Parliamentary questions
Alex Neil
3,059 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Nov 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to announce the final decision on the planning application for the site of the former Ravenscraig Steelworks in Motherwell.
Answer · Mary Mulligan: AnAlteration to the Glasgowand the Clyde Valley Structure Plan, which sets the strategic planning policycontext for retail development within a new town centre at Ravenscraig, wasapproved by the Scottish ministers on 24 November.</p><p>The Scottishministers a…
18 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a new water charging structure for business users that rebalances the structure through reducing fixed standing charges whilst increasing volumetric charges.
Answer · Ross Finnie: AsI said in answer to question S2W-2537 on 25 September 2003, I am currentlyconsidering how best to take forward the recommendation for a publicconsultation on the principles of charging, and I believe that a public debateon these principles, during the cours…
14 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will offer a new relief scheme to all registered charities as a result of the increase in water charges.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The Executive has put inplace regulations that provide for those charitable and voluntary organisationsthat have been affected by the withdrawal of relief on water and seweragecharges, and which have modest incomes, to be exempted from all water and sewerage …
14 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the aggregate external finance settlement from April 2004 to reflect additional costs to local authorities arising from any increase in water charges.
Answer · Andy Kerr: Local authorities wereinformed of their three-year allocations in December 2002, which were theconsequentials of spending review 2002. Discussions with COSLA are starting forspending review 2004 but presently these discussions are still at an earlystage and n…
14 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider extending the current household water charge reduction scheme for low income households beyond March 2004 until a revised scheme to address water poverty can be introduced.
Answer · Ross Finnie: The current transitionalscheme was set up to provide additional assistance to enable low income householdsadjust to increased water and sewerage charges. The main source of assistanceremains the link between domestic charges and the banding and discount arran…
14 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3185 by Mr Tom McCabe on 3 November 2003, what its targets are for reducing the number of delayed discharges in each local authority and NHS board partnership and how each partnership has performed.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The following table showsthe agreed targets for reducing the number of delayed discharges in each local authorityand NHS Partnership by April 2004.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Local Authority and NHS Partnership…
7 Nov 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-2789 and S2W-2808 by Mr Jim Wallace on 27 October 2003, how the statements in chapter 4 of the Scottish Economic Report September 2003, that “the specific effects (of UK membership of EMU) might be different due to the structure of the Scottis…
Answer · Jim Wallace: All countriesand regions of the UK have variations in their industrialstructures. As such, the specific<i> </i>effects of monetary union would beanticipated to differ across regions.</p><p>Scotland is an integral part of the UK, sharingmacro-economic and fisc…
5 Nov 2003 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty's Government with regard to taking appropriate action to deal with the international trade in counterfeit whisky, as highlighted in the BBC documentary "On the trail of the whisky bandits" on 4 November 2003.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The regulation ofinternational trade is a reserved matter. However, the Scottish Executive maintains close contact with Whitehall officials on trade issues including those affectingthe whisky industry in Scotland.</p><p>Counterfeitingis a major issue for the …
23 Oct 2003 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer when Dr Jim Dyer began his appointment as the permanent Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and what costs have been incurred to date in relation to his employment, broken down into salary and expenses.
Answer · Robert Brown: Dr Jim Dyer OBE took up hisappointment as Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner on 1 April 2003. Totalcosts incurred from 1 April to 31 October 2003 are £34,233, broken downas follows: salaries £27,061 (including ERNIC and pension) and expenses of £7,…
23 Oct 2003 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer whether any costs were incurred in the employment of the acting Parliamentary Standards Commissioner from 1 April 2003 and, if so, what they were, broken down by wages and expenses; whether the contract of the acting commissioner was extended beyond 31 March 2003 and, if so when, by what p…
Answer · Robert Brown: <p class=MsoHeader>The acting Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner received a salary of £3,907.82 andexpenses of £144.44 for work undertaken on investigating complaints against membersduring the period 1 April 2003 to the end of his contract (7 Octob…
23 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what performance targets were set for the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) in each of the last two years; how SCRO performed against each of the targets, and what targets have been set for the current year and each of the next three years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Numeric performance targetsset by the SCRO focus on system availability for the Criminal History System,Police National Computer and Automatic Fingerprint Recognition System, asdetailed in the following table for the years 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04.</p><p>…
23 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of running the Scottish Criminal Record Office has been in each of the last two years and what the estimated cost is for this year and each of the next three financial years.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The cost of running the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) in 2001-02 was £7.7 million gross or£6.7 million net (of recoverable VAT) and in 2002-03 it was £9.07 million grossor £7.94 million net.</p><p>Budgetary provision for2003-04 is £10.16 million gros…
23 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost will be for this year and the next three financial years of Scottish Enterprise's decision to make their staff pensions non-contributory; when this decision was taken; how many staff will be covered by the new arrangements, and what the approval process was for this de…
Answer · Jim Wallace: Scottish Enterprisehave no plans to introduce a non-contributory pension scheme.</p>
17 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate will commission an independent enquiry into the competency and efficiency of the Scottish Criminal Record Office including the safety of the fingerprint evidence it submits to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for use in court cases.
Answer · Colin Boyd: I do not intend tocommission an enquiry into fingerprint evidence from the Scottish CriminalRecord Office/Scottish Fingerprint Service. I am satisfied that the ScottishCriminal Record Office/Scottish Fingerprint Service has adopted an appropriateQuality Assur…
17 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of the justification for the report in the Sunday Herald on 5 October 2003 of a statement made by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service that the quality check process for all Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) evidence by independent experts ha…
Answer · Colin Boyd: Following Her Majesty’sChief Inspector of Constabulary’s review of the Scottish Criminal Record Officein 2000, the Lord Advocate instructed Procurators Fiscal to obtain independentverification of fingerprint evidence from the Scottish Criminal Record Office.I…
15 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has decided not to use fingerprint evidence provided by the Scottish Criminal Record Office to it in court cases in each of the last three years.
Answer · Colin Boyd: There are a number of reasons why a prosecutor may decide not to use evidence in court.</p><p>I am not aware of any caseother than that of Mark Sinclair, which concluded in the High Court in Ayr inOctober 2003, in which the Crown has decided not to use finger…
15 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times in each of the last three years the Scottish Criminal Record Office has submitted fingerprint evidence in criminal cases and how many times that evidence has been disputed in open court.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The number of cases wherethe Scottish Criminal Record Office has submitted fingerprint evidence incriminal cases in the last three years is as follows:</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <tr> <td> <p>2000-01</p> </td> <td> <p>343</p> </td> …
15 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive in how many criminal court cases in each of the last three years in which the Scottish Criminal Record Office has submitted fingerprint evidence has the accused been found guilty.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The information requested isnot available.</p>
15 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what quality checks were made in respect of the fingerprinting evidence submitted by the Scottish Criminal Record Office for the High Court trial in Ayr during September and October 2003 of Mark Sinclair; who carried out the checks, and what the outcome was.
Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The initial identificationof the scene of crime mark was made by a fingerprint expert of the ScottishFingerprint Service, Glasgow bureau at the Scottish Criminal Records Office. Thisidentification was followed by two independent verifications by other experts…
15 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Lord Advocate will reply to Ian Hamilton QC in respect of his concerns about the quality of the fingerprint service provided by the Scottish Criminal Record Office, as reported in the Sunday Herald on 5 October 2003.
Answer · Colin Boyd: I wrote to Ian Hamilton QCon 8 October 2003 and a copy of the reply was sent to the member on the samedate.</p>
9 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2790 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003, whether it has made any response to HM Treasury's Barker review on housing supply identifying differences between the position in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK and what impact any such differences w…
Answer · Margaret Curran: The answer I gave toquestion S2W-2687 on 30 September 2003 indicated that discussions had been held recentlybetween the Executive and the Barker review team on housing supply at HMTreasury. The review team have now been supplied with a range of informationand…
9 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2774 by Mr Jim Wallace on 30 September 2003, how it will measure the maximisation of long-term sustainable growth.
Answer · Jim Wallace: As stated in the answergiven to question S2W-2774, the Scottish Executive is committed to creating theconditions that will maximise our long-term sustainable growth and <i>The WayForward: Framework for Economic Development</i> <i>in Scotland</i> sets out theE…
9 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2768 by Mr Jim Wallace on 2 October 2003, how much gross domestic product (GDP) will have to grow in Scotland to achieve the same level as the UK average per head in (a) 2001-02 and (b) 2002-03.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The latest GDP figuresavailable for Scotland are presented in the Office of National Statistics regionalaccounts. This shows that in 2001 (the latest year available), Scottish GDP wasestimated to be £69.2 billion at current basic prices, resulting in an avera…
9 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2763 by Mr Jim Wallace on 2 October 2003, how much gross domestic product per person in employment in Scotland will have to grow to achieve the same level as the UK average in (a) 2001-02 and (b) 2002-03.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The latest gross domestic productfigures available for Scotland are presented in the Office of National Statistics regionalaccounts. This shows that in 2001 (the latest year available), Scottish GDP wasestimated to be £69.2 billion at current basic prices, re…
9 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-474 by Mr Tom McCabe on 25 September 2003, what the status of the draft guidance is; what timescale is indicated by “shortly”; whether the comments received will be published and, if so, when, and what the definitions are of “informed&…
Answer · Tom McCabe: Guidance on Consultation and Public Involvement in Service Change (Bib. number. 21063) has been operationalsince May 2002. This gives clarity on how those affected by a proposed change shouldbe informed and included in the consultation process. The Scottish C…
9 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2772 by Mr Jack McConnell on 2 October 2003, when the targets on promoting Scotland as a good place to live will be announced; who it has consulted in the process of considering the targets, and what the strategic objectives of the Fresh Talent Init…
Answer · Andy Kerr: The strategic objectives of the Fresh Talent Initiative are:</p><p>Promoting Scotland as a place to live and work.</p><p>Encouraging students to stay in Scotland.</p><p>Promoting Scotland as a destination for people taking up work permits.</p><p>Improving fir…
9 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2773 by Mr Jim Wallace on 2 October 2003, whether it will provide information on performance in each of the last two years against each of the indicators on improving Scotland's skills base detailed in the answer.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The following table detailsperformance against each of the indicators on improving Scotland’sskills base in each of the last two years.</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 align=left width=605> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Indicator</p> </td> <td>…
8 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2785 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003, why it does not intend to undertake an assessment of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's five economic tests.
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Chancellor’sfive economic tests relate to the UK economyand the decision on whether to recommend UK entry intothe European Monetary Union (EMU). This decision is a reserved matter, andtherefore a matter for the UK Government. The UK Government will only r…
8 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2766 by Mr Andy Kerr on 30 September 2003, whether it has made any recommendations to Her Majesty's Government in respect of regional pay bargaining and, if so, what the recommendations were.
Answer · Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive is inregular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including regionalpay. Responsibility for public sector pay is a devolved matter (with the exceptionof the civil service in Scotland) and it will be for the Scottish…
8 Oct 2003 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2426 by Mr Jim Wallace on 19 September 2003, whether it has made any representation or recommendations to Her Majesty's Government in respect of increasing the income threshold at which graduates start to repay their student loans and, if so, what re…
Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues includingthe repayment threshold for student loans.</p>