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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

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Question reference: S2W-07434

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deer Commission for Scotland has outlined to the Executive its reasons for not supporting deer fencing as an effective method of protecting trees; if not, whether this contributed to emergency measures to cull deer being taken, and whether the commission has acted upon advice in respect of appropriate practice in adopting certain types of fencing.

The DeerCommission for Scotland (DCS) have statedpublicly that fencing can be an effective tool for deer management and have supportedits use in a number of locations.

DCS is obliged under the Deer(Scotland) Act 1996 to take action if it is satisfied that there is a risk of seriousdamage to agriculture, woodland, the natural heritage or a risk to public safetyHowever, the act specifically prevents the DCS from requiring an owner or occupierto construct a deer fence.

Havingconsulted interested parties, DCS is currently working with ForestryCommission Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Executive Environmentand Rural Affairs Department to produce, a joint policy statement on deer fencing.

Question reference: S2W-07437

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 4 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all correspondence with the Holyrood Inquiry regarding the evidence of the First Minister to the inquiry will be published.

Question reference: S2W-07432

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has requested a report from the Deer Commission for Scotland in respect of the mass cull of deer in Glenfeshie; whether any such report will consider whether the commission acted properly and legally at all times and, if so, what independent opinion will be sought to inform such a report.

Ministers have requested a reporton the conduct of the recent culls in Glenfeshie and in particular the role of theDeer Commission for Scotland (DCS). It will cover issues of legality, public safety,deer welfare and food hygiene. The report will be prepared by officials externalto DCS, drawing on veterinary, food safety and other expert advice. Officials metwith Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) and DCS on 6 April to discuss the relevantissues.

Question reference: S2W-07433

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deer Commission for Scotland regard deer as vermin.

Question reference: S2W-07431

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 4 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that proper practices have been followed in respect of the mass cull of deer at Glenfeshie, and whether it will seek an independent opinion in respect of the commission's actions.

Question reference: S2W-07439

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Frank McAveety on 4 May 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any submissions to the consultation regarding the draft Work at Height Regulations conducted by the Health and Safety Executive; whether these regulations will have any adverse impact on the outdoor industry, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

We are aware of the concernsfelt by the outdoor and adventure activities sector about the implementation inthe UK of the EC Directive on Temporary Work at Height. At our request, the Healthand Safety Executive have been copying us into responses from Scotland to theirconsultation on the draft Regulations and, given the importance of this sector toScotland, we will be ready to take this matter up with the UK Government if implementationplans seem likely to be damaging to that sector.

Question reference: S2O-02149

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 April 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 29 April 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether there should be no reduction of services at the Belford Hospital, Fort William.

Question reference: S2W-07193

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 20 April 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11086 by Angus MacKay on 23 November 2000, whether it will (a) provide an up-to-date list of the public sector capital projects involving private finance (i) completed, (ii) planned and (iii) under way, giving both the start and estimated completion dates, (b) detail the total estimated capital investment included in the projects, (c) detail the annual public expenditure required to service these projects in both cash and real terms for each year of the life of the projects and (d) give the total lifetime cost of the projects, shown individually and by sector in both cash and real terms.

An up-to-date list of all currently active public private partnership projects known to the Executive is on the Financial Partnerships Unit website at www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp under the section projects. The information provided on projects includes stages of procurement, start and estimated completion dates and capital value.

The estimated annual expenditure to service these projects on a sector basis is shown in the tables below in both cash and real terms for each year of the life of the projects. Detailed information for individual projects is a matter for the public sector bodies concerned.

Existing Deals (Operational and Signed): Estimated Service Payments on a Sector Basis (£ million)

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Water and sewerage (cash)	112.4	115.1	117.8	120.3	123.0	125.5
Water and sewerage (real)	112.4	112.5	112.3	111.7	111.2	110.5
Further and Higher education (cash)	4.9	4.7	4.7	4.8	4.4	4.4
Further and Higher education (real)	4.9	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.0	3.9
Health (cash)	95.1	96.6	100.3	103.4	104.3	106.3
Health (real)	95.1	94.4	95.6	96.0	94.3	93.6
Justice (cash)	13.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.0	15.0
Justice (real)	13.0	13.7	13.3	13.0	12.7	13.2
National roads and transport (cash)	23.2	23.1	31.6	35.1	40.2	39.5
National roads and transport (real)	23.2	22.6	30.1	32.6	36.3	34.8
Social work (cash)	1.5	1.6	1.6	1.7	1.7	0.9
Social work (real)	1.5	1.6	1.5	1.6	1.5	0.8
Nationalised industries (cash)	1.6	1.8	2.0	2.1	2.2	2.2
Nationalised industries (real)	1.6	1.8	1.9	1.9	2.0	1.9
Local authorities (cash)	112.7	119.3	130.8	135.1	137.7	136.3
Local authorities (real)	112.7	116.6	124.7	125.4	124.5	120.0
Total (cash)	364.4	376.2	402.8	416.5	427.5	430.1
Total (real)	364.4	367.7	384.0	386.7	386.5	378.6

	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Water and sewerage (cash)	128.1	130.8	133.6	136.7	139.2	142.2
Water and sewerage (real)	109.8	109.2	108.6	108.2	107.3	106.7
Further and Higher education (cash)	4.3	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.0	3.9
Further and Higher education (real)	3.7	3.4	3.3	3.2	3.1	2.9
Health (cash)	107.8	110.2	112.9	115.5	117.4	116.7
Health (real)	92.4	92.0	91.8	91.4	90.5	87.6
Justice (cash)	15.0	16.0	16.0	17.0	17.0	18.0
Justice (real)	12.9	13.4	13.0	13.5	13.1	13.5
National roads and transport (cash)	39.5	40.8	41.5	43.4	43.4	50.0
National roads and transport (real)	33.9	34.1	33.7	34.3	33.4	37.5
Social work (cash)	1.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Social work (real)	0.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Nationalised industries (cash)	2.3	2.6	2.7	2.8	2.9	2.9
Nationalised industries (real)	2.0	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.2
Local authorities (cash)	138.1	140.8	142.9	144.9	143.3	145.3
Local authorities (real)	118.4	117.5	116.1	114.7	110.4	109.0
Total (cash)	436.3	445.3	453.7	464.4	467.2	479.0
Total (real)	373.9	371.7	368.7	367.5	360.0	359.4

	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Water and sewerage (cash)	145.2	148.3	151.9	155.5	158.4	161.7
Water and sewerage (real)	106.1	105.5	105.2	104.9	104.0	103.4
Further and Higher education (cash)	3.8	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.5	4.4
Further and Higher education (real)	2.8	2.6	2.6	2.4	2.3	2.8
Health (cash)	118.9	122.0	125.2	128.2	131.3	134.9
Health (real)	86.9	86.8	86.7	86.5	86.2	86.3
Justice (cash)	18.0	14.0	15.0	15.0	16.0	16.0
Justice (real)	13.2	10.0	10.4	10.1	10.5	10.2
National roads and transport (cash)	61.9	61.2	64.1	64.2	57.3	53.9
National roads and transport (real)	45.2	43.5	44.4	43.3	37.6	34.5
Social work (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Social work (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Nationalised industries (cash)	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.3	3.4	3.6
Nationalised industries (real)	2.2	2.2	2.1	2.2	2.2	2.3
Local authorities (cash)	147.4	149.5	151.7	154.1	156.4	159.4
Local authorities (real)	107.7	106.3	105.1	103.9	102.7	101.9
Total (cash)	498.2	501.8	514.7	523.9	526.3	533.9
Total (real)	364.0	357.0	356.5	353.3	345.6	341.4

	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27
Water and sewerage (cash)	151.7	155.6	159.0	162.3	158.8	134.7
Water and sewerage (real)	94.5	94.3	93.9	93.3	88.9	73.4
Further and Higher education (cash)	3.3	2.2	2.1	2.1	0.0	0.0
Further and Higher education (real)	2.1	1.3	1.2	1.2	0.0	0.0
Health (cash)	138.6	141.8	145.6	144.9	147.1	147.7
Health (real)	86.3	86.0	86.0	83.3	82.3	80.5
Justice (cash)	16.0	16.0	17.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Justice (real)	10.0	9.7	10.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
National roads and transport (cash)	52.5	34.9	26.9	29.6	30.0	20.7
National roads and transport (real)	32.7	21.2	15.9	17.0	16.8	11.3
Social work (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Social work (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Nationalised industries (cash)	3.7	3.9	4.4	0.0	0.0	0.0
Nationalised industries (real)	2.3	2.4	2.6	0.0	0.0	0.0
Local authorities (cash)	162.4	164.8	167.3	169.7	150.7	138.6
Local authorities (real)	101.1	99.9	98.8	97.5	84.3	75.5
Total (cash)	528.2	519.2	522.3	508.6	486.6	441.7
Total (real)	328.9	314.8	308.3	292.3	272.3	240.7

	2027-28	2028-29	2029-30	2030-31	2031-32	2032-33
Water and sewerage (cash)	123.1	124.8	82.9	49.0	37.8	26.8
Water and sewerage (real)	65.3	64.5	41.7	24.0	18.0	12.4
Further and Higher education (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Further and Higher education (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Health (cash)	77.0	78.8	36.4	34.4	4.4	3.8
Health (real)	40.9	40.7	18.3	16.9	2.1	1.8
Justice (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Justice (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
National roads and transport (cash)	26.1	20.3	20.5	21.3	19.8	21.5
National roads and transport (real)	13.9	10.5	10.3	10.4	9.4	10.0
Social work (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Social work (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Nationalised industries (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Nationalised industries (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Local authorities (cash)	108.1	96.2	87.2	15.3	15.6	15.8
Local authorities (real)	57.4	49.7	43.9	7.5	7.4	7.3
Total (cash)	334.3	320.1	227.0	120.0	77.6	67.9
Total (real)	177.4	165.4	114.2	58.8	37.0	31.5

	2033-34	2034-35	2035-36	2036-37	2037-38	2038-39
Water and sewerage (cash)	19.0	19.5	20.1	20.7	21.3	22.0
Water and sewerage (real)	8.6	8.6	8.6	8.6	8.7	8.7
Further and Higher education (cash)	3.3	2.2	2.1	2.1	0.0	0.0
Further and Higher education (real)	1.5	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.0	0.0
Health (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Health (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Justice (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Justice (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
National roads and transport (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
National roads and transport (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Social work (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Social work (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Nationalised industries (cash)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Nationalised industries (real)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Local authorities (cash)	16.2	14.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Local authorities (real)	7.3	6.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total (cash)	38.5	35.8	22.2	22.8	21.3	22.0
Total (real)	17.4	15.8	9.5	9.5	8.7	8.7

Notes:

1. Real prices to a base year of 2003-04.

2. From 2009-10 a GDP deflator of 2.7% has been assumed.

3. Data source March 2003 HMT return.

Question reference: S2W-07194

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 20 April 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total amount is of capital resources provided through all private finance initiative and public private partnership projects and what proportion this forms of the total capital resources available in the public sector in each financial year since 1999-2000, broken down by sector.

Question reference: S2W-07006

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 March 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 April 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the report, The Case for Rail in the Highlands and Islands, published by Highlands and Islands Enterprise on 16 March 2004 and, if so, how it will use the information in the report to increase investment in the rail infrastructure in the Highlands.