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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-10726

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 29 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in the fisheries section of the Environment and Rural Affairs Department in each of the last three years, broken down by responsibility.

The following tables show the number of permanent full time equivalent staff employed in the fisheries section of the Environment and Rural Affairs Department in each of the last three years, broken down by pay band and area of responsibility.

Table A

Permanent Staff by Band as at 1 April 2002

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Fisheries Group	52.4	13.0	27.4	9.0	3.0
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Freshwater	19.9	3.5	11.4	4.0	1.0
Sea Fisheries	30.5	8.5	16.0	5.0	1.0

Table B

Permanent staff by band as at 1 April 2003

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Fisheries Group	50.8	13.5	26.3	8.0	3.0
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Freshwater	22.3	5.0	12.3	4.0	1.0
Sea Fisheries	26.5	7.5	14.0	4.0	1.0

Table C

Permanent Staff by Band as at 1 April 2004

	All Staff	Band A	Band B	Band C	Senior Civil Service
Total Fisheries Group	55.1	15.0	28.1	10.0	2.0
Head of Group and PS	2.0	1.0	0	0	1.0
Freshwater	21.6	5.5	11.1	5.0	0
Sea Fisheries	31.5	8.5	17.0	5.0	1.0

Question reference: S2W-10723

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 29 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget for its Environment and Rural Affairs Department was in each of the last five years, broken down by issue and detailing year on year percentage increases and decreases.

The period 1999-2000 to 2003-04 covers the transition between cash and resource budgeting and accounting which makes it difficult to compare expenditure data on a like for like basis. However, by excluding non-cash items such as cost of capital and capital depreciation, it is possible to present figures in a comparable way so as to demonstrate trends in expenditure.

To allow such a comparison, it is necessary also to exclude any exceptional items of spending. The Table below sets out details of spending by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department on this basis and notes the year on year percentage changes for each of the Department’s Level 2 groups of spending.

£ Million

	Outturn	Outturn	Outturn	Outturn	Plans
1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Cap Market Support	335	341 (+2%)	330 (-3%)	353 (+7%)	397 (+13%)
Rural Development	87	80 (-8%)	106 (+32%)	120 (+13%)	141 (+18%)
Agricultural, Biological Science and Others	83	84 (+2%)	88 (+5%)	93 (+5%)	119 (+28%)
Fisheries	33	32 (-4%)	35 (+11%)	41 (+15%)	48 (+17%)
Natural Heritage	39	41 (+6%)	53 (+28%)	55 (+4%)	65 (+18%)
Environmental Protection	19	21 (+9%)	27 (+32%)	44 (+62%)	86 (+95%)
Research and Sustainable Action	2	2	3 (+50%)	5 (+71%)	7 (+38%)
Water Services	216	209 (-3%)	211 (+1%)	182 (-14%)	181 (-1%)
Total SEERAD	814	809 (-1%)	854 (+6%)	892 (+4%)	1,044 (+17%)

Notes:

1. Provision for CAP Market Support spending is agreed annually with theUK Treasury and is outside the Scottish Block.

2. Numbers shown for fisheries expenditure exclude the exceptional provision made for Decommissioning and Transitional Aid Schemes.

3. Figures for Natural Heritage spending in 2003-04 exclude exceptional provision for transfer of Pensions liabilities.

Question reference: S2W-10728

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 29 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what 10 factors contribute most to CO2 emissions in Scotland, listed in descending order.

Question reference: S2W-10734

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 29 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) household, (b) commercial and (c) total waste was recycled by each local authority in each of the last three years.

Figures available from the Accounts Commission are:

Authority	Household Waste Recycled (%)	Commercial and Industrial Waste Recycled (%)	Total Waste Recycled (%)
2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03
Aberdeen City	3.6	5.8	8.2	9.5	5.0	4.8	4.6	5.7	7.5
Aberdeenshire	16.4	21.0	13.8	1.2	1.5	8.1	13.3	17.0	13.0
Angus	14.7	18.5	23.1	14.8	27.2	29.4	14.8	20.2	24.3
Argyll and Bute	11.5	8.9	8.9	4.7	5.0	10.5	8.9	7.7	9.1
Clackmannanshire	4.4	4.6	6.6	0.0	0.0	6.0	4.2	4.4	6.6
Dumfries and Galloway	4.0		4.1	0.0		0.0	3.5		3.6
Dundee City	7.4	24.4	24.1	4.2	14.8	17.3	6.3	21.1	21.9
East Ayrshire	2.3	2.5	3.8	14.8	15.5	14.8	3.7	4.0	5.0
East Dunbartonshire	6.0	7.8	10.5	0.0	6.4	9.7	5.3	7.6	10.4
East Lothian	6.2	6.5	12.9	0.0	0.0	3.0	5.3	5.6	11.6
East Renfrewshire	8.2	13.1	15.3	3.4	3.3	3.9	7.8	12.2	14.5
Edinburgh, City of	5.5	5.2	8.4	0.0	3.8	5.0	4.3	4.9	7.7
Eilean Siar	0.0	1.0	7.1	0.7	2.6	0.8	0.4	1.9	5.0
Falkirk	7.6	7.3	10.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	6.0	5.6	6.8
Fife	2.2	2.0	5.0	3.4	3.2	6.0	2.4	2.2	5.2
Glasgow City	3.3	4.7	6.2		5.1	6.4		4.8	6.2
Highland	2.0	2.0	4.4	2.3	1.9	1.5	2.1	1.9	3.5
Inverclyde	3.8	4.8	5.6	0.0	0.0	6.4	3.1	4.0	5.8
Midlothian	3.3	4.0	4.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.1	3.8	4.1
Moray	3.5	5.2	9.6	6.2	8.6	15.7	4.6	6.6	12.2
North Ayrshire	8.0	6.6	13.9	0.0	0.0	1.0	6.9	5.8	12.3
North Lanarkshire	1.3	5.7	13.5	0.0	14.4	15.7	1.1	7.3	13.8
Orkney Islands	16.0	20.6	16.0	0.1	6.1	6.6	13.4	16.0	13.3
Perth and Kinross	17.9	18.6	18.6	9.6	2.6	13.5	16.4	15.8	17.7
Renfrewshire	4.7	5.6	9.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.9	5.0	8.4
Scottish Borders	15.2	18.7	13.8	2.1	2.5	1.0	11.4	13.6	9.7
Shetland Islands	11.0	10.3	5.6	17.5	10.3	5.5	12.0	10.3	5.6
South Ayrshire	6.4	5.9	6.9	5.2	2.8	17.4	6.0	5.1	10.7
South Lanarkshire	6.6	12.1	12.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	5.5	11.1	12.4
Stirling	8.0	10.1	11.6	7.3	5.1	7.2	7.8	8.4	10.2
West Dunbartonshire	9.0	9.8	10.2	0.7	0.9	1.9	5.3	6.1	6.6
West Lothian	3.4	6.1	10.1	5.8	4.5	7.3	3.9	5.7	9.8

The percentages are based on the tonnages of waste that are recycled or composted. Ash used for daily top cover at landfill sites is excluded. All figures for 2001-02 for Dumfries and Galloway and the commercial and industrial and total waste figures for Glasgow for 2000-01 have been excluded as the figures supplied to the Accounts Commission are considered unreliable.

Question reference: S2W-10721

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 29 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of expenditure by research institutions was on the development of clean technologies in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S2W-10724

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2004
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 29 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement it will have in next year's G8 Summit.

The G8 Summit will be held at Gleneagles from 6 to 8 July next year. The decision to hold the event in Scotland was made by the Prime Minister and is warmly welcomed by the Scottish Executive.

The summit is a tremendous opportunity for Scotland to demonstrate its excellent facilities and infrastructure and to promote itself as a world-class destination for tourism, business and study as well as an attractive place to live. This will reinforce the work being done on Scotland’s International Image and is expected to bring significant benefits not only during the summit itself but in the long term as a result of heightened media exposure and increased visitor numbers.

I chair the Ministerial Group which oversees Scotland’s involvement with the G8 Summit. We are working closely with the UK Government and public agencies, non-governmental organisations and businesses throughout Scotland to ensure that Scotland reaps maximum benefits from the summit and that as many people as possible have an opportunity to be involved with events surrounding the summit.

The Executive is also committed to ensuring that the summit is safe and secure. Scottish police forces have considerable experience of managing large scale events and are well-equipped to cope with the security operation. Tayside Police is responsible for co-ordinating security arrangements in the area and will have support from other law enforcement agencies and forces south of the border.

Question reference: S2W-10184

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 28 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce individual transferable quotas to the fishing industry and whether it considers that the impact of such a policy would be damaging to the industry.

The Scottish Executive is currently considering its response to the No 10 Strategy Unit report Net Benefits: A sustainable and profitable future for UK fishing. The introduction of individual transferable quota (ITQ) is one of the recommendations within the report. No decision on the implementation of ITQ has been made. The Scottish Executive working closely with a range of key stakeholders, will carefully consider a range of economic and other data before reaching a view.

Question reference: S2W-10179

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of (a) households and (b) people on housing waiting lists has been in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years, expressed also as a percentage of the population in each case.

The numbers of applicant households on waiting lists for each local authority are published on an annual basis for 2000-01 onwards in the quarterly Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series) Housing Trends in Scotland. Table 16 in the latest bulletin HSG/2004/4 published August 2004 shows the snapshot position as at 31 March 2004 as well as changes to the lists during 2003-04. This publication can be accessed on-line through publications section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website (www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref). The published figures for 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03 can also be found on the housing statistics website in the housing trends bulletins HSG/2001/6, HSG/2002/3 and HSG/2003/4 respectively.

This data collection began in 2001 and data are not centrally available prior to that date. The numbers reported to the Scottish Executive are for applicant households and do not specify the number of people within each household.

The projections of the numbers of households by local authority area for the relevant years are available in the data library section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website:

(http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/DD/EAS/00014844/DataLibrary.aspx).

Question reference: S2W-10052

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints were made against each housing association in each of the last five years and how many such complaints were subsequently investigated.

Question reference: S2W-10053

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 August 2004
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 28 September 2004

To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints of corruption were made against each housing association in each of the last five years and how many such complaints were subsequently investigated.