Seòmar agus comataidhean

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 2793 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S2W-01480

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 7 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average council tax bill is for 2003-04 in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area, broken down by council tax band.

Council tax by band for each local authority, and the average for Scotland, is given in the following table. This is before the effect of any exemptions, disregarded adults, reductions for disabled band relief, discounts or council tax benefit.Council Tax by Band 2003-04

Council	Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D	Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H
Ratio to Band D	6/9	7/9	8/9	1	11/9	13/9	15/9	18/9
	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s	£'s
Scotland Average	672.78	784.92	897.05	1,009.18	1,233.44	1,457.70	1,681.96	2,018.35
Aberdeen City	680.04	793.38	906.72	1,020.06	1,246.74	1,473.42	1,700.10	2,040.12
Aberdeenshire	644.00	751.33	858.67	966.00	1,180.67	1,395.33	1,610.00	1,932.00
Angus	622.00	725.67	829.33	933.00	1,140.33	1,347.67	1,555.00	1,866.00
Argyll and Bute	689.33	804.22	919.11	1,034.00	1,263.78	1,493.56	1,723.33	2,068.00
Clackmannanshire	663.33	773.89	884.44	995.00	1,216.11	1,437.22	1,658.33	1,990.00
Dumfries and Galloway	620.67	724.11	827.56	931.00	1,137.89	1,344.78	1,551.67	1,862.00
Dundee City	726.00	847.00	968.00	1,089.00	1,331.00	1,573.00	1,815.00	2,178.00
East Ayrshire	676.20	788.90	901.60	1,014.30	1,239.70	1,465.10	1,690.50	2,028.60
East Dunbartonshire	644.24	751.61	858.99	966.36	1,181.11	1,395.85	1,610.60	1,932.72
East Lothian	662.10	772.45	882.80	993.15	1,213.85	1,434.55	1,655.25	1,986.30
East Renfrewshire	636.67	742.78	848.89	955.00	1,167.22	1,379.44	1,591.67	1,910.00
Edinburgh, City of	694.00	809.67	925.33	1,041.00	1,272.33	1,503.67	1,735.00	2,082.00
Eilean Siar	578.00	674.33	770.67	867.00	1,059.67	1,252.33	1,445.00	1,734.00
Falkirk	604.00	704.67	805.33	906.00	1,107.33	1,308.67	1,510.00	1,812.00
Fife	654.00	763.00	872.00	981.00	1,199.00	1,417.00	1,635.00	1,962.00
Glasgow City	775.33	904.56	1,033.78	1,163.00	1,421.44	1,679.89	1,938.33	2,326.00
Highland	659.33	769.22	879.11	989.00	1,208.78	1,428.56	1,648.33	1,978.00
Inverclyde	726.00	847.00	968.00	1,089.00	1,331.00	1,573.00	1,815.00	2,178.00
Midlothian	714.67	833.78	952.89	1,072.00	1,310.22	1,548.44	1,786.67	2,144.00
Moray	604.93	705.76	806.58	907.40	1,109.04	1,310.69	1,512.33	1,814.80
North Ayrshire	651.33	759.89	868.44	977.00	1,194.11	1,411.22	1,628.33	1,954.00
North Lanarkshire	648.00	756.00	864.00	972.00	1,188.00	1,404.00	1,620.00	1,944.00
Orkney Islands	600.00	700.00	800.00	900.00	1,100.00	1,300.00	1,500.00	1,800.00
Perth and Kinross	655.33	764.56	873.78	983.00	1,201.44	1,419.89	1,638.33	1,966.00
Renfrewshire	658.67	768.44	878.22	988.00	1,207.56	1,427.11	1,646.67	1,976.00
Scottish Borders	623.33	727.22	831.11	935.00	1,142.78	1,350.56	1,558.33	1,870.00
Shetland Islands	582.00	679.00	776.00	873.00	1,067.00	1,261.00	1,455.00	1,746.00
South Ayrshire	642.67	749.78	856.89	964.00	1,178.22	1,392.44	1,606.67	1,928.00
South Lanarkshire	647.33	755.22	863.11	971.00	1,186.78	1,402.56	1,618.33	1,942.00
Stirling	708.00	826.00	944.00	1,062.00	1,298.00	1,534.00	1,770.00	2,124.00
West Dunbartonshire	713.33	832.22	951.11	1,070.00	1,307.78	1,545.56	1,783.33	2,140.00
West Lothian	656.00	765.33	874.67	984.00	1,202.67	1,421.33	1,640.00	1,968.00

Note:Source: As reported by councils on the statistical return, Council Tax Assumptions 2003. Council Tax based on a household with 2 or more adults, excluding water and sewerage charge

Question reference: S2W-01464

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 7 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether BEAR Scotland has adequately performed its obligations in respect of the management of the millennium cycle route from Drumochter to Dalwhinnie; whether the trunk road maintenance contract provides adequate management of this route; what powers it has to direct BEAR Scotland to carry out additional work on the route, and whether it has used, or plans to use, any such powers.

The trunk road maintenance contracts specify the level of inspection and maintenance required to be undertaken by the operating companies in respect of cycleways. The Scottish Executive believes these requirements to be adequate having due regard to usage and value for money.The contracts require an annual detailed inspection to be carried out on cycleways, with defects recorded from those inspections forming the basis of prioritised planned programmes of work.The performance of all trunk road operators, including BEAR Scotland Ltd, is independently monitored against their contractual obligations by the performance audit group. BEAR Scotland Ltd has managed the Millennium Cycle Route between Drumochter and Dalwhinnie under the terms of the contract.The Scottish Executive has powers to instruct BEAR Scotland Ltd to carry out additional work on cycleways. The Executive has not used and has no plans to use these powers in relation to the cycle route.

Question reference: S2W-00919

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2003
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 1 August 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make public the minutes of its cabinet meetings during the first session of the Parliament and all background papers relating to the decision to relocate the headquarters of Scottish Natural Heritage from Edinburgh to Inverness; what the reasons are for its position on this matter; what powers it has, where there are matters of public interest, to publish documents that would normally be kept confidential, and under what circumstances it would use any such powers

The Executive is committed to the release of factual information that informs ministerial decisions. Accordingly, the Executive's refinement and analysis of the discounted costs of the various relocation options identified in the DTZ Pieda study was placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre on 20 March (Bib number 27058).All decisions on whether to publish documents are taken in line with the provisions of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information. The general approach under the code is that information will be released except in cases where disclosure would not be in the public interest. The proceedings of the Scottish cabinet are exempt from disclosure under Part 2 of the Code. This is in line with the longstanding principle that it is not in the public interest to disclose private deliberations of government as disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Question reference: S2W-01315

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 31 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer how many of the 456 design drawings supplied by Flour City in respect of the contract for the MSP block have been used without any alteration by the contractors subsequently appointed to carry out the works.

The design work undertaken by Flour City has provided an important basis upon which further design requirements have been built. I understand that a separate audit, to properly determine the extent of alterations which may have been made to the design work, cannot be carried out at this stage. Such an audit would divert much needed resources onto a non-productive task, to the detriment of the construction programme, with significant cost implications.

Question reference: S2W-01312

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre unpriced copies of any contract documents between the Parliament and Bovis Lend Lease in respect of the Holyrood building project that existed before the signing of the main contract document in October 1999, including documents relating to the appointment of Bovis Lend Lease in January 1999.

Question reference: S2W-01320

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the decision not to publish documentation in relation to the Holyrood building project on the grounds of commercial confidentiality will now be reviewed and whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will give precise details of the legal basis of the decision.

Question reference: S2W-01313

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Holyrood building project construction managers have, at any time since the recommendation of January 2001 that Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd be awarded the wall-cladding and windows contract in respect of the MSP block, passed to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), or any other representative of the Parliament, any information relating to the financial position of the Flour City Group or any individual companies in the group; if so, when the construction managers passed the information on, and whether the construction managers have provided any information to the SPCB in relation to the recovery by it of losses relating to Flour City.

Question reference: S2W-01318

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 30 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer, with regard to paragraph 19 of The 2001/02 Audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by the Auditor General for Scotland, what companies other than Flour City were assessed; what points each such company scored, and, if it is not possible to disclose the names of the companies, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will give the scores awarded to them.

Question reference: S2W-01454

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 23 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) invited the Auditor General for Scotland, in preparing his 2001-02 audit of the SPCB and, in particular, the consideration of the Flour City contract in respect of the Holyrood building project, to interview those companies and individuals that submitted tenders for the contract and those who were associated with the contract after it was awarded; whether the SPCB will make representations to the Holyrood inquiry being conducted by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie that these companies and individuals be interviewed, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter

Question reference: S2W-01316

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 23 July 2003

To ask the Presiding Officer, with regard to paragraph 16 of The 2001/02 Audit of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by the Auditor General for Scotland, what legal provision entitled the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) to withhold payment to Flour City in respect of the claims submitted for payment in July and August 2001; whether the SPCB would have been entitled to withhold payments in respect of the previous claims paid out between February and July 2001, and, if so, what the reasons were for not doing so.