which was lateramended to 361 safeguarded jobs. The £1.7 million has been paid in full withthe company actually spending £6 million on the project. The last instalment ofgrant was paid in February 2003 and the project was to remain in conditions untilFebruary 2005.
The answer to S2W-5032 on 12 February 2004provides the current position. 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/search_wa.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Duncan McNeil on 4 March 2004
To ask the Presiding Officer how many (a) MSPs and (b) staff have been issued with vouchers under the Parliament's childcare voucher scheme in each calendar year since the inception of the scheme and what the total cost was for each year.
Answer
The number of MSPs and staff that have been issued with vouchers under the Parliament’s childcare voucher scheme in each calendar year since the inception of the scheme and the total cost for each year is as follows:
| | Jan 02 to Dec 02 | Jan 03 to Dec 03 | Jan 04 to Feb 04 |
| MSPs | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| MSPs Staff | 24 | 29 | 22 |
| SPCB Staff | 46 | 48 | 35 |
| Total Cost (including. service charge of 6.85%) | £62,177.48 | £76,075.98 | £13,094.45 |
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 4 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport next plans to meet Scottish Opera and what issues will be discussed.
Answer
ScottishOpera has been asked to prepare a forward business plan, based on the availablebudget, for consideration by the Scottish Arts Council and the Executive. Iexpect to meet the Scottish Opera Board and Scottish Arts Council to discussthe plan after its submission.
