Parliamentary questions

Alex Neil

3,059 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

15 Feb 2001 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Presiding Officer whether any review of MSPs' salaries is planned.

Answer · David Steel: No review is currently planned.

14 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimated additional policing costs will result from the delayed visit by the Irish Prime Minister to the unveiling of a memorial plaque at Carfin Grotto.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not hold information on the cost of policing individual events. These involve operational decisions which are matters for Chief Constables.

12 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Motorola is obliged to inform it of any changes in plans for the former Hyundai site near Dunfermline.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13243.

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives were offered to Motorola, and of what value, when it purchased the former Hyundai plant near Dunfermline in April 2000.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: As was indicated when the project was announced, an appropriate package of financial assistance was offered to Motorola with regard to implementing its proposed project at Dunfermline.As the assistance is drawn down, in line with the implementation of the …

9 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what penalties will be incurred by Motorola if it fails to fulfil any agreements it has with the Scottish Executive regarding the former Hyundai plant near Dunfermline.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-13243.

8 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether all information regarding the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council's proposed funding plans, in particular the amount of money each institution will receive, will be published.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The allocation to individual institutions of formula-based grants for 2001-02 academic year, which cover the majority of the funding to be allocated, will be published by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council in March. There will be some further alloc…

8 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council has spent on consultancy fees in connection with the formulation of its proposed funding plans.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: As part of its Review of Teaching Funding, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council employed a consultant to perform a study into the efficient cost of teaching in higher education between February and September 2000 at a cost of £57,550.

8 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council employs and how much money it spent on staffing in each of the last three years.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council's staffing numbers and associated costs over the last three (financial) years are as follows:In 1998 there were 57 staff at an associated cost of £1,660,000In 1999 there were 55 staff at an associated cost o…

7 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much non-statutory revenue income each of the 17 careers service companies generate annually, expressed in (a) cash terms and (b) as a percentage of each company's total income.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information provided shows the data for 1999-2000. Information on 2000-01 funding arrangements is not yet available.While the Scottish Executive is the primary funder to all the Careers Service Companies, many of the companies have endeavoured to find …

7 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost will be of employing the staff currently working for Adult Guidance Networks, Lifelong Learning Partnerships and Education Business Partnerships who will become employed by Careers Scotland.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: It will be expected under the new organisation that all appropriate and relevant staff will transfer under their existing terms and conditions, and therefore we anticipate no substantial increase in staffing costs. As yet we are unable to determine the percen…

7 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be to Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise of managing Future Skills Scotland.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Enterprise budget for developing the Scottish Labour Market Intelligence Unit in the current financial year is £275,000, of which £25,000 will be contributed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. In future the Unit will be known as Future Skill…

7 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown, by local authority area, of the expenditure on the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) and what progress is being made towards the NGfL's targets.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Support provided by the Scottish Executive to each local authority for development of the National Grid for Learning is shown in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=2 WIDTH=502><TR><TD WIDTH="30%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=16><FONT FA…

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how payments to each member of the Scottish Transport Group pension scheme will be calculated.

Answer · Sarah Boyack: Scottish Ministers are considering the basis for distribution and following the wind-up of the Scottish Transport Group we will be bringing forward proposals on distribution for the approval of the Scottish Parliament.

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the methodology for compiling hospital waiting lists has been amended since May 1999.

Answer · Susan Deacon: There have been no amendments to the methodology for compiling inpatient/day case hospital waiting lists since 31 March 1988.

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received regarding the penalties available in cases where death is caused by dangerous driving.

Answer · Jim Wallace: We receive occasional correspondence on road traffic law. This law is mostly reserved. Its implementation falls to the Lord Advocate and the courts. The Lord Advocate determines the appropriate charge and the courts the appropriate penalty. At present the max…

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to reduce and remove any unnecessary administrative burdens on the police service and ensure that police officers spend more time on operational duties.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Scottish Ministers are committed to ensuring that Scotland has an effective as well as a strong police service and a range of measures have been taken to free up the time of the police officers for front line duties. These include promoting the use of new tec…

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into any correlation between the funding of police forces and their success in controlling levels of crime and disorder.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Although it has undertaken no research on this specific aspect, the Scottish Executive believes that adequately funded police forces are an essential ingredient in any broad-based strategy which seeks to tackle crime and disorder.

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total budget for National Training Organisations is for the financial year 2001-02.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: National Training (NTOs) are employer-led sectoral bodies which operate across the UK as the bridge between employers and those involved in the policy and provision of education and training. They attract funding from employers, government departments and oth…

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be committed to National Training Organisations over the next three years.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: National Training Organisations attract funding from employers, government departments and other public sector and commercial sources. £1.5 million has been allocated by the Scottish Executive over the financial years 2001-2002 to 2003-2004 to assist the furt…

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of expenditure, by health board area, on electronic service delivery in the health service for the current financial year and of projected expenditure for each of the next two years.

Answer · Susan Deacon: The information requested is not held centrally.

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of inward investment there has been into Scotland from (a) May 1999 to May 2000 and (b) May 2000 to January 2001.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: In the year April 1999 to March 2000, Locate in Scotland and its partners helped to attract to Scotland a total of 91 projects involving planned investment of £650 million and the expected creation or safeguarding of over 19,000 jobs. This represented Scotlan…

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Modern Apprenticeships there were in May 1997 and how many there are on the latest available figures.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: In May 1997 there were 5,236 Modern Apprentices in training: at January 2001 there were 16,924. In May 1997, 398 young people had completed their Modern Apprenticeship: at January 2001, 6,125 had completed their Modern Apprenticeship.

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants in total it employed in (a) May 1999 and (b) May 2000 and how many it employs now.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The full time equivalent number of permanent staff employed in the Core Departments, Agencies and Associated Departments of the Scottish Executive are shown in the table below. The figures include the Scottish Prison Service, which accounts for around one thi…

6 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any reduction in the Department of Trade and Industry's budget would, as a result of the Barnett formula, result in a reduction in the equivalent budget within the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

Answer · Angus MacKay: Any changes in the Scottish Budget are for the Executive to propose and Parliament to agree.The operation of the Barnett formula is set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. This is available on HM Treasury's website, <A HREF="http://www.hm-treasury.gov.…

5 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of the administration costs of each non-departmental public body for which it is responsible and what percentage of the total expenditure of each such body administration costs represent.

Answer · Angus MacKay: Detailed financial information relating to non-departmental public bodies is contained within the Annual Report and Accounts for individual bodies. Under current guidance NDPBs are required to publish annual reports and accounts in order to inform Parliament …

5 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to relocate any of its departmental headquarters from Edinburgh to other parts of Scotland and whether it will provide details of any such plans.

Answer · Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive has set up the headquarters of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department in Glasgow. This involved the transfer of 140 posts from Edinburgh to Glasgow. We have also set up the headquarters of the Food Standards Agency (Scotland) i…

5 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to ex-gratia payments to the Scottish Transport Group Pension scheme members, what the anticipated allocation will be between the Transport Operatives Pension Scheme and the Staff Pension Fund.

5 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a detailed update on the preparations by the Scottish Qualifications Authority for the 2001 exam diet.

Answer · Jack McConnell: I announced in response to S1W-12934 that a copy of my first report to Parliament on SQA's progress towards Diet 2001 was sent to the Convenor of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee on 31 January. A copy has also been placed in the Parliament's Referen…

5 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any assessment has been made of the potential administrative costs of making use of the Scottish Parliament's powers to increase or decrease the standard rate of income tax and, if so, what the outcome was.

Answer · Angus MacKay: An assessment of ongoing costs has not been made because the Executive has made it clear it will not use the power in this Parliament

2 Feb 2001 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all development areas as defined under the regional selective assistance scheme; what proportion of the Scottish population lives in each, and how much grant assistance has been made available to each in each year since May 1999.

Answer · Wendy Alexander: The GB Assisted Areas map (defining the areas in which Regional Selective Assistance can be given) was approved by the European Commission on 26 July 2000. This map comprised of amalgamations of 1991 local authority wards rather than development areas. A list…