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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

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

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Question reference: S2W-05977

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Frank McAveety on 26 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the book buying policy of Historic Scotland is and what emphasis Historic Scotland gives to books published in Scotland.

I have asked Graeme Munro,Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to reply. His response is as follows:-

Historic Scotland carriesa wide range of general interest and Scottish related publications, chosen fortheir appeal to its diverse visitor profile. Relevance to particular sites andto Scottish history and culture more generally is an important criterion and thereis thus a significant emphasis on books about Scotland, many of which arepublished in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-05948

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 26 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what annual costs were charged by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd for out-of-hours landings by air ambulances in each of the last three years.

The annual amounts for out-of-hours landings by air ambulances at the airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd are as follows:

	Actual 2000-01	Actual 2001-02	Actual 2002-03
Totals	£130,884	£132,527	£154,354

Question reference: S2W-05946

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 26 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the charging structure is in respect of each airport for which Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd is responsible and how much is charged for out-of-hours landings at each such airport.

Question reference: S2W-05937

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 26 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) authorised and (b) actual police officers there were in Lothian and Borders Police in each month since April 2000, broken down by rank.

The (then) Scottish Office ceased authorising police numbers in forces in 1996. Since then, the responsibility for decisions on the recruitment and deployment of police officers, and the number of officers within each force has been an operational matter for individual chief constables.

Police officer numbers by rank are collected annually at 31 March by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary. The available information for Lothian and Borders Police is shown in the following table:

Lothian and Borders PoliceStrength by Rank

Rank	31-03-00	31-03-01	31-03-02	31-03-03
Chief Constable	1	1	1	1
Assistant Chief Constable (including Deputy Chief Constable)	3	3	3	3
Superintendent (including Chief Superintendent)	35	30	32	33
Chief Inspector	36	46	44	45
Inspector	130	134	142	145
Sergeant	352	369	369	372
Constable	2,027	2,087	2,109	2,115
Total	2,584	2,670	2,700	2,714

Question reference: S2W-05949

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of supporting air ambulances in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board and expressed also on a per capita basis.

The figures requested are contained in the following tables:

NHS Board	1999-2000		2000-01
NHS Board	Total Cost (£)	Cost per Capita (£)	Total Cost (£)	Cost per Capita (£)
Argyll and Clyde	960,266	2.28	1,042,668	2.48
Ayrshire and Arran	176,883	0.48	135,791	0.37
Borders	21,747	0.20	38,308	0.36
Dumfries and Galloway	123,451	0.84	148,817	1.01
Fife	19,202	0.05	15,919	0.05
Forth Valley	46,509	0.17	15,546	0.06
Grampian	207,010	0.39	242,253	0.46
Greater Glasgow	56,715	0.07	111,844	0.13
Highland	846,616	4.05	1,381,859	6.61
Lanarkshire	49,412	0.09	43,486	0.08
Lothian	54,623	0.07	61,220	0.08
Orkney	430,761	22.38	412,943	21.46
Shetland	693,199	31.53	768,252	34.94
Tayside	40,182	0.10	30,195	0.08
Western Isles	807,559	30.47	841,009	31.73
Totals	4,534,135	0.90	5,290,110	1.05

NHS Board	2001-02		2002-03
NHS Board	Total Cost (£)	Cost per Capita (£)	Total Cost (£)	Cost per Capita (£)
Argyll and Clyde	1,100,957	2.62	1,142,502	2.72
Ayrshire and Arran	225,354	0.61	217,188	0.59
Borders	26,780	0.25	36,108	0.34
Dumfries and Galloway	103,177	0.70	109,734	0.74
Fife	23,913	0.07	10,520	0.03
Forth Valley	32,890	0.12	33,933	0.12
Grampian	311,661	0.59	371,633	0.71
Greater Glasgow	133,725	0.15	102,465	0.12
Highland	1,328,113	6.36	1,234,352	5.91
Lanarkshire	67,939	0.12	60,078	0.11
Lothian	90,833	0.12	124,274	0.16
Orkney	430,871	22.39	447,871	23.27
Shetland	900,980	40.98	845,250	38.44
Tayside	58,304	0.15	61,956	0.16
Western Isles	876,236	33.06	973,580	36.74
Totals	5,711,733	1.13	5,771,444	1.14

Question reference: S2W-04853

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 19 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated under the concessionary fares scheme (a) since the scheme's inception and (b) for each of the next two years, broken down by local authority area.

The funding for the current concessionary travel schemes is allocated to local authorities primarily by formula allocation. The information requested is set out in the following tables.

Funding for the partnership agreement commitments for a national free off-peak bus scheme for older people and people with disabilities, and for progressively introducing a scheme of national bus, rail and ferry concessionary travel for young people, initially for all in full time education and training, will be determined following the formal consultation process and the research and analysis which will be required to support the implementation of the commitments.

	£000 1996-97 Final	£000 1997-98 Final	£000 1998-1999 Final	£000 1999-2000 Final	£000 2000-01 Final
Aberdeen City	1,428	1,337	1,379	1,379	1,359
Aberdeenshire	1,314	1,235	1,293	1,310	1,305
Angus	826	777	801	799	790
Argyll and Bute	726	683	705	710	699
Clackmannanshire	882	292	303	308	306
Dumfries and Galloway	310	1,121	1,166	1,176	1,167
Dundee City	664	1,070	1,111	1,110	1,096
East Ayrshire	1,188	805	835	841	829
East Dunbartonshire	1,145	647	682	697	702
East Lothian	853	619	639	642	636
East Renfrewshire	674	537	561	569	568
Edinburgh, City of	659	2,903	2,982	2,969	2,922
Eilean Siar	234	216	222	221	219
Falkirk	564	892	926	932	927
Fife	3,109	2,285	2,373	2,389	2,367
Glasgow, City of	951	4,068	4,144	4,090	3,984
Highland	2,435	1,349	1,409	1,426	1,421
Inverclyde	4,405	591	604	601	588
Midlothian	1,426	468	488	495	492
Moray	637	557	578	582	579
North Ayrshire	495	880	916	924	922
North Lanarkshire	590	1,859	1,931	1,950	1,942
Orkney	933	131	136	137	136
Perth and Kinross	1,968	995	1,033	1,043	1,032
Renfrewshire	139	1,084	1,130	1,137	1,128
Scottish Borders	1,058	831	859	862	854
Shetland	1,151	125	128	128	125
South Ayrshire	132	858	892	897	889
South Lanarkshire	913	1,815	1,884	1,893	1,885
Stirling	1,929	529	552	556	551
West Dunbartonshire	560	618	635	632	620
West Lothian	747	707	740	749	747
Scotland	35,047	32,882	34,035	34,155	33,786

Note: figures for 1996-97are atypical due to the effects of local government reform in 1996.

	£000 2001-02 Final	£000 2002-03 Final	£000 2003-04 Final	£000 2004-05 Provisional	£000 2005-06 Provisional
Aberdeen City	1,379	2,303	3,830	3,937	4,068
Aberdeenshire	1,338	2,272	3,916	4,157	4,372
Angus	795	1,339	2,259	2,413	2,507
Argyll and Bute	714	1,199	2,025	2,119	2,199
Clackmannanshire	313	526	893	895	937
Dumfries and Galloway	1,193	2,010	3,406	3,553	3,718
Dundee City	1,105	1,839	3,045	3,106	3,180
East Ayrshire	840	1,414	2,385	2,433	2,531
East Dunbartonshire	727	1,241	2,125	2,178	2,292
East Lothian	647	1,085	1,821	1,923	2,004
East Renfrewshire	582	986	1,675	1,766	1,854
Edinburgh, City of	2,946	4,898	8,076	8,271	8,504
Eilean Siar	222	371	625	644	667
Falkirk	949	1,598	2,720	2,849	2,964
Fife	2,401	4,034	6,789	7,058	7,352
Glasgow, City of	3,940	6,466	10,557	10,799	10,953
Highland	1,453	2,459	4,202	4,422	4,643
Inverclyde	594	983	1,637	1,719	1,767
Midlothian	502	849	1,453	1,539	1,604
Moray	591	998	1,689	1,770	1,843
North Ayrshire	938	1,585	2,700	2,792	2,918
North Lanarkshire	1,995	3,363	5,708	5,748	5,994
Orkney	139	237	406	419	439
Perth and Kinross	1,054	1,774	2,970	3,085	3,213
Renfrewshire	1,147	1,929	3,265	3,370	3,499
Scottish Borders	868	1,455	2,439	2,486	2,598
Shetland	129	216	370	396	418
South Ayrshire	902	1,514	2,530	2,637	2,743
South Lanarkshire	1,920	3,226	5,496	5,841	6,071
Stirling	562	944	1,611	1,705	1,782
West Dunbartonshire	624	1,035	1,713	1,796	1,842
West Lothian	764	1,301	2,293	2,456	2,582
Scotland	34,271	57,449	96,627	100,284	104,060

In addition to the formula allocation, from the current financial year authorities may apply for additional funding under section 70 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 where they can demonstrate a shortfall in funding following the introduction of free local off-peak bus travel. Grant offers which have beenmade under this arrangement are as follows.

Authority	Grant Offer (£000)
Aberdeen City Council	1,157
Dundee City Council	1,147
City Of Edinburgh Council	842
Strathclyde Passenger Transport	9,820
West Lothian Council	271

Question reference: S2W-05924

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 19 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure the availability of good quality affordable housing in each local authority area for those on low incomes.

Question reference: S2W-05952

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 19 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive when a decision will be made on who will (a) own and (b) operate the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway and what organisations have been approached regarding ownership and operation of the railway.

Question reference: S2W-05981

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2004
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 19 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many chief constables, assistant chief constables and deputy chief constables who have been appointed since 1999 have had no previous experience of serving in the police force in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-05903

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 January 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 17 February 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure the availability of good quality affordable housing for public sector workers, broken down by local authority.

I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

Ministers have given a commitment to provide 18,000 new and improved homes for social rent and low cost home ownership in the three years up to 2006. This new housing will be available to meet the most pressing housing need, including that of public sector workers.

The principal mechanism for funding this new affordable housing is the Communities Scotland Development Programme. The table below shows the planned number of housing approvals in each local authority area in the current year.

Unit Approvals (2003-04)
Unitary Authority	Unit Approvals
Aberdeenshire	91
Angus	116
Argyll and Bute	119
City of Aberdeen	202
City of Dundee	221
City of Edinburgh	340
City of Glasgow	1702
Clackmannanshire	33
Dumfries & Galloway	146
East Ayrshire	43
East Dunbartonshire	10
East Lothian	25
East Renfrewshire	76
Falkirk	56
Fife	247
Highland	260
Inverclyde	179
Midlothian	14
Moray	104
North Ayrshire	77
North Lanarkshire	310
Orkney	61
Perth and Kinross	181
Renfrewshire	346
Shetland	49
South Ayrshire	81
South Lanarkshire	356
Stirling	111
The Scottish Borders	59
West Dunbartonshire	218
West Lothian	100
Western Isles	67
Total	6000